Let me tell you about Finnegan McCool

Finnegan McCool is an Irish folklore legendary warrior……..But that’s not the Finnegan I’m talking about.

It all started 3 years ago….

We decided on getting a new puppy. Well, it was more for my son who was a senior in high school and would be going off to basic after graduation. So, the plan was that the new puppy had to be picked out by me and hubby because we would be taking care of the dog while my son was off in the military. After many discussions on which breed, we wanted to go with…..(it needs to be noted that my son specifically asked for a bigger dog, since he considered our current dog, a Shi Tzu, an “ankle biter” and didn’t want another, lol)….we chose to find a Border Collie breeder.

Yes, we were “aware” that the Border Collie breed was a herding, high energy breed but we loved the look and size of the breed. In retrospect, I guess, you can never really prepare yourself for a herding-high energy dog….the first time around. It’s a lot at times. But, this would not be the real interesting part of this experience.

We arrived at the breeders house, where she housed about 15 large kennels that lined her hallway and in each was a full size Border Collie. She had “put them away” for our visit as she feared it would be overwhelming having 15 large dogs coming at us at once. (Good idea lol). On the open floor were 2 puppies, one all brown female and Finn (see pic above). He was beautiful, a merle with white and brown/black spots. He had 1 blue eye and 1 brown eye. He was stunning! The female immediately came over to me and layed on my lap looking up at me like she was pleading to be adopted. I felt she was even tempered and a loving dog, very calm. Finn……on  the other hand, would look at us and then run (or hop) to the other side of the room, pouncing on the toy closest to him. We would call him over but then he would look up, tilt his head and continue to run around the room.

My natural instinct was to pick the dog that was being loving and attentive to me……my hubby, immediately was drawn to the crazy pup with the huge personality. Well, we discussed and hubby won the pick. I did love the beauty of little Finn…..I was just concerned about his bouncy personality.

As we drove home, we contemplated a name……It was important that we not “pre-pick” a name and give him one that fits. So, after a few ideas tossed about, I happened across an article about Finnegan McCool. I immediately loved that name, Finn, but it was the story of the name that really got me.

Finnegan McCool (aka Finn Mac Cumhaill), was a giant who was in a rivalry with his “neighbor”, separated by a body of water, and became the victor through a very clever and deceptive plan. His name has been the inspiration of many Irish clans across Ireland, as legend says.

The name, Finnegan, means “Fair”. Now, I know that that is not normally a word we would use to describe a dog, but further information gives the name these other qualities:

• A quick and clever mind – Intelligent
• Crave friendship, understanding, love and affection
• Sensitive nature

These, plus the qualities that Border Collies inherently have:

• “Superior” Intellect
• Workaholic
• Fanatical
• Master escape artists
• “Passionate gatherers of – people, cats, dogs, livestock, deer, running children, joggers, bikes, cars…etc.
• Compulsive
• Intense athelete

Finn is all these….and then some. 🙂

So, now we have this beautiful, amazing puppy with incredible eyes….and a cool name to boot! We bring him home, take him to PU (puppy university), and become his family.

As we grew with him, we discovered his compulsive behavior that we read about in his breed. We turned on NatGeo channel one day and noticed he was watching TV. We were amused at first as we watched his facial expressions change, as he watched the tiger chase the other animals, or the wolves howl in the night. We were even more amused when Finn would jump off of the couch and run into the kitchen thinking he was joining the pack as they ran into the wilderness. This was fun for us…….because we thought it was cute. We have since stopped turning that on because we noticed more compulsive behavior has developed also. Finn will become completely focused on shadows. He will even pounce on them. We now try to limit what he has access to that may spike his compulsive behavior but we can’t seem to get away from shadows. I have a little video I’ve put together of Finn with pics also for you to enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhYkLWnm9GA

This is our awesome Finn! We love him so much and I am so glad we picked the crazy, shy, little puppy 3 years ago. He protects us and loves us…….even if he does chase shadows, lol.