Border collie information wanted urgently. General Chat

Yes i know that and she has taken another litter off her..
She is probably in cahoots with who ever has her in ireland.
Thats where janet gets a lot of her dogs in ireland.

No i have have a problem with my bitch and only want to find out more information-and what would you know about the story, you dont know me from adam- sorry.

A lot of good ISDS dogs come from Ireland so there's no mileage in that as a fault.

But you don't know that for a fact then ? That she is in"cahoots"with anyone that is

Did not say bad dogs come from ireland and probably.
If you want to e.mail me privately about this, its fine with me.

JoedeeUK
I do not know this person, I have had no dealings with her and I am not out to slate anyone - I am just stating what I see on her website that anyone can see
If you know her and think she isnt like this then her website must be missleading

I know there are lots of things often done in the sheepdog world
For instance it is pretty common practise not to get even serious injuries looked at by the vet - not everyone I know but it is pretty common

Just because it is something people do does not make something right or wrong

But I also know that lots of people train up dogs, lots of people buy trained dogs - but I dont know of any breeding so many puppies and then selling on the bitches when they have done breeding them cos then they will be able to get a better life with someone else - an etical breeder should be one of the best places for a bitch to live

There have been lots of threads on what makes an ethical breeder
IMHO
Someone who ONLY breeds a litter when THEY want another dog
Someone who totaly vets the houses of anyone who wishes to take pups from them
Someone who is breeding to better their breed
Someone who takes responsability for every pup they have bred and would inform all the other owners of a litter if there were any health problems at any point down the line

and for me for border collies - someone who only breeds for working ability and temprament - not colour - except for avoiding health problems

I am sorry if you disagree but someone creating life only to make money is FARMING the animals - someone doing it with dogs it therefore a PUPPY FARMER
Just because they are in OK conditions and looked after dosent make a difference - that number of puppies cannot be anything other than puppy farming

Well said and very true, that website is so so so misleading, take from me as i have seen from my own eyes and not jus once or twice.

Have found anything out about these astra dogs yet?

Does anybody know who owns Astra Chuka or Astra Red,
found them om Anadune but no owners names.

sorry no, noone really saying anything

My boy Felix is from Astra Ghost and I have no complaints about him x

A little irrelevant since Ghost is my dog and Felix was bred by someone else entirely. Ghost is not related to the epileptic bitch belle is descended from. Caroline, sorry to hear your bitch is suffering, such a shame and even more when you consider Hilary wroe the article for the ISN for all ISDS members to read waaay before your bitch was born. I'd have thought anyone with an interest in merles would have read it carefully. All members receive the mag and one must be a member to register a litter. Have you asked ISDS for contact info? Depending on whether the owner ticked the data protection box or not! Laura

Will try that Laura, it is a great pity i had not read that article before but and i thank Hilary for sending me it at least i more wiser now. Sad fact is i now do not have the choice in having a pup out of my bitch, it was taken away from me. First merle i have ever owned.

Hi caroline, I know you didn't see it but pressumably others did.

I know Laura and i know who you mean:;-)

I got my blue merle boy Thorgeir only in January. He is only 6 months old and he was born on a farm here in Orkney. Is there anything here that I need to know about?


Snorri

Hi all, I unfortunately had to have my Blue Merle put to sleep last week due to epilepsy/fitting. He was only 21 months old and had six seizures over a weekend leaving him with irreversible brain damage come Monday morning. I am still absolutely devestated and just want to try and work out want went wrong in such a young, fit, beautiful dog. Are there any common defects in the blue merle?

He first had a series of fits two months ago in a 24 hour period but then nothing until this but had been on medication and was having regular blood tests.

I did get him from an infamous puppy kennels in Manchester which I won't name but I am sure many can guess.

I am already on the hunt for a new collie but reluctant to buy from the above and don't really know where to start otherwise. Can anyone recommend a breeder to me in the North West area?

I would also appreciate any feedback with regard to epilepsy/fitting as a brain tumor & heamoraging were also mentioned as possible reasons for the brain damage.

I am so sorry about your boy, that must be really heartbreaking
I dont know any breeders in your area but have you considered rescue?? there are lots of young collies in rescue

We are definitely considering rescue too but don't know what to do really at the moment.

Of course, it must be difficult to know what to do at the moment!

I know there are people on here who know more about the genetics than me
But I think the biggest problems with merles is people breeding for that colour - even if they know enough not to put 2 merles together - or white factored - the merle is a recessive gene and you are really limiting the gene pool by just trying to breed for merle

Its a shame cos I totaly looooove merle dogs, I think they are stunning - but they are supposed to be rare!

Sorry to hear your devastating news Benson :-( How heartbreaking to lose such a young dog.

Are you wanting a collie for a pet, a worker or to do some kind of sport with? Farmers Guardian usually have a good choice of working litters to choose from.