Oh Canada!

We've had some doggie news lately, but not about our upcoming puppy-to-be-named-later. Fingers and toes are still crossed for happy news from Wales.

I had put my name in with a few of the folks who handle rescued and rehomed Beardies to see if a nice adult dog might need a home. Charlie's lonely and bored without another dog in the house. We take him out for nice long romps, but he still needs canine company in addition to his play dates.

The person who handles rehomes alerted me to a young male in the Toronto area whose breeders are looking to rehome him, and I told her to tell the breeders we were interested. This morning, I received a very nice email from a breeder I've known for quite some time. We've called each other and exchanged emails, and if all goes well, Greg and I might be heading to Toronto for a weekend in May and bringing home a four-legged souvenir for Charlie.

This doggie's name is Sneakers -- you just know that's going to change quicker than you can say "Ridiculous." (I mentioned the name to Greg and he said the same thing: "What a stupid thing to name a dog.") He's 2 1/2 years old, neutered, and has a herding instinct test title in Canada. He's been trained in obedience, agility, and freestyle as well. The breeder says he's had some fear and anxiety issues in the past with his previous owner, but that he has been fine with her girls and with another breeder friend and her dogs.

We plan to take him for a 6-8 week "test drive." If everything works out well and he likes it here, the breeder will transfer ownership to us through CKC and we can register him with AKC (right now he's only registered in Canada, so I can't compete with him in the US).

He's not a perfect dog -- there will be issues to work out, but once he has a chance to settle in to a place and not be moved around, he should do fine. I think his self-esteem will rise once he gets a name he's not ashamed of, too. Charlie will make sure he has companionship, and I'll get him some classes. Once he and I can work together as a team, I'll take him out and start working on his American performance titles. That's the best way to keep him out of trouble; he's a smart young dog with a lot of energy. A tired dog is a good dog, after all.