#2432 – Loki

2-year-old sable and white male 
Introducing Loki: 




Loki just turned 3, and he is a beautiful playful athletic collie. He seeks affection from his people, and he enjoys living with other collies.


When Loki was first in foster with MWCR he was in a quiet home with no other pets, where his foster mom worked full time, and where Loki's primary physical activity was walks several times a day. That proved to be a difficult environment for Loki because he didn't have enough outlet for his playful energy. In many ways he acted up in much the same way that a bored toddler would. (That also mirrors some of the experiences that Loki's original family had with him). 

When Loki moved to our home for his continued foster care, he moved in with two other active collies, two cats, four kids, one bird . . .  The game was afoot!


Our home is somewhat unique in that one of us is home most days, and with the other pets here, the kids at home plus handfuls of teenage friends visiting off and on, etc., this is a very active house! Unless the collies chose to just flop, they is little forced down time.

(Yes, Loki does "FLOP")


For Loki, this has been a good fit. He has collie friends who play the same games as he does, and there are humans who pet him and will sometimes play tug-of-war. 

It is important, though, to focus on the play part of this equation. Loki has a high energy constitution and wants to play, collie-style, a lot:


Those who know collies recognize that these guys are playing a traditional collie game: Sheepherding! "Hey - I have an idea - you pretend to be a sheep and I'll chase you, and then later I'll be the sheep and you chase me!" Except that it is a lot more chaotic than that.

Sometimes the game looks just like they are just playing chase, like this (the smooth collie is our pal Indy, another MWCR foster, who was with visiting overnight):  


But often it looks a bit more sinister, like this:


or like this:


But they are really just playing, using their natural instincts in a game format. When the chase is done, they are still friends:


(Can't you just see their little brains thinking "Hey, nice undercut there, you're pretty quick for such a small thing")

The point of this extended series of photos is to show that this is the kind of play that Loki loves, daily, and which has given him the level of exercise that has satisfied his play/activity drive. The result is that the collie we have experienced for the two months he has been with us is this playful loving imp:


Loki is not without issues. Trucks are public enemy No 1 (especially big trucks like dump trucks and garbage trucks and semis . . .) and he charges the fence fiercely whenever one is traveling in the area. He also charges the fence and barks like a fool when someone jogs by our yard, or worse walks a dog in his sight-line. He would chase squirrels, rabbits, and even raccoons if given the chance. (Yes - he barks in abundance!) Clearly Loki presents some "training opportunities".

But as expressed above, my overriding thought for Loki is that with his personality, athleticism, high energy constitution and play drive, he will do best in an adoptive home where he will be able to maintain a high level of activity, pretty much daily. And without meaning to demean any other breed of dogs, it bears repeating that Loki's favorite activities are typical collie activities: tag, chase, attack . . .  


(It's hard to see in the shadow but Blue has her mouth open to go for a bite of fur from his rough  . . . just part of the game! I love his eyes roll toward her in that photo!)

  My experience is that many other breeds don't recognize that kind of roughhousing as fun. Instead, they either see it as acts of aggression. or they simply don't enjoy chasing and being chased. For instance, we fostered an English Shepherd a year ago who was clueless as to collie games. While our two collies ran in circles chasing each other, Beethoven would just stand there waiting for someone to throw him a Frisbee. Different breeds, different instincts, different games!

  So when you look at this gorgeous hugable lump of fur:  


  Keep in mind that Loki is a 'special needs' collie. He needs a place where he will be able to be active, and preferably able to get in lots of collie play time. An agile playful collie companion would be a definite plus. A place to play daily is almost a necessity (whether in a fenced area or very frequent visits to a dog park). His owner will either need to be tolerant of his barking, or willing to work on training him to not bark at trucks, critters and joggers. If you satisfy those criteria, you'll find that you have the crown prince of collies on your hands!  


It's easy to fall for this pretty face:


  And for the right situation, he will be a great fit. What we're looking for is that perfect fit. 

Thank you for reading this through. We look forward to meeting Loki's eventual adoptive family!

From Loki's foster family,
Dan and Lori, the kids, and the collies Lad, Blue and Loki!

Loki is being fostered in Wauwatosa, WI.