NOT READY FOR ADOPTION

ROUGH COLLIE
Coat - Rough
Gender - Female
Size - medium/large
Age - 5 years old

Karma is a spayed 5 year-old sable Collie (perhaps with a splash of Border Collie?) who weighs ~50lbs.

Karma has so many of the qualities that we love in the collie breed. She is a loving, loyal dog who adores spending time with her people. Like most collies, Karma is extremely athletic yet calm in the house; she clearly enjoys physical and mental activities but is equally happy to relax during those hours in between.

Karma is a people dog. She is an affectionate companion who loves to cuddle, learn, and please. Karma is comfortable with strangers although she needs reminders to dial back her exuberance when meeting visitors; Karma sometimes assumes they are as excited to meet her as she is to meet them but is quickly learning that sitting politely is a win-win. Karma would do best placed with a calm individual or couple, as energetic children may lead to over-excitement.

Karma is currently fostered in a home with dogs. She enjoys hanging out with her furry friends and engages in a little playtime with her lab buddy, although she needs a few reminders to ease off the herding game. Karma has had exposure to cats (seems to be fine). She does not show any interest in chasing bikes or cars. Karma enjoys being groomed and her coat, which is shorter than that of a typical rough collie, is quite easy to care for with a quick brush. Karma is fine with having her teeth cleaned, although not keen on her nails getting trimmed. Karma is house-trained and sleeps beautifully in her crate every night. She does not chew or destroy anything in the home, nor does she counter-surf. Karma enjoys spending time in the yard with her people and is happy to watch the world go by as her foster family works in the garden.

Karma is comfortable being left at home with her dog pals; she is learning that it is also OK to be left completely alone, and that a Kong stuffed with treats is a good way to pass the time waiting for her people to return.

Karma would most likely thrive in a dog sport such as agility, herding, or nose work. This intelligent and athletic dog is eager to please and quick to learn. She has the fundamental obedience skills and more such as:

Holding down position from a distance

Waiting for permission to eat (sits and gives eye contact until command given) *Karma has no resource guarding around people, and she will immediately back off food or toys if told to leave)

“Wait” at door thresholds (always enters or exits after her human)

Respecting boundaries such as staying out of the kitchen

Learning “middle” (similar to “come” but dog goes around behind person, then stands between legs; we are hoping this may be a useful strategy in her training)

Karma is fear reactive towards new/strange dogs. We have been working hard on this in fostering and are pleased with her progress. Karma has already become desensitized to neighbourhood barking and, while curious, no longer becomes over aroused. Karma has quickly learned that occasionally sitting quietly at the window is a pleasant activity. She is also making huge steps walking calmly on a loose leash in the neighbourhood (no dogs in sight) rather than her previous state of near-perpetual high arousal. We are also practicing seeing/passing dogs at a controlled distance, and she continues to improve each week. Helping Karma overcome her fear reactivity is a work in progress and will require ongoing training.

Karma is one of those dogs who quickly works her way in your heart. We believe Karma will be a wonderful canine companion for that calm, patient, and experienced person who is willing to give this amazing dog a forever home.

Please review our adoption process here.

NOT READY FOR ADOPTION

SMOOTH COATED
Coat - Rough
Gender - Female
Size - medium/large
Age - 5 years old

Tia is a 4-year old smooth collie mix (maybe with a bit of German Shepherd and a bit of Husky?). She is spayed, strong and healthy.

Tia is considered a “special needs” dog and after a long stint in foster care, she is now looking for her permanent home. She is still a work in progress in behavioural training and is not a “quick fix” dog. We know little of Tia’s history except that she was moved from shelter to shelter for almost a year before coming into our care. We can only guess that those were not happy times for Tia and that she probably missed a lot of socializing moments as a youngster. Busy, urban environment holds a lot of scary sights and sounds for Tia. She doesn’t react to these by hiding, instead she barks and lunges (at people, dogs, or moving vehicles). Despite her worries and concerns, there is a normal side to Tia. Home is Tia's happy place. She is sweet, affectionate and loves attention/cuddles from her safe, familiar people. She loves to play nice collie-games with her foster family’s collie. She carves a spot for herself in your heart. At OCR we believe Tia deserves to find a happy, permanent home with a family who will love her, be patient and kind with her and who will try to see the world through her eyes to help her feel safe.

Tia’s foster family has been working with a trainer specializes in reactive dogs to help Tia learn that the world is not as bad as she thinks, that there are many interesting things out there but they are not threatening her, that relaxing is good. She is making progress.

Tia needs a quiet home in a quiet area, without lots of traffic and without lots of people. She is fine with another dog in her family but she is anxious when she sees other dogs outside and on walks, so no dog parks for Tia. Tia should not be in a home with children because of her reactivity. What she really needs are people who will continue to patiently work through her anxiety with her, who will slowly introduce her when she needs to meet a new person or another dog, and who will not put her in a situation she isn’t yet ready to handle. As Tia is still young and energetic, she needs a good level of daily exercise so a good-sized (securely fenced) yard where she can run and play games with her people would be ideal, especially if most of her exercise needs could be met in the yard. Tia needs to be kept safely on leash when she isn’t in her home or yard. In addition, to provide for her mental stimulation, Tia would benefit from ongoing positive training, perhaps in some of the calmer yet intellectually challenging dog sports such as scent detection, tracking, freestyle or rally.

If this sounds like your home please send us your application. We will be carefully considering adoptive homes for Tia (as we do for all of our dogs). Tia is not an “easy” dog but she will teach you so much about the true power of a relationship with a dog.

Please review our adoption process here.

NOT READY FOR ADOPTION

ROUGH COLLIE
Coat - Rough
Gender - Female
Size - medium/large
Age - 5 years old

Eleanor is a spayed 5 year-old sable Collie (perhaps with a splash of Border Collie?) who weighs ~50lbs.

Karma has so many of the qualities that we love in the collie breed. She is a loving, loyal dog who adores spending time with her people. Like most collies, Karma is extremely athletic yet calm in the house; she clearly enjoys physical and mental activities but is equally happy to relax during those hours in between.

Karma is a people dog. She is an affectionate companion who loves to cuddle, learn, and please. Karma is comfortable with strangers although she needs reminders to dial back her exuberance when meeting visitors; Karma sometimes assumes they are as excited to meet her as she is to meet them but is quickly learning that sitting politely is a win-win. Karma would do best placed with a calm individual or couple, as energetic children may lead to over-excitement.

Karma is currently fostered in a home with dogs. She enjoys hanging out with her furry friends and engages in a little playtime with her lab buddy, although she needs a few reminders to ease off the herding game. Karma has had exposure to cats (seems to be fine). She does not show any interest in chasing bikes or cars. Karma enjoys being groomed and her coat, which is shorter than that of a typical rough collie, is quite easy to care for with a quick brush. Karma is fine with having her teeth cleaned, although not keen on her nails getting trimmed. Karma is house-trained and sleeps beautifully in her crate every night. She does not chew or destroy anything in the home, nor does she counter-surf. Karma enjoys spending time in the yard with her people and is happy to watch the world go by as her foster family works in the garden.

Karma is comfortable being left at home with her dog pals; she is learning that it is also OK to be left completely alone, and that a Kong stuffed with treats is a good way to pass the time waiting for her people to return.

“Wait” at door thresholds (always enters or exits after her human)

Respecting boundaries such as staying out of the kitchen

Learning “middle” (similar to “come” but dog goes around behind person, then stands between legs; we are hoping this may be a useful strategy in her training)

Karma is fear reactive towards new/strange dogs. We have been working hard on this in fostering and are pleased with her progress. Karma has already become desensitized to neighbourhood barking and, while curious, no longer becomes over aroused. Karma has quickly learned that occasionally sitting quietly at the window is a pleasant activity. She is also making huge steps walking calmly on a loose leash in the neighbourhood (no dogs in sight) rather than her previous state of near-perpetual high arousal. We are also practicing seeing/passing dogs at a controlled distance, and she continues to improve each week. Helping Karma overcome her fear reactivity is a work in progress and will require ongoing training.

Karma is one of those dogs who quickly works her way in your heart. We believe Karma will be a wonderful canine companion for that calm, patient, and experienced person who is willing to give this amazing dog a forever home.

Please review our adoption process here.

NOT READY FOR ADOPTION

SMOOTH COATED
Coat - Rough
Gender - Female
Size - medium/large
Age - 5 years old

Newton is a 4-year old smooth collie mix (maybe with a bit of German Shepherd and a bit of Husky?). She is spayed, strong and healthy.

Tia is considered a “special needs” dog and after a long stint in foster care, she is now looking for her permanent home. She is still a work in progress in behavioural training and is not a “quick fix” dog. We know little of Tia’s history except that she was moved from shelter to shelter for almost a year before coming into our care. We can only guess that those were not happy times for Tia and that she probably missed a lot of socializing moments as a youngster. Busy, urban environment holds a lot of scary sights and sounds for Tia. She doesn’t react to these by hiding, instead she barks and lunges (at people, dogs, or moving vehicles). Despite her worries and concerns, there is a normal side to Tia. Home is Tia's happy place. She is sweet, affectionate and loves attention/cuddles from her safe, familiar people. She loves to play nice collie-games with her foster family’s collie. She carves a spot for herself in your heart. At OCR we believe Tia deserves to find a happy, permanent home with a family who will love her, be patient and kind with her and who will try to see the world through her eyes to help her feel safe.

Tia’s foster family has been working with a trainer specializes in reactive dogs to help Tia learn that the world is not as bad as she thinks, that there are many interesting things out there but they are not threatening her, that relaxing is good. She is making progress.

Tia needs a quiet home in a quiet area, without lots of traffic and without lots of people. She is fine with another dog in her family but she is anxious when she sees other dogs outside and on walks, so no dog parks for Tia. Tia should not be in a home with children because of her reactivity. What she really needs are people who will continue to patiently work through her anxiety with her, who will slowly introduce her when she needs to meet a new person or another dog, and who will not put her in a situation she isn’t yet ready to handle. As Tia is still young and energetic, she needs a good level of daily exercise so a good-sized (securely fenced) yard where she can run and play games with her people would be ideal, especially if most of her exercise needs could be met in the yard. Tia needs to be kept safely on leash when she isn’t in her home or yard. In addition, to provide for her mental stimulation, Tia would benefit from ongoing positive training, perhaps in some of the calmer yet intellectually challenging dog sports such as scent detection, tracking, freestyle or rally.

If this sounds like your home please send us your application. We will be carefully considering adoptive homes for Tia (as we do for all of our dogs). Tia is not an “easy” dog but she will teach you so much about the true power of a relationship with a dog.n goes here.

Please review our adoption process here.