Notes: |
Update posted by Montana's foster family: July 31, 2014 At 1.5 years of age, Montana continues to be a joy and a challenge. In
many ways, she has fitted quite well into our family of three adult humans and
two mature Rough Collie females like she belongs here; it will be very difficult
to give her up to her forever family, and that’s why it is important to find
her the right home. We need to feel that she will be cherished for the dear
little dog that she is, and that her new owners will have enough patience and
understanding to help her grow into the fine, mature dog she will be. Montana is a busy, energetic little girl, always attentive to her
surroundings. She has found several places in our home to relax; through the
day, she prefers being under the desk in Steve’s office, either to be near him
or near Amy, our ten-year-old collie, who has claimed first rights on the best
dog pillow in the room. Montana joins us to watch baseball games and movies on
the television, usually in the evenings, along with Kate, our six-year-old
collie; it’s Kate she runs to when she is unsure of things. At night, she and
Amy trade-up sleeping pillows through the night; on hot nights, Montana prefers
to sleep on the floor of our ensuite, under an open window. Montana is smart and quick to pick up on things. She was unfamiliar and
anxious about stairs and doorways when she came to us, but she mastered the
stairs in three days, and doorways within the first week or so. The stairs represent
going for a walk, which she loves, and the doorways were her only way to be
with us inside or outside the house. She walks well on a loose lead, she sits
and lays down on command (most of the time), she has learned to shake-a-paw (we
are working on ‘the other one’). She loves to go to the dog park, usually
finding a compatible dog to play chase-and-be-chased; her curiosity sends her
off to find out what’s happening in all areas of the park. She has learned to
go through the elevated ‘tunnels’ at the dog park; after less than an hour of
fumbling around trying to show her what I wanted, another dog came by and
showed her the wayJ On command, she will jump up
onto the benches scattered about the park, and, though a little nervous at
first, she will sit on them as well. She usually comes to a whistle or when
called, but she is easily distracted and we continue to work on her reliability
in that task. We have a sense that she would do well in agility and obedience,
perhaps even herding activities, in the hands of the right person. Montana is good with other dogs and cautious but friendly with people. She
was very anxious about children when she first came to us, their voices and
their movements; she even barks at children’s voices on television and radio. She
has been somewhat socialized to children by encountering them while walking in
our neighbourhood, but feels overwhelmed when several are approaching her. She
is less apprehensive when the children are older than six or seven, but is wary
of toddlers and babies. We socialize her on the local trails, at the dog park
and on our summer camping trips and family visits, and anywhere else she is
welcome to be. For this reason, we recommend that Montana be placed in a home
without very young children, or with an owner that is knowledgeable and
intelligent about dog/child interactions and introductions. So far, she seems pretty perfect, yes? However, there is a dark side to
Montana, perhaps more of a shaded
side, which we continue to work on. Montana is a barker, and though most dogs
do bark, it is their only way to verbalize their emotions and ideas, Montana’s
barking can be a problem. In the six months she has been with us, we have come
to recognize her various barks: the alert
bark when someone comes to the door, or is walking down the street, that we
have been able to control somewhat using commands such as Stop or Enough, and her play bark which usually makes us laugh,
though it is rather shrill and loud! The one bark that we continue to struggle
with is her sky-is-falling bark which
can erupt quite unexpectedly and is extremely loud. Montana was not raised in
an urban nor home setting for the first nine months of her life, and when she
came to us, she was frightened and anxious about many sights and sounds we take
for granted in our daily lives: opening and closing cupboard doors; opening,
loading and unloading the dishwasher; using a salad spinner; bringing out the
vacuum cleaner; turning on the ceiling fans (or any fan for that matter);
someone wearing a hat or carrying a laundry basket up the stairs – to mention
but a few. This bark is generally accompanied by running around, growling, as
anxiety and panic set in, and it takes her a while to calm down. Our response
has been to keep her in the kitchen while opening the cupboards or working with
the dishwasher to desensitize her, or to put the laundry basket down so she can
inspect it, or to remove the hat so she can see us better. She is comforted by
being put on leash and kept beside someone as she calms down. We have had good
results in the past months, she has responded fairly well to some of our
interventions, but she does continue to display her anxieties in this manner.
For this reason, we feel that Montana needs to be placed with someone
knowledgeable about dog behaviour, and someone who will have the patience and
time to work with her as she gains confidence as she matures. We feel Montana has benefitted from having our two dogs as company while
she has been with us, both of our collies are very accepting of new dogs coming
into our home (Montana is our fourth foster, not counting Amy who is our foster
failure:). However, Montana tends to be quite bossy and demanding of attention;
she is not aggressive in any way, but she will try to take over coveted areas
of the house and chew bones. Our alpha dog, Amy, let her know right away where
her boundaries are regarding behaviour, and, for the most part, Montana
respects those boundaries. Our more submissive dog, Kate, tends to be less
assertive, and this has created a behaviour problem that we have only seen
between her and Montana. Kate is playful and her favourite game is
chase-and-be-chased. Unfortunately, Montana’s play style with her is very rough
and intimidating; she will bite down on her tail or neck and pull as hard as
she can which has caused injury to Kate’s tail on occasion. Needless to say, we
monitor their play together and have tried various methods to discourage
Montana in this play style, with little success so far. She does not display
this style of play with any other dog she encounters, either at our home,
visiting other homes, on the trails or at the dog park. For this reason, we
would recommend that Montana be placed in a home with a confident, stable dog
or perhaps no other dog at all, although she does like canine companionship.
So Montana is a work in progress, and her
forever family will need to be willing to take on the task of helping her to
mature into the confident collie she will become. Her spirited, playful and
loving energy outweighs her faults, and, if at all possible, we would provide a
home for her ourselves. Posted :February 16, 2014 “ Montana is petite by collie size standard. At 1 year of age, she weighs only 16.4 kgs and stands about 16
inches at the shoulder. Montana is quite the character! We have been able to teach
her 'sit' (for treats and food), still working at getting her to sit when we
put her collar on, because she gets so excited along with our two when the
leashes come out! She is improving on
the leash walks, but that nose of hers leads her into all sorts of
trouble! She will cuddle if we sit on the
floor with her. Today we are
celebrating her going out and coming in the back door on her own initiative as she has been hesitant since arriving at our home. We have enjoyed taking her to the dog park where she can run
like the wind, and she is so friendly and accepting of other dogs and
people. We hope her forever home is one
that will give her the activity and attention she needs. She really is a treasure, such a wonderful
little girl, that continues to surprise us with her good humour and
playfulness. " Posted: January 2014 Hi there! My name’s Montana and I’m a bundle of joy! I’m one year old so I have that puppy energy and mischief but I’ve got through those baby things like housebreaking and have learned a few manners too. I love people, dogs and playing and I’d like to be in an active home that will do lots of things with me. Right now I have two collie foster-sisters and we’re having a blast. I do have a cautious side with things that are new to me but I’m curious too and am gaining confidence with every passing day. I learn really quickly and am quite easy-going. I’m healthy, up to date on my shots and was just spayed. I also have a sock collection – yes I steal socks from my foster mum and stash them in my crate but I think I need to find a better place to put them now because she just figured it out. So now I just need to find a forever home that has lots of time to play and maybe do some dog sports with me. Another playful dog friend would be a bonus. Am I the girl for you? |