Her name is Maple and no pun intended, she is very sweet. Maple according to her AARCS file is a Border Collie X. Based on her current size at about 9-10 weeks old, she will definitely be smaller than a regular Border Collie once fully grown. 

One of the many lovely attributes of Maple that catches one’s attention is her beautiful blue/green eyes. It is very distinctive in a dog. And what about that cute slightly rebel right ear that gives her a mischievous look? Maple has a beautiful rich brown coat with two white front paws as if she is wearing two white socks. 

Maple is not what you would call a lap dog but she nevertheless loves to be cuddled. Pay her a little bit of attention and that tiny white tip tail starts wagging immediately. 

In her foster house, aside from the two adults who loves to interact with her, she has 3 other friends to play with; a cat twice as big as herself, a large male doberman and a medium size female Australian Sheppard X. The cat tolerates Maple’s attempts to play and she interacts marvelously with the two resident dogs. It is comical to observe Maple chase the 90lbs doberman around the kitchen island. Maple may be a small puppy but she is quite feisty. She has no reservation to engage in play fights with the female Australian Sheppard X who is very gentle with Maple. She is also smart enough to keep her distance when the other two dogs play fight together. 

Maples demonstrates an ability to learn quickly for a puppy. She was initially afraid of the stairs but after a 5-minute (kid you not) training session with some treats, Maple learned to go up/down the stairs. Like any puppy, Maple loves chewing on things. She quickly learned that a loud PSST and/or hand clap means “Stop it/Do no do that”. One of her mischievous habit is to relocate the shoes from the main entrance to her play pad in the living room.

Despite frequent visits to the dog run in the backyard, Maple still has some accidents inside the house, she is working on that aspect of her training. We have to remind ourselves that she is only 9-10 weeks old and the “house trained” certificate will take additional time. 

At night, Maple decidedly does not want to sleep alone in her large dog kennel. For such a small dog, she is surprisingly loud when she cries/whines. After the initial three noisy nights, we decided to make space in the bedroom where the other two dogs sleep. We should have done that on day one :-).

Maple is still too young to go out for on-leash walks. She is however tiny enough to hitch a ride inside a jacket while having her head out to look at the neighborhood. 

Maple is definitely a sweet puppy that will brighten the days of her future adoptive home.

How can you resist such a lovely puppy?