Meadowlark's Most Wanted
Border Collie
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I acquired Bandit as a sweet sixteen birthday present from my father, unbeknownst to my mother. My father had gone out of town that day and had a family friend drop nine month old Bandit off at almost 10 o'clock at night. Bandit nearly got away that night too, as he bolted out of the truck when we opened it, but luckily he was leashed and I was fast enough to step on it!
He kept me very busy as a teenager, requiring daily walks and training sessions. We lived next to a huge park at the time and we'd spend hours there bicycling and frisbee catching together. He makes fascinating noises, whether from his own mouth or the empty buckets he slings around, and loves a good tug. Odd quirks include shattering plastic frisbees and bowls, chewing sticks like a wood chipper, and obsessively chasing his tail. He will also pick up and carry almost anything if it catches his attention. Pretty much everything is a toy to him if it fits in his mouth! Bandit is one of the few who truly loves water, as long as he's on the shoreline - not a huge fan of boats. Even on colder days I cannot keep him out of the water. This is probably one of my sweetest dogs too as he loves to groom both people and other dogs. Never one to be boring with greetings, Bandit is also a natural grinner - he has the classic Border Collie smile. |
AKC Canine Partners# Pending
Sex Neutered Male Color Brindle Tricolor DOB July 2003 Many people do not believe Bandit is as old as I say he is, as he gets around very well and frankly doesn't behave like an old man. With age he has kind of mellowed, but still has that naughty streak. Bandit could have been a lot of things for me, but I had too many hobbies as a child to really focus on anything competition wise with him. He's always been a great pet, and will continue to be as such. He does have little jobs around the house though, like catching the occasional frisbee, keeping my front porch company, and much to my dismay, making sure to tell me that the horses are still in the back pasture every 15 minutes. |
Bandit's Gallery
September 2003 to June 2018
There's something about the childhood dog that can't be beat, and I think it's why I compare every dog I've had and probably will have to this one. Before Bandit, I had Kasey the freakish Basset mix (her amazing story is traveling over 50 miles, by herself, in two weeks to my Grandfather's house for what I can assume was a simple can of Ole Roy wet dog food) and a landshark Yorkie (jumped our wood 4ft fence to eat our neighbor's and was my bus stop buddy). I remember little things about them, and that maybe due to my age, however I do not think they contribute to my "...I need a dog that does this, like Bandit..." list that I hold up to almost every single dog regardless of their breed or purpose. Does everybody do that? I feel like they do even if they don't realize it.
He wasn't a registered purebred of anything, as far as I know. But I gave him a fancy name anyway, simply because my family thought the world of this dog and someone has always wanted him. If I recall correctly, he was a wandering farm puppy that kept showing up at a family friend's farm and annoying their livestock. I played a game called Petz 4 (...and I still play it, and it's also one reason why I show dogs in real life. Some of the dogz I have in it are nearly 20 years old! Yeah, they don't die 😛 ) and the popular user base would modify the 10 breeds into others. The Dalmatian was turned into a Border Collie, and that's sole reason why as a preteen I wanted one. So, those pesky stars aligned on my 16th birthday and I was gifted this untrained juvenile Border Collie puppy. Cute story is my dad, who wasn't even home, but called me to go outside, and one of those family friend's had him in the back of his SUV waiting for me in the driveway. My mother was unaware of this surprise gift, and was thus unimpressed, but I thought that was hysterical.
That first year I was put through my "this breed requires this care" pace, well before I believed what was in the books was true about dog breeds. We lived next to a very large park/elementary school and everyday after school it was bike rides, sloppy obedience training, and frisbee throwing. This dog literally taught me how to throw a disc because if I wanted him to jump in the air to catch it, I had to throw it just right. He would also steal the Frisbee Golfer's discs if I didn't keep up with him. At one point, he was bilingual, as I taught him commands in Japanese and English, though I don't remember a single one now. I do know he could read lips, which was always cool.
He had the Border Collie smile, with snorts and lip licking. Anything that fit in his mouth was a toy. He wasn't destructive unless it was hard plastic - he would shatter plastic buckets and frisbees constantly.
I think I shared my king sized bed with him once, and he laid across it and left me no room, and I never did it again because princess me didn't like to share. I did however provide him with a loveseat.
In 2007 I moved out of home but couldn't take him with due to his size and apartment limits. It was only a 20 minute drive, so I visited often, but every time I left without him I'm sure he thought he'd never see me again. He'd follow me to the end of the driveway and it was always the worst. I took him to places when I could, but it was never the same as he was always left behind in the end. It was part of the reason I was so quick to find a house to rent (despite being unable to afford it!). I think one of his best days was him 'coming home' again in 2008, and I think he knew it when we got there too.
He never had a ugly moment with any dog and was always game. In fact, he is the only dog I've ever had that would mutually groom other dogs, but only if he liked them. He wasn't a wrestler, but he put on a show with hops and spins, weird animal noises, and chasing and catching his tail was always choice. He was still chasing and catching it up until the very end.
I think him and my youngest sister were around the same age, but for many years I would always tell my mother my dog was smarter than her youngest because I was snot and thought it was funny to make her mad LOL.
His herding instinct was crap though. My horses hated him, and my cats had a loving/hate tango with him. Every once in a while he nailed his purpose but for the most part, what I thought was helping, really wasn't.
Bandit loved water. As long as it was a creek, river, lake, or even an ocean. Artificial bodies of water, like pools and even wadding pools where never good enough and he always found it insulting when I forced him into these. He loved water SO MUCH though that I could not keep bowls of it in my house because he would grab a mouthful as he left the bowl and drip it through my house. Heaven forbid somebody leaving the toilet seat lid up! None of the others liked to drink after him either, because he always backwashed like crazy.
In 2016, I took him to Florida just so he could visit the ocean. We spent two weeks there playing on the beach. I still have the now expired beach pass sticker on my van's windshield.
I think I could babble forever about him, and I do feel so cheated right now. On a flip side, I am glad I got to decide when it was time, as not many are given this. He did hurt, and oh did he hide it extremely well, but I saw it for split seconds on the way out for our short morning exercise today and knew those seconds would turns in to minutes, into hours, and it just wasn't fair for him...
I hope to see his teeth baring smile at the bridge.
There's something about the childhood dog that can't be beat, and I think it's why I compare every dog I've had and probably will have to this one. Before Bandit, I had Kasey the freakish Basset mix (her amazing story is traveling over 50 miles, by herself, in two weeks to my Grandfather's house for what I can assume was a simple can of Ole Roy wet dog food) and a landshark Yorkie (jumped our wood 4ft fence to eat our neighbor's and was my bus stop buddy). I remember little things about them, and that maybe due to my age, however I do not think they contribute to my "...I need a dog that does this, like Bandit..." list that I hold up to almost every single dog regardless of their breed or purpose. Does everybody do that? I feel like they do even if they don't realize it.
He wasn't a registered purebred of anything, as far as I know. But I gave him a fancy name anyway, simply because my family thought the world of this dog and someone has always wanted him. If I recall correctly, he was a wandering farm puppy that kept showing up at a family friend's farm and annoying their livestock. I played a game called Petz 4 (...and I still play it, and it's also one reason why I show dogs in real life. Some of the dogz I have in it are nearly 20 years old! Yeah, they don't die 😛 ) and the popular user base would modify the 10 breeds into others. The Dalmatian was turned into a Border Collie, and that's sole reason why as a preteen I wanted one. So, those pesky stars aligned on my 16th birthday and I was gifted this untrained juvenile Border Collie puppy. Cute story is my dad, who wasn't even home, but called me to go outside, and one of those family friend's had him in the back of his SUV waiting for me in the driveway. My mother was unaware of this surprise gift, and was thus unimpressed, but I thought that was hysterical.
That first year I was put through my "this breed requires this care" pace, well before I believed what was in the books was true about dog breeds. We lived next to a very large park/elementary school and everyday after school it was bike rides, sloppy obedience training, and frisbee throwing. This dog literally taught me how to throw a disc because if I wanted him to jump in the air to catch it, I had to throw it just right. He would also steal the Frisbee Golfer's discs if I didn't keep up with him. At one point, he was bilingual, as I taught him commands in Japanese and English, though I don't remember a single one now. I do know he could read lips, which was always cool.
He had the Border Collie smile, with snorts and lip licking. Anything that fit in his mouth was a toy. He wasn't destructive unless it was hard plastic - he would shatter plastic buckets and frisbees constantly.
I think I shared my king sized bed with him once, and he laid across it and left me no room, and I never did it again because princess me didn't like to share. I did however provide him with a loveseat.
In 2007 I moved out of home but couldn't take him with due to his size and apartment limits. It was only a 20 minute drive, so I visited often, but every time I left without him I'm sure he thought he'd never see me again. He'd follow me to the end of the driveway and it was always the worst. I took him to places when I could, but it was never the same as he was always left behind in the end. It was part of the reason I was so quick to find a house to rent (despite being unable to afford it!). I think one of his best days was him 'coming home' again in 2008, and I think he knew it when we got there too.
He never had a ugly moment with any dog and was always game. In fact, he is the only dog I've ever had that would mutually groom other dogs, but only if he liked them. He wasn't a wrestler, but he put on a show with hops and spins, weird animal noises, and chasing and catching his tail was always choice. He was still chasing and catching it up until the very end.
I think him and my youngest sister were around the same age, but for many years I would always tell my mother my dog was smarter than her youngest because I was snot and thought it was funny to make her mad LOL.
His herding instinct was crap though. My horses hated him, and my cats had a loving/hate tango with him. Every once in a while he nailed his purpose but for the most part, what I thought was helping, really wasn't.
Bandit loved water. As long as it was a creek, river, lake, or even an ocean. Artificial bodies of water, like pools and even wadding pools where never good enough and he always found it insulting when I forced him into these. He loved water SO MUCH though that I could not keep bowls of it in my house because he would grab a mouthful as he left the bowl and drip it through my house. Heaven forbid somebody leaving the toilet seat lid up! None of the others liked to drink after him either, because he always backwashed like crazy.
In 2016, I took him to Florida just so he could visit the ocean. We spent two weeks there playing on the beach. I still have the now expired beach pass sticker on my van's windshield.
I think I could babble forever about him, and I do feel so cheated right now. On a flip side, I am glad I got to decide when it was time, as not many are given this. He did hurt, and oh did he hide it extremely well, but I saw it for split seconds on the way out for our short morning exercise today and knew those seconds would turns in to minutes, into hours, and it just wasn't fair for him...
I hope to see his teeth baring smile at the bridge.