LadyGascoyne
Still Fig-uring it out...
My brilliant boy has had another great year. For those of you that don't remember, my dad has been very ill these past years and my border collie has become his constant companion.
Rio started off 2015 with a trip to Italy to do some wedding planning, and some sight seeing on the side.
He's also added some new skills to the list. He can now open and close doors on command, and he can now differentiate between three types of shoe so he can bring boots, shoes or slippers on command. The slippers were a bit challenging at first because they are sheepskin and were more fun to play with than bring but we have got there in the end. He learns incredibly quickly, we had 'close the door' down in less than 15 minutes.
One of the things I have been working on is asking him to jump low and straight for the frisbee. He has a very impressive jump and twist and seldom misses one but he's just turned seven and I'm concerned about the wear and tear on his back. I had been teaching 'slowly!' just before I throw and it's been coming along nicely. Collie experts, am I being over cautious with this?
Playing on a spring day.
Then in June it was back over to Italy for my wedding, where he served as joint best man.
He's such an easy dog, there is so little that fazes him. So many people comment that BCs are neurotic but I've never had a steadier, happier dog. He's walked twice a day, morning and evening, for about an hour. During the day, he goes everywhere with my dad so he's seldom alone, but he's totally reliable on his own when my dad is in hospital.
Late summer evening on the river.
I am so proud of my boy, he's just the kindest soul in the world. He's looked after my dad with unwavering loyalty. He's brought lightness and happiness to all of us when we've had our low points in my dad's illness. Most incredibly, he has learned to understand my dad, whose speech has been badly affected by his illness. That is almost like learning two separate languages.
In October, I moved to New Zealand and, of course, Rio stayed with my dad. I miss him so much but I have absolutely no doubt he is where he needs to be.
Rio started off 2015 with a trip to Italy to do some wedding planning, and some sight seeing on the side.
He's also added some new skills to the list. He can now open and close doors on command, and he can now differentiate between three types of shoe so he can bring boots, shoes or slippers on command. The slippers were a bit challenging at first because they are sheepskin and were more fun to play with than bring but we have got there in the end. He learns incredibly quickly, we had 'close the door' down in less than 15 minutes.
One of the things I have been working on is asking him to jump low and straight for the frisbee. He has a very impressive jump and twist and seldom misses one but he's just turned seven and I'm concerned about the wear and tear on his back. I had been teaching 'slowly!' just before I throw and it's been coming along nicely. Collie experts, am I being over cautious with this?
Playing on a spring day.
Then in June it was back over to Italy for my wedding, where he served as joint best man.
He's such an easy dog, there is so little that fazes him. So many people comment that BCs are neurotic but I've never had a steadier, happier dog. He's walked twice a day, morning and evening, for about an hour. During the day, he goes everywhere with my dad so he's seldom alone, but he's totally reliable on his own when my dad is in hospital.
Late summer evening on the river.
I am so proud of my boy, he's just the kindest soul in the world. He's looked after my dad with unwavering loyalty. He's brought lightness and happiness to all of us when we've had our low points in my dad's illness. Most incredibly, he has learned to understand my dad, whose speech has been badly affected by his illness. That is almost like learning two separate languages.
In October, I moved to New Zealand and, of course, Rio stayed with my dad. I miss him so much but I have absolutely no doubt he is where he needs to be.
I often see people who deserve to have my dog Dylan, but they arent family luckily as I am to selfish to ever give him up 
