THE BRENDAN STORY
In December of 2007 I was contacted by a friend, Cindy Geiss, who is a border collie breeder.
Cindy told me that she had been contacted by a gentleman who lived in New York State that had
a border collie, who I will call “Touch”, according to this man he didn’t know if he should “kill him”
or what he should do with him. I will call this man “Alan”. Alan had told Cindy that Touch was
vicious towards both people and other dogs. He told her that during one incident Touch had
attacked and bitten several people, including Alan and his son, and that Touch would go after
Alan’s other dogs, particularly Alan’s puppies. Cindy had seen Touch before at a couple of dog
shows and had seen no sign of aggression or the described behavior and was a bit surprised by
the stories. Touch had appeared to be a friendly, well behaved dog. Cindy then contacted me
for advice because she was concerned that she could not take on the rehabilitation of a dog that
was as bad as the dog Alan was describing. She knew that I had rehabbed several other dogs
and had experience in obedience training of dogs and wanted my advice.
I emailed Alan several times over the next couple of weeks and also spoke with him by phone. It
seemed that he had contacted pretty much every border collie breeder he could locate and told
his stories about how vicious Touch was. He even sent an email to Touch’s breeder in Germany,
telling her of his plans to “kill” Touch. Finally I was able to convince Alan that I would be able to
handle Touch’s special needs. It was my intention to remove Touch from Alan’s home and
evaluate him. We set up a date to have Cindy and me come to his house while I was in New York
City for the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Alan insisted that I would have to sign a legal
document that stated that if Touch were to bite someone or another dog or do any damage that I
would not hold him, Alan, legally liable.
February arrived and I drove down to New Jersey for some other dog shows the weekend before
Westminster. Cindy and I drove to Alan’s house on Friday, February 8, 2008 to pick Touch up.
When we arrived at Alan’s house, I couldn’t help but notice how small his yard was for a dog, let
alone an active border collie. Once inside, I saw a lovely home, but not one you would expect to
see dogs in. There were none of the usual signs of a dog type home. There were no dog toys
seen, no gates to keep dogs off expensive furniture, no scratches on the beautiful hard wood
floors, no stray dog hairs missed by the vacuum cleaner… in short I saw a home that looked like
something out of a glossy magazine. Nothing wrong with this, but it didn’t strike me as a home
where a dog, let alone multiple dogs were part of the family.
Once inside Alan showed us two of Touch’s puppies which were kept in a laundry room both in
the same crate which was big enough for perhaps one puppy to be comfortable. When we went
back into his kitchen I could see Touch standing outside at the sliding glass door, like any dog…
wanting to come in. He didn’t bark, snarl or show other aggressive behavior. He was simply
curious, and anxious to come in. This was a good sign! It took me about an hour of talking to
Alan before we were able to have him bring Touch in for me to take back with us.
Alan kept insisting that he loved the dog, but couldn’t keep him. However, I had to insist on him
giving me Touch’s rabies tag, as he would not allow me to take his collar. Alan sent Touch with
no health record, no toys, no food, no favorite blanket… nothing that was “his” that might help him
adjust to a new home.
When Alan brought Touch in on my leash, he stopped about 5 feet away from me. Alan stood
there very hesitant and unsure. Touch, picking up on Alan’s anxiety was watching me very
carefully and finally he made a low throaty growl but made no other aggressive signs or
movements. I told Alan to hand me the leash and back away. Alan was very upset and said that
if he did, Touch would certainly attack and rip me apart. About five minutes elapsed before I was
finally able to convince Alan to do as I asked. Once he handed me the leash and backed away,
Touch sniffed my legs and body while I stood motionless and ignoring him. He then looked up at
me and wagged his tail. I then immediately took Touch out to the van, putting him in a crate and
left the leash on just in case when I took him out of the crate he decided to become aggressive.
Cindy and I then went back to my hotel in New Jersey.
Once we arrived at the hotel, we went to the back of the van to get Touch out. I opened the crate
and took the leash and he jumped out of the crate as if he had been with me forever. I walked
him around and at that point took my first good look at him. He was about twenty pounds
overweight, with no muscle tone, particularly in the rear quarters and his coat was very matted.
You could also see where someone had cut chunks of coat out particularly on the backs of his
rear legs. There was a gentleman who was standing nearby doing a survey of the hotel parking
lot. The only reaction Touch had to the man was when he walked by Touch and absently patted
him on the head was a happy wag of the tail. Other dogs were being walked around in the area
and Touch showed no signs of aggression only an interest in making new friends. We also took
that opportunity to see if he had any disqualifying faults and to see if he was intact or neutered.
All was fine. I said good bye to Cindy and took Touch up to my hotel room. There I spent the
next two hours sitting on the floor next to Touch brushing, combing and dematting him. Cindy and
I had decided earlier to name him Brendan. One of the most important things when rehabbing a
dog is to change their name and never once say the old name. It is a case of removing the old
bad memories and building new good memories. From the moment that we left Alan’s home
Touch was Brendan. To this day he has not heard his old name.
By grooming Brendan on the floor at his level I was also doing some temperament testing. De-
matting is often somewhat painful and if he had any aggressive tendencies I was sure to see
them. Not once did Brendan so much as lift a lip to snarl, growl or show any other aggression.
After de-matting I took him outside again for some fresh air. As the hotel was the host hotel for
the dog show, there were many people out exercising their dogs. At no time did Brendan show
any aggression towards the other dogs or the people.
Back in my room my other friends arrived with the Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, named Bubbles.
Bubbles had been born at my house and I hadn’t seen her since she went to Virginia to be
shown. Consequently she was very happy and excited to see me, jumping around and barking at
me. I watched Brendan with her and he totally ignored her. There was no aggression. I was
relatively encouraged with the initial observations of his behavior, but made no assumptions to
what his reactions would be in any circumstances. Each day with Touch would be another day of
temperament testing and rehabbing. Once Cindy arrived home she immediately emailed Touch’s
breeder in Germany to let her know that he was safe. Imagine… being overseas and knowing
that your dog was with someone that after having the dog for over two years, wanted to “kill” him!
Brendan’s breeder immediately emailed back with relief and gratitude.
The next three months were spent getting Brendan in better physical shape, constantly testing
and evaluating him for any inappropriate behavior. So far so good, and because Alan had signed
Brendan’s AKC papers over to Cindy and me, we had thoughts of showing Brendan in
conformation shows to try and get his championship.
In May we entered Brendan in a few shows to see how he would react. His rehab was far from
over, and indeed continues today. However, it was time for the next step. He was fine with the
other dogs at the shows and all the people and the chaos. He didn’t win, but he didn’t deserve
to. His coat was not in condition and his muscle tone wasn’t there yet either. When I would go to
“stack” Brendan in the ring he would tense up and become very upset. I knew that Brendan had
been shown by different people for Alan when he was young. I can only assume that this was not
always an enjoyable experience for him.
We continued to work with Brendan and in June he went to a show and did very well. He won
Best of Breed from the classes over the champions. This was a wonderful accomplishment!!!
July found Brendan with more Best of Breed wins and two herding group placements. This was
fantastic! Perhaps the best part was that he was relaxing in the ring and starting to enjoy it. I
would not have continued with showing him if he didn’t like it. It simply wasn’t that important to
us. November came and Brendan went to some very competitive shows in Massachusetts. He
finished his championship at a Border Collie Society of America supported entry. In all the years
that I have shown dogs, going best in show or best in specialty show… finishing well over a
hundred champions… not once have I ever cried in the ring. I did that day. Brendan had gone
through so much, come so far, it was such a wonderful moment for him! When I came out of the
ring with the ribbon, I saw that I wasn’t the only one with tears in my eyes. Cindy (his co-owner)
was there along with other border collie people that knew his story and were clapping and
greeting us with well wishes. We were all so proud of him. Their support for Brendan is
something I will never forget or stop appreciating. They are truly wonderful people.
By finishing his championship in November, Brendan qualified to be entered in Westminster. To
think that a dog that was literally on death row had come so far as to be entered at Westminster
Kennel Club dog show, the most world’s prestigious dog show only one year later! I can honestly
say that I don’t really care if he wins a ribbon at Westminster 2009… I am just so proud of
Brendan. Also there will be other Westminsters for him!
So today, Brendan remains a happy and very much loved member of our family. His favorite thing
to do is to play T-Ball with my seven year old son Josh. Josh taught Brendan to sit patiently to
the side while Josh puts the ball on the “T”. Then Josh hits the ball and Brendan goes and gets
it, brings it back and then gives it to Josh. Josh takes it, tells Brendan “Back” and “Sit” and they
start the whole process over. This keeps them entertained for hours… Brendan’s other favorite
things to do are to go for long walks through the woods, swim in the lake and lie on the bed just
being a dog. We hope to do some obedience title work and herding work with him in the coming
years as well as continuing to show in conformation shows. Mostly though we are just enjoying a
wonderful dog who is very much a part of our family.
Brendan (Ch. Invisible Red Touch From Borders Paradise)
In December of 2007 I was contacted by a friend, Cindy Geiss, who is a border collie breeder.
Cindy told me that she had been contacted by a gentleman who lived in New York State that had
a border collie, who I will call “Touch”, according to this man he didn’t know if he should “kill him”
or what he should do with him. I will call this man “Alan”. Alan had told Cindy that Touch was
vicious towards both people and other dogs. He told her that during one incident Touch had
attacked and bitten several people, including Alan and his son, and that Touch would go after
Alan’s other dogs, particularly Alan’s puppies. Cindy had seen Touch before at a couple of dog
shows and had seen no sign of aggression or the described behavior and was a bit surprised by
the stories. Touch had appeared to be a friendly, well behaved dog. Cindy then contacted me
for advice because she was concerned that she could not take on the rehabilitation of a dog that
was as bad as the dog Alan was describing. She knew that I had rehabbed several other dogs
and had experience in obedience training of dogs and wanted my advice.
I emailed Alan several times over the next couple of weeks and also spoke with him by phone. It
seemed that he had contacted pretty much every border collie breeder he could locate and told
his stories about how vicious Touch was. He even sent an email to Touch’s breeder in Germany,
telling her of his plans to “kill” Touch. Finally I was able to convince Alan that I would be able to
handle Touch’s special needs. It was my intention to remove Touch from Alan’s home and
evaluate him. We set up a date to have Cindy and me come to his house while I was in New York
City for the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Alan insisted that I would have to sign a legal
document that stated that if Touch were to bite someone or another dog or do any damage that I
would not hold him, Alan, legally liable.
February arrived and I drove down to New Jersey for some other dog shows the weekend before
Westminster. Cindy and I drove to Alan’s house on Friday, February 8, 2008 to pick Touch up.
When we arrived at Alan’s house, I couldn’t help but notice how small his yard was for a dog, let
alone an active border collie. Once inside, I saw a lovely home, but not one you would expect to
see dogs in. There were none of the usual signs of a dog type home. There were no dog toys
seen, no gates to keep dogs off expensive furniture, no scratches on the beautiful hard wood
floors, no stray dog hairs missed by the vacuum cleaner… in short I saw a home that looked like
something out of a glossy magazine. Nothing wrong with this, but it didn’t strike me as a home
where a dog, let alone multiple dogs were part of the family.
Once inside Alan showed us two of Touch’s puppies which were kept in a laundry room both in
the same crate which was big enough for perhaps one puppy to be comfortable. When we went
back into his kitchen I could see Touch standing outside at the sliding glass door, like any dog…
wanting to come in. He didn’t bark, snarl or show other aggressive behavior. He was simply
curious, and anxious to come in. This was a good sign! It took me about an hour of talking to
Alan before we were able to have him bring Touch in for me to take back with us.
Alan kept insisting that he loved the dog, but couldn’t keep him. However, I had to insist on him
giving me Touch’s rabies tag, as he would not allow me to take his collar. Alan sent Touch with
no health record, no toys, no food, no favorite blanket… nothing that was “his” that might help him
adjust to a new home.
When Alan brought Touch in on my leash, he stopped about 5 feet away from me. Alan stood
there very hesitant and unsure. Touch, picking up on Alan’s anxiety was watching me very
carefully and finally he made a low throaty growl but made no other aggressive signs or
movements. I told Alan to hand me the leash and back away. Alan was very upset and said that
if he did, Touch would certainly attack and rip me apart. About five minutes elapsed before I was
finally able to convince Alan to do as I asked. Once he handed me the leash and backed away,
Touch sniffed my legs and body while I stood motionless and ignoring him. He then looked up at
me and wagged his tail. I then immediately took Touch out to the van, putting him in a crate and
left the leash on just in case when I took him out of the crate he decided to become aggressive.
Cindy and I then went back to my hotel in New Jersey.
Once we arrived at the hotel, we went to the back of the van to get Touch out. I opened the crate
and took the leash and he jumped out of the crate as if he had been with me forever. I walked
him around and at that point took my first good look at him. He was about twenty pounds
overweight, with no muscle tone, particularly in the rear quarters and his coat was very matted.
You could also see where someone had cut chunks of coat out particularly on the backs of his
rear legs. There was a gentleman who was standing nearby doing a survey of the hotel parking
lot. The only reaction Touch had to the man was when he walked by Touch and absently patted
him on the head was a happy wag of the tail. Other dogs were being walked around in the area
and Touch showed no signs of aggression only an interest in making new friends. We also took
that opportunity to see if he had any disqualifying faults and to see if he was intact or neutered.
All was fine. I said good bye to Cindy and took Touch up to my hotel room. There I spent the
next two hours sitting on the floor next to Touch brushing, combing and dematting him. Cindy and
I had decided earlier to name him Brendan. One of the most important things when rehabbing a
dog is to change their name and never once say the old name. It is a case of removing the old
bad memories and building new good memories. From the moment that we left Alan’s home
Touch was Brendan. To this day he has not heard his old name.
By grooming Brendan on the floor at his level I was also doing some temperament testing. De-
matting is often somewhat painful and if he had any aggressive tendencies I was sure to see
them. Not once did Brendan so much as lift a lip to snarl, growl or show any other aggression.
After de-matting I took him outside again for some fresh air. As the hotel was the host hotel for
the dog show, there were many people out exercising their dogs. At no time did Brendan show
any aggression towards the other dogs or the people.
Back in my room my other friends arrived with the Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, named Bubbles.
Bubbles had been born at my house and I hadn’t seen her since she went to Virginia to be
shown. Consequently she was very happy and excited to see me, jumping around and barking at
me. I watched Brendan with her and he totally ignored her. There was no aggression. I was
relatively encouraged with the initial observations of his behavior, but made no assumptions to
what his reactions would be in any circumstances. Each day with Touch would be another day of
temperament testing and rehabbing. Once Cindy arrived home she immediately emailed Touch’s
breeder in Germany to let her know that he was safe. Imagine… being overseas and knowing
that your dog was with someone that after having the dog for over two years, wanted to “kill” him!
Brendan’s breeder immediately emailed back with relief and gratitude.
The next three months were spent getting Brendan in better physical shape, constantly testing
and evaluating him for any inappropriate behavior. So far so good, and because Alan had signed
Brendan’s AKC papers over to Cindy and me, we had thoughts of showing Brendan in
conformation shows to try and get his championship.
In May we entered Brendan in a few shows to see how he would react. His rehab was far from
over, and indeed continues today. However, it was time for the next step. He was fine with the
other dogs at the shows and all the people and the chaos. He didn’t win, but he didn’t deserve
to. His coat was not in condition and his muscle tone wasn’t there yet either. When I would go to
“stack” Brendan in the ring he would tense up and become very upset. I knew that Brendan had
been shown by different people for Alan when he was young. I can only assume that this was not
always an enjoyable experience for him.
We continued to work with Brendan and in June he went to a show and did very well. He won
Best of Breed from the classes over the champions. This was a wonderful accomplishment!!!
July found Brendan with more Best of Breed wins and two herding group placements. This was
fantastic! Perhaps the best part was that he was relaxing in the ring and starting to enjoy it. I
would not have continued with showing him if he didn’t like it. It simply wasn’t that important to
us. November came and Brendan went to some very competitive shows in Massachusetts. He
finished his championship at a Border Collie Society of America supported entry. In all the years
that I have shown dogs, going best in show or best in specialty show… finishing well over a
hundred champions… not once have I ever cried in the ring. I did that day. Brendan had gone
through so much, come so far, it was such a wonderful moment for him! When I came out of the
ring with the ribbon, I saw that I wasn’t the only one with tears in my eyes. Cindy (his co-owner)
was there along with other border collie people that knew his story and were clapping and
greeting us with well wishes. We were all so proud of him. Their support for Brendan is
something I will never forget or stop appreciating. They are truly wonderful people.
By finishing his championship in November, Brendan qualified to be entered in Westminster. To
think that a dog that was literally on death row had come so far as to be entered at Westminster
Kennel Club dog show, the most world’s prestigious dog show only one year later! I can honestly
say that I don’t really care if he wins a ribbon at Westminster 2009… I am just so proud of
Brendan. Also there will be other Westminsters for him!
So today, Brendan remains a happy and very much loved member of our family. His favorite thing
to do is to play T-Ball with my seven year old son Josh. Josh taught Brendan to sit patiently to
the side while Josh puts the ball on the “T”. Then Josh hits the ball and Brendan goes and gets
it, brings it back and then gives it to Josh. Josh takes it, tells Brendan “Back” and “Sit” and they
start the whole process over. This keeps them entertained for hours… Brendan’s other favorite
things to do are to go for long walks through the woods, swim in the lake and lie on the bed just
being a dog. We hope to do some obedience title work and herding work with him in the coming
years as well as continuing to show in conformation shows. Mostly though we are just enjoying a
wonderful dog who is very much a part of our family.
Brendan (Ch. Invisible Red Touch From Borders Paradise)
