The dog named Romeo was surrendered to Central West Animal Rescue (CWAR) around six months ago from outside the Orange region after he and another dog escaped a property and chased stock.

According to the rescue charity, the pound's "recommendations" were that Romeo couldn't be rehabilitated and that "euthanasia may be best".

"Had [the owner of both dogs] surrendered them to the council in that area they would have been euthanised," CWAR's founder and president Jasmine Smart said.

"Because around here - fence jumpers, any type of nuisance - if you surrender that animal to the pound - [you can be] 99 percent sure they're going to put it down... So Romeo would have been euthanised - I put my money on that."

It was Ms Smart's opinion that many pounds - not just in the Central West region - had flawed practices when it came to the temperament testing of dogs. Dogs were being assessed under the stressful conditions of a pound's environment, sometimes even by inexperienced rangers, she said.

"All Romeo needed was the proper assessment and the proper home to go into and just the right environment," Ms Smart said.

"Half the time [nuisance dogs] don't even need training," she added. "Romeo just proves that there are dogs that can be saved but they don't even need saving. They need the right environment and the right people around them."

After being assessed by CWAR the border collie was sent to a foster carer in Orange. At the time, the Harris family had four young children and Mum Rebecca Harris was nearing the end of her pregnancy so was initially hesitant about taking on another foster dog. But Romeo quickly won her over - first with just his photo and then with his charm.

"Romeo is almost like an actual gentleman. We open the back door and he runs down the stairs and gives us space to walk out... He's just such a delight," she said.

"When I told the kids that we were only fostering him and that he's got to go to a permanent home, my nine-year-old son was bawling his eyes out."

The whole family had fallen in love with the border collie and so, just before Christmas and the birth of Benjamin, the Mr and Mrs Harris decided to keep him. Seven weeks on and the family couldn't imagine their lives without him.

"Romeo is a very welcome addition because my kids will get off their technology and and go out and play with him... My boys absolutely love him so much."

Mrs Harris added that while the dog may have been previously marked as a menace to stock, when it came to her own small children - who were aged between 9 years and seven-weeks, Romeo couldn't be more gentle - even when the younger ones try to sit on him.

"I'm really happy that we got him... It would've been a waste if he was [euthanised]," she said.

"The nature of this dog would not warrant that. It would have been a really sad situation... There was no sign of [him being] menacing to my kids."