Tessa - Now Heidi - Adopted 3/17/02
Heidi has been adopted by a family in Glenwood City, WI! They adore her and she is fitting in perfectly!
Do you like freckles on noses? Heidi is a 2-yr. old spayed and fully vetted female Collie. She is unique in her markings being a "Flashy" sable and white with the most adorable ears and blaze on her face. Her coat is very thick and luxurious.
Heidi is a very quiet girl, friendly and very sweet in nature, who is just now beginning to learn how to be a Collie. She is not a nuisance barker and just loves to be by your feet. She is learning what it is to receive attention, love, praise and enjoying human and other pet socialization and interaction. She is a dainty girl with eyes that won’t let you out of her sight!
Latest Updates:
11/11/02
Dear MWCR,
Can't believe how the time has flown by. We adopted
Heidi (was Tessa) on St. Patrick's Day and she is
now a full-fledged member of the household (she
thinks she owns the place, just ask our cat Koosh!).
It took a long time for Heidi to come out of her
shell. She didn't know how to be a dog, let alone a
collie. She didn't have the faintest idea how to
play; can you believe it? She still doesn't
understand some things that should be normal for a
dog of her age. A neglected dog is just a shell of a
creature; it takes caring people to make a real dog!
She had such wonderful foster care with Tom and
Vickie, we are very grateful that they were able to
see that there was something there besides that
beautiful coat.
When brought into rescue she was very overweight (over 80 pounds, I believe), listless, uninterested in play; she didn't even know her name as far as we could determine. That is one of the reasons we decided to change her name; give her a completely new start to life! Heidi now weighs 58 pounds, she runs like the wind every day on our hike through the fields and woods, she chases squirrels, and terrorizes my hens every morning (it's all a bluff as she runs straight for their fence, scattering them to the wind!). She is learning tricks, but it is difficult for her. She is definitely retarded in her development; I don't think she was talked to much as a puppy. But she isn't stupid, just a little confused now and then. She has to go through that lost puppy stage before she can be an adult, I think. She is the most vocal dog we have ever had and talks to us all the time (it sounds like a seal sometimes, or sometimes a dinosaur from Jurassic Park), but she isn't a nuisance barker. She is affectionate, playful, gentle but not meek, and a beauty to behold. She never leaves my side during the day; she is my constant companion. Thank you for all the great work you do!
Kay
Hi!
I have been meaning to drop you a line and give a report on Heidi, but this has been the most stressful, busy, exasperating month that I can remember for a long time. It would be nice if the weather would cooperate, at least! Anyway, wanted to thank you for the pix of the crazy bluebird (they were wonderful!!!) and the cute one of Casey walking Schiller. We laughed because Heidi does the exact same thing to us! When I put her on the leash for her walk, she grabs up the slack and prances around me like she is saying "Come on Mom, I'm gonna take you for a walk!" Once the walk is underway, she lets go and lets me walk her, but as soon as we get close to home, she reaches around and grabs the leash again and "walks" me home. Hmmm, is this some collie thing, or what?
Heidi has slimmed down nicely, and has developed some real muscles in her hind quarters. (When we are out in the fields and can let her run, she just goes nuts and runs like there is no tomorrow - a very beautiful and happy vision! ) Our vet doesn't want her to go below 55 to 58 lbs (she is at 58). Heidi now has a nice hourglass figure, no belly!! She is on Dr. Tobin's holistic heartworm preventative, and has been vaccinated for Lymes disease (40% of the deer ticks in our area are now carrying the disease--scary for humans and dogs alike). Our only health concern for her has been her coat loss. Her seasonal shedding is about done, but she is still losing a large amount of her outer coat, too, and Beth (the vet) wondered why the shaved area from her spay hadn't grown back yet. We checked her for worms, and she had a nasty infestation of hookworms, which we took care of last month. Beth believes her coat is indicating the stresses of the hookworm infestation, lower fat diet, and being in 4 different homes in 6 months. She is getting more fat in her diet now, and I just ordered some brewers yeast and Vitacoat for her. Hopefully, this will take care of the problem. She still looks very pretty, and she isn't itchy, but the hair loss is a little concern. The vet thinks this will straighten out soon. I took some pictures of her a few weeks back and I will send you one when I get them developed.
Serena moves back home on Thursday evening: one more person to give that dog lots of love!!! Hope all is going OK for you and the dogs, too. I will try to be better about giving you updates. Oh yes, Heidi has turned into one very vocal dog . . . she is a real talker!!! It makes us smile. :-)
Kay
Hi, Just a quick note to let you know how Heidi is doing. I think she is going through her second puppy-hood! No chewing, thank goodness (except for her rawhides and a great big new beef bone that makes her ecstatic) but she bounces around here like a yo-yo; she tugs on her leash and tells us to "run, not walk!" Yesterday when it started to snow, she and I were out for a walk and she started leaping several feet into the air and snapping at the snowflakes--I swear this is true! She still doesn't bark very much and we have only heard her "seal yowl" a couple of times so far, but she is definitely comfortable here. And we really love her!!!
Serena and her boyfriend, Adam, came home on Saturday afternoon. Heidi gave them a very welcome greeting (whole body wag and lots of sloppy kisses) and they are now fast friends. Serena thinks she is the prettiest dog in the world. We haven't weighed Heidi for a week now so can't give you that report, but she is definitely leaner and more muscled. She still has the saddlebags under her armpits so I know she needs to firm up some more. Seth noticed that the pads of her feet are thickening, too.
Oh, and one other thing, Heidi most certainly does have predatory instincts; we came across a freshly killed rabbit the other day and she ATTACKED it! If it hadn't been dead already, it sure would have been within a few seconds. I had to pull her off of it! Mar and I are thinking about installing a wireless fence on our entire property. My good friend Kathy swears by them. They have their entire 12 acres "wired" and it keeps all three of their dogs in (they have big hunting breeds which need the exercise and the containment). We are checking out that option. Heidi is making good progress with her obedience training, but it is still way too early to let her off leash. That's all for now. Hope you had a good Easter!
Kay
Hi!
Well, it has been over three weeks since Heidi came to us; it seems like she has been here for months already. She has become such a personality--she talks to us all the time, everything from low collie rumbles to high pitched barking, and of course, her signature seal yowl/bark; she kisses us; she invites play sessions; she follows us around from room to room. She currently weighs 60 pounds, but it is getting hard to find any fat on her body! She is blowing her coat big time . . . I think I could make another dog out of the hair I brush out of her every few days!
Heidi always looks at us when we talk to her now; she knows her name and is responding very well to obedience training. She is a smart dog, but acts more like a 9 month old dog than a 2 year old. Everything is a game to her!!! She has been off-leash on a few of our countryside walks and has come when called. Mar and I separate and one of us walks way ahead, then calls Heidi and she is let off the leash and she runs like crazy to the caller where she gets praised and petted. Then the other calls her back, and we repeat this until she is tuckered out. We discovered that this is a safe way for her to run, since we are a long way from the road or any other danger, and she is learning to come to our call and be rewarded for it.
It is so wonderful to come home after a day of work and be greeted by that happy mouse face and that wagging tail and squirming body. We just love her!!!
Kay
Good Morning Tom and Vickie!
Well, Heidi's first week here has gone very well. We chose the name Heidi because it was one we all agreed should fit her; we wanted a name that sounded perpetually young and playful. She is more playful in the house (she really likes the goose "honking chicken" you got her, especially if we play "keep away from Heidi" for awhile first. Seth can put a spiral on that thing just like a football! I think she was pining for you folks, Jess-E and Penney a little bit last week. But this morning she actually played a little tug-of-war with the pink stretchy alligator toy. That was a first for her here; before today, she always dropped it when one of us grabbed on. And she has been chasing around a ball as long as we bounce it; she isn't interested if it just rolls.
I wasn't called to work today so she and I were able to take a nice hike this morning. We followed the tracks of a wild turkey for about a half mile, then those tracks were joined by those of a fox (that was pretty neat); it was cold and windy in the open and I was ready to come in before she was. I remember you said she helped your girls chase up a mouse, and she is determined to find one again; she shovels her nose down into the crusty snow and roots around after them, but so far no luck.
We are working on the "come" command; that seems to be her biggest problem, and unfortunately, she will not be given off-leash freedom in the yard until she responds to my call every time. If this stupid weather would cooperate, we could do more training outside. I know winter can't last too much longer; I picked a bunch of pussywillows for the table yesterday. Heidi will meet Serena for the first time on Saturday when she comes back from Ireland. I know they will love each other. We had company Saturday night and Heidi was a perfect lady; she gave my brother-in-law a bunch of kisses which he really enjoyed. We're still working on the weight problem; she still was at 62# yesterday when Mar weighed her by holding her and stepping on the bathroom scale. I have cut down her ration by a half cup and increased the water mixed with the food to see if we can get her down just a bit more and get her to urinate more often (sometimes she goes 14 hours without peeing and that can't be good for her urinary tract). I have a feeling the exercise and resulting metabolism change will do the trick in a few weeks. Warmest wishes to all of you for a wonderful Easter holiday. Think spring! But now I need to get back to my easel and finish up a painting today. I will be a featured artist at a fall gallery tour in October; I'll try to remember to send you an invitation.
Warmest Regards, Kay