Tinker
	Gender: Female Age: 6 Years Height/Weight: 18" / 40 lbs House-trained: Yes Fenced yard required: Location: Mid-Michigan Foster Home: Pam	Crate-trained: Yes Treat-motivated: Yes Toy-motivated: Tennis Balls Likes Car Rides: Yes - Crated Good with cats: Good with kids: No Commands: Sit, Kennel-up, Shake, Outside

October, 2014: Tinker roamed our back seat the entire trip home, making us worried that she was agitated. However, she got into the car without difficulty at stops. We got her brand of dog food @ Soldans (took some hunting to find a place that sold it), and had a name tag with her name and our phone number to add to her collar. After giving our house the big sniff, we apparently checked out OK, because by the first evening she was on the sofa, belly up accepting a belly rub. (Sorry, no picture of the event. We weren't expecting her to come around so quickly). She sleeps in our bed. She plays with her ball with us, and sometimes with us only as appreciative audience. I don't know how Pam ever walked her. I walk fast for my height, but her standard speed is at my max. It makes for a fast trot around the neighborhood. I'm hoping it means I'll keep the weight, which I just worked so hard the past 3 months to lose, off with all this extra exercise. She's going for walks 4-5 times/d. (No I don't do them all, but I do take her about a mile at breakneck speed). At first, she seemed anxious if we were not in sight. she stayed right with us. However, yesterday she slept on our bed part of the day while Len worked in his office, so she seems more confident.

She helps us clean up after dinner. So far she likes chicken, zucchini, mashed potatoes. No help at all cleaning the salad bowls. She politely accepted a bit of peeled apple, and impolitely spit it out. So far, she likes all treats we have tried. She's definately interested in our meals, but only hangs around eagerly, doesn't make a fuss.

I've started teaching her sit-stay. She did pretty well for 1 session. She'll kennel up for treats, but not to the command. I've been reviewing my handouts from Puppy class, and reminding myself and Len to go through doors 1st. She's had a couple of small accidents, no big deal. Our cat stayed outside until last night. So far, Tinker has shown interest, but I haven't seen her actually give chase. He runs anyway. Since he acts the same way when we have guests, I'm not worried.

Tinker was adopted in October, 2014 at the Great Lakes Border Collie Rescue Reunion picnic. Here she is with her new family!

I’m sure EVERYone knows about Disney’s Tinkerbell! She’s bright, spunky, and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. I’m not sure, but perhaps that is why Tinker got her name. As far as I know, she’s had this name her entire life, and she knows it very well. There doesn’t seem to be any negative things associated with her name, which is why I chose to keep it.

When we picked Tinker up from her (scary, according to her!) short stay in the Macomb County Animal Shelter on August 27th, she was very angry. You can read about that in my initial update! It took Tinker at least 4 weeks to look at her new situation as anything more than temporary. I am absolutely certain that SHE thought her owner would rescue her from us…any day now. I cannot explain to Tinker that the life she knew is no longer, and the owner she was devoted to will not be coming back. She does not seem to be pining any longer, though she still intends to be THE princess around here! Never mind I have 2 BCs of my own, and 4 Chihuahuas. SHE deserves top status (according to her), hands down!

Tinker CLEARLY “tells” you when she needs to go outside. The only time I have had any problems with potty training is when she is in a new and strange situation; that literally “scares the sh*t out of her!” Twice it has happened, and neither time was it a problem, because it was very easy to pick up. She will go to the door & tap it, as she will when she wants to come in. If you ask her if she wants to go outside, she does a very cute spinning & excited “potty dance” that leaves no question about what she wants!

During her 4th week with me, she came along on a road trip we took to southern Indiana to Kota’s new adopter, as well as to host a meet/greet for Tinker & another foster, Talia. Tinker flunked that introduction because she takes a while to warm up to new people. I know, though, if given a little time, she becomes entirely devoted to her person. Right now that person is me. As I type this, Tinker is at my feet in my kitchen. If I get up, she moves with me wherever I go. During our road trip, Tinker spent her 1st night in a crate in our motel room, just like she does at home. Every time I turned over in bed or disappeared through the bathroom door she would fuss because I was “gone”. We tried her out of her crate after that, and she became the perfect “bed bug”!

Tinker is not a very high-energy dog, but she does have a lot of spirit (again, think Tinkerbell!). She loves to catch a tennis ball, but she isn’t too good at retrieving. She seems to prefer playing with it by herself. Occasionally she will chew on a Nylabone. She tends to get a little possessive over higher value chews, so, if I offer those to her, she gets ones she will finish, and in the privacy of her crate. She hasn’t shown any interest in plush squeaky toys, either.

I have asked, “Tinker, do you wanna go for a car ride?” and she gets excited. I travel with her in a crate, and she doesn’t seem to want to jump into her crate consistently. But, she *hates* being picked up! I wonder if, in her previous life, she “rode shotgun”?

What Tinker really, really, really wants is to be someone’s Diva Princess! At first it will seem like she just tolerates you, but just give it a little time. It may not even take the 3 to 4 weeks it took for her to get used to me! Just keep her safe and fed, and in little time at all she will be yours – hook, line, and Tinker!

Tinker is truly a Princess; a very perplexed and angry Princess.

Everything, up until about 2 months ago, was just as it should be. She had a wonderful human she was bonded to, and that human kept her safe and fed. And, she was happy. Then, life suddenly became very different.

From what we in GLBCR know, Tinker was in “her” home for about 3 weeks after her beloved owner died. She looks like her basic needs were attended to, but not much more. The owner’s daughter (again, from what we were told) had Macomb County Animal Control pick her up, stating she couldn’t keep her because she would nip at her small children as they played.

Tinker, which is the name she was given and one she knows very well, refused to eat while she was in the shelter. The noise & commotion in the shelter was much more than she could bear. The shelter workers put out a plea for a rescue to come forward to pull her from there. They managed to get Tinker to eat in private when she was one-on-one with a worker. She was clearly in shut-down mode.

I made contact with people who put me in touch with someone who could help me, which was tough because the weekend had started and the shelter would be closed. Everything came together, though, and I drove to get Tinker on Saturday.

I couldn’t say Tinker was “grateful” to be sprung from the shelter. She was *pissed*, and she showed it! SOMEone took her human away, and she wanted things to go back to the way they were, NOW! She wanted her old comfort zones, because these new ones were just NOT right! She resisted being lifted into the crate in my vehicle, and she resisted every kind gesture we offered. She did, however, heartily eat the meal I offered her without hesitation. She also was very interested in every wonderful treat I offered her.

Tinker quickly learned I was the source of her safety and comfort, but she still preferred to avoid me. She continued to look for a way to get back to her old life. She would deign to let me pet her, but would snap at me when I tried to brush the huge clumps of hair off of her (she was shedding out her old coat terribly!).

I discovered that underneath Tinker’s tough skin lurks a very smart and responsive girl. She knows SIT, and she will shake either paw. As far as toys, she seems to only care about a tennis ball I offered her, and she is a fabulous catcher! She does an absolutely adorable “happy-dance” on her way to go outside, and yes, she does wag her stumpy tail.

Tinker was called an Aussie/Border Collie mix at the shelter. She has more Border Collie traits than Aussie (ears, body length, the ticking on her legs, the way she moves), but she does have the Aussie lack of a tail.

All that Tinker wants is her owner. Since that is not a possibility, AND I sadly cannot explain that to her, she needs a patient NEW owner who is willing to work to slowly and steadily win her over. I’m confident that with time she will learn to love again, and her bond will be a firmly solid one.

Oh, yeah. About that princess status. Tinker doesn’t really care too much about other dogs. In fact, she is CERTAIN that life should be about her and only her! She wants to be the first for everything, and she doesn’t like to wait!

At first, Tinker will need to have a fenced area to keep her safe, OR an owner committed to take her outside on a leash. Once Tinker forges her bond with her new owner, I have a feeling she will not go anywhere without keeping her owner in full sight. She hates to be outside if I’m not with her, so I think that will become stronger in her new home.

Photos

Videos

Photos

Videos