My name is Alison Smith and I’m a sheepdog trainer based on the Herefordshire/ Worcestershire border. I have been training sheepdogs professionally and working with dogs with behavioural issues for over 18 years now. Alongside my business I have always taken on unwanted and unmanageable dogs over the years as rescues, many of which I have rehabilitated and rehomed as either trained working sheepdogs or where this has not been possible as active family pets. A number of these dogs have also remained with me when rehoming has not been viable or it has not been in their best interests.

Since Covid there have been many more dogs bred and sold, leading to market saturation and rescues being constantly full to capacity. As a result I opened my doors further to take on more dogs who were otherwise going to be euthanased due to no fault of their own or who were at high risk of falling into the wrong hands.

I have always been able to fund the care and veterinary expenses for these extra dogs out of my own pocket but over the last 12 months my health has deteriorated which has put me under considerable financial strain as a single, self employed business owner and it has become progressively more difficult to continue to find the money required to support additional dogs.

I need to be able to spay and neuter the current resident rescue dogs in order to responsibly rehome them as well as being able to afford a good quality diet for them and routine veterinary expenses such as vaccinations, wormers etc. Being able to rehome these dogs also means I can then help others once I have kennel space available again. Those who cannot be rehomed are additional dogs who are with me for life and as such I am committed to their long term care and expenses.

My aim is to help as many dogs as possible but I have now reached a point where I cannot do this alone. Any donations towards their care and expenses would be very gratefully received and will allow me to continue to provide for them as needed and facilitate the rehoming process.

I’m happy to answer any questions and will be documenting the stories behind some of these dogs in due course.