More Decisions

For once, I'm trying to pay attention to the nagging feelings of... something... when I feel them. (Other people seem so much better at doing this than I am.) Even though Hiro is a perfectly fine dog, I have a feeling that it wouldn't work out. Of course, it has taken me five days to actually pay attention to this feeling. Cognition versus Emotion.

At first I thought it was because he isn't "Buddy Jr." -- and expecting him to be so would be terribly unfair to Hiro. But I don't think a copy of Buddy is what I'm looking for, honestly. It was great playing ball with Hiro. The problem is that I don't feel like I connected with him in the least. And knowing that he tried to bite the groomer (ok, it was his first haircut) and knowing nothing about his background... well, these things worry me.

I even called Barb, our vet, to ask her about rescue Border Collies. She suggested that Border Collies and Jack Russell Terriers found in rescue often have issues, like aggression or separation anxiety, that can be quite difficult to overcome; moreover, these two breeds in particular seem to have a high probability of such rescue issues. Not impossible to overcome by any means, but difficult.

And then there is the desire to "rescue" a homeless dog. I would so like to be able to do that. But are my training skills and time adequate to do this with a Border Collie? Gosh, Buddy wasn't a rescue and was such a handful as a puppy and young adult anyway. I would hate to take on a rescue dog and have to put him back into rescue later. On the other hand, Max was a rescue and has been a great pup.

Back and forth.

After having a long talk with Birgit, I emailed Cindy to tell her that we've decided not to adopt Hiro. That was so difficult. In the long run, though, I think it was the right decision. But we're not giving up on the Border Collie search. We have more possibilities to explore... starting tomorrow!