Looking for a new pup General Chat

As some of you may know recently I lost my best friend of 14 years, I miss him everyday and life without a dog is....well dull! I'm not looking to replace him, I know without a doubt I will never get another dog like Mac. His personality was so unique

Anyway I am looking to give a new puppy a home, another Border Collie but unsure really how to go about it. I want one from working lines, it will be worked in obedience, agility and flyball if I can find a club for each near me.

I would preferably like to find one around the Norfolk, Suffolk or Lincolnshire area. I will not under any circumstances pay more than £250 (maybe £275 at a push) for one.

Anyone got any good ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Stardell Border Collies are near you and have numerous WT Champions amongst them.

Paul and Wendy are lovely and I have met many dogs of their breeding over the years and all have lovely temperaments and obviously can perform.

http://www.borderdts.co.uk/

Thanks SB, looks like they had their last litter in June so I'm a bit late.

I should of said in my OP that ideally I would want one for the 2nd week in Sept, as I have 2 weeks off work so would be ideal to settle the pup in and start house training etc.

And yes I know, I don't want much do I

Ah well then you have to settle for what is around. No idea I am afraid in that part of the world.

Other affixes I would look at would be

Glenalpine but they are in Ross on Wye
Waggerland - Weston SuperMare
Nedlo - Hampshire

Would you go down the rescue route ? or do you need to know the lines ?

I would Murf but I don't think rescues would re-home to me. I lived in rented housing, I work full time and I don't want to neuter my dog just because someone tells me I have to.

Yeah I think you are right, doesn't seem to much around at the mo though. There's a few but I am not paying £600 for a Border Collie!! I wouldn't pay £600 for any dog, I just tight though

I will look at those thanks.

Fair point ...

Saw a 16 week old the other day in a smaller rescue ...

Have you looked at the puppy section in the fleamarket on agilitynet? There's often pups available

no, Thanks

Please be very careful buying a "cheap"BC from the net. Many of them will be from totally non health tested parents & pedigrees.

If you are looking for an all round BC that won't cost the earth, have a look at the ISDS dogs, they may not have fully health tested parents but will be bred to work & be from a full eye tested pedigree. More ISDS members are starting to do more health testing & are becoming more health issue aware.

HAve a look online in the Farmers Guardian

You may well find a suitable puppy there.

My youngest bitch is an ISDS dog & comes from hip scored, eye tested & DNA tested bloodlines. She's from Cornwall but her grandfather was from the lake district.

Derek Scrimgeour often has puppies for sale he's not local to you but his dogs & bitches are nearly all hip scored as well as eye tested

Thank you, I have looked on the Farmers Guardian website but will keep checking. My old boy was ISDS and was only £70 from a farm He had eyes and hearing tests but not hip scored I don't think.

...£600 is NOT expensive for an ethically bred pup - paying the kind of money you mention will almost certainly limit you to those breeders who cut corners - bought carefully your pup will last longer than your family car and way longer than a holiday or three piece suite - all of which are likely to have cost you more money !.


We should all be trying to raise the game across the board when it comes to breeding and that includes ONLY buying from health tested stock - a cursory glance at the dog classifieds in the Farmers Guardian shows not ONE advert mentioning health testing ..and I'm sorry but the Border Collie breeder appears to be running a breeding business ( puppy farm ? ) with way too many breeding bitches of several breeds.

Please end the cycle and SUPPORT ETHICAL BREEDING !!

I have seen quite a few 'breeders' online who do seem to look like puppy farmers, I will not be buying from them.

My last dog was from a working farm and was bred as the farmer needed another dog to train up before one of his other dogs got too old to work. He had some health tests and was only £70. This was 14 years ago and so that is why I am willing to pay a bit more now.

I have read what to look for from breeders so hopefully this will give me a good idea on if the breeder is bad or good.

Thanks for your comments Bijou.

Just because you don't want to pay £600 for a pup doesn't mean you are not going to get a well bred, carefully thought out health tested dog. I wouldn't have paid that much for a pup and didn't when I got Hocus.

Would second having a look at the flea market page on Agility net and good luch with your search for your bundle of fluff

Thank you I am going to my mum's in Lincolnshire next week so going to be having a look up there.

I agree you don't have to pay that much for a well bred pup, my family have had collies for decades. No one has paid that much for a dog and all have been pretty healthy and had good temperaments.

You will be lucky to get any pup from a reputable breeder that health tests ALL their breeding stock for much less to be honest, but then if you don`t want to pay a reasonable amount, then you take your chance on what you get.

If you are happy with farm bred pups, why not go and find another , there are plenty about , you see many adverts on the road side for farm bred BC, going for not much more than a £ 100 , or so.

Many of the BC/WSD bred for working/sports come from fully health tested breeding stock and cost nowhere near £600.

Their first priority is for their stock to go to a good caring working home.

There aren't plenty around here, I have never seen an advert on the roadside for a farm bred collie here. And yes I will be happy with a farm bred pup as long as eyes and ears have been tested.

I agree, this was the case with Mac.