My name is Renner

My name is Renner. I was wandering around Central California, not even a year old and 10 pounds under weight, when a nice woman and her son picked me up. They took me to their shelter and there KayLee found me. I was skinny, skittish and my hair all matted but KayLee didn’t care. She looked in my golden eyes and said I was hers.

I got into my forever family’s car and drove almost 2 hours before I came to my new home. I have my own bed and my own crate which is in KayLee’s room. I like my crate, it makes me feel safe. But sometimes as I fall asleep I have bad dreams and wake up crying and barking. When that happens, KayLee lets me on her bed and pets me and talks softly to me until I get calmed down. That’s really nice.

Since I am pure Border Collie, I am hyper and need lots of exercise. I “wrestle” with KayLee’s older brothers and I run alongside KayLee as she rides her bike. Her dad built me a teeter-totter in our back yard for me to run across and boards for me to jump over and crawl under. I love the time KayLee spends teaching me commands. She says she and I are gonna do agility courses when I am ready. I don’t know what that is, but if KayLee wants me to do it, I will.

One day, we got in the car and went to another home, with a huge backyard. There in the yard was a dog, very much like me. Her name is River and she is teaching me stuff. See I don’t know how to greet other dogs; I get scared and too excited and bark too much. But River keeps helping me and now I greet her like I am supposed to and she makes me feel less afraid. She even comes to my own yard sometimes. I also like the three little girls that live with River, the oldest one rubs my belly. I visit River often.

One night when everyone was asleep I heard a noise I knew was wrong. My crate door was open, so I kept putting my cold nose into KayLee’s hand until she woke up. I went into the hall and stared at the furnace that was making the bad noise until KayLee did something to make it stop. I am not sure what was wrong, but after that night, KayLee’s dad said I was the best dog ever and he would never worry about the family as long as I was here. That was when I knew I was part of the pack.

KayLee takes me to training classes where I try real hard because I know KayLee wants me to be okay and not be afraid any more. When KayLee leaves me in my crate she tells me she will be back and that she will never abandon me. But sometimes I get scared anyway. I feel like I did before KayLee loved me. I never want to be alone again.

KayLee’s mom says she isn’t sure who rescued who. KayLee had been sad before she loved me, and now she isn’t so sad. For me, the bad dreams and feeling scared are less and less as I live with my pack. KayLee says someday I won’t even remember all the bad that came before. I do know this, I have been with my forever family for just a few months and I love them and they love me.