Mickey

11/2/09

Mickey has had a very interesting life so far.  In midwinter, a very pregnant smooth-coat Border Collie ended up in a Louisville, KY shelter. They had no facilities or people to help with the whelping and the care of the pups after they were born.  The Shelter was going to put her to sleep. 

One of our volunteers is a vet tech for a Louisville veterinarian.  She went to meet the dog, and found a beautiful Purebred Border Collie with kind disposition.  Our volunteer took her home to help with whelping and care for the pups and MBCR agreed to take her into their Adoption Program, although we had no way of knowing who had the father of these “children.”  The Foster Mom named the dog Rhea. 

As the days wore on MBCR members and volunteers got regular e-mail reports on how Rhea was coming along, and of course there was much speculation about who the father was, and how many pups she would have because she was very large.  One day as  Rhea got closer to her due date,  Louisville weather turned unusually snowy, ,  Foster Mom decided she better take Rhea to work with her…just in case!    As the day wore on, the snow kept coming, and late afternoon weather reports said the snow would continue, and suggested no one should drive unless it was absolutely necessary.  Little did we know what the future held!!

As the Vet was closing up for the day, Rhea decided it was a good time to have her puppies and went into Labor!   From 6 PM to Midnight she gave birth to 10 healthy puppies.  Needless to say our volunteer, Mom and puppies spent that first night at the vet clinic all warm and cozy while it just kept snowing outside.  As each pup arrived, Rhea’s midwife sent pictures and told us their sex.  By the time Number Ten arrived, we had ten black pups…maybe with a little bit of white in some places…clearly Rhea had a very handsome Labrador for a boyfriend.

As the puppies continued to grow and thrive, their personalities began to emerge, and they were all very adoptable, but try to imagine having 10 puppies that look like Labs with a little white on them with a Border Collie rescue group.  People come to our website to find a BC, not a Lab.  After eight weeks, the first pups went to the vet’s son and his wife.  One by one they did get adopted and after we prevailed upon Love of Labs Rescue who graciously agreed to list the remaining pups on their website, all but three found loving homes.

Since it was coming up on their first birthday and we still had 3 of the pups in rescue, one of our Michigan volunteers suggested we might consider sending them to Paws With A Cause where she works.   PAWS trains Assistance Dogs who after extensive training are matched with individuals nationwide.  MBCR decided that the last three pups would go there to be temperament tested to see if they might be the right kind of dog to become an assistance dog.  Two of the pups didn’t make the cut, but Mickey made it into the program.  Unfortunately he did not have the necessary “work ethic” to succeed as an Assistance Dog….he just wanted to be a companion dog and enjoy life as a family’s favorite pet.

Mickey is a long, tall, lanky boy.  He is 24” at the withers but only weighs 47 lbs.  He’scrate trained, leash trained, housebroken and knows “sit,” “down,”  “wait,” “stay” (most of the time), “ kennel up”  and he rides wonderfully in the car.

Mickey is a very gentle boy who adores kids.  He is a little shy with strangers but warms up to them quickly especially if they offer a treat.  He is not a barker, he gets along well with and enjoys playing with other dogs. He would love another dog in the house or he can be an only dog.  He doesn’t much care about cats.

As with all of our dogs Mickey  is up-to-date on all of his vaccinations, neutered, heartworm tested (negative) plus he has one other thing most of our dogs have not had and that is he had his hips & elbows x-rayed and sent in to OFA: and his elbows are normal and his hips are excellent.

We certainly don’t consider Mickey an orphan just because his nine brothers and sisters all have found wonderful forever homes.  The time he spent at Paws With A Cause took him off our website but was beneficial to his training, but here he is!!   If you are looking for a very special young man to be your affectionate and loving constant companion, we hope you will consider Mickey.

He came back to one of our foster homes and was placed with a family but just did not bond to the father in the family and that was what they wanted so he is back with us again.

None of this makes Mickey a bad dog but just a very laid back boy that needs attention and patience to bond with his new family.

He is crate trained, house trained and knows sit, down, wait, comes when called and just likes to hang out with you.  I am working on renewing other commands that he knew but seems to have forgotten or were just not used.
If you think you may be the family that can give Mickey the home he needs please contact Donna

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