Misty was seen on the Border Collies Needing Homes facebook site and was adopted by Kathy H.
Kathy has set up a facebook page as a diary of Misty's progress in her new home.

Click on the link below to see the page (you do not have to be a facebook member to view it):

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-life-of-Misty-The-rescue-Border-Collie/222196104528766

So....I should start at the beginning of my meeting with Misty (I kept the name the staff gave her). How I came to get her is on the 'info' page, so do have a look so you will understand her better. I live in the South East of England and took one of my dogs with me 'Alfie' to meet her and be company for the journey home, btw, what should have been around 8 hours driving in all turned into nearly 15 hours, thanks to the weather and 2 1/2 hours at a standstill coming home on the M25!. Anyway, when I picked Misty on Shirley's FB Border Collies Needing Homes page, she was not the most 'striking' of the BC's there, but her soft brown eyes drew me in, then when I met her at the Centre, she looked so sweet and much prettier than her photo. I took her for a brief walk to get to know her a bit and I was surprised to find she was pretty good on a leash, then I got my Alfie out of the car (which I know he was so relieved to out of his crate after 5 hours, although I did 2 stops on the journey for him of course) to meet and play with Misty in a large sand 'round pen'...the ones used for horses. One of the shelter staff was also with us, in case of any problems, (I knew Alfie would be fine) I had brought a ball with me as Alfie is ball mad and I wanted to see if Misty knew how to 'play'. Well, she has no clue what a toy is but she certainly showed typical BC herding and nipping behaviour to Alfie!, Alfie was very good, but needed to tell her off....which he only did half heartedly! and really only another dog telling her off will stop that behaviour. So, she has no clue how to play nicely with others, although there is no 'malice' or aggression in her at all, so all in all a good start, until we tried to catch her to bring her in.....NO RECALL!, still I expected that and will address that in her training. I admit..I was slightly anxious about the long journey home as I assumed she would not be 'crate trained' and never travelled in a car, at least not that sort of journey and of course it could not have been a much worse or long journey home, but Misty was an absolute Angel, as was Alfie (he'd never done such a long journey either!) To say I was happily surprised is an understatement!. So after a 5am start to the day, 6am start to the journey we all finally arrived home exhausted and hungry at 9pm!, where Alfie and Misty had a good meal, Misty met my elderly 13 year old Alpha female BC 'Lolly' (who immediately let her know this, although gently) and my son and daughter-in-law, who had looked after Lolly for most of the day. I let Misty sleep upstairs in my room with me and the other two albeit in her crate as I assumed she wasn't house trained, never having lived in a house before. She slept beautifully, with out complaint!....she woke me by pawing at her crate at 5am, so I got up and took her downstairs, leash on and out in the garden, where she immediately peed and pooped...what a good girl!, I should explain that although my garden is very secure, because she has no recall at all yet and doesn't even know her name...or me....I wasn't going to stand out in the pitch black, (almost, we do have garden lights) for ages trying to coax her back in. So that was her very first day with me.

THE START OF TRAINING MISTY.
Well I have to say Misty is proving to be a lovely, smart, biddable dog. She is learning so incredibly quickly....(other than jumping at new people to say hello), she is almost the perfect dog!. It helps that I have started with a complete 'blank canvas' as Misty knew nothing, she also has not learnt bad habits either. By nature she is so affectionate and eager to please. I start new dog training with a 'clicker' and with Border Collies I also like 'Operant Conditioning' as it makes the dog 'think', operant conditioning differs from clicker training only in that you wait (very patiently) for your dog to a behaviour with no prompting or speech and when he/she does something you like you promptly treat that behaviour, when they do it again even inadvertently, you quickly treat again. Operant conditioning is a form of psychological learning during which an individual modifies the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the association of the behavior with a stimulus. Operant conditioning is distinguished from classical conditioning (also called respondent conditioning) in that operant conditioning deals with the modification of "voluntary behavior" or operant behavior. Operant behavior "operates" on the environment and is maintained by its consequences, while classical conditioning deals with the conditioning of reflexive (reflex) behaviors which are elicited by antecedent (instructed) conditions. Behaviors conditioned via a classical conditioning procedure are not maintained by consequences. This makes your dog really have to think about what he/she did to get the treat, (naturally they will take time and do many other things first, before repeating the thing you wanted like a bow, or paw, or simple sit) eventually, because they have had to really think and use their brains they learn more effectively, with the bonus of the mental stimulation that dogs like Border Collies so badly need. but for speed I started Misty with clicker training, it took her less than 2 minutes to learn to sit nicely and consistently, a little longer for the lie down, although its not perfect as she she lies with her shoulder flat on the floor and her backside raised a bit, I have to admit it looks very funny and endearing!....she has quickly learnt to run to her crate (always left open, as she considers this her bed and chill out place, which I believe is important for a dog) when her meals are dished up, she hasn't yet learnt not to grab food from all the dog dishes if she gets a chance, so she is fed in her crate while the other 2 have their food. I have put Misty on 3 meals a day for the time being, as she is so very thin. I always keep my dog lean and fit as it is so much better for their joints and general health, but Misty is way too thin...even for a Border Collie!
Misty has now met my 1 year old Grandson and she loved him! she was so gentle, she didn't even try to jump on him and gave him loads of kisses, I had put her on a leash (for safety) to meet him as she has probably never met a little child before, but I soon took it off as he was giggling at her and she was so good and clearly loved him. She also came up to my brothers Hospice and met and took it all in her stride, she gently said hello to everyone she met and Misty and my brother Steve seemed to instantly form a bond, which was lovely. She went on her first long walk with the other dogs today, Misty will be kept on a 'long line' on walks until her recall is 100% outside of our garden, I have found that the wide open fields worry her a bit, as everything is so new to her, she may never have seen wide open spaces before and I don't want to 'overload' her with too much as Border Collies are very sensitive dogs and will 'shut down' with situations they can't cope with, so I will be taking the little and often approach, with quiet time in her crate when we get home, to let her wind down and relax. I mentioned long lining her earlier, I am using this method to teach her a recall, I let her reach the end of the 30ft line and then quietly call her name and say 'come'...when she does I immediately click and treat her, the great thing about the long line is that if she is unsure or doesn't take any notice of me I can gently pull her in to me and then click/treat. Already in the garden she will come to me 100% of the time, now without the long line. I also used a 'training leash' to give her 'umbilical training' for the first 2 days, this helps her bond with me quickly and learn to 'watch' me all the time. Umbilical training is where the dog is attached to you (usually by your waist) with the special training leash, so she has to follow you everywhere you go around the house. Now she constantly looks to me for guidance and follows me everywhere, which is what I wanted...it makes training so much easier.

So Misty has been with me 5 full days now, if I don't count her collection day, as 1/2 a day in the crate traveling and getting home at bedtime doesn't really count.
She now knows her name and will respond eagerly to it (almost) every time, only when she's playing with the other two will she not always respond immediately. She now knows the basic commands of come, (indoors and from the garden) sit, down, (still sideways at the shoulder, bum in the air!), paw, which she now uses to try to get attention constantly! *Note to self...must discourage demanding attention!.
Misty has amazed everyone by never once has she had an accident in the house!, nor at the Hospice where she goes to see my brother and all the staff and other residents (maybe she should be trained to be a 'PAT' dog?) Alfie will now 'take' his precious toys to her to ask her to play, which she is learning to do very quickly! and most amazing of all......Lolly, my elderly 'Alfa' female, will actually play tug toys with Misty!.....and Lolly just does NOT play with others, Ever!
Also. up at my brothers place I have taken a comfy dog bed to put in his room, to see if she will settle (another command she has picked up well) on her bed and she does settle beautifully almost immediately. I bought her a tug/soft toy of her own, as she needs to learn to play with humans too and by herself and it certainly didn't take her long!, yesterday I took a raw meaty bone for her to chew on at Steve's place (good for keeping her remaining teeth wonderfully clean and tartar free!...btw, my vet thinks she has so many teeth missing, 6 to be exact, because puppy mill dogs will often frantically bite their cages or doors out of anxiety and boredom). I was wondering what her reaction would be to giving up her bone when it was time to leave, as it is such a 'high value' treat.....I didn't want to take it from her, I wanted to to have enough respect for me to give it up when asked, however for safety I did put her leash on first (with know problem at all) I stood about 3ft from her and asked her to 'come', she looked up at me and then went back to gnawing her bone, so a gave her a gentle tug on the leash while saying 'come' and straight away she got up and came to me...albeit, looking longingly back at the bone. But hey!, she passed the very high value possession test!. I've yet to try her with all 3 dogs having a bone in the same room though, I know my other 2 will even give up there bones for my 1 year old Grandson with no problem, but Misty is a little way from me trying that one yet.
So far Misty is proving to be a delightfully friendly little girl, If I didn't already know her history, I never would have thought that she has never had this type of life before!....that make her an extremely special little Collie in my book!...she surprises every day and is a joy to work with.

I love your updates .. fantastic to read and you are being very helpful and informative in your training.
Thank you for sharing on here.

Misty's training is going so incredibly well, I know already how smart BC's are, but Misty is something else!....God!... I got lucky choosing her!. She is also settling very well into the household dynamics now, she gets on wonderfully with my other two, which I know most MTAR dogs do, as they have rarely ever known life without the company of other dogs. I totally understand why they prefer their rescues to go to homes that have existing dogs, as Misty 'copies' the other two so much it makes her transition into a house and family life so much easier for her. It still amazes me that my 'Alfa' female Lolly takes so well to her, although both my dogs accept most every dog that comes into this house (and there have been many!). Lolly treats Misty very much as a mother would treat her young....she even 'washes' her and allows Misty to lay cuddled up to her, something she has only done with Alfie until now.
Tomorrow Misty will meet my Niece's little Terrier 'Bruno' for the first time, Bruno is another young dog and a typical 'Terrier', bags of energy, very playful and quick to 'nip' at other dogs, as Misty also 'nips' a lot (typical of a BC), but hasn't yet learnt her full 'doggie manners' it will be interesting to see if things remain friendly. We will, of course, make sure their first meeting is a controlled one.....with both dogs on longer leashes on a short walk (the 'migration' together) off the property, (away from the other two dogs) until they have sniffed each other properly and then let them off to play back in the garden as quickly as possible so both have the 'flight' option, they are more likely to then relax and play and as my garden isn't huge, we should be able to get to them fast if needed. I know when they have played together a little while I can bring out the other two dogs and then all will be good and controlled within the pack. I will post some more photos tomorrow, hopefully of all the dogs playing. For now, I have to go give my little Grandson his lunch as I can hear he has just woken from his nap, so Misty will now go in her crate with a nice bone for some 'quiet time' and because she just hasn't got the hang of not helping herself to food from little fingers, or drooling round anyone eating yet.....but we will get the hang of it soon!, there's only so much she can learn in a week. :-)

So......I thought I'd share a very 'tongue in cheek' look at the Border Collie! I thought it time for a bit of humour, although, those of you who do have Border Collies will see the 'realism' in this bit of fun anyway!

THE BORDER COLLIE IS KNOWN FOR:

1) Blue collar athleticism.
2) The hypnotic eye.
3) The ability to round up many other animals.
4) Insert thoughts in humans brain.
5) Read humans thoughts.
6) Understand body language.
7) Understand spoken language
8) Average sense of humour
9) Doesn’t like to be distracted by jokes.
10) "Must Get it right!, Must get it right"!....
11) Willing to do trainer’s bidding
12) Trains human to do his bidding
13) Never bored with work
14) Generally unaware of any slights unless it interrupts the work
15) Eager for direction
16) Workaholic
17) Primary work – herding
18) Herds sheep hundreds of miles with minimal human assistance
19) Dominates performance sports such as agility and Flyball with blistering speed
20) Excellent obedience dog
21) Great physical energy
22) I.Q. over 130

What you need:

1) Lots of time to exercise dog
2) Amazing sense of humour
3) Amazing speed
4) The ability to 'out-stare' anything in existence (although obviously not a Border Collie)
3) Ability to establish self as leader....... and if you can do this, you have a good chance of being the next 'Prime Minister' !
4) *Overheard comments between owners and their dogs: I want you to give up your paper route. It is the same time that we go to herding/Flyball/Agility class.
5) Worship dogs (See Church of the Divine Border Collie)

"Church of the Divine Border Collie" suggests that owners of said breed do so because they believe in a supreme being, because:
a) (Border Collies) are the world's finest sheepdogs, that they have a stunning intelligence, and that even in a world of technology, they will never be replaced by a machine. Clearly this dog is seen as superhuman; and

b) Border Collies have a trait called, "THE EYE"...a hypnotic stare that the BC turns on anything it wants to control. Imagine here a domineering mother in law, but this trait in the BC is often turned on humans as much as livestock.

The CDBC (Church of the Divine Border Collie) also sites:

"Every time a BC stares, there is a single message embedded in the gaze... communication was clear (in the case of a non-working BC): BALL, BALL, BALL, BALL, BALL."

"Other religions have hair shirts and Hail Mary's. The Church of the Divine Border Collie has "THE EYE"."

Uh-huh..... I hear you on that one!!

c) "Border Collie owners operate by a different set of rituals than other dog owners. They dedicate their days to channelling their dog's energy...often quit their jobs...(and) are forced to buy acreage. For those 'Worky' BC's, those owners are very often forced to buy some sheep, thereby having to learn about said Sheep and buy yet more acreage!”

That is just sooooo fantastic Kathy, thank you for sharing .. I hope its OK with you, I am going to copy it into the general section too, needs sharing its so good

Feel free, I thought afterwards, I probably should have posted to that page or the jokes page.....

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-life ... 6104528766

Click on the link above to view Misty's latest progress and you can also see new photos of her there on her page too!