the over-achiever, a success story

"Roughly a quarter of Border Collie Dogs end up in shelters or rescue. The top two reasons are that they have bitten someone due to their herding nature - or they are just too hyper or difficult to handle and most people are not willing to put in the time commitment it takes to adequately exercise them." This is a warning put out by the national Border Collie Rescue that we were aware of - but after having one very LOW drive Border Collie "Jinxie".. we thought we would just go ahead and get another one to give her a friend. So - Three years ago - we got Little Ace-Face... the dog who never does anything half way. About a year ago - due to some ummm... "undesireable behavior" not unlike the behavior as described in the warning message above, we started taking him to agility school at our friend Nikki's house. We knew that Border Collies are crazy nuts that need jobs - but he is what is considered "extremely high drive" and really should be a working farm dog - not a family dog. We thought that by really giving him a "job"... something to "do".... something to "learn" to work his brain and body... to divert some of his crazy quirkiness might help him to become more normal... or at least direct some of that energy into something positive, giving him a fun outlet and an activity where hs is the center of attention. When we started, he didn't even want to come when we commanded that he "COME"... we have had some set backs - and its been a slow road, but he LOVES to go to "school" and over the past year has actually become quite a good student. His teacher Nikki is amazing, and has really helped us to understand Ace and his thinking process - the whole situation has been a blessing. The most important thing though - is that he is having SO MUCH FUN... isn't he gorgeous - soaring through the air... completely OVER jumping this jump with a huge smile on his face?

i mean come on - this grin is EAR to EAR!

this student got an "A+" today at school!