Dedication

Every now and then, a dog lover comes across a dog that steals his or her heart and runs away with it. Unfortunately for those of us involved in rescue, sometimes that dog is a rescue that we are not able to adopt, for whatever reason. (i.e. having too many dogs, or the wrong combination of dogs.) Trevor was just that dog for me.

I first saw Trevor at the Humane Society Silicon Valley when I was there to teach a training class. Trevor was being exercised by a volunteer in one of the adjacent yards, and I saw him from a distance. I loved the way he ran, and when I made eye contact, he came running to the fence to see me. I asked the volunteer, who told me that he was a border collie mix, just over a year of age. Looking at him, I thought he could be a working lines border collie".

His eyes were bright, and he had a playfulness about him that told me he really wanted to work. He was generally good with other dogs, and learned so quickly. I had the good fortune of having the opportunity to foster him for several weeks, while his regular foster mom was traveling, and he fit right into our pack of dogs and humans. He very quickly learned whatever I wanted to teach him, but his energy level told me that he would be a high-maintenance dog in anything but an active sports home, or on a working ranch.

Since I was unable to adopt him, I promoted him to the dog sports people that I knew, but it took a long time. He was adopted then returned to the shelter and back to foster care. Although his foster mom was dedicated, and did a fantastic job, she just didn't have the time to be involved with dog sports. He started to develop some leash reactivity, (barking at dogs while on leash) which we had to work through. Every week I wondered how he was, and it broke my heart that he did not yet have a "forever home".

In the end, Trevor was adopted out to a family (the foster mom's parents) who lives out on a ranch in Minnesota, where he runs with other dogs, cats, and various other animals. I'm very happy to report that he is living a great life now.