Welcome to my blog! Let me introduce Gail.


 Welcome to my blog.


I haven't blogged for a long time and I am wondering if people still blog. Do they? If not, I give my thoughts to the internet for some archaeologist to dig up in some hundred years.


This blog is about my 2 Border Collies. Gail, who I rescued a year ago from a farm in Wales. She is a "failed" sheepdog. Then 2 years old. A beautiful tri colour Border Collie.  I had plenty of foster dogs from farms, being failed sheepdogs. In general they were really nice dogs, but scared, timid, shy and didn't know anything about the big wide world. Some were better than others, but all adjusted really quickly to living in a house and our hectic lives. 

I found Gail via Facebook, where I asked in a Facebook Group  if somebody wants to rehome a none worker. I had these plans, that Gail and I would do mantrailing together, she be my companion wherever I go and she goes to the office with me.


I met Gail at the vets. I don't live in the UK, so for Gail to travel to the continent with me, she needed an Animal Health Certificate. When Gail arrived at the vets with her previous owner, she was very scared. I thought that she was just really scared of the vet and didn't think anything about it. When I saw her, I realised that she must have had puppies not that long ago.  I asked her previous owner about it and she said that there was an accident with one of the male dogs and Gail got pregnant and had a litter of puppies.


Anyway. I took Gail home. A friend drove us and I realised that Gail is very scared of what is going on. For 3 days she didn't toilet. She hardly took any food. She was fine with me, from today's perspective I thing she was just too terrified to do anything.


At home the first thing I bought was a security harness to avoid losing her, in case she felt like running off. I gave her a few days at home without going out to give her a chance to get used to her surroundings. I have elderly dogs, which she took to immediately. 

Gail was born on the farm in Wales. She has never been anywhere else in her life. I am not sure what happened to her. I guess she didn't meet a lot of people in her life, but I soon realised that she was terrified of people.

I know that sheepdog training can be harsh and that some dogs cannot bear the pressure. Not sure if this was the case with her.

First we had to work on house training. The problem wasn't that she didn't want to learn, but that she was terrified to go out. I live in a city and there are always noises. Somebody slams a car door, some children are laughing, neighbours are chatting. Every of those noises sent her into a panic and she then just wanted to flee. 

So she only went late at night and really early in the morning. I left a towel for her in the hallway, where she could relief herself.

Though she improved very slightly, I realised that this is not a dog that will be ok with its surrounding in a month or 2.

This realisation sent me in a spin of frustration. I had so many plans with her and now they all seemed to vanish.




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