Dear Jana,
We live in Valencia, CA in a nice residential neighborhood at the end of a cul-de-sac. We lost our dog "Sapphire" to bladder cancer in September 2012.
We rescued her from Pet Orphans in Van Nuys over 12 years ago. Sapphire was a smooth coat Collie/Sheppard mix and the love of our lives. She was so sweet, so gentle, so loving.The best dog in the whole world. She spent 99.9% of the time inside our house and went everywhere with us, hotels, the beach, every single family gathering, Christmas, etc., etc.
We are now at the point of looking for another best friend to love unconditionally as Sapphire did for us.
We believe in rescuing a dog through adoption and saving a life. We would like to adopt the same breed, a female smooth coat collie between the age of 12 to 24 months old. She doesn’t have to be purebred, just a good-hearted friend we can provide a good home for.
We have already contacted Southland Collie Rescue. They have been very, very nice and have put the word out to all of the AC's in their entire network.
Our question to you Jana is, do you know where we can find a smooth coat collie that we can adopt, other than Southland Collie Rescue and the local shelters?
Again, we are looking for a female smooth coat collie between the age of 12 to 24 months old. She doesn’t have to be purebred.
Thank you in advance!
Smooth Collie Fans
Dear Smooth Collie Fans:
First, I'm so sorry for your loss. I love smooth collies. I rescued a sable and white smooth collie who had been abused and was head-shy. His tail had been broken in several places. With therapy, he lost his head-shyness and was eventually able to wag his tale.
So I do understand your affection for smooth collies.
The age range you're looking, a year to two years, is in high demand, but smooth collies are not. So finding the perfect dog will take some looking.
I suggest that you attend two major California events. The first would be collie specialty shows. There are several coming up such as the San Diego Collie Club Show at Magee Park (258 Beech Street at Carlsbad Blvd.) in Carlsbad, CA. On March 22-24, there will be several shows in Claremont, California presented by the California Collie Clan (March 22), the South Bay Collie Fanciers (March 23) and the San Gabriel Valley Collie Club (March 24). The show will be at the Hotel Claremont (840 So. Indian Blvd.). At these shows, you'll be able to meet breeders, particularly of smooth collies in the Southern California area. We want to encourage breeders to be responsible, and responsible breeders will take back dogs who, for whatever reason, didn't work out with their original owners. You also may be able to find former show dogs or dogs who grew out and either didn't have the right conformation or personality for the show ring. Occasionally, breeders might have pups from an accidental breeding. One beautiful smooth pup got into a fight with a littermate and had facial scarring. That meant he couldn't be shown and few people wanted to adopt a perfectly wonderful dog.
Don't think of this as not being part of rescue. In Southern California, Southland Collie Rescue has worked with several collie clubs. The South Bay Collie Fanciers always welcomes Southland Collie Rescue at their annual puppy match and members of the collie clubs support Southland Collie Rescue in various ways, including donation. Often, news of dogs will filter from the collie clubs to rescue. There was one case where a breeder passed away and the collie clubs attempted to take care of her dogs with the unclaimed dogs then passed on to the rescue either directly or as referrals.
The second event would be the annual America's Family Pet Expo at the O.C. Fair and Event Center on the weekend of April 19-21, 2013. Show hours are Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. You'll be able to visit with numerous rescue and breed organizations and many will have adoptable animals there. I've actually helped out at this expo as a member of Southland Collie Rescue with my late smooth collie and as a volunteer for the Pasadena Humane Society.
Lastly, look into other collie rescue organizations. While Southland Collie Rescue doesn't adopt dogs outside of Southern California, that's not true for other collie rescue groups. Many work in cooperation and will ask Southland Collie Rescue to perform a home check.
Houston Collie Rescue has a double-dilute (blind) smooth collie currently available (female named Wynter). The Collie Rescue of Illinois has a male smooth collie (sable and white male named Dix). Closer to California, the Southwest Collie Rescue has several smooth collies and smooth collie mixes including the one-year-old sable and white Gunther.
I hope this information helps and would love to hear your story when you finally find the right dog.
P.S. Smooth Collie Fans write: Thank you so very much Jana. We are making a decision between two dogs this Saturday, a Collie mix puppy (very little collie) that is very young, about 4 months, and a small frame GSD about 18 months. Both whom are females.
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