Sam

Sam is a beloved member of our family. He has come so far with socialization. He loves ball and games and takes good care of his toys! The summer of 2008 was a very sad time for my husband Richard and me, as our beloved border collie Bobby’s health and quality of life rapidly deteriorated. After he died that August, friends urged us to adopt another dog. By fall we had agreed to foster Sam, who needed to be moved quickly from a deplorable hoarding situation. It took less than a day before we knew we wanted to adopt this neglected, horribly underweight blue merle boy who hadn’t been housetrained and had never climbed stairs. We didn’t have all the skills and experience we needed to help him with his fear and reactivity, but we read, researched, got fantastic support and expert help from Come Bye and enrolled Sam in classes at the Greater St. Louis Training Club. Over a year later, we can report that we’ve all learned a great deal, whether from challenges or just from having lots of fun. Sam is able to enjoy guests, take walks without undue anxiety, ride in the car, participate in classes and has even stopped “protecting us” from the mail that comes through our front door mail slot. This beautiful, sweet, shy, very active boy will always take a cautious approach to new situations, but his world has grown and no longer poses daily threats. Instead, he walks and runs, plays ball, loves his squeakies, gets to demonstrate many behaviors at class and even puts up with being herded by his brother Jackie. He’s still sometimes unsure about our two cats, but we don’t worry anymore when they’re all together. He has several favorite activities. One is pictured here: racing and playing in the snow at a nearby large park. Another is playing combination catcher and fielder with the grandchildren. Thank you, Come Bye, for our beautiful boy!

Marty

We refer to Ben as our little sweet guy. He is only 30 pounds but boy can he demand some loving. He has never met a stranger - 2 or 4 legged. He is full of energy and loves to play with all of his toys. We love it when he climbs into his toy basket to decide which toy he will play with next. We would like to thank the Nason family for fostering Ben and giving him a great start. I think they would like to know that Ben now loves to ride in the car and no longer gets sick (Yeah!!)

Honey

Honey is doing great! She continues to build her confidence. People who've known her over the past 2 years often comment on how much more at ease she is around people now than she used to be. She is a happy girl and a fetching machine! I just wanted to drop you a line to update you on how Honey (formerly Laddie) is doing. She's a super good girl and has really come out of her shell. We did basic obedience classes last summer and fall to help her with socialization. She did well with that, but I thought she'd enjoy a more active class, so this winter we took beginning agility. At first she wasn't too sure about it, but after the third class she really took off. We are going to start another agility session next week so that she can continue building her skills and confidence, and so the two of us can get out of the house and do some more bonding. She has become such a happy girl. To see her now, I think you'd be amazed that she is the same dog that you saw when she came into rescue. Seeing her when she has her "happy face" on always makes me smile. She dances around before we put her food down and before she goes outside. She loves to fetch - with toys indoors and with the tennis ball and frisbee outdoors. Since she gets so wild when it's time to play, this spring I have been asking more of her when we play - making her sit before I throw the ball and releasing her with "go." At first I didn't want to squelch her budding confidence, but now she's ready to accept some more direction. My guess is that her previous owners never asked much of anything from her. She is capable of so much, and unless something makes her nervous, she's very biddable. She loves to go for rides in the car with me and I often take her to the pet store on weekends. She is very easygoing and has become pals with both Milo and the cats. We are so glad to have Honey as part of our family. She is a real sweetheart and we love her dearly. Thanks for taking her into rescue and for letting us adopt her.

Quinn

Jazz, my non-Border Collie BC is fine! She only wants to please you if you have food on hand. She makes an excellent mop. She just lays there and lets the kids slide her around the floor. She can be found most days lying on top of the air conditioning vents :-).

Sally

She is a very happy, obedient and busy Border Collie. She spends her days either at work (garden center) greeting customers, alongside her sister BC's or dock jumping and swimming in the bay. She recently took 2nd place Ultimate Air Dogs.