Misty was dumped at an animal shelter (October 2015). She had been a birthday present to a young girl who no longer wanted her and never took time to train her. Southland Collie Rescue took her in, but she was bounced around. By mid-January, she was adopted, but her adopters wanted her out and less than 48 hours later, she came to me as a foster dog (January 2016) shortly before her first birthday.

Most people want a gentle dog when they are looking for a collie. Misty was the Doggess of Destruction. She nipped when she was happy. She bit when she was scared. She snapped when she was angry. I bought thick jeans and wore knee pads to protect my legs when I ran with her, especially on the agility field where she was a natural. She loved tunnels. The teeter didn't scare her. She was fearless. I insisted that prospective adopters watch her in class with me because she was also impatient and reactive.

At home, she was wild and under weight. She broke many ceramic pots, a few dishes and one window, but now she's breaking my heart. Instead of planning on her retirement from agility and moving into the more gentle scent training, I'm planning out her bucket list and managing her daily conditioning.

She's been diagnosed with lymphoma. On 9 August 2023, we listened as the doctor at the Veterinary Cancer Group (Patient #178184) explained the tests ($2956.27) needed to make a more precise diagnosis. Then we got an estimate. She will began the first round of chemotherapy ($3386.88). She will need four rounds (4 x $3386.88 = 13, 547.52 of this CHOP chemotherapy protocol.

Even before we visited the oncologist, we had spent $2193.63 solely on diagnosing Misty's health problems.

Yet despite her health problems, Misty seems healthy.

Misty had surgery for a soft tissue sarcoma in 2021--two years ago. After her sarcoma surgery on her foot, I worked to strengthen her. We bought her a variety of braces and shoes. Eventually she was back to running at home and eagerly tackling the agility courses in class.

She doesn't compete often, but she recently qualified in 9 out of 10 runs at a weekend trial in La Jolla.

She is a high-energy action collie who would otherwise turn into a literal home wrecker and bored barker without this activity. She clearly loves running, jumping and slamming down the teeter totter. She isn't a big fan of the weave poles and will bark in protest all the way through when she's feeling spicy (which is most of the time).

We don't usually ask for money for our dogs. Our other dog, Kirisame, died the same year that Misty had surgery (2021) from Degenerative myelopathy (DM). We bought a wheelchair and other things to make his last six months better. We thought all of that would be worth it since I could use it for our other dogs as they grew old. But even before Kaminari could use the wheelchair he was gone. Last year, Kaminari was rushed to emergency and died of pancreatic cancer (3 July 2022).

We recently had to replace our roof and will need to pay for other much needed repairs as well as continue to pay off our student loans.

Misty has a real enthusiasm for life. She loves to run. She loves to be admired for what she's become: A well-behaved lady. We want to spend as much time as we can with her doing what she wants for as long as she still is running head high and heart full of joy into adventure.

Help Misty live a full life by providing her with the best treatment available. We've already started a bucket list for Misty aka Collie Golightly .

You can also make direct donations to Veterinary Cancer Group (Patient #178184).

Thank you for reading about Misty and for your financial and emotional support for our situation.