Great Lakes Border Collie Rescue - a Border Collie Rescue & Placement Group

Cub Scout
	Gender: Male Age: 1 1/2 Years Height/Weight: 22" / 45 lbs Housebroken: Yes Fenced yard required: Yes Location: Northwest Indiana Foster Home: Barb H.	Crate-trained: Yes Treat-motivated: Yes Toy-motivated: Yes Likes Car Rides: Yes Good with cats: No Good with kids: No Commands: knows his name, sit, lie down, give paw, beginning of a good recall.

Update November 6, 2011: Scout had a busy summer traveling to Vermont twice to attend Camp Gone to the Dogs with me and my 3 dogs. While there he learned how to dock dive and added several tricks to his ever expanding frisbee routine. Hiking was another activity we enjoyed in the Green Mountains along with a couple of side trips to Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory.

Scout continues to be a very high drive, hard working, intense fellow that is so common to the border collie breed. He is loving and personable but can be independent. When chasing a tennis ball or catching a frisbee he is all business and you have his undivided attention. When he is not "working" he is somewhat of a free spirit. His herding drive is high and he requires management with cars, bicycles, wheelbarrow, etc. He is difficult to walk on leash in the proximity of traffic due to his chasing instinct. He has no problem with storms or fireworks. He is vocal, as in barking but he has a lot of grunts, squeaks and whines in his vocabulary too.

Scout is not a dog that would do well in an urban environment. He needs a very rural setting with a large yard to exercise in (mine is 1/2 acre fenced) so he can run and catch those frisbees and balls he so dearly loves. While he would like to have a dog companion, it would take a confident, easy going dog who enjoys a good game of rough and tumble play and not get annoyed with his pushy behavior. As you can see in the photos, water sports play a big part in his summer activities so it would be important for him to have swimming and if possible dock diving as an alternative energy release. Please keep in mind although Scout may look mature, he is approaching his one year birthday and is still very much a puppy.

Scout would do best in a quiet, calm rural setting with an outdoor, athletic human companion. One dog pal is possible but more than that just brings out his herding tendencies. A tennis racket is necessary because you can hit a ball farther than you can throw it countless times. Medium frisbee throwing skills are also a necessity so you can continue to work on his tricks even if it is just for your enjoyment and his. (Scouts adoption comes with free frisbee throwing lessons should you need it.) Finally, lake rights for water sports and acreage for year round hikes in the woods would make him a very happy boy. And if you are that outdoor person reading this you already know how Scout feels so why not enjoy nature and activity together?

Update: November 3, 2011: Well, as you can see, Cub Scout had a very busy summer. His foster mom has been having computer problems, so if you've emailed and not received a response, please try again. A longer update is coming soon, but until then, enjoy these pictures of Cub Scout's excellent summer!

Update May 22, 2011: Cub Scout joined the GLBCR Booth Crew at the Crown Point Pet Expo last weekend and was a big hit with the crowd. He even won First Prize in the Best Trick contest by showing off his Frisbee skills.

Clearly, being an Ambassador Dog didn't stress Scout out at all.

Update May 2, 2011: As he approaches 7 months of age, Scout has been with me for 2 months now and things are starting to come together for him. He is doing better playing with my dogs but has to be monitored because he is intense. He is learning to acknowledge my verbal reminders and he lightens up so he can continue to have play time with them. He is friendly, just pushy. His manners are better and he is doing well with basic skills. Sit, down, wait, that'll do (as in enough), stay and come with no distractions or minimal distractions. He catches a ball and frisbee and also has a few frisbee tricks chained together for a little routine. He returns a ball to hand and will drop it on command and he is learning to bring a frisbee back to hand. He is an awesome tracking dog. When we go for our walk in the woods in the afternoon, he loves to track where I went with another one of my dogs in the morning. It looks like swimming will be another one of his favorites. He has been in the water already and is totally crazy about it. He is learning to discriminate what he barks at and is improving. Scout is overly interested in cars driving down the road and I am concerned that chasing cars my be a problem. We are working daily to keep that from happening but only time will tell.

A rural home with plenty of room and a hard fence (not invisible fence) would work well for Scout. He needs daily, tongue hanging out, ready to go lie down type of exercise. Going for a walk is good but not an outlet for his energy. He is not a dog park dog and although he could do performance activities such as agility and flyball, the noisy, busy activity would just raise his intensity level at this time. If you have made it this far, I don't want to paint a dismal picture for Scout. He is a funny guy and has plenty of ability. He reminds me of a child who needed lots of patience and guidance while growing up and then went on to achieve greatness as an adult. Scout is that youngster.

Scout is a four-month-old smooth coat purebred Border Collie. Regrettably, due to a unexpected health diagnosis of his previous owner, he finds himself in need of a new home. He survived parvo and is healthy now and up to date on all his vaccinations including rabies. He will be neutered the second week of April and will be available after that.

Scout will need a particular environment to be happy in his new home. He is already showing a dominant personality, strong herding tendencies and a hard eye to go along with that package. He will require someone who has border collie experience with a working style dog to help him learn how to live with his instincts. He is on the high drive, high energy scale and will not be adopted to a family with children or other dogs that are submissive. He is untested on cats at this time but probably would not be a good candidate due to his chase tendencies. Right now he is over stimulated due to living with 3 adult dogs. We are working on typical puppy skills of name recognition, manners, sit, lie down and come when called.

He is already house broken, quiet in his crate, likes to ride in the car, walks nice on leash and will settle down nicely after he has been adequately exercised. He loves being outside and would be a great companion for an avid outdoor enthusiast. Scout has a lot of potential but needs someone who has the time and energy to bring out his best qualities.

Photos

Videos