Many of these herding breed dogs are transferred or surrendered to us because they exhibit common but often misunderstood behaviours. These behaviours can include a high play or prey drive that is hard to turn off, excessive herding behaviours that may put the dog in physical danger or may put kids and small animals at risk. It is likely that we will get a dog that was found as a stray, was chasing livestock and in danger of being shot or would shut down when worked on livestock, was nipping the kids or smaller animals or chasing bicyclists/cars, is somewhat fearful of specific types of people, barked excessively or has resource guarding or separation anxiety issues or some other obsessive behaviour often left to manifest into a bigger problem that owners had difficulty dealing with or that escalated in a shelter environment. After receiving any necessary vet care, we try to match up working homes for those dogs who need to herd, pet or sport homes for those dogs who do not and generally active homes that can give each dog what they need physically and mentally and are willing to accept and work with their quirks.