Friday 29th May

Dovey (now Mouse) met a new friend today, Bear's sister Meg came to play. We all had great fun together running up and down. It's been very hot today though so we soon got tired and had to lie down in the shade for a rest.

'Mum' told us that Silver is going to her new home tomorrow so we have said our goodbyes. We hope she gets on well with her new family. We will miss her.

Oz is also leaving us in the morning to go on to breed rescue. We didn't get to meet him properly but we won't miss his high pitched squeaky barks. He has been quite noisy and 'Mum' has been worried about the neighbours.

Tuesday 26th May

The new Collie arrived, 'Dad' called him Taz because he is a little bit excitable. I don't think he will be joining in any of our games, he's a lot bigger and stronger than us. 'Mum' says he just needs some training and he will be okay.

Our friend Silver met her new Collie companions today and all went well so that means she will be leaving us in a few days. We will miss her, she has been great fun. We taught her to play which she is rather good at now.

Dovey has made great progress over the last few days and has been running and chasing with us in the dog run. At first she was scared but when she saw us doing it she decided it might be fun and joined in. Today she even got the ball a couple of times. 'Mum' is delighted with her improvement. Still a long way to go but all the signs are good.

Saturday 23rd May

Dovey is showing a little bit more improvement every day. I went to see her again this morning and we had a little play together in the run, well I played and she watched really but 'Mum' was very pleased. Dovey doesn't really know how to play and is frightened of toys at the moment but we will teach her.

Our other friend Misty is really nice too and she is much braver than Dovey and will go for a walk as long as you are gentle with her and don't make any sudden movements. It's sad to think that someone has been mean to her, she is such a sweet girl.

'Mum' says we are having another Collie come in next week so I hope he or she is nice too and can join in our games.

Thursday 21st May

Dovey has been making very small steps to accepting 'Mum' and has started to wag her tail when 'Mum' speaks to her, she is still extremely anxious but can cope with being stroked gently. So 'Mum' decided perhaps I should be the one to try and forge a stronger link between them because Bear is younger she is a bit too 'full on' and would probably scare Dovey. I think she's lovely, she is a really pretty girl and she seemed to like me too. I got some tail wags and she was watching me play ball with 'Mum' and get lots of strokes and hugs. She was interested in what was going on and I can see that one day she might like to play ball too.

Monday 18th May

We think that Home-A-Dog should become a Collie rescue for poor traumatised Collies. 'Dad' went to collect another one from the Pound this morning. She's another tri colour like Loki and Dovey and another very frightened, abused girl. She is another farm reject either that or she ran away and has been deprived of any basic care. Full of fleas with a bald neck where she has been chained and an old scar across her nose probably where the farmers boot connected. 'Dad' called her Misty, she was worse with him than with 'Mum' so at least she is a bit braver than Dovey.
Auntie Diane sat in with Dovey today for a while and was shocked at how frightened she is. She is making progress but it will be very slow.

Saturday 16th May

Goodness it's been busy here today! Lots of people coming to visit but all of them to see 'Mum' because it's her birthday. Still we did get quite a few cuddles too.

Dovey is the most frightened Collie we have ever seen and 'Mum' thinks it will take a long time and a lot of patience to bring her around. 'Mum' has been sitting with her again today and has managed to stroke her but poor Dovey is completely closed down and just stares into space. 'Mum' asked Auntie Helen to post her up on the website today but says that Dovey will need a very special home. We hope it will be a home where there are already other Collies so they will help her to be more confident and happy.

Friday 15th May

Silver is recovering well from her operation, I don't think she likes the lampshade thing that the vet said she has to wear on her head. It makes it very difficult for her to get around and it means she can't play with us anymore. She had a visitor today, a very nice lady who loves us Collies and knows what we are about. She already has two and Silver would be very happy there we think.

We have a new arrival at the kennels a lovely little girl Collie called Dovey, she is tri coloured like me, not black and white like Bear. She has come from a farm and is really terrified of everything. 'Mum' has been sitting in Dovey's kennel, very quiet and still, for ages today just trying to be accepted in the same space. It's so sad when dogs arrive like this mainly through lack of care and socialisation, 'Mum' gets upset for them but I know she will win her over in the end, look what she did with Bear and her sisters. Poor Dovey was so frightened you could see her heart pounding in her chest. 'Mum' says it will be a while before we are allowed to play with her. We don't get to play with all the dogs by the way, just the collies sometimes if 'Mum' thinks it will be alright.

Wednesday 13th May

Our friend Silver went to the vet today for a small operation to fix her sore leg, she was very good and behaved wonderfully well. We like her a lot and will be sorry to say goodbye to her when she gets a new home.
Ozzy has also been 'in the wars' and has managed to cut his nose on some glass whilst he was out walking, he has a nasty gash but because it's on his nose the vet can't really fix it so it will just need to heal up on it's own.
It was a dry evening so we were able to go and join in 'Mum's' fun agility with all the other dogs. We really enjoy all the running around and socialising, although Bear is such a little madam she gets very excited and barks at all the other dogs. I think she is especially jealous of Honey who is a beautiful Golden Retriever that I have my eye on.

Monday 11th May

What a busy day today has been - Steve and Tim came to take photo's of Ozzy and Silver for their posters, poor Silver was very shy and didn't like the camera, it's a shame because she's very pretty. Uncle Dave came and cut the grass on his ride on mower, that looks like great fun!
It's been very warm and sunny today and we have been able to play out for most of the time. Meg came this morning and all us Collies had a great run around together, sometimes Meg and Bear are grouchy with each other but they were friends today (sibblings eh!). I haven't been able to play ball or run around too much today because I'm limping a little bit so 'Mum' says I have to take it easy in case the sun keeps shining and we get to do agility this week.

Saturday 9th May

All the humans have been busy today what with visitors, finding new homes for Charlie and Meg, weighing the puppies and all the other stuff that they seem to do everyday like cleaning, feeding and walking the dogs. Bear and me have been a little bit bored, we usually get to sit in the office with 'Mum' for at least part of the day but today we have been outside for most of the time. It's not too bad though because 'Mum' does play with us during the day and tries to teach us lots of tricks which we really love! We generally get a nice walk when she's finished doing all the other dogs too so we probably shouldn't really complain, it's not a bad life.
Auntie Megan came today and spent a lot of time striping out Silver's coat, she was very good considering how matted it was, mostly she lay with her head on Megan's knee whilst she cut and combed and finally brushed what was left. Silver looks a lot better now, she has a pretty pink bandage on her leg because 'Mum' and Megan found a bit cut on her leg so 'Mum' cleaned and dressed it for her. Silver has a very sweet nature and didn't mind a bit. We think she is very brave. We would like her to stay but 'Mum' says that 'Dad' would leave home if we got anymore dogs!

Thursday May 7th

I think 'Mum' might of mentioned Ozzy the Australian Cattle Dog in her blog, he's very handsome (although not as good looking as us Collie's) quite a stocky chap but he's bred to work cattle not sheep like us. 'Mum' thought he might have a home with some lovely friends called Bev & Stu but he's a bit too much for them as like us he needs a lot of mental stimulation and a job to do or he will get bored. Dogs like Ozzy enjoy agility because they can jump really high and like to run so he would make a good pet for someone is active and likes to do high energy things like canicross perhaps. Ozzy accidentally head butted 'Dad' this morning and made his nose bleed so I don't think he knows his own strength. 'Dad' didn't mind though and still gave him a cuddle.
Silver the collie is nice and gentle, we like her a lot, although she could do with a bath! Auntie Megan is going to do that on Saturday and then she should be much nicer to be around.

Tuesday 5th May

We have had a busy weekend with lots of dogs coming and going. We have had some nice walks though and even managed to go out in the big van. I love going out but poor Bear has been sick each time she goes in the van. 'Mum' thinks she may be better in the front on the floor next time so we will have to see if that works. We don't all fit in the car now that we are four. If we were all Collies we would but Atka and Nu are big and take up all the room.
Meg came to play with us again today, she is a lot like Bear and runs up and down following me everywhere. She even managed to get the ball off me a couple of times so I think she is going to be a fast dog, perhaps she would like flyball.

Saturday 2nd May

We have had a fairly quiet day today, silly 'Mum' managed to get herself bitten last night so she can't hold our leads properly or even throw the ball straight. Thank goodness Auntie Diane came round with Meg (Bear's sister) so we at least had a play together and Auntie Diane played ball with us. Poor Bear got knocked over in the mad scrabble for the ball but although she was limping for a couple of minutes seems to be okay now. It's a good job us Collies are tough!
We are hoping to have another playmate in a few weeks because 'Mum' says that Auntie Nannette is getting a new puppy just like Honey. We like Honey, she's a little bit bonkers but that's okay because we are too. It's nice to have lots of doggy friends to play with.

Friday 1st May

Hi I'm Bear, Loki told you a part of my story on Wednesday. I was another unwanted farm collie and I am so glad that I ended up at Home-A-Dog and not the horrible puppy farm in Bala were I was destined for originally with my two sisters. When that didn't happen I was meant to be drowned by the horrible farmer that we lived with first of all. Luckily a nice lady learned of our plight and phoned up 'Mum' to take us instead. That was really good luck because by then we were really very frightened and I had learned that biting was the best form of defense. 'Mum' has taught me that I don't need to do that now because I am safe. I like it here very much with Loki and the other dogs that live indoors with us. I especially like 'Mum's' cat and try to play with him but he doesn't always like it and tries to run away. Sometimes I put my paw on him to make him stay but he gets cross and makes a loud hissing sound so I let him go. I also like the two rats that are in a cage in the caravan, I bark at them and yesterday I was very naughty and pulled their cage off the chest whilst 'Mum' was out being busy with the kennel dogs. Poor 'Mum', she was very worried about them and of course all the mess I had made. Luckily the rats were non the worse for their ordeal.