My Pups
please note I no longer breed, and will not be having any more litters in the future.
I
am sometimes asked if I am a member of the ABS and what the ABS actually
is. The ABS is a scheme set up by the kennel club, that breeders can buy
into, to help them sell puppies, it is not a guarantee that you are
buying a healthy well bred puppy, and even puppy farmers and breeders of
cross breeds (sometimes referred to as ‘designer dogs’) can become
members of the ABS if they agree to the kennel club requirements. The
ABS is of most use to commercial breeders, who breed large numbers of
litters, and may have some difficulty finding homes for their puppies. I
can see no advantage in becoming a member of the ABS, my dogs are
already tested for more health conditions than ABS membership requires,
and I never have a problem finding homes for my pups, and I see no point
in adding more of my money to the kennel clubs coffers, so no – I am not
a member of the ABS.
My pups are born and reared in my home, at around 4 weeks of age, weather permitting, they are they are given access to an outside run and kennel for a few hours during the day, to give them more room to play, and allow them to get plenty of fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, which I believe is important in rearing healthy pups.
If the weather is not suitable for them to play outside, they have a large play area in my dog room to give them room to play and run around safely. Keeping a litter of puppies inside the house full time until they are ready to leave would be very impractical and require a team of people watching them 24/7 as young pups chew and eat anything and everything, they also poo and pee a lot, and don’t synchronise !
When my pups leave me, they are micro chipped, and kennel club registered. It is the legal responsibility of the new owner to transfer the chip and registration into the new owners name, new owners are supplied with registration documents and details of how to transfer the pup into their ownership, microchip details and details of how to update the chip, a four generation pedigree, details on worming and rearing, a toy or blanket pup is familiar with, and details on the dates they were wormed. I am happy to offer any help or advice that I can, throughout the dog’s life.
When a pup leaves me at 8 weeks of age, it will NOT have had any vaccinations, so you must contact your own vet at the first opportunity to arrange vaccination. Please read the notes I provide on vaccination. I do not vaccinate my own pups until 10 weeks of age at the youngest, this is because the maternal antibodies that the pup receives from mum at birth take around 10 weeks to clear the system. If antibodies are still present when the pup is vaccinated, they could destroy the vaccine, leaving your pup without protection. I know that some vets give a third dose of vaccine (normally two doses are sufficient) to cover this possibility, but personally I am not in favour of bombarding such an immature immune system as a baby pup any more than is necessary.
Before you take things any further, please consider the following points.
A dog is a long term commitment, and can be expensive. Border collies normally live for 12 – 16 years, are you ready to commit to a dog for that length of time? Apart from the obvious initial cost of the pup, there are a lot of other expenses to consider. Vets fees are very expensive, can you afford occasional vets fee’s or dog insurance ? Do you like a lot of holidays ? What will happen to the dog when you go away ? Do you have family or friends who will be willing to look after it, or are you prepared to pay boarding kennel fee’s ?
Young pups need a lot of attention and time spent on them if they are going to grow up into obedient well-adjusted adults, you cannot leave a young pup to its own devices while you go out to work, there will need to be someone at home most of the time, to house train and look after the pup . Pups can be noisy at night or when left, until they are settled. They will be away from everything that is familiar, if you don’t feel you can afford to lose a few hours sleep, or have the pup somewhere it has company at night, until it feels safe and settled, maybe now is not the time to get one.
Are you a keen gardener ? Most pups are! and will turn your well manicured lawn into something resembling a war zone in an amazingly short space of time. They will also delight in digging up your prize plants and bringing them into the house for you, and fish ponds make wonderful swimming pools ! If you value your garden it might pay you to consider fencing off a dog free area. To a puppy there is absolutely no difference in the large dog chew you provided, your priceless antique or your Gucci handbag, they are all equally chewable !
One last thing, If you are retired or approaching retirement please stop and think about whether or not a pup is really right for you. Plenty of retired people can manage perfectly well with a puppy, and none of us likes to think that we are getting older, but it is important to remember that a border collie has an average life span of 12 – 15 years, and most are pretty active up to the end. Please consider if you will be fit and active enough yourself in 12 or 15 years time to be able to care for a border collie, and if you should become too frail to manage, will there be a family member or friend who will be able to help with the care of the dog ? If you are 65 + now, will you still be able to care for a dog when in your 80’s ? There are often older dogs available, often retired from breeding or showing, that can have a good 10 years of active life in them, but would possibly not be quite so demanding as a younger dog. Perhaps you could offer one of these dogs a happy home retirement instead.