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Border Collie Rescue - On Line - Smile
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smile                                What is this appeal all about?                                smile

The work we do with many of the dogs we take in is very demanding and time consuming.

A lot of the dogs we take have been turned down by other rescue centres.  They have issues and will be difficult to re-home.
They will need time, work and patience.

We have one facility for rehabilitation of such dogs but if we had two we could do twice as much.
If we had 10 we could do 10 times as much so your support is very important.


We are only able to work within resources which means that the number of dogs we can accommodate and work with is limited.
We are all volunteers so there are no wages to pay, but there are still substantial costs involved.


We want to expand and help more dogs and to do so we need more support, more volunteers and more funds.

We raise funds in a number of ways but the way we can make reliable progress is by regular donations from many people.

Regular monthly standing order payments enable us to plan ahead and make commitments.
We can bank on these donations.

With a large number of people, each donating a small regular amount, we can reliably progress and expand our work.




Large numbers and small amounts mean that if someone can no longer afford to support us we are not drastically affected when they stop and we can carry on and plan for the future with a better chance of making those plans succeed.

We are a careful and thorough organisation when we re-home. We home-check and take care to match dogs and homes. You can read more about our rehoming criteria and how much we do to get it right for both the dog and the applicant by clicking here.


If you love Border Collies and want to support a charity that does more than just re-home them.

If you want to support a charity that rehabilitates and assesses the dogs and looks for homes for them that can offer them what they truly need from life - think about supporting us and help us to put a smile on more faces.

A small monthly amount by standing order will really help us help the dogs.

£1 or £2 or £3 or £4 or £5 or more - whatever you can afford and spare for as long as you can afford to donate


Help us to put a smile on more faces.

Download a standing order form - Download a gift aid form

If you fill in a standing order form, do not send it to us, send it directly to your bank.

The Treasurer. Border Collie Rescue.
57 Market Place, Richmond, North Yorkshire. DL10 4JQ

If you want to send us a 'one off' donation you can do so by sending a cheque made out to Border Collie Rescue
to the same address - and if you are a UK taxpayer you can include a gift aid form.

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A word about the video.
You frequently see images of abused or neglected animals in charity appeals which are used in order to bring attention to the need to rescue them.

We decided not to do this and instead show you pictures of dogs we rescued and had in our care, who's problems and issues we had already addressed.

Some were badly treated dogs, some frightened, some neglected, some abused, some confused and all of them were disorientated because, for one reason or another they had to leave familiar homes and people and start again. They needed to be rescued

That was then, before we took them in. The end results are what is important.

Where they came from and what state they were in when they came - that's another story. If you want to know more, there are brief backgrounds of some of the dogs featured in the video at the bottom of this page.




Some of the dogs in this video

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This is a brief look at the background of some of the dogs shown in the Smile video.

Mist

MIST

A very timid and poorly socialised young sheepdog who was so frightened by everything that she never made the grade as a working dog. When allowed off the lead she would always run away a distance, hang around but never come back to her handler.

There was no abuse or cruelty here, just a timid nature and lack of socialisation that had made her terrified of everything she didn't understand.

Over a period of several months we built up her confidence and helped her overcome her insecurities.



Tiger

TIGER

Elderly Border Collie, deaf since birth, had spent most of his life in his owners back garden with another dog who was his ears and guide.

His disability caused a number of issues, the main ones being his lack of understanding of other dogs body language and the inability of his owner to communicate with him.

Freedom was restricted to the garden or walking on lead to prevent him getting into misunderstandings with dogs he met on walks.

We taught him sign and to keep looking to us when running free and gradually helped him understand how dogs relate to each other.



Tommy

TOMMY

A failed sheepdog who was given away to be a pet but lacked the social graces needed to fit into a domestic situation.

Full of energy and herding instinct but with no formal training, he would chase traffic and had become so excitable and frustrated that he would occasionally nip people who visited his owners business.

We taught him manners, commands and respect for humans and gave him an alternative to chasing cars!

We identified why he was hyperactive and what sort of home he would need to make the best of his abilities without frustrating him.



Tom

TOM

One of a litter of pups which had been bred to provide a bit of extra 'Christmas Money' for his breeders - but they couldn't sell them. Nor could they afford to keep them or look after them.

We were asked to take them in by a friend of the breeders who had intervened because the pups were living in a ramshackle shed, outside, in mid winter and were becoming endangered.

We took the litter in, had them vaccinated, treated for malnutrition, worms and fleas and built them up physically and socialised them into 6 individual, well mannered characters.



Rhys

RHYS

An older sheepdog who's owner told us there was not enough work for him to do. To avoid him getting bored and frustrated it was thought better that he should be found a new home.

He was a very retiring dog, wary of strangers and very choosy about who he worked with, preferring the company of a lady to that of a man.

Even though he was 'getting on', he was still full of life and ambition and loved working. Retirement would not have been his choice so we allowed him to make his own decisions about his future and found him a home with a lady handler who could provide him with the seclusion, security, companionship and work he craved.



Ben

BEN

Passed onto us by another rescue charity as an unpredictable and aggressive dog who had bitten a few times and was not re-homeable.

We gave him some time and space in a quiet, stress free environment to unwind and come to terms with himself, then identified the fears that lay behind his aggressive behaviour.

Over a period these fears were addressed and an affectionate, almost passionate side of his character was revealed. By building up his confidence in humans we negated his need to assert his will by aggression and showed him humans and dogs worked best in harmony. He hasn't bitten since.



Mirk

MIRK

A young, strong willed, sheepdog who's owner had been forced to retire due to ill health during the early days of his training, leaving him in limbo for a while on a remote farm with little human contact.

He came to us with far too much herding drive to be a companion and far too much undirected energy and frustration to be safe around sheep, and of an age where his behaviour had become habit.

Before we could even start to map out a future for him, he had to unlearn much of what life and circumstances had taught him, but under his frustration he had a friendly, outgoing, nature which was gradually coaxed into the fore, overcoming his errant ways.



Jilly

JILLY

The smallest of a litter of pups born in care at our York centre, Jilly and her siblings had their early socialisation with Border Collie Rescue. Great care was taken to ensure it was a well balanced start.

As they grew it was obvious that most of the litter were destined to be sheepdogs. The force was strong in them! Jilly was no exception, but it was thought that because of her size (11kg fully grown) she would never be able to control a flock of sheep. She thought differently.

As a parent encourages the talents and ambitions of their children, we encourage those of the dogs we take in. Jilly is a sheepdog - and a good one.



Kaet

KAET

Kaet came into our care because her owners feared for her life. She had been accused of chasing sheep and there were threats to shoot her if she was ever seen outside again.

She was another timid soul with very little socialisation outside of the farm she lived on and everything was frightening for her.

When she first came in she showed no inclination to herd stock, but once she had settled and her confidence had grown she showed us she was a very able sheepdog with lots of stock sense and ability.

Herding is her life and she is now able to live it fully.



Ginty

GINTY

This little girl had been bought from a farm to be a pet and live in the city. It did not suit her and she developed behavioural issue that her owners found insurmountable.

First sight of sheep revealed the problem. This pet should have stayed on the farm and been trained a sheepdog. Being a pet had made her very unhappy and frustrated which, in turn, had led to hyperactivity and behavioural problems.

Some time in a stress free environment and the opportunity to do some herding resolved her frustrations and her behavioural problems and hyperactivity melted away.



Sally

SALLY

Sally came in to us while pregnant because her owners were losing their farm. She was a good working sheepdog, but rather than sell her they decided that passing her to us would ensure better chances for the pups to go to good homes after they were born.

Sally was timid and wary of strangers and had little experience of life off the farm on which she lived. She needed her confidence building and to be carefully exposed to life in the wider world.

She gave birth to a litter of 8 pups. Young Jilly (above) was one of her offspring. Click on her photo to see a video of her and the pups.



Dot

DOT

In 2001, during Foot and Mouth we took in over 200 redundant sheepdogs from farms around the UK. Dot was one of these dogs.

Originally trained by a shepherdess, she was a ladies dog and we took her in from a farmer who couldn't get her to work for him. She was a frightened soul when she first came to us but gained in confidence and turned out to be a wonderful, skilful sheepdog in a class of her own, once she had come out of her shell.

Dot stayed with us in BCR care, a colleague helping us train other sheepdogs, until she died in 2010.



Tess

TESS

Tess was a runaway who went feral over 4 months during the winter on Shetland. She was frightened of people and from September until the following February she avoided all attempts to catch her and managed to survive hunting and scavenging. It was a severe winter.

When finally caught, many rescue centres refused to take her due to her issues until one gave our number to Shetland Islands Council and we agreed to take her in. They flew her to Edinburgh airport.

We went to meet the plane and brought her down to the York centre where she was rehabilitated over a few months of intense work and care.



Lady

LADY

This sweet epileptic lass was left in kennels when her owner became ill and had to go into hospital. Sadly her owner died and she remained in kennels for over a year until we were asked to take her.

She had a number of physical issues due to her epilepsy, the strength of her medications and lack of enough exercise. She was also rather institutionalised and had picked up a few odd habits!

First we addressed her medications, had tests done and fine tuned the dosage, then started to build up her muscles and deal with her idiosyncrasies and unsocial housetraining and behavioural issues.
Once fit she was re-homed. We supplied her medications.



Tia

TIA

Came to us as Natalie. The RSPCA seized her and another dog as part of a cruelty investigation. She was in a poor state and had been restricted to living in a kitchen for over two years. She had worn a ring in the lino pacing in a circle and was covered in sores and wounds.

. .Her owners were prosecuted. The RSPCA thought she did not have much chance of a future as her mental issues and behaviour was too far gone, but passed her over to us for some rehabilitation.

Her owners were prosecuted. The RSPCA thought she did not have much chance of a future as her mental issues and behaviour was too far gone, but passed her over to us for some rehabilitation.

It took a while, but we were able to turn her around from a seriously disturbed dog into a happy one that could be re-homed.



Mollie

MOLLIE

Mollie's owner and partner was an athlete, doing triathlons and marathons with Mollie as her training partner until she became ill with cancer. Chemotherapy damaged her immune system and she was advised not to keep pets in case of infection and approached us.

Mollie was used to long walks and longer jogging exercise on a daily basis so it fell to a few of our volunteers to compensate for the absence of her normal routines by taking up jogging themselves.

Fortunately we do have some fit and healthy people volunteering for Border Collie Rescue so Mollie was able to get the exercise she needed to make her fell at home. She loves to run.



Nap

NAP

Nap's owner, a farmer, died suddenly one Christmas. Nap had been his best dog and constant companion. His family was reluctant to part with Nap because he was the last link they had with the gentleman.

Nap found it difficult to work with a new partner and his family, realising he was unhappy, contacted us in order to re-home him.

When he came, Nap was confused and depressed but eventually came round and cheered up. He decided he wanted to work for us.

No problem we said. We need good sheepdogs to help the others in assessments. He's stayed as one of the York centre residents and he's never stopped smiling since!



Help Us Put a Smile on More Faces.

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Download a standing order form - Download a gift aid form

You may also be interested in seeing more of our work on video.
If so, please use the link below to take you to our Colliewood Films website

 
www.colliewoodfilms.com

The site is a virtual multiplex cinema with a number of screens where you can view a range of videos in different categories.
Some of them are fun, some informative and all give some insight to the way we work.



We are all volunteers in Border Collie Rescue and our priority is to look after dogs in our care and tend their needs.

We also have to tend to the needs of the charity to keep it running for the dogs. This leaves us little spare time.

We cannot promise to be able to send out regular updates or newsletters but you can follow us on Facebook and read our somewhat irregular posts about our work and our dogs by clicking the link below.
It will take you to our main public Facebook page.

You do not have to have a Facebook account (or join Facebook) to view our posts.
(Facebook will put a banner across the page to try and get you to join if you have not got an account - just ignore it)
You can bookmark the page and return as you wish to catch up.

You only need to join Facebook if you wish to interact. Border Collie Rescue UK and other users on Facebook