Any ideas for rehoming a border collie?

[Esther.R]

Please can anyone help us find a home for Jip? He is a 4yr old entire border collie dog, fully vaccinated and good in all ways, except he has never fully accepted our daughter and gets grumpy and jealous (not snappy or nasty) and is very stressy in the house (he will growl and hide a lot and bark when attention is shown to anyone else - human or animal). We have been seeking a home for him for some time with no success sadly as we have a baby due in September and are worried this will push him over the edge and upset him even more.

We have consulted trainers/behaviourists etc over the last year or so but with limited success, general consensus is that the situation is the problem and he needs to be rehomed.

He is usually a friendly happy and affectionate dog, very good off the lead, fine on the lead (but can pull a bit on a short lead as he is used to be off), good in the house/car, fine to leave alone, has lived all his life with cats and is good with other dogs. Never shown any interest in livestock, 100% reliable with poultry (we have a garden full!).

He is fine in town/country, when we lived near Newcastle he used to commute to work to me on the Metro in rush hour two days a week - so people and traffic do not bother him!

He needs an experienced, active home where he settle down again and get back to his old happy self. He is ok with children but since it is children that have caused the issue then a home with no children or older children would be needed. We are prepared to help with transport to pretty much anywhere in the UK.

Has anyone any ideas? We are running into a brick wall up here and only suggestions left are that he goes into the pound at Aberdeen or gets put to sleep, neither or which are acceptable in our eyes since he has done nothing wrong and is just unsettled in the situation, and a big kennels situation is just not fair on him. If anyone knows any recommended rescues that might take him and who use foster homes, preferably in Scotland but will consider anywhere for a good home for him, then please let us know.

[theabsinthefairy]

Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your dog and need to rehome. We have a border collie and were told initially that they can find living with children difficult.

There are a number of specialist border collie rescue centres that operate specifically with collies and have a great understand and awareness of the needs of this breed. I appreciate that they are some way from you but can recommend the border collie trust based in the Midlands, who were very helpful when we were researching and then searching for our dog. There are several other branches around the UK, and you may be able to find someone nearer you - try google and you get a couple of pages of reputable centres.

Sorry I can't offer any further advice in relation to direct re-homing for your dog.

Monika

[Esther.R]

Thanks, it was one of those unfortunate things, we did all the breed research and my husband and his family have had collies for years (I have always had dogs but he was my first collie) when we got Jip we had no children and none planned in the immediate future...and then Beth arrived Our other dog (a whippet) is absolutely lovely with her and so laid back, but collies are such sensitive souls that it has really upset Jip.

I will try the collie rescues again but last time I tried them they were all full with waiting lists We got some very good advice from them last year when we were seeking help to deal with the problem, their advice did help but sadly we are having to face the reality of the problem still existing.

Thanks :)

[theabsinthefairy]

Sorry I can not help, and if you have already taken advice and it has not helped I can see that you are really stuck.

Good luck rehoming.

[Esther.R]

Thanks, their advice did help, it took the situation from an urgent 'he is growling at my daughter all the time' to a manageable 'he is generally stressed and grumpy but making no direct threats towards her' situation, but since we have not managed to reduce it any further it seems unfair to subject an already stressed dog to another baby and potentially another 8 or more years of living in a stressed condition where he is on edge the whole time, even if not a threat to anyone.

We have tried for over a year to find a way around the problem before looking to rehome, as we really wanted to find a solution.

[Esther.R]

Quick update - a potentially ideal local home has just come out of the blue this evening, just 4 miles down the road from us and right on the beach.

Will update this thread as and when we know anything, we are meeting up on the 12th, so will update after that.

Fingers crossed!

[Ratty]

Good luck with rehoming Jip. I would have loved to help out but I have a 15 month old son. I have a rescued lurcher who has been with me for 12 years now and he is a very sensitive soul too.

I hope everything works out for you and Jip. Do keep us posted.

[Sian]

I do sympathise and I hope the place down the road goes through! Growling at a child isn't something you can allow to continue. If not, I second contacting a breed-specific source, they have lists of people who want a Border Collie and will match person and dog, and Jip wouldn't neccessarily have to go to a rescue centre before finding a new home (though that too is an option).

[Esther.R]

Good news. Jip has a fantastic new home as of mid-August (they are on dog-sitting duty for family until then) - he really took to them and them to him and it seems ideal.

[ina]

Woohoo - good to hear that! And you can always borrow him for a run if you miss him...

[theabsinthefairy]

Glad to hear.

[Esther.R]

We will be very sad to see him go, but it is a fantastic home, experienced with dogs but no other pets and no kids and he can be centre of attention. He was fantastic with them, very relaxed and completely back to his old happy self, very emotional for us but confirmed totally that we are doing the right thing.