Heading in...

...to surgery this morning. I am getting the operation done on my right shoulder today as that is my most painful one. I'm kinda scared, but really hopeful. The Boss Lady says I should feel a lot better once it is done - and I am really looking forward to beating Limerick to the frisbee for once!

Keep your fingers crossed for me! I'll update you as soon as I get out of surgery....


Finnegan (who is trying really hard to be a brave dog...!)

Serious News...

Today the Boss Lady sat me down for a talk. She said I was probably wondering why I had been taking so many trips to various vets and specialists. Actually up until that point I hadn't been wondering - I was just thrilled to be going on so many car rides and getting treats from all the friendly people in the vet offices - but now that I thought about it, Dublin and Limerick didn't go to the vet nearly as often as me. The Boss Lady said the trips to get x-rays, the acupuncture and the chiropractor adjustments were all efforts to try figure out why I had been limping on my front legs.

The Boss Lady has been very nice trying to figure out what happened to make me limp, but I kept trying to tell her that I've limped for almost as long as I remembered. Then the Boss Lady said the last round of x-rays I had done finally showed what was wrong with me. She said I had OCD. I was a bit confused - I'm a border collie, we are known to be obsessive-compulsive, that's part of our charm. And I really didn't understand what x-rays had to do with it. The Boss Lady shook her head and said it wasn't that type of OCD. I have been diagnosed with osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) in both of my shoulders.

I didn't know what that meant, so the Boss Lady explained it is a condition where the growth of normally smooth cartilage in my shoulder joints was disrupted somehow and the cartilage became pitted and "flaps" of cartilage got caught in the joint. She said this is why it hurts me so much when I run. She also said to cheer up because the wonderful folks at NEBCR were going to pay for the surgery I need to be fixed. That once I have surgery on both of my shoulders, I would be able to run and play without being in pain!

I was stunned. I've been in pain for so long, I just thought it was normal...A long forgotten memory filtered to the surface - one of me running as a pup with my litter mates...I remember running and playing without pain then...I was amazed to think that could happen again!

Folks that want to help NEBCR pay for my surgeries can donate by clicking here.

My first surgery is scheduled for next week. I am a bit scared but really excited by the possibility of getting my shoulders fixed. I can't wait to see if I can outrun Limerick once I'm all fixed up!

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

~Finnegan

All Hallow's Eve...

Last night was SCARY! Monsters kept coming to the door and demanding the Boss Lady give them stuff before they would go away. I kept barking to let the monsters know I was a big, tough dog but the Boss Lady wasn't very happy with that approach. I was trying to help her fend off the scary monsters, but she didn't see it that way. Then I suggested that maybe if she stopped feeding the monsters, they would stop coming to our door - but she didn't seem to hear me.

I asked Dublin what to do but he just said "go lie down in the living room and play with your toy". It seems he wasn't scared of the monsters like I was - and Limerick was especially brave (or stupid, sometimes it's hard to tell with him) because he would run right up to the door and sit down in front of the monsters. He's my buddy and all, but sometimes he's just plain weird.

The Boss Lady finally had me hang out in my crate where I knew the monsters couldn't get to me. I was happy to be safe, but worried about the Boss Lady (it was obvious Dublin and Limerick were going to be no help fending off the monsters!). Finally, the monsters stopped coming and the Boss Lady let me out so I could see that she was all right.

Phew! I hope the monsters don't come back tonight...

~Finnegan, the not-so-brave dog

Weekend fun

Last weekend, the Boss Lady packed us up again and took us to Sugar Bush Farm. This time it was a bit different because I barely got to see the Boss Lady after we got there. Dublin, Limerick and I got to spend the weekend hanging out and playing with all our canine pals while the Boss Lady and a few of her friends manned a NEBCR booth at the NYS Sheep and Wool festival. Us dogs got to stay behind with some of the other NEBCR volunteers and play.

We normally stay in a soft-sided people crate (which the humans call a tent) when we visit the farm. This time we got to stay in a hard-sided people crate - I think the humans called it a "pop-up camper". At first I thought it was pretty neat - it had two big people beds and plenty of room for us dogs. We even had a friend and her dog "Didge" staying with us. I love Didge - he lets me follow him around all day. I want to be like him when I grow up.

The first night, the Boss Lady even let me sleep up on the bed with her. I snuggled under the covers (it was cold!) and went right to sleep. That's when I discovered that the people crate had a terrible secret! It ate dogs! I was sleeping peacefully and slid over to the side of the bed and was leaning up against the canvas siding when I started to slip through. I was scared and immediately bopped the Boss Lady in the face to let her know I was being eaten. The Boss Lady wasn't very happy to be woken up in that way, but desperate times called for desperate measures! Once the Boss Lady figured out why I was freaking out, she pulled me back into the camper and said I could have the inside part of the bed for the rest of the night. I didn't want to take any chances though, and I slept on the floor for the rest of the night.

The next night, I decided to chance the bed on the other side of the camper, though I stayed on the inside of the bed, just in case. Things were going well and I was sleeping soundly next to Didge and his human when suddenly Didge was eaten! It was horrible - one second Didge was right next to me and the next second he was gone! I ran over to the Boss Lady and woke her up again to tell her what had happened but Didge's human was already on the case. She ran outside and evidently fought off the evil camper and came back inside with a sleepy and slightly confused Didge. I took no more chances and spent the rest of the night on the floor. The Boss Lady might prefer the camper, but I think I like the soft-sided people crate much better -it never swallows dogs.


~Finnegan

Turns out, I'm a Sheep Dog!

So, last weekend the Boss Lady packed up all three of us dogs and headed out to that wonderful canine paradise known as Sugar Bush Farm.

We got to run and play all weekend and even got to sleep in the people crate (though humans call it a tent). It was a bit chilly and the Boss Lady was worried about me because I am what they call a "smooth-coated" border collie, so I don't have a lot of long fur like my foster brothers. The Boss Lady was nice enough to give up one of her blankets so I would have something to snuggle into. At first I wasn't going to use it and pushed it away, but by the middle of the night, I was happy the Boss Lady had given it to me.

But the most exciting part of the weekend was when I got to see sheep! I didn't want to go into the sheep pen at first - the other dogs were running around playing tag and I wanted to join them. I had no idea why the Boss Lady wanted me to go with her to see the silly sheep. But I finally gave in and walked up to see the sheep with her. I was prepared to humor her for a little bit in the hopes that she would let me go out and play again.

But then...the sheep moved and I was hooked! It was like all of my ancestors were yelling at me at once to go and do something!! The sheep were scattering and for some reason, I suddenly knew that was not supposed to happen...I took off after them and started circling them to bring them back to order. I got a little bit too energetic though and I accidentally scattered them again. (Those sheep sure are FAST!! and FLIGHTY!)

I worked in the sheep pen for about 10 minutes before the Boss Lady called a halt and brought me back out. I didn't want to leave...who wants to play tag with other dogs when there are sheep around...?

Finnegan, the Sheep Dog

Finnegan, Begin Again

So the Boss Lady told me that I went up on the NEBCR website as officially available for adoption. I was very excited about the possibility of finally getting my Forever Family. I asked the Boss Lady what I was supposed to do and she said the I only had to sit back and wait for the applications to come pouring in...then she paused for a moment and said "well, working on your manners wouldn't hurt either".

So, since I've already mastered the biggies like house-training, crate-training, leash walking and sit, we are working on "stay". That's a hard one for a border collie - there is so much to do and see! Dublin has it mastered, but Limerick seems to have as much trouble as I do, so I don't feel too bad that I haven't gotten the hang of it yet either.

In other news, Dublin finally played tug with me!! I like playing tug with both dogs and people, but I can't ever play tug with Limerick. (Limerick likes to play tug, but seems to forget that we are playing and it isn't pretty. He doesn't seem to have a problem playing tug with Dublin, but then Dublin can keep him in line.)

This time, Limerick had been given a "time out" by the Boss Lady and Dublin must have been bored, because he came over to me and shoved a tug toy at me. I was so surprised, I almost forgot to respond. We tugged, and tugged, and tugged, and tugged some more...finally the Boss Lady said we had to stop because it was obvious we weren't going to end it on our own.

I don't know if Dublin was taking it easy on me or not, but I was very proud that I was able to keep up with him. Tugging is quite the workout!

~Finnegan

Finnegan's Debut

Hi all! I'm Finnegan - and I am the Boss Lady's newest foster dog. I have been with the Boss Lady a few weeks now and I am finally getting the hang of things.


I get along great with the cats - I like cats. Unfortunately these cats don't seem to like to play, so I leave them alone and they don't make the evil hissing noises anymore. Limerick (one of my foster brother's) hasn't seemed to figure out how to live peacefully with the cats yet - he still follows them around even though they are pretty clear they don't like such shenanigans. So I'm pretty proud of the fact that I figured out how to live with the cats within a day of arriving (Limerick's lived with them for almost a year and a half and he still hasn't gotten the hang of it!)

I also get along pretty well with my foster brothers. I have one foster brother named Dublin and he is the head honcho after the Boss Lady (well, and the cats - Dublin never crosses the cats). Dublin is pretty cool and has stopped grumbling at me for my "stupid puppy behavior" as he calls it. Evidently, dogs didn't like it when I ran after them and nipped them in the butt when they were playing fetch. Dublin had to explain this to me a few times, but I finally got the hang of it. Now I just run along side of them and everyone seems much happier with that.

I like making people happy.

Limerick was a harder shell to crack. He acted all big and tough when I first arrived and was very grumpy and stand-offish for the first few weeks. Dublin said not to take it personally; that Limerick always takes a few weeks to warm up to a new foster. I was about to get my feelings hurt when Dublin was proved right and Limerick started asking me to play! We're the best of buds now, running and wrestling all the time. It's nice to have a buddy the same age as me. Dublin will play a little bit, but he is too dignified to play a lot of the silly games we play. He stands by to referee though, if he thinks we're getting out of hand or too rough.





~Finnegan