The Cocker Spaniel That Wasn't!

              Chandler aka "The Big Dog"                                                                                                                                                                              Part One!   

This was my Petfinder photo when I was just a little guy! See Mom had just adopted Sister Biscuit and she was so much younger than the rest of the pack that she decided Biscuit needed a playmate. Mom is partial to cocker spaniels but I think she was getting tired of all the grooming and ear cleaning - so when she saw me listed as a border collie/cocker spaniel mix, combining the best of both breeds, she called Dolores from NY Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue and said she wanted to meet me. I was still in Georgia awaiting transport. I had been an owner surrender and they had told rescue I should be about 40 lbs when full grown. That sounded good to Mom and she was told they would let her know when I arrived in NY! It was a really long trip and I was very, very carsick! As there were no available foster homes, I was sent to a cage-less boarding facility where I had fun playing with lots of other doggies! A few days later Mom braved the trip to the city and took me home to meet the pack!

Of course I got carsick, but Mom was really patient with me and we made it home to New Jersey. I was so happy to be out of the car and there was grass for me to roll in and I had a ready made family of cockers to play with! We were all about the same size, so even though I was a bit wild things were pretty good! Then 30 lbs turned into 40 and then 50 and I was still growing. At 71 lbs I was pulling Mom down when she tried to walk me and the only one who would play with me was Biscuit. I was way too rough for my older sisters! At that point Mom called the rescue to ask when I would stop growing? When they heard how large I was, they called my previous owner and were told  "Oh there was a St Bernard in the home also!" They did offer to rehome me but Mom is as stubborn as I am and decided to try to make it work, even though I was much more than she had bargained for!  Lucky for me I was so cute! I mean who could resist that face??  

 
Poor Mom - she was used to having dogs she could pick up! She enrolled me in Obedience classes at It's Your Dog! I did well in class and the teacher loved me but I was still a lot to handle! I was part Border Collie and I needed a job! Since there were no sheep available, I took to herding my sisters who weren't amused! I had Mom in tears most of the time! She loved me so much but she was becoming concerned that I would hurt my sisters just because I was so much bigger than them. If it hadn't been for my teacher Leslie's encouragement,  I really think Mom might have given up on me and I couldn't have blamed her!

I may look sweet and innocent but I'm just tired from chewing holes in the coach, the bed, the walls and chasing the little dogs around the house! It's hard work being this destructive but how else could I make sure Mom really, really loved me and that this would be my fur ever home?????????????? Woof!Woof!Woof!