Dash

Today we begin the hunt for a super special family for a super special young man. Dash is a one year old border collie. He is desexed, vaccinated, microchipped and heartworm treated, and he has no major medical requirements. Dash is a sweet and handsome boy who would win anyone’s heart.

Dash is dog friendly and loves to run and play. He is boisterous and energetic with his doggy mates, but is also quite considerate of older dogs who might not want to play and gets the message very quickly to not boss them about. He is submissive but wants to interact. He is also cat friendly (but somewhat obsessive about staring) with confident cats but is untested with nervous cats, and might chase (no aggression) so probably a cat free environment would be best.

Dash is a typical adolescent dog in so many ways. He likes to take things that don’t belong to him (though doesn’t destroy them), will jump about and vocalise when he wants your attention, and will sometimes bark. He loves to go for a walk and walks well on lead most of the time, but would like to chase things that move like bikes and cars, so still needs lots of guidance in this area. He loves toys to chew on but is not much interested in the ball – would rather chase the dog chasing the ball – and we have also had to work on him not herding the dog chasing the ball which he is getting the idea of very well.

However, Dash is scared of strangers, so the forever family that we are looking for will need to be committed to his ongoing socialisation and training, will have a truckload of patience and be prepared for his good days and his bad days. The ideal family will have no children or regular child visitors – this is non negotiable – though mature teens will be considered. Dash warms quicker to females than males so any potential dads will need to be extra understanding.

When we first met Dash he was untrained, and under-socialised, and would bark and lunge at strangers/visitors. He would startle easily and retreat quickly from things that he didn’t know or understand; if cornered would have snapped. He is now very curious about people, wants to interact but is still wary of the outcome, so he will need you to be very passive in the beginning and simply let him come to you, but you will be shown many ways to encourage and train him in the right direction to build a solid foundation of trust over time - if you are the right candidate to adopt Dash.

If you are the right family for Dash you’ll have a home with a fully fenced yard big enough for him to run around in as Dash will never be suitable to go off lead in public, and you’ll have another dog ready to welcome him into a calm environment (any size dog is fine). We feel that if he were to live without another dog he would probably bark a lot – not an issue when he has company. His canine sibling should be mature and calm to set a good example for him, social with people to show that interacting with humans is good and fun, and playful enough to enjoy his company but not too playful – if the doggy bond is too strong we feel that he’ll have little motivation to bond with his new humans.

Alternatively, a dog free home will be considered where adult humans are home the majority of the time, and prepared to put a lot of effort into bonding with him socialising him and taking him places, perhaps someone who runs and would take him jogging or hiking (on lead).

Dash is currently fostering in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne and a potential adopter from within a reasonable distance would be preferable as several meet & greet sessions may be required before we can be confident that the situation is right for Dash (and you). Please no applicants in apartments, townhouses or large unsecured rural properties. If you feel you may be a good candidate for a special young man please email us at caninelifeline@hotmail.com for an application form.