All of my rescue dogs have stories and this is Emma's. I love telling it and so does Emma. Cody, my sheltie, the love of my life, died in June 2005. After about 6 months of grieving, I put out tentative feelers for rescuing another dog. I checked out Sheltie rescue and Border collie rescue (NEBCR and MABCR). I filled out a bunch of applications, making sure that I spelled out exactly what I was looking for and the personalities and foibles of Beau and Shadow. I wasn't going to take any chances!

I also found Glenhighland Farm in Morris, NY. I saw some dogs that I thought might work for me, but Lillie said they weren't right for me. So, I waited. A few months later, I saw some more dogs on the GHF website. I called Lillie and told her that I would like to come up and see them. She said, "How about Holi?" I looked at her, saw she was already 3 years old and said, "Nope, too old."

I went up to GHF on February 18, 2006 and brought Beau and Shadow with me. I booked a room at a local B&B beacuse I didn't want to rush into anything and it was too far to drive back and forth a few times. I always recommend to my students that they do this so they don't rush into adopting a dog, One of the first things Lillie said to me was, "Let me bring out Holi." I said, "No, I don't want to see her - she is too old." Lillie said, "Just humor me," and I said, "Fine," with barely concealed gritted teeth.

I took the boys out of the van and went to wait for her in the fenced in paddock. All of a sudden I see this black and white blur racing toward me. My eyes went wide, my smile even wider, my arm came up , I pointed and with no conscious thought, said "That's MY DOG!"

We spent about 3/4 hour outside, playing fetch, feeding treats, minimal training (as in sit), I pet her on the head, kissed her face and watched very carefully at how my boys interacted with her and vice versa. Then we went inside a small cabin to see how they would all do in cramped quarters. They did have some tiffs - teeth flashing, warning growls - but nothing out the range of normal dog behavior. After another 1/2 hour in the cabin, I told Lillie that I would take her. She said, "What about the other 2 dogs?" I told her,"Nope, Holi is mine." She insisted (again) that I at least look at the dogs. I said okay and I knew on first sight that they weren't for me, nor me for them.

I mentioned to Lillie that I like to rename my rescue dogs. I thought Dream might work. We both looked at Holi and said, "Nah." "How about Emma?" We looked at her again. Bingo! (I know now that Lillie asked Holi's opinion and she agreed). (Lillie is an animal communicator, runs an amazing facility for rescue Border collies and has an incredible success rate for adoptions - less than 10% returns). She KNOWS.

So, I cancelled my B&B reservation and took my new-found treasure home. On the way, I thought about what her new registered name would be. I came up with Emma Ewe Found Me. I had just watched the movie The Saint with Val Kilmer (what a HUNK!) and Elisabeth Shue. Her name is Emma in the movie and she whenever she leaves Simon, she always asks, "How will I find you?" He always replies, "Don't worry, I'll find you, you found me."

And so she did.