Becky Border Collie Mix Moscow, ID

Meet Becky!

Becky is a spayed female mixed breed dog around three years old. Based on appearance and behavior, we believe Becky is a collie mix. She is incredibly intelligent, and in order to thrive she should receive a good balance of mental and physical enrichment in her daily routine. Becky would love a home with either plenty of room to run, or an active home to take her out on a leash often. Interested adopters who live in apartments should be advised that she can be quite vocal when left alone. She would do best with an adopter who has a lot of time to spend with her to alleviate and/or train through separation anxiety behavior.

Becky is the most loyal best friend a person could ask for. She would love to be by your side for everything from naps on the couch, endless games of fetch, hikes, or runs. Her favorite times here at the shelter are going on walks with volunteers. She is excellent on a leash and shows little to no reactivity to other dogs and people when out exploring. She loves to demonstrate airtime performing magnificent leaps and spins when chasing balls, which she will dutifully bring back without fail. Her favorite place to relax is in the lap of a trusted human. Give her an assortment of toys and she will select her favorites to sleep with and throw the rest to the side!

Becky was found outside Moscow as a stray back in May of 2024, but it took several days of rescue attempts before she arrived safely at HSoP. At first, Becky was pretty scared of all the new faces, smells and sounds, but it didn’t take long before she started welcoming staff into her inner circle. Now that she knows she has friends here she can count on, she has become a much more confident dog. As with many dogs who have experienced a lot of sudden unexpected change and instability, new and different people and experiences can still be very worrisome for her. Becky exhibits anxiety and can get overstimulated when stressed, which is common with many herding breeds. Sometimes, an overstimulated dog might redirect on nearby people or animals who are not the original stressor.

Becky was adopted into a very loving home for a brief time in September ’24. Despite Becky’s initial skepticism upon meeting her adopter, after just a few walks and play dates in the yard Becky was fully dedicated and attached to her. Once Becky was in her new home, we all learned that she is highly codependent. Any time her adopter was out of sight, she vocalized excessively and acted out. Becky could meet people with her adopter and get along with them, but if her adopter left the area Becky became fearful of the strangers, attempting to herd and guard them. Eventually this behavior did lead to Becky nipping a visitor as they were going out the door, and her adopter felt that it would not be a good fit. This is why Becky arrived back at HSoP, and now we have a better understanding of the ways Becky’s anxiety can manifest in a new environment.

To help her feel more at ease and prevent some of these behaviors, Becky has been prescribed a medication to treat anxiety. We have seen an improvement in her demeanor when meeting new people and morning interactions after a night alone in her kennel. We believe that this medication will help Becky adjust in a new home with greater ease, and she may or may not need to stay on it long term once she is settled in to the routine and familiarity of her forever home. Becky still is wary of new people, and may always be. We find that if she meets a new person on a walk, away from the shelter, she is much more relaxed and neutral right away. Meeting people in the chaos of her current “home” environment and particularly on the other side of a barrier like her chain link gate puts Becky in a more defensive and less receptive mode.

For this reason, we ask that interested adopters schedule ahead of time to meet Becky so that we have adequate staffing to take Becky out on a walk with you. Adopting Becky will require multiple introductions, as she needs a little more time than other dogs to get comfortable with new people, and so that there are ample opportunities to observe and experience all that Becky has to offer! If there are multiple members of your household, please plan to meet Becky individually before scheduling as a group.

Please contact us with any questions! We just love Becky endlessly and want nothing more than for her to have a home of her own.