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Mr Darcy is the THE most magnificent looking Collie boy, however he is also a very scared and nervous boy. He is on the larger end of the Border Collie size scale. Poor lad found himself in the pound in south Wales in July 2008. A very lovely lady rescued him from death row to be a companion for her other dog. Sadly, the lady soon found that she was very ill indeed and she passed away recently . Mr Darcy is understandably a bit shell-shocked by all that has happened to him in his short life so far. For all his fear, he has never once shown his teeth.
He has been with me for three weeks now. He has changed from being too scared to eat, flinching from my hands, not going through doorways if I was stood anywhere near them; to being a trusting, playful, and affectionate boy. He has learnt that toys are fun to play with and humans can be too!
I have spent all the time he has been with me just gently building up his confidence and socialising him. He is gentle with good manners. I have not done any pro-active training with him, but like all clever collie dogs, he has just soaked up what I want him to do by osmosis somehow. I have been wallking him on a non-pull harness as it is much kinder to him while he learns that the world is not such a scary place. I have no doubt that in time he will walk nicely on just a flat collar and lead, but for safety and kindness he will need to continue on a harness for now. He has learnt to sit for his harness and lead to be put on (which he now sees as good things and nothing to be scared of), wait for the front door to be opened and not move until the release command is given, sits and waits at kerbs and to be let off the lead. His recall off lead is pretty damn good! However, this is with me that he knows and trusts. His new guardians would need to make sure that he was happy for them to approach without him backing off before releasing him.
Outside of the house he is now less scared of strangers. He will back off and bark (more especially at men) if they try to interact with him, but this is so much better now. Inside the house, however, he is still skittering around, barking, eyes darting around looking for an escape route. Again, he is improving, but he will need a safe place to go to while he loses his fears and visitors will need to sit down, not make eye contact, speak to him or try to touch him. He will happily go in a crate where he feels safe.
Mr Darcy is a very good boy with other dogs. He will always want to go to say hello, but is very gentle and polite in his greeting. He would love to play if the other dog also wants to, but leaves them alone if they don't. He is not possessive with food or toys, either with people or other dogs. He is a submissive dog all round.
He is fully housetrained and recently neutered. He has not been fully cat tested, but has not seemed to bother with them while out on a walk. In fact, he seems little bothered with most other creatures, other than curiosity.
Mr Darcy needs a quiet home with someone around most of the time to allow him to further build his confidence. Although I have no doubt he would be no danger to children, I feel that, at present, he would be too scared of the noise and quick movements that children can sometimes make. He would be best in a home where the main care giver is female. He could be an only dog, but is more confident and happier with a canine companion. He needs to be treated with nothing but kindness and patience. His new guardians will need to be able to walk that fine line between encouraging him to interact with them, but at the same time giving him the time and space that he needs, ensuring that the boundaries are in place and also not over-compensating to ensure that separation anxiety does not creep in. I have left him on a few occassions for around 2-3 hours and he has been fine.
Mr Darcy is a young collie boy and once he overcomes his fear and nervousness, will need all the usual amount of exercise and mental stimulation that goes with the joy of having a collie in your life.
If you would like to offer Mr Darcy a home please take a moment to read our adoption procedures before you download our adoption form. Once completed please e-mail it to [email protected]. If you have problems downloading the form, please just email us. Adoptions will be subject to a satisfactory homecheck and a minimum donation.
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