"Happy Herders" Finds New Homes and a Fresh Start for Rescued Border Collies

Emma and Tom Smith have been involved with border collies for over 30 years, and established Happy Herders in 1993 to help find homes for dogs who had to be given up by their current owners for whatever reason--reasons that don't matter to the Smiths. While the rescued dogs wait for their "new human" to appear, they're cared for, carefully checked for health problems, and behavioral problems are dealt with. And they're loved, of course.

"I fall in love with every new dog," Emma says with a laugh. "But I'm never sad to see them find a great new home."

A very few dogs arrive victims of neglect or abuse, and for those dogs it may take exactly the right new owner to come along. But one always does.

"Some dogs may never be able to abide children, or men, or other dogs due to their early socialization or a trauma in the past, but they can still be great pets or working dogs. It just takes understanding and patience on the part of the new owner, to work with what the dog is rather than what they want them to be," notes Tom.

Emma adds "but most of the dogs we re-home are wonderful, just regular border collies. But owning a border collie is not like owning a lab!"

Happy Herders is a working sheep farm located on 34 acres. Not all dogs are put to the sheep, but if they show the inclination or have clearly had training, they get a tryout.

"Trained herding dogs are valuable and rarely end up in a rescue. But it's happened. They find homes right away!" says Emma.

What if you want to adopt one of their rescues?

"Our requirements are stringent, to be sure," says Tom. "We don't worry too much about how much land you have or where you live, but we do worry about how long the dog will be left alone and how much exercise--both for the brain and the body--you'll be able to give them. And we rarely think a home with young children is suitable for a border collie."

(Border collies have strong herding instincts which can make them difficult to have around young children, who they want nothing more than to herd!)

There's very few bad dogs out there. Owners who could use a prod, maybe, but the dogs themselves? They're OK. Tom Smith

They also are intensely smart, dedicated animals. This reporter found that of 64 stories published in the past ten years about "smart dogs" or "amazing dogs" nearly two-thirds involved a border collie.

Emma sums it up: "To be a border collie owner, you need to be a certain type of person. But if that's you, no other dog will do."

To get in touch with the Smiths and Happy Herders, visit their website at happyherders.example.com.

From the June 8, 2011 Everett Daily, reprinted with permission.