Meet Pico. He’s a large, black border collie mix with a miraculous story. A few months ago, he was sitting in a crowded Central California shelter, one of hundreds of dogs. Black dogs often sit in shelters longer because they are harder to photograph. It’s called the ‘black dog syndrome’. Big dogs have fewer takers, too. Pico had both factors working against him, and time was quickly running out before his euthanasia date.
Shelters are a hard place to visit, let alone live at. Crowds of deserving dogs are packed in such small spaces that it becomes hard to stick out. There are many incredible humans working hard to get these dogs out of the shelter and into homes, from the actual paid shelter workers, to volunteers doing everything from cleaning cages, walking dogs, taking photos, and just giving the dogs some love. (When we say every little bit counts, we really mean it.)
Heather Gee, one of these incredible women, visits Stanislaus County Shelter often to post photos and videos of dogs desperately needing to get out, often because their euthanasia date is coming up. Due to space, many shelters set a hard deadline for how long dogs can stay before they are scheduled for euthanasia. Pico was one of 44 dogs on this specific day when Heather posted him on Facebook.
Someone else, recognizing Pico is a herding dog mix, tagged Central Coast Herding Dog Rescue (CCHDR) in the comments to save him. That’s when Wendy, the founder of CCHDR, stepped in and called the shelter herself, saving Pico just in time. Through a network of volunteers, Pico was rescued from Stanislaus County Shelter just before his euthanasia date. He was transported down to Wendy’s property outside of Paso Robles, where her foster dogs reside, waiting for their forever homes.
Wendy posted Pico’s photo on Facebook, touting all of his wonderful qualities. One of Wilderdog’s co-founders, Rachel, saw this post, and sent a Facebook message. She is a border collie person, and was casually looking for a border collie mix to possibly add to the family. Her resident dog Gus needed a sibling, and they were ready to go back to being a two-dog house.
A twelve hour drive later, and Pico is the newest member of the Wilderdog family!
Every action counts
Pico’s rescue wasn’t the result of one person or one organization. It was a chain of small actions that led to large commitments, but each one was essential. Taking a photo, tagging a rescue, and a single phone call all took minutes out of someone’s day, but gave a dog a shot at a life and changed a family’s life for years to come. Remove any one of these gestures and Pico doesn’t make it. That’s what makes these rescue organizations so special, in that they connect a lot of people willing to do their small part in saving animal lives.
Our June Purchase for a Pup Partner, Central Coast Herding Dog Rescue
Stories like Pico’s are exactly what Central Coast Herding Dog Rescue was created for. Founded by Wendy Hoffman in 2007, CCHDR is a volunteer-run rescue that specializes in placing herding dogs into the right forever homes.
We’re excited that CCHDR is Wilderdog’s partner for June’s Purchase for a Pup program, where one cup of kibble is donated for every purchase made throughout the month. We recently talked to Wendy to share more about the incredible work the organization is doing, and the unique impact of a breed-specific rescue.
Here is our Q&A with Wendy Hoffman:
How did Central Coast Herding Dog Rescue get started? What drove you to focus specifically on herding dogs?
I hadn’t had a dog in 11 years. I was moving around too much for work. In 2007, I came back to California and settled down. My gardeners came by one day with a young Jack Russell mix in need of a home, and that was that.
I was skinning up my knees on my razor scooter trying to wear her out, and I thought she could use a canine pal. I started looking online and found a beautiful border collie named Bonnie. She had been saved from life as a mill breeder in Texas. It was my first time adopting, and it was the most rewarding thing I had ever done. She was obviously traumatized, but we worked through it together.
Bonnie changed everything. She was a sister to my Jack Russell, and I fell completely in love with high-energy, brainy dogs. That's when I learned about the need for rescue — and CCHDR started from there.
How does a breed-specific rescue operate differently from a general shelter or rescue?
When you are breed-specific, or genre-specific in our case, people come looking for a particular type of dog. We take a lot of mixed breed dogs, mostly herding breeds, but we are not exclusive to that. If a dog has herding breed content, we consider them. There are always exceptions. A dog may be in a terrible situation with no other options, and we are known to take a non-herder occasionally.
Our focus allows us to narrow in when it comes to behavior and placement. We understand the unique needs of these highly intelligent, working dogs. We also look for breed-experienced forever homes to ensure we only need to rescue a dog once.
What makes herding dogs unique as a rescue population?
Energy requirements! These dogs were bred to be ten-hour-a-day dogs. People think they're cool, because they are. But not everyone has what it takes to raise one properly. We have to consider every adoption carefully. Can this person keep this dog satisfied? Keep them out of trouble, and help them be the good canine citizens they can be?
Mostly we get herding rejects, but they still have energy requirements. Matching these dogs with human lifestyles is challenging. But we meet the best like-minded people through our love of these dogs.
And another thing that sets them apart: these dogs communicate with their mouths. We have to make sure people understand that a herding dog holding your hand is just terms of endearment!
Pico was pulled from a shelter right before his euthanasia date. How common is it to find dogs in that situation, and how do you hear about them?
Our main focus is on dogs at risk of euthanasia. We work closely with shelter staff, networkers, boots-on-the-ground rescuers, other animal welfare organizations, and good Samaritans, all trying to save a life.
Pico was on the list. In a large shelter, when there is a big intake of dogs, those who have been there the longest are the ones at risk. That was Pico. It was too close of a call.
Another rescue had tagged him when I called the shelter, but they took my information as backup. The other rescue bailed. Sometimes rescues do this just to buy a dog some time. Pico is exceptional in that I personally called the shelter to save him. That's rare. Normally they are calling us. But when I saw the plea for him, I knew he wasn't just a big black mutt.
You have to understand, black dogs are at a disadvantage. It's tough to take appealing photos of black dogs. It's hard to see their eyes. And Pico is big. Bigger dogs have fewer opportunities. Combined with his color and the size of the shelter, chances were slim for Pico. He was among hundreds of dogs in one of the worst dog overpopulation areas in the state. And he certainly proved us right. He is an exceptional dog.
How does social media help CCHDR? What makes the community so special?
Social media was a game changer. We currently have over 25,000 followers. The Facebook platform put this rescue on the map (though we're not so sure that's entirely a good thing!). I started this as a small, individual rescue. Through social media I gained notoriety, and also volunteers, colleagues, and close friends. The community we built is nothing short of amazing.
People are very willing to get involved, whether financially, offering transportation, fostering, or opening venues for adoption and fundraising events. We have fosters who only do puppies, or shy and undersocialized dogs. We have one who specializes in orthopedic cases, dogs with casts or amputations who need bed rest and special care. Some focus entirely on seniors. We have fosters with large acreage, kids, and cats. All of these situations offer different life experiences and test for various qualities.
Some volunteers just take dogs out into the world for real life experience. A park, a restaurant, out for coffee. See how they react to being out and about, riding in a vehicle, meeting strangers. By offering a variety of ways to get involved that fit different time and commitment levels, we've grown our community. And our community has been everything!
What makes the job so special to you?
This is a labor of love. If it were an actual job, I'd hate it. It's doing something helpful for animals, which only makes me feel good. It's a feeling of being useful and doing something I completely believe in.
Educating others on the right way of thinking. Recycling dogs in need instead of supporting breeders. Educating others on the importance of spay and neuter. These things make this a special mission.
What is your favorite part of running CCHDR?
Once in a while, everything goes right. It's like good choreography. We'll have a group of dogs we're trying to help. One goes here, someone else will take this one, we got someone else to go directly to the shelter to adopt. And when we post a dog online with a last-minute plea because they're on their last hour, and the dog gets adopted — those are the wins that make us absolutely high. And we make this happen often!
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And then, of course we need to share some happy photos of Pico and his new brother Gus, after one month in his new home!
— If you'd like to support the work of Wendy and CCHDR, you can learn information about fostering, volunteering, donating, or adopting at cchdrescue.org. Every Wilderdog purchase made in June also supports CCHDR directly through our Purchases for a Pup program.
