This blog post was requested by some of my dog-loving friends and people who know how interesting life has been with my rescue dog, Odie. Never a dull moment with this dog.
For those of you who don’t know Odie, he is my five-ish year old border collie mix. He was a rescue dog from Tehran, Iran that I adopted in 2017. You can learn more about how I adopted him and what we’ve faced together here.
Odie’s Favourite Things
You won’t find Odie chasing a ball at the park like most border collies. His favourite toys are empty plastic bottles, which he will 100% beg for as soon as he sees you drink the last drop. He doesn’t really love toys, but he will pick them up and shake them around just to get our attention. He’d rather be on a hike instead of playing with toys.
He’s a big food guy for sure. He loves tomatoes, carrots and he will lose all control of his body if he sees steak. Oh, and puppuccinos from Starbucks. He now loses his shit whenever he sees a Starbucks cup.
He also loves his routine. He has a very strict routine that he holds himself accountable to. We have done nothing to create this routine. It’s all him.
At 4am he huffs at the bedroom door and I get up and let him out and then go back to bed. When I get up at 6, he lifts his head to look at me and then goes back to sleep. At 6:30 he goes to the kitchen and lays by his food dish and IMMEDIATELY after breakfast he waits at the puppy door so he can go outside and go back to sleep. He has many other routines throughout the day and he never fails to be right on schedule.
He also loves going to Dayschool at Dogzies Pet Services, and when his best pals Cash and Bailey come over to play in his yard.
Odie’s Dislikes
There are a lot of things that Odie doesn’t like. He can be quite grumpy…
He freaking HATES the mailman. Seriously, I worry he’s going straight through the front window when the mailman comes to the door.
He doesn’t like blueberries, broccoli, celery or any kind of lettuce or spinach. He will roll blueberries around in his mouth a bit and then spit them out.
I don’t blame him for this one, but Odie hates being surprised. It absolutely terrifies him. He also doesn’t like when anyone parks in our driveway or walks past our house… *insert eye roll here*
He also really doesn’t like rain. He flinches whenever rain drops hit him, so when it starts to pour, he just lays under the cover of our patio and pouts.
What He’s Improved At
We have seen SO much improvement in Odie over the last year. My family and I really think that Kirby is the best thing that’s happened to Odie since he came to Canada. Bringing Kirby into Odie’s life has helped him to trust more and feel safe. I think that Odie has always felt that it was duty to protect me, and with Kirby around, he feels he can relax a little.
The first year and a half that I had Odie, I tried to keep him away from any possible situation that could go wrong for him. I didn’t fully trust him, or myself, and so we avoided a lot of potential problems. Kirby has pushed us both out of our comfort zones and it has done WONDERS for Odie, his confidence and mine.
We’ve now hosted a few BBQs and parties at our house and Odie has behaved around groups of people. A year ago, I would never have invited people over with Odie here. He would bark and charge at people. Now, he just lays in the middle of everyone and begs for their food – lol.
He’s also gotten much better with other dogs. We puppy sat for a friend for two weeks and it forced Odie to accept having other dogs at his house.
Another big success was when we took Odie to Kirby’s dad’s house on Christmas Eve. It was obvious that he was SUPER nervous, but he did so well, got along with their dog and he didn’t freak out at any of the people.
Odie has gotten so much better at being around other people and dogs, and I believe that it is because we have put more trust in him to do the right thing.
What He Still Needs to Work On
We’re still working on Odie’s behaviour along the fence and his need to protect the house at all costs. He does not like it when any person or dog walks past our house and he barks like a mad man. We are also working on his begging habits and making him sit on his mat while we eat.
My boy is a work in progress, just like me. I know he’ll never behave perfectly, but he is trying to improve every day, and I am so proud of him!
I’m sure that anyone who has a rescue dog knows the quirks that they can have. I’d love to hear stories of your rescue dog in the comments!
