Despite the best of intentions and all our experience with rescues, neither of us was quite prepared for the disruption that marked Luke's introduction into our household. It was such a disaster that we seriously considered returning him to the pound. Fortunately, through patience and analysis of our problems, we managed to make peace with our newest arrival.

Here's what went wrong... and how we tried to fix it.

Getting to know you....

There was a quality of intelligence in the dog's eyes that caught Kate's attention, so we took the 14-month old collie/lab mix for a stroll around the grounds of the pound. He moved easily and calmly on a leash, never straining or pulling, and seemed interested in his surroundings but not unduly excitable. Perfect behavior!

And short-lived.

Soon after his home-coming we discovered that Luke was a hyper-active dog who gave a good imitation of a whirling dervish -- all day long. To our dismay, it turned out he wasn't house-broken either. In fact, there were a lot of things about this rescue that were different from what we expected. For instance, according to the vet, Luke was a ten-month old puppy, not a full-grown dog. And the collie part was more than likely border collie, a breed with a need for constant stimulation and activity. So the mild-mannered collie/lab mix that we had expected is a boisterous working dog instead.

In a household with two aging Scotties and a quiet collie, Luke was an incredibly disruptive element. We didn't have a fenced-in yard where he could run free, so he romped relentlessly through the house. He repeatedly soiled the carpet in the basement, chased the cat, dashed off with our slippers and socks, and woke us up in the middle of the night and early in the morning. When he slipped his collar, which was all too often, he would dash off and play hard to get. Because of his active nature, he put a strain on his stitches after neutering and required numerous extra trips to the vet. And he didn't travel well, so he tended to throw up after these car trips. In short, he drove us crazy.

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