Misty - 2 year old female Terrier cross Collie

July 7th, 2008

Misty is a neutered female of around 2 years old. She’s a tri-coloured cross-breed (likely makeup: Border Collie/Terrier/Whippet) who has come into rescue through no fault of her own after being found as a stray at around 5 months old, and then handed back after her owners seperated.

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She will be fully vaccinated, is microchipped and free from worms, ticks or fleas. If you are interested in offering Misty a home, you must be prepared to travel to Northamptonshire to meet her.

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Below is what Misty’s foster home have to say about her:

‘Misty is very wary of some new people and can take quite a while to be confident with them. She seems to be better in her own home and best with men who let her approach and say hello at her own pace.

She is currently in a foster home with 2 other dogs and while she gets along fine with the more confident, assertive dog she is bullying the other one. This has decreased alot in the home with careful training but is still definately evident particularly out on walks. However, she clearly gets alot out of having a doggie friend around and in the right hands could go to a home with an existing dog. Misty’s bullying behaviour stems from her own insecurity. She will body block, air snap and neck snap to try and prevent other dogs from getting attention and fuss from their owners.

She will also snap in the face of dogs she doesn’t know so at the moment she can only be let off-lead in secure area’s with dogs she knows well. However, her obedience off lead is good - she has a good recall and sit and will walk alongside you also - but I cannot stress enough that she will not be able to be let off around other dogs until her bullying is properly under control. On lead, she will walk to heel nicely but can be easily distracted, she will also ‘wait’ when you ask her to allow you to get through doors and get her out of the car boot. She travels like a dream but will need a crate or secure dog guard as if she can squirm and get to you - she will!

Indoors, she knows ‘away’ to stay clear while you are eating dinner and ‘leave it’ not to pick up my son’s toys etc … and is very good at learning. Misty is crate trained and house trained but cannot be left alone without building it up very slowly over a period of some weeks. She is living with a ‘dog friendly’ toddler in her foster home and has a number of good qualities with children in that she doesnt snatch food, and generally doesn’t steal toys (or gives them back when asked) but when the excitement builds she ‘forgets herself’ and goes into bullying mode and I think she could snap if it was not carefully managed.

Also, if Misty is ever to run free and be a social girl she needs a lot of love and attention from her owners, in addition to that she needs a stable home with a fairly consistant routine and without too many people visiting initially - it is for these two reasons that I would suggest she isn’t homed with children (even older children as they still take a lot of parents time and also can tend to have different friends round). As a final note, at the moment Misty is not socialised or comfortable enough to be taken to dog training classes of any kind just yet. She has been assessed by my behaviourist who is happy to talk to the new owners about offering them support and advice.’