Hi! My name is Bees (as in “cute as the bees knees!”) and I am a sweet, playful, and affectionate girl!
Quick Facts:
- Breed: Border Collie/Black Lab mix
- Gender: Female, spayed
- Age: 2 year old
- Size: 50 pounds
- Good with…
- Dogs: Yes!
- Cats: Dog savvy, dog friendly cats–YES!
- Kids: 12+ years
History:
I’m absolutely the most affectionate, SWEET, and loyal dog you can imagine, once I get to know you. I was found abandoned up in Watkins Glen and the wonderful folks at Farm Sanctuary took care of me before I was transferred to the CDR program. Whatever my past early experience was, it has left me with some fear of strangers but has also given me the ability to love and bond strongly with the people whom I get to know and trust.
Personality:
About my adorable personality! I am young and therefore very, very playful with other dogs! I love to chase and be chased by canine playmates. I also looove to play with my humans (the game ‘keep-away’ is my special most favorite game in the world!). I enjoy re-locating my toys from room to room (it’s like hide and seek and treasure hunt all rolled into one!) and when I get super excited I get some seriously cute “zoomies”— I sprint over to a toy, grab it in my mouth, run around in circles and then roll on my back side to side with the toy still in my mouth! These zoomies happen a lot, like when we first get indoors after an outdoor adventure, or if you engage in a game of keep-away with me! I love to express how happy I am this way and apparently, it is SUPER adorable to watch!
I’m a funny girl in that most of the time I will follow you around, even laying down outside the bathroom until you come out of the shower, while sometimes I like to have my peace and quiet and will turn myself in for the night and trot off to bed all on my own! I love my crate and treat it like my “safe space” and am absolutely non-territorial with it or anything else, which is super awesome according to all the rescue folks. I absolutely adore being petted and rubbed (lucky for me, I have the MOST ridiculously soft baby harp seal fur) and can literally spend forever being massaged. What I dream of more than anything is to curl up by your side and take a snooze while you rub my ears or my chin.
I am an incredibly athletic dog and can thrive in cold climates; I spent this past winter happily pulling my former foster mom and dad on cross country skis (yay, skijoring!!!!). I am told that I am ridiculously fast. I make an excellent exercise companion, especially if you enjoy outdoor winter activity. If you don’t love winter, well, hey, I can make it fun for you, especially in these long NY winters!
I do have some stranger fear, so I need to have careful introductions to new people where the new people ignore me totally, so I can watch them for a while and then approach when I am ready. I find groups of strangers way too overwhelming, so prefer to be put into a bedroom with a bone if you are having a dinner party or a gathering of friends or family over. I will probably never be a dog who should go to parades or the kids’ baseball game at the park…anyplace with lots of strangers is super stressful for me, so much kinder to leave me home!
Favorite Activities:
- cuddling with my people!
- doggy playdates!
- skijoring, hiking, running!
- chewing antler bones and investigating toys with food stuffed in them!
- napping!
Cohabitation
I love people once I get to know you! I am quite nervous with strangers, and need you to make sure that strangers (no matter how nice you know them to be) do not engage with me at all for the first 20-30 minutes. That means no petting, no reaching out to give me treats, no making eye contact, no moving toward me–if the stranger totally ignores me, I will start to relax and then on my own time, will come over to meet them and say hi.
I like other dogs very much, and am relaxed meeting a new dog if the new dog is calm and chill. If the new dog however is hyper and playful right off the bat, I will be quite nervous, and it will take me some time to feel safe and comfortable with them. Dog parks are NOT a good idea for me at all…they are filled with strangers whose behavior toward me you can’t control, and too many dogs, some of whom are hyper and energetic. It would be horribly stressful for me and not safe, so please, no dog parks!
I am currently living very nicely with 2 cats who are super dog friendly and dog savvy and who never run. This is my kind of cat! The rescue folks think that cats who are nervous and would run from me might not work well….I would probably think they wanted to play a game of chase, and that would probably scare them even more!
I would be fine with kids 14 and older as long as their friends (especially when I don’t know them well), would be instructed to ignore me until I am comfortable. If this wasn’t a sure bet, then I shouldn’t be in a home with kids.
Ideal forever home:
I would be overjoyed to find a peaceful, calm home, without too many strangers coming and going so I can always feel safe and secure. Someone patient and who has had experience using positive strategies with dogs is important! I would really love lots of access to the great outdoors, but must always must be on leash due to my prey drive. I love hiking, skijouring, and walking, and hope so much for someone who likes the same. If you have a nice dog already, I would be overjoyed. If you don’t, that’s ok, but I would love a play date with your friend’s dog from time to time. If you are this home, please apply for me!
If you are interested in adopting me, please fill out an online adoption application and live close to Ithaca , Syracuse, Binghamton, Rochester, or Elmira. We do home visits on every applicant, and can’t do home visits where we don’t have local volunteers.
