Puppy Advice (merged)

kelou

Am a newbie and dont normally post, but just a thought, have you considered rescue centres, I have got both my dogs from there and my two are lovely. Especially after hearing the sobering statistic that 6000 healthy dogs were destroyed last year. It is also much cheaper! I know some breeders round here are asking £500 plus for a puppy!
Good luck.:D

nitnurse-not2

Definatly consider rescue dogs. Both me and my parents have had 2 each and they have been great. Try to be a bit more open-minded about the breed. Go and have a look. Most rescue centres have a good history on their dogs
Good Luck.

affordmylife

I paid £700 and would do so again.

Having said that im not against rescue either. I would have ten dogs if my hubby would allow it. Sadly he wont. But I have vowed that if i am every alone in my life I will rescue as many dogs as I can manage as destroying healthy dogs is barbaric - should never be allowed.

WeirdoMagnet

I agree with kelou – have you had a look at your local rescue centres? We have a rescue dog and wouldn’t be without her. Reputable rescues will assess your lifestyle and circumstances, and attempt to match the dog to the best home for it. Have a look at DogPages, or The Refuge, or The Oldies Club, for lots of dogs that need homes, but do be aware that many rescues will not rehome dogs to homes where there are children under 5.

If you do decide on the breeder route I’d agree with affordmylife – reputable breeders will have waiting lists for their litters, and you may have to wait a while. I wouldn’t advise buying from internet/newspaper adverts – do your research and find a good reputable breeder who will sell you a well-bred pup that has had the appropriate health checks, been bought up properly and has a good temperament.

Forgive me, but I’ve just had a quick look at your previous posts to see if we could glean any information about your ‘lifestyle’. Maybe your OH has looked into it already, so please don’t take this the wrong way, but has your OH thought about the type of dog that would fit in with your lifestyle? Collies (or collies crosses) are extremely active dogs, who are bred to run all day, and are also extremely intelligent. They require a huge amount of both mental and physical stimulation, which is why they excel at things like obedience, agility and flyball. If they don’t get the requisite amount of stimulation, they can become bored and then stressed very quickly, which can result in destruction and chewing, and in particular with collies (or collie crosses), herding and ‘nipping’. Does he have the time to exercise, stimulate and train the dog? Will a pup of this type fit in with you too, and your young baby?

The other thing to think about, is that a puppy really can’t be left at home all by itself for at first, you need to build up to the time it is left, to prevent boredom, seperation anxiety and to toilet train effectively. There are also a couple of other recent threads that might give you some other points to consider Getting a Dog and Doggy Wanted.

Like I say, please don’t be offended by what I have said. I only mention it because from other forums I’m on I know that there are so many collies (or collie types) in rescue, and the reasons why they are there.

Good luck with your decision and search.

RooBee

Before you buy any pup from a website or newspaper ad, please read about the hereditary health conditions common in the breeds you mention. You will see that a couple of diseases are common to both BCs and GRs so any cross of the two may well be affected. Whatever breed/x breed you go for, you should ensure that the relvavnt health tests have been carried out on the parents and that the results are satisfactory:
http://www.thegoldenretrieverclub.co.uk/health.html
http://www.bryningbordercollies.com/Border-Collie-Health

Also, if considering a blue merle, please be aware that merle to merle matings should never be done as it increases the likelihood of deafness in pups. So if both parents are merle, walk away, as it is unlikely to be a well bred litter and more likely to be someone trying to make money from the 'rare' factor of the colour (when in fact it is not rare at all).

If you are not concerned about pedigree etc, then you will find that Collies and Collie x's are generally over represented in rescue (few people who take on a Collie pup are prepared for the particular needs of a high energy, intelligent breed and don't realise that, if not properly stimulated mentally, they will make their own entertainment :-) ). If it is a rescue you are after, contact Wiccaways: http://www.wiccaweys.co.uk/start.html who specialise in Collie rescue and do a fantastic job :-)

Getting a Collie pup is quite a complex business because there are so many different 'lines' which have been developed for different purposes...working sheep, agility, obedience, showing etc. Beware the farm bred Collie...they are generally from working stock and don't always make good pets (and that is spoken as someone who gew up around farm bred BCs). Of course, all will be capable of performing any of these functions so it depends what you want from your pet what you go for.

The breed club would be a good place to do a bit more research: http://www.bordercollieclub.com/default.aspx

butterflylady

Thank you for all of the replies.

I would willingly have a rescue dog and take on an older daog. However in the past me OH has had bad experiences with rescue dogs and will not consider one.

My MIL has a collie x retrevier and i have previous experience of collies. I work 3 days a week so the rest of the time myself and my DS are at home. Even on the days where I work my OH is a milkman, so I leave out at 7am and he is back by 12pm at the latest.

I will go and have a look on the links provided.

please keep posting any more ideas

RooBee

If you are willing to consider a puppy, please contact a rescue such as Wiccaways that I metioned before...they do get puppies who need homes as well as adolescent and older dogs.

merlinormartin

Alot of rescue centres have "puppy litters" not just older dogs and if you do have "problems" with your dog/puppy you are able to return it to the centre, you dont have that benefit when u buy from a breeder :rolleyes:

Keep us informed we wanna see some pic of your new pup!

RooBee

merlinormartin wrote: »

Alot of rescue centres have "puppy litters" not just older dogs and if you do have "problems" with your dog/puppy you are able to return it to the centre, you dont have that benefit when u buy from a breeder :rolleyes:

Keep us informed we wanna see some pic of your new pup!

That's not strictly true, good, reputable breeders who breed only to further the breed will almost always take a pup of their breeding back for any reason which is why it is generally best to source a 'pedigree' puppy through the relevant breed clubs - the vast majority of which can be easily found by a google search. Puppy Farmers and Back Yard Breeders, on the other hand, generally won;t want to know once the cash is in their pocket.

ZootHornRollo

i would also suggest the rescue centres.

we adopted a border collie last month from a rescue and she has been fantastic. she is progressing very quickly with her obediance training and is the MOST affectionate collie i have ever come across - and i see hundreds of them, we compete in agility.

if you are considering a collie i would seriously consider what activities you plan to do with the dog. they are in no way sit about the house dogs. they need good walks and pleny to do - otherwise they amuse themselves, and that is generally when they end up in rescue centres. most working breeds will be the same.