Adopt a Border Collie (medium coat)

Champ is an 8 1/2 year old male Border Collie fostered at Stephany's in Plymouth, Indiana.  You can send Stephany an email at [email protected] if you have any specific questions about him.  If you have any general questions about our adoption process, please go to the Adoption Info page on our website at www.comebyebcrescue.org.

Champ needs to be placed in a home without children

Champ – Champ is a handsome middle-aged Border Collie that likely hasn’t had an easy life. He has some very good qualities but also comes with some baggage that makes him a bit harder to adopt. He LOVES tennis ball fetch and has a reasonable amount of endurance for his age as he can fetch and fetch and fetch some more! He also enjoys the “giggle ball” and will entertain himself with that. What surprised me the most about Champ is that he also LOVES being groomed, especially the bathing/massaging part of the grooming. He is not a super affectionate or cuddly sort of dog so I was not expecting him to enjoy grooming as much as he did! On occasion he will settle in for some snuggle time but at this point it’s not often. As he gets more settled in and more comfortable with me he may offer his soft side a bit more often.

He has been fine with other dogs so far. He typically ignores them on occasion he’ll sniff and investigate them but then generally goes on about his own business. He does enjoy fence running and barking at dogs he sees on the other side of the fence.  It’s slightly annoying to me but it seems very entertaining to him

The quirky behavior that makes Champ a bit more difficult to find a home for is his resource guarding behaviors and his willingness to redirect his frustration on whatever is closest to him…if it happens to be your leg, hand, etc…that may be what he decides to grab with his mouth. He is a shadow chaser and will actually even guard the shadows. If you are savvy in dealing with extreme resource guarding behaviors and know when to and when not to apply pressure than you and Champ would likely get along just fine. When doing general obedience type training with Champ he does very well and is rather calm and collected. He is currently in training and as he gets more confident in his skills we will begin working him with more and more difficult distractions, building up to shadow distractions and expecting him to maintain a sit position and keep his brain calm.

If you were to ask Champ what his ideal home would be, I am guessing he’d say a country setting with a piece of land that is safely fenced so that he can run the farm without fear of getting injured or lost, play ball with his human and hang out nearby when his human is doing chores, etc.

I think Champ would thrive in his ideal home and live a happy life. He is not a dog that can withstand a lot of pressure from a human because that causes him to become very defensive and that way he defends himself is by growling and showing you his teeth. A home that doesn’t need a lot from him and one that will allow him the personal space he needs and one that would like to engage in games of tennis ball fetch and let him explore with you outside is one that I think is best suited for his personality.

It’s difficult to know what his past was like but this is who he is now and even though I feel that he can make some positive progress, he is who he is and will need a human who understands and loves him anyway