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Babe is a small, 5 year old Collie girl of only about 48 pounds that came to us from a puppy mill. She does have a few issues left over from her days at the puppy mill - mainly, she's very skittish about fast movements, sounds and unexpected touches. She also very rarely approaches close enough to touch or give a treat. These behaviors seem to be less out of fear and more out of a lack of socialization with people. She really seems to crave human attention but needs time to be confident enough to come up and collect it.

She is trying very hard to get close. When she finally does, she won't let you stop lovin' on her. At first she will just give a light nuzzle touch to get you to pet some more but now she's moved up to collie kisses on your hand. Once she's decided that she's safe, she settles in for the evening at your feet and within reach of being pet. If you are not in Willow's line of sight, she will go searching for you - she will come into the room, but keep her distance. She appears to desperately want to be close, but is still working up the courage to do so.

She ignores the cat and gets along great with other dogs. She uses the doggie door to go out and has not had a single accident in her foster house. She will walk on a leash a little but that still needs quite a bit of work. She still a little scared to explore the outdoors on her own, but we think she will easily warm up to that, as she does appear to be quite curious as she watches the other dogs explore and run around.

Babe has such a happy, wiggly, smiley demeanor and loves her pets and scratches very much. She's always smiling and always moving and looking at you, ears back and tail tip twitching. She's least afraid when her human is sitting down. She still needs some training, but we want her to get more comfortable around people in general before we work on commands. Babe needs a patient, loving owner who will allow her to warm up on her own time. As with most puppy mill dogs, this will take time, but will almost certainly be as rewarding for her human as for her once she finds her confidence.

The adoption contribution for Babe is $250.00. Please contact Daryl at halvacs@aol.com for more information about Babe or any of our other magnificent dogs.

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