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["Lisa K.V. Perry" <lisakvperry AT gmail.com>]

On 12/18/06, EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Today, possibly the perfect dog fell into my lap.
> Someone let out a stray, as typical when you live out in the boonies.
> It's a border collie, looks to be under 2 years old, and is THE calmest
> BC I have ever seen, definitely a low energy BC.  There was only one time
> that
> I saw the infamous BC "eye", and he hasn't barked yet.

Best of luck. I hope he works out.

Our deceased female BC (Flop) was a very calm dog who did her job very well.
She seldom barked and kept predators away. Jack, our 7 y.o. male BC who was
around when we had Flop, is slow and steadfast and a dog of few barks--only
as needed. Then Sweetpea, a female BC pup that was free other than the cost
of shots, came into our lives going on three years ago. She has been
something else, probably because she was young. Jack was glad to have
company, Sweetpea became the dominant dog. She usually barks endlessly and
often in the middle of the night, of course. As a result, we began putting
both dogs in the basement (once we had one) two years ago and went back to
sleeping through the night. Relief. She seems a much better dog since we got
rid of the damn stray Blue Heeler last May and after she had two injuries a
month apart this past summer (a sm. gash on her side requiring stitches &
irrigation by us and a spider bite that caused a horrible spreading
infection on her snout and two weeks of antibio's). Since she healed from
the injuries, she's been mostly good as gold. There have been numerous
nights when we arrived home and she'd be waiting for us to go inside or we
called her name and she'd trot right on in. The last two nights though she
refused to come in. We called, we cajoled, we shook the dog biscuit box, we
pleaded. She came close to my husband and then went the opposite direction
when she figured out he was going to grab her collar and head her towards
the door. Later on, when she was nowhere in sight and we were going to bed,
I stood outside and attempted a conversation. I called her name and spoke to
her knowing she was within earshot but refusing to budge. I said that we
appreciated her protecting our farm but it would be appreciated if she could
do it with less barking. My husband thought I was nuts--and I felt pretty
looney, but figured what the hell. I really wanted to sleep. I put in
earplugs and hoped for the best. Both nights I heard her bark once the
entire night and it was minimal. Husband said the same. If she can be
reasonably quiet and just bark minimally at real problems, she can stay
outside (except during bitter cold weather). This has been an
experiment--night by night.

Looney Lisa