In the past year or so, I noticed Onyx the boy dog`s anxiety levels were ramping up through the roof on me…no amount of medication was taking care of it either, so I checked with my vets at Sullivan and all of them felt that since he was a near purebred Border Collie, he was in need of a work detail everyday and really needed to be on a farm where he could come and go as he pleased and had plenty of room to run and roam. So, I put out some feelers and ads in various websites, and while out in New Mexico, I received an email from a retired lady near Troy, Missouri, that was interested in driving down to meet him on my return. She had been raising troubled Dalmations all her life and wanted a Border Collie, she lives on a farm up there and has plenty of land and room for dogs, plus she goes horseback riding a lot. She sounded perfect for him and his situation, so I let her know when I would be back and she came down the very next day to meet us, bringing her only remaining Dalmation Lucy, with her.

Lucy didn`t take kindly to sharing her attention with Onyx, but Janee felt that would soon change, as she was very taken with Onyx after spending just a few minutes with him. I helped her load him up in her boxy suv and said good bye to him, gave him a hug and wished him well…she said she would provide me with updates and photos…she was true to her word and within a few weeks, they had bonded well. I had given her some meds that I had left over for him, but he was doing so well up there, she had not given him any yet, so I was relieved to hear that. Here he is at his new home up there in a very spacious backyard with Lucy…

…I do miss him, but know he is in a much better situation for him now, too…after about two weeks, I started searching for another Border Collie, hoping to find one as laid back and calmer like my first BC, Missy. I was searching a five state area around me and could not locate any Borders that were laid back or calmer for that matter, most listed had alot of problems, some even more than boy Onyx had, so then I broadened my search to female Labs and Lab mixes…the first one that kept popping up each day was a female Lab mix named…get this…Onyx, and she was located in the Joplin area. So I made contact with the gal that was her foster mom at the time, and Tamara and I started talking about ” Miss Onyx “…she thought it was funny as well that I had re-homed a boy dog named Onyx and was now considering adopting a rescued female dog named Onyx. Within two weeks, I was driving down to pick her up and bring her home…she was a true rescue, found in a basement half filled with water, with several other dogs..she is a bit timid and submissive but so pretty, and sooo calm and laid back and listens/responds well to commands. She also likes to just lay around the house alot, which is fine with me, and I found out soon after, she does enjoy traveling with me to go rockhounding, so I am pretty sure she is going to be just fine with me…and Mom likes her a lot too. Turns out she is a Lab and Pitt Terrier mix…I had concerns about that but did some research and found out this mix is a highly intelligent mix and very well received dogs…some look more like a Lab and some look more like a Pitt…she is the latter, with a beautiful brindle color…that is brown and black mixed together…her records say she weighs 38 lbs, but she looks much lighter than that to me….meet Miss Onyx….