The first time you look into Marble’s face and see his unmatched eyes with multiple colors you know immediately how he got his name! Marble is a young (approx. 1 to 2 year old) male sweetheart shorthaired border collie. He is friendly and somewhat playful.

Marble is a special little guy. He’s also my first experience with a shorthaired border collie. He’s very sweet and affectionate, but not so much in a licky mushy kind of way, but in a manner that is more calm and intense at the same time. He enjoys toys, (likes to squeak) and plays well with other dogs. He wrestles and even plays tug-of-war with their rope type toys (he usually wins too since he’s pretty strong).

He is very serious about pleasing you and was willing to sit for Sera (who is 9 years old) while she placed the Christmas hat and antlers on his head. It was all in play for her but I felt it was a "Kodak Moment" so-to-speak.

Marble will come up to you and sit quietly and patiently, waiting for attention. If, however, you don’t notice or respond, he will quietly get up and press in. At that point you have the opportunity to feel his muscles and just how strong he really is, because, oh man, to move him off or back is like moving a ton of bricks! Hmmm, maybe I should have acknowledged him when he was sitting patiently!

He’s sweet as he can be with everyone. Kids just love him too. We had our concerns when little ones came to visit this Christmas. Bling and Marble met them at the door. Bling had so much energy and bounce that she scared the 3 year old who began to cry and hide. The next morning I walked in on that very same terrified 3 year old playing with Marble, putting hats on him, laying on him, pulled his tail (she didn’t know you don’t do that) and generally gave Marble the toddlers first dog introduction. I was surprised at how well he did. He let her do what ever she wanted and was very still for all of it. Yes, he actually appeared to love it! Then he was invaded while eating, and again, patient, sweet, no signs of food aggression with children or other dogs. Eureka! We love you Marble!

The other morning I sent in the dogs to wake Layne. Bling attacked him with tongue and wagging tail as I went into the other room. When I came back, Bling was gone and there I was faced with an incredible “Kodak moment (but I didn’t have a camera!). Layne was sleeping on his side and Marble was lying with his face stacked on top of Layne’s, both sleeping cheek to cheek. I thought I would die, went for the camera but Marble was alerted that I left the room and I lost the moment. When it comes to pictures, that was “the one that got away”!

You see, I was beginning to wonder about Marble, since, although he’s such a sweet darling to us, he definitely has a couple of negatives. Let’s start with his slight disability. Yes, slight. Apparently his front paw was crushed at some point and he was left on his own to mend. It doesn't cause him pain at this point, but his leg has shortened from lack of use while it was healing. He carries it (holding it up) most of the time, but you see, most of that is habit, because when he forgets or is too busy he uses it perfectly, especially in running or playing. You would never know! There are times though when it appears to genuinely bother him too. I notice it when we have bad weather (you know, like that old injury begins to ache when the storms come in) or if he had way too much fun and played long and hard. I feel at those times it probably hurts, even though he doesn’t show it to others. He tends to want to come back in quicker when it’s cold outside too, so he probably would not do well if he were in a home where he were left outside and or had worked too hard.

A veterinary orthopedic surgeon has evaluated marble. He recommends stretching exercises several times a day to lengthen the muscle. We keep up on the exercises and I've noticed how he uses his leg so much more than he used to. The surgeon expects that Marble can still have considerable improvement. This leg issue doesn't really slow Marble down. While he doesn't have the endurance of most BCs, he is quick & likes to run & play.

The other thing that needs careful attention is that he has a strong sense of prey. He has killed a chicken that got into the back yard where he was, and injured another chicken in the front yard. Then there are cats to consider. We took him over to neighbors to see how he would react to the cat. He appeared to ignore her while on leash. In January, he continued to appear to be no problem with 2 cats in the presence of people, but when no one was looking he went into the pounce stance. It was decided that he couldn’t be trusted alone with cats. Well now…that’s cats and chickens, so I would say all small animals would be a problem, to be safe.

If you are a cat lover or a chicken farmer Marble is NOT your guy. If you want him to heard sheep, he would love it but probably get too tuckered out. If you are an athlete and want Marble to run long distances with you, Marble wouldn’t be your guy. But if you want a friend who is kind, patient, affectionate and gets along with any age group, Marble would be in heaven to be sitting at your feet, snuggled up close, curled by the fire, at the foot of your bed (or on the bed, or in his kennel) or sprawled out with kids. Take away small animals and hard physical activity and Marble is hard to beat.

If you're looking for a good companion dog, one that loves to learn & to be with you, Marble is your guy. His adoption application is on the Border collie web site at: http://bcrescue.dogsaver.org/

These are our recent past visiting pets who lived with us