Stockings
TLDR: Look up the 3/3/3 rule and Border Collie characteristics and give my friend Stockings a chance. ?
I've known this little fella since he was a brand new intake. He came in with another beautiful herding dog, and she was adopted right away. This little buddy has been adopted and promptly returned not once but twice. In the year and two months that I have known him, my young son bonded with him at an off-site, and I have enjoyed getting to know him. Sadly, I have also seen a marked shift in him. After all, he is now a long term shelter dog. TAPS is an amazing shelter, probably the best, but dogs are brilliant and sensitive creatures. Can you imagine being returned time and again?
When I adopted my own dog, as a young adult, I remember taking her to her puppy classes and our homework for the first day was to research their breed tendencies. It would give us an insight into what drives them. I remember thinking how logical, and almost silly that advice was. Humans literally created the domesticated dog and then narrowed down different traits to create everything from a Rhodesian Ridgeback to a Pomeranian- talk about disparate characteristics. Do you want a dog that will run with you? Protect your livestock? Share your pillow? Hunt Lions? Hang out in your purse while you run to Target? We've got a breed for that.
Our family's TAPS puppy is what we affectionately call a Heinz57 and the first thing we did was DNA test him. I just couldn't stand not knowing what his breed composition was. It allows us to better understand him, in every way, and we love seeing how characteristics from the different breeds come through.
So, Stockings. When I first knew him, he loved to stand on his back legs and give the most gentle hugs but he connected with us- deeply. He was so happy to meet other people, and was excellent at communicating his needs. As time has passed, he feels aloof, his nervous system needs time to decompress, he needs to learn to trust again.
So, why the soliloquy about breed and instincts you ask? When friends ask me my advice about adopting a dog, I tell them that I believe the most important thing they can do is to find a dog who matches your family's energy. If you are all marathon runners, maybe don't bring home a Frenchie? If you all love to Netflix and Chill, a Cattle Dog is going to be a tough match.
Stockings very much has the energy and herding instinct true to his breed (Border Collie mix). He gave me gentle love nibbles when I saw him on Thursday, so he might not be the best candidate for a homestead situation or a family with toddlers. I do think he would adjust well to a family, with respect and time, and patience. He is worthy of humans who will teach him to love again, a life beyond a kennel and the noise and stress that comes along with shelter life.
Stockings weighs 40 pounds
Leash Manners: great on leash
Basic Commands: sit, stay, drop, down
Cat introduction in a controlled environment: NO CATS
Good with dogs? : Came in with another dog, in his time here it does not want to interact. Eligible for dog intros
Special Notes: Afraid of storms, firework, and gun fire, prefers to be in his kennel in those times. He is not destructive in his kennel . Did not do well with cats in a home. No horses
Adoption Fee: $100
Date of Birth: 12/1/2019
Intake Reason: Return
Animal will be spayed and up to date on vaccines, and microchipped prior to adoption. If their kennel card on display at TAPS shelter facility is marked as unaltered, the animal will be altered prior to being released for adoption. Animal stage may change from time to time based on surgery and medical status. TAPS strives to keep kennel cards as up to date as possible with current information but from time to time, information may change and a new kennel card may be pending. Full and current vaccination schedule and medical records along with any behavioral disclosures will be provided at time of adoption.
