Introducing Emma the Jeep Dog

This is Emma. She is our Jeep Dog. After several months of research and then waiting, she arrived at our house on April 10, 2013.

We lost our dog Bear to age and health problems in 2012. To be honest, because that loss was so painful, we didn't think we would be getting another dog. But given time and some healing of the heart, we started to decide what kind of dog we wanted.

We knew we wanted a dog that was both athletic and smart. We kept coming back to border collies. We had been warned by several people to stay away from them because they will destroy your house because they will get bored. That they take a lot of work to train. That they are a very high maintenance dog and there is no way you can keep up with them. None of those people ever had a border collie. We didn't listen. We decided that this was the type of dog we wanted. We were hooked.

We couldn't have made a better choice for our family. She is and has been the perfect fit for us. We can't say if that is because of her particular personality, or if it her breed, but we have had no problems with her. Yes she is high energy. Yes we do take her out to a field to run and play catch twice a day. Yes we do spend time teaching her new things to do. But at the same time we get our exercise in too (not a bad thing) and she learns very quickly! Learning a new trick is just a few treats away.

When she does get bored, instead of breaking things in the house, she will figure out games to play by herself. So far she has figured out how to play catch by herself by throwing her own ball then chasing it. She also has figured out how to get the cat to chase a different toy she has.

The cat, by the way, is her best bud around the house.

There are a lot of practical reasons to have a dog. A dog will protect you. It will give it's life trying protecting you. They make great alarm systems by barking at anyone who is not supposed to be in your house or car. They offer early warning by being able to detect things like bears.

Most of all, Emma is our companion. She goes everywhere we can take her. We admittedly also take her a few places we shouldn't.

She loves to be out on the trail and in the woods. Never more than a few yards away, she dashes down the trail and back. Always returning when called. And if there is water or mud to play in you can bet she will find.