Newest AgileIWS member!!!

Meet Swift! 

 

Looking like a "big" girl at 9 weeks

If you can't tell (and lots of people can't so don't worry), she is a Border Collie.  Additionally, she just happens to be perfect!  :)  Swift is funny (hysterically so at times), deadly cute, super smart and quite a naughty pants (like every night from 7p to 1030p...her designated crazy shift).  I got her locally from Rising Sun Farms up in Stacy (she has lots of really neato dogs) and I just happened to fall in love with the parents when perusing available litters and got recommendations from people I trust so there you go - a new baby for me!

Swift absolutely cracks me up and there are so many different aspects to her personality.  Part of her is absolutely angelic -- no accidents in the house since the night I got her, sleeps through the night, every night, walks on a leash wonderfully, thinks her meals are super yummy, loves people and kids and other dogs (except for one sweet puppy she was a complete bitch to this weekend - arg), hasn't met a toy she doesn't love, etc. 

Then there is the pure evil side of her...I'll call her Mift (or Miffed as the case may be).  Mift has lungs...very powerful lungs.  She uses them whenever absolutely everything isn't going her way.  Mift also has cat-like climbing skills and hasn't met a gate or xpen that she couldn't scale.  Mift has also been evaluating a hostile takeover of the couch.  Nothing will deter her from her quest of sofa domination.  Currently Mift is in the prelim phase where she runs a million miles an hour and then levitates in the air only to find herself hitting about an inch below the landing pad and falling back on the ground but she knows with persistence, she will prevail.  Continuing on the kitty theme, Mift likes to run underneath the couch and then pounce out like a cobra at any clueless dogs that may be walking past.  Then when they growl at her, she runs top speed across the living room, circles back and dives back under the couch to continue the assault. 

Mift also likes to look Death in the face and laugh.  That's right...she is trying to "play" or taunt or whatever you call it with Brag (the one that put a big hole in her face on Saturday).  Granted, it wasn't really Brag (yeah, he shouldn't bite things but he does so I have to be the smart one supposedly) or Swift's fault (duh - puppy!)...more of an unfortunately well-timed event of me carrying in raw food to the house and thinking Swift was across the yard on the far side and realizing only as I hear her screaming next to me that she thought it would be a great idea to race past us on the stairs as I carried in the food.  I'm sure Brag saw her out of the corner of his eye and wasn't sure what it was but it was by his food and needed to be bit.  There was lots of drama and crying (mostly me) but everything turned out okay.  She had a puncture on her forehead and a little cut around her lip and her nose got quite swollen (making her look like a Collie instead of a Border) and has been getting hot packs, betadine and clavamox which have healed her right up.  Swift was a very subdued little puppy for the rest of that day but luckily nothing worse occured aside from just scaring me to death.  So, wouldn't you think that she might avoid Brag??  At least for a little while?  Of course they are only together when I can supervise closely but last night as I witnessed her chasing his tail and racing around his head, I just had to wonder about if she is a suicidal puppy?  Should I get her on some anti-depressants??  I thought Border Collies were smart?!?  I love Mift though...nothing like a crazy naughty puppy to put some pep in your step!   

The big excitement is that Dare finally gave in and played with Swift last night!  The puppy saw Dare playing with the frisbee and started to chase her and instead of growling at her, Dare chased her back (at a puppy appropriate speed thankfully) and they raced around the yard like happy idiots for quite a while.  Brag (the fun police) had to be banished to the house for unsportsmanlike behavior but it was really a cute moment - I knew they would like each other!! :) 
    
Of course I am getting the usual protest about abandoning the breed my mom and I have bred and loved for over 30 years for a "dreaded" Border Collie.  How come this is never an issue if someone has a breed long term and then gets anything other than a Border Collie??  Or, how come it is never an issue if someone has Border Collies and then gets an Irish Water Spaniel?  No, I've not gone to "the dark side."  Believe me...when you have IWS you already live on the dark side!  I've got my reasons, and while I don't feel that I need to justify my decision, here are a few of them in case anyone is interested in what is behind this new journey:

I like Border Collies. Surprisingly to many I'm sure, IWS and BCs are a lot alike in their quirks.  They both "notice" things (often to the extreme).  Both have to be socialized and socialized and socialized (and then socialized some more) to ensure they stay solid with people and dogs.  Also, each breed could be said to be a little "too" smart for their own good (or their owner's good).  Both breeds fit my lifestyle.  I am an on the go kind of person and I don't like to stay in one spot too long (may border on ADD at times). The older I get, the more hyper I get (scary thought).  My IWS will happily do anything and everything with me and I expect my BC will be game for all too.  I love the outline of a sleek and athletic BC just as I love the outline of my fit and muscular IWS.

I want to try something new.  I love my Irish - love, love, love them however there are aspects of the breed I'm not happy with...primarily GROOMING (yeah - no need to brush the smooth Border Collie!) and health.  I recognize that really, IWS don't have any more health problems than many other breeds but the cancer, to me, has really started to be scary.  Drina's death in the prime of her life (couple months shy of 10), really rocked my world in a very terrible way.  I was so incredibly attached to that dog it was very tough to begin to recover.  In reality, there is nothing to say that a BC won't get sick young but I just can't take the same situation. With Brag, I have to push those ugly thoughts out of my head as he gets closer to the age at which I lost Drina.  Strangely, there is something about the gleam in this puppy's eye that totally reminds me of Drina when she was a bad little pup. They both have the same type of expression in their face and the self-entitled attitude.  If I ever learn to use editing software better I'll post some side by side pictures of Drina as a puppy and Swift for evidence.  

And did I mention I'll never have to put Swift on a grooming table and slave for hours grooming her???  Oops, I did - Soooo excited!

Finally, yeah, I'd like to have a competitive dog in agility. I've been super lucky to have had awesome agility IWS that are at the top of their breed in agililty and can certainly hold their own against other breeds at national events and sometimes place and even win.  If something happens and Swift isn't able to do agility, she'll still be my baby puppy and I'll be disappointed but life will go on and we will do something else fun.  But yeah, I have dreams of handling a break neck speed dog and more than handling, I'm looking forward to training to be that kind of team.  We'll see though...right now all I have time for is playing with her and laughing at her antics rather than worrying about the future.  My biggest goal with Swift is to just enjoy every moment (and take lots of pictures!).  Just like kids, before you know it, they'll be all grown up.


Finally, seeing as how the newest member of my crew isn't an IWS...I need help to come up with an acronym so Swift can fit into this blog.  Here is what I've come up with so far:

Integrated Warfare Systems
I'm with Stupid (guess that would be me...)
I Wrestle Snakes
Infantry Weapons Systems 
Infant Warming System (maybe if she were drugged...)
Illicit Warped Swift
Insulted When Stopped

Notice the emphasis on warfare acronyms.  That seems particularly fitting since I've been wondering lately who replaced my sweet, kissy, cuddly puppy with a determined pirhana!

Here are a few pictures from her short 9 weeks on this earth.  Enjoy!


With her sistas - sandwiched between the two black and white girls

 

A little snuggler at 5 weeks (and still is!)



 

Obsessed with big toys at 7 weeks




MINE!!!!




Playing with mama Spin at 7 weeks




Being a wiggly worm at 9 weeks