A GREAT START TO 2021!

What a fitting event on New Year’s Day…Ellie’s first step into her new life! We drove to meet her furMom in North Carolina soon as she landed at the Raleigh airport. A marvelous hello between the two of them got underway with huge smiles and joy! Ellie was her cautiously opinionated self - you could see her wheels turning which is exactly how she handles new changes. Then off for a stroll before a lift into the rental car! Easy to see that Ellie’s new guardian (one of our dear friends of Glen Highland) is thrilled to take this girl home to join her pack even though she about to drive 21 hours to get home in Minnesota! Ellie happily chomped on her bone and all was made right in the world today!

As you might imagine, these two will bond in a way that is magical sharing this once-in-a-lifetime experience together. Yay for Ellie…at age 11, onto her new work with another loving human!!

Ellie's Story: A super sweet 11 year old, Ellie joined us days ago, thankfully finding her way to us after two weeks in a shelter once she was pulled from the bedside of her deceased guardian. Days had gone by while she quietly waited.

This touching story really explains the first picture we ever saw of her... a deep soulful look of pain and loss... everything changed leaving her uncertain. We knew we had to help. The first hours in rescue meant a few housekeeping needs happened - cutting severely long nails; bathing urine soaked hair, brushing thickly matted hair everywhere and deep cleaning of very disgusting ears. She definitely got the all over beauty ‘special’! This lovely natured girl took it all in stride.

Though Ellie surely needed all this initial help and is soon heading to the vet for medical review, she has been loved and that is for sure. Her little whimpers and tail wags soon as she sees us are just adorable. Every gaze our way is a simple hello, I want to say hello! But she can’t move that well. Ellie’s got some dieting ahead so it will be easier for her to trot over for attention... usually three months before dogs can safely drop this much weight. We’ll then also know whether her gait issues are related to all the weight or truly orthopedic.

12/10/20 Medical Update: The diagnostics completed so far are pointing toward Cushings Disease though not yet confirmed. However, the bigger dilemma is that Ellie has a Collapsed Trachea which explains her deep-chested cough as well as labored breathing. Surgery is challenging and not always productive so Ellie has an unknown outcome ahead with respect to how this advances. Certainly getting weight off will help and maybe improve the prognosis. She also has protein in her urine so is now on a low-protein food.

The other vetting revealed other more typical needs: two slab fractures on her molars need extraction; an ear infection is being treated; and severe arthritis will require pain meds. All in all, pretty normal for a senior dog when care has been lacking.

So, Miss Ellie is now on the ‘love train’ of rescue where she will be pampered and adored to help her feel she has new “work” ahead. When a dog loses their dear human companion, it’s up to us to be sure they know someone else truly needs their ‘help’ again... being a Border Collie, they need that job TO DO and Ellie is that kind of Border Collie. For now, we’re her temporary people til we are sure she is well enough to be adopted.

In the Founder’s home, she’s joined the ‘back-end’ club with some of the immobile gang but we don’t say that out loud, of course!! For now, she is pretty happy in her big cushy beds - there are 9 in the Senior area so she moves from one to the other to find the perfect one for a nap (see photos)! And, she thinks all the other Border Collies are pretty cool, checking each one out.