Bru is a four year old, tri-color male; a tall and slender “gentleman” who thinks he is small enough to curl up in your lap. He is a lucky boy who came to MWCR through his original owners. These good folks thought ahead and surrendered him when they anticipated some challenging economic circumstances for their family due to a changing job situation.

Bru is a delightful collie – terribly smart, gentle and affectionate. He is an absolute pleasure to train and learns very, very quickly. For example, after only a couple of days of training emphasis, he heels like a dream, does a very acceptable “stay” and will sit and wait at street corners without the verbal command. He has either had plenty of obedience training or he is one very smart cookie!

“Nothing is Life is Free” (NILIF) techniques seem to be very beneficial for Bru in helping him find his place in his new residence. NILIF is also helping him to learn that he is not the boss of the house: he can be a little stubborn at times. The technique is also reported to work very well for anxious dogs, so it should assist him in making the transition to a new home.

While Bru has only been in foster care for a week, it is apparent that because of his quick intellect, it will be important to keep him occupied with lots of interaction, new challenges and activities. At this point, he is getting three walks per day to work off some of his energy, but as soon as he gets a clean bill of health from the vet (a matter of days), he will get some fun at a local dog park too. He does seem to love other dogs and has displayed no aggression whatsoever when he meets them on walks.

Bru also enjoys cats – his former home had five of them – but has a strong inclination to chase them. The cat-in-residence at his foster home does not appreciate this, and it is clear from the expression on her furry little face that she finds him too big, too active and worst of all too WET! (He does try to kiss her regularly and she is not having any of it.) He will stop chasing her if asked to “leave it” or if distracted being called.

There have been no real opportunities at this point to observe Bru’s interaction with children, but his previous owners reported that he likes children of all ages. When he is on his walks and sees children playing, he will whine as if he would like to join in. We will have more information on this after he has had some firsthand interaction with kids.

Bru has a tendency to bark quite a lot, and his foster mom is working on this, using distraction methods and other techniques. He also has some understandable separation anxiety and does not like to let his foster mom out of his sight for more than a moment or two. This is improving (very slowly) as he learns that she will reliably return. Being left alone during a work day remains his biggest challenge.

This handsome, sweetheart will make a wonderful companion, once he has had a chance to adjust to his new surroundings.

Bruce is being fostered in Milwaukee, WI.