Champion of My HeartA real-time memoir about life with a fearful border collie, by Roxanne Hawn

Charlie, a 9-year-old, female, border collie from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, needs a new home. Her family asked me for help. So, I’m asking all of you for help. Please spread the word in any way you can. Below you’ll find photos, a video, and a detailed Q&A about her.

If you are interested in meeting Charlie or adopting her, please contact Heather Ruddy at ruddyhk@comcast.net or 303-300-2186.

Young kids freak me out. Help me find a new home without any, won't ya?

A Few Details

• Charlie is shy and fearful, especially around kids and other dogs.
• Charlie has had some training, including crate training, basic obedience, and even some agility.
• She loves to play fetch.
• Young children make Charlie VERY nervous and nippy, so a child-free home is probably best.
• Charlie would probably LOVE to be an only dog, unless her new family has experience using positive reinforcement and classical conditioning with dog-dog reactivity and fear issues.

Q: Why does Charlie need a new home after all this time?

We are looking for a new home for Charlie for several reasons.  Charlie has had a hard time adjusting to the addition of our daughter to our family. Charlie can’t seem to relax around our four-year-old daughter.

Whenever there is interaction between either myself or my husband with our daughter, Charlie barks constantly. We basically have a barking dog in the house all day when there is any interaction with our daughter.

Charlie is absolutely fine when our daughter plays by herself or when our daughter is not here; Charlie is very calm during these times.

If you're good at all in reading dog body language, you know exactly how upset Charlie is by the tiara and the fact that a young child (cropped out) is very near by.

Charlie does not like to be touched by our daughter or petted by her and will pee when she tries to touch her.  Charlie has nipped twice at our daughter and made slight contact with her but did not break the skin.

Charlie feels entitled to our daughter’s food and as soon as my daughter leaves her plate Charlie will go after it.  Charlie does not go after the adult’s food in this manner.

Overall, Charlie is a great dog.  We will keep her in our home unless the right person comes along to give her a new one to live out the rest of her life. She is bright and loving with adults, and when she is groomed or boarded, everyone raves about her.  We believe that she would be a lot happier in a home without kids, where she can be the center of attention.

Q: What about other dogs? How is Charlie with them?

Charlie was attacked twice when she was younger, and I think a lot of her issues with other dogs are due to that.

She may be able to handle living with other dogs, given time and attention. Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten past the initital showing of teeth and barking with other dogs to see if she is ok around them.

When we are on walks she goes nuts around other dogs and if one comes up to her, she gets aggressive.  We don’t want to risk a dog bite at dog parks, so we don’t go there.

That being said.  She did do obedience training and agility with other dogs. It took a few weeks of getting her adjusted to the other dogs at first.  The trainer started her off in the pen with other dogs with Charlie off leash and the other dogs on.  The trainer then had a few of the nicer dogs come up to her and Charlie growled, barked and showed teeth and got aggressive.  Over time she was fine with them.  This trainer also boarded Charlie and once boarded her with my mom’s dog in the same pen and they were fine.

I think with the right dog(s) she would be ok, it just might be a rocky few days.

Q: Have you tried any behavior type medications for her fears?

Charlie did take clomipramine and prozac for a short time, without much effect.

Q: What else do potential adopters need to know about Charlie?

In the spirit of full disclosure, here are some other issues with Charlie:

• When meeting someone new, Charlie pees, but if the person she is meeting ignores her for a few minutes, we can usually avoid this.
• She has two eye conditions, which require eye drops daily and an annual eye exam with an opthalmologist.
• Charlie’s left knee had surgery approximately 6 years ago but has had no troubles since.
• Charlie’s pee burns grass.  We have taught her to pee in our rocks to avoid this and does very well peeing there when supervised.  If unsupervised, she normally goes in the grass.
• Charlie doesn’t like to have her nails clipped, so we have the groomer or vet do this for us.
• Charlie has a hard time being around other dogs, especially when on leash.
• She is not trusted around children.
• Charlie does not dig and is not destructive.
• She does like to eat the occasional book binding and loves paper products (tissues, paper towels, toilet paper, etc.), so a covered trash can in the bathroom is a must!

Q: Where did Charlie come from?

We got her from a breeder in Pueblo as a puppy.

*** A few other notes/disclosures from Roxanne ***

Longtime readers might recall we tried to find Charlie a home two years ago, without success. Lilly and I just didn’t have the social media oomph then that (I hope) we have now.

I am not serving as a broker or guarantor in this adoption hunt. Any transactions that come from this post are entirely between the Ruddy family and Charlie’s potential new family.

I have not (yet) met Charlie in person, so all I have to go on his what Heather has shared with me.

My gut feeling is that Charlie is a dog MUCH like Lilly, the canine heroine here at Champion of My Heart. We’ve made tremendous progress with Lilly’s fears and dog-dog reactivity, but it’s also a TON of work and has required not only medications, but also consults with veterinary behaviorists, and a long-term relationship with a really good trainer that we trust.

It isn’t an easy road, but the thought of Charlie being freaked out 24/7 doesn’t sit well with me. I’m hoping our national fearful dog coalition can help Charlie have a happier life.

Social sharing matters. Please spread the love.

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