H@wkeye!

And introducing Caesar Nero (no not the Matrix one), the newest addition to the family. 10 wk old Tri-colour rough collie - with his christmas present

Hi We bought an outside enclosure yesterday, and i'll put it up later today. It has a radius of 1.6 m so not too small. We plan on leaving in toys and some chewing things, yes, bones or whatever we have at the time. The puppy is a rough collie. At this point we're literally only thinking about having him in here for a few mins - perhaps 30 at most at any one time. It's literally somewhere to put him while only one is at home and that person needs to fully concentrate on something. Otherwise he'll be in the house/outside with us at all times (except when he's crate training).

Excellent, back yard it is. I'll get a small enclosure to use until i'm happy the rest of the yard is secure. Then i'll use this to enclose the veggie patch. Thanks Hawk

Problem is simple. Demand will create supply. While people want dogs (even those ignorant people who 'think' they want a dog - but don't want the responsibility they come with) there will be people breeding them. As someone said, responsible breeders produce only so many dogs, far less than the demand. And so there will always be irresponsible breeders filling the demand. Just making it illegal won't change anything. Think of drugs. They are illegal, yet they will always be a problem due to the demand. Clamp down on irresponsible breeders, demand remains the same - and the price goes up, more incentive for irresponsible breeders commence breeding. Solution, in my opinion, is education (not at easy thing by half!). Show people what a pappy farm is, tell them why they are bad, perhaps make it illegal for shop owners to procure dogs from puppy farms, with stiff penalties, and perhaps encourage good practices (no idea how though). Stick and carrot approach. Just making puppy farms illegal will change nothing.

Hi all So the wait is almost over, and the drive to pick up the little bundle of fur ends on Wed (yep 24 Dec!). We've bought most of the necessary bits, toys, chew toys (even a christmas present) crate bowl etc. Now i'm wondering on an enclosure. I've done some reading and realised that i won't want to leave puppy alone for a second without putting him (nope don't have a name yet), in an enclosed area. What i'm debating is, do i use the backyard - which is a decent size - on 750 sq. mtr block, leave him in the laundry - which has tilled wall in case there's an accident, or buy an indoor enclosure and put him in there (will be in a carpeted area of the house though - not enough room in any tiled room for one). Option 1 and 2 are the cheapest and easiest, but i'm not sure. I'm thinking he'll need to be in here for short times, when cooking/eating (me and the wife that is) and when doing odd jobs and probably when we just need a few mins out. I'm not so keen on these as in the laundry we won't be able to see him, and we're new to this house and want to be sure there is nothing that can do him any damage in the back-yard (is a bit grown over). However, don't really want to fork out another $200 for an enclosure. Question is, is it ok to leave pup for a little while in the laundry? cheers, Hawk

Awww brittney's are awesome dogs. My dad had 2 until monday when Mac, the oldest (15!) passed. Best thing is they are so uncommon rarely has anyone ever seen them before.

Awwwww so cute! Still have 12 days to wait till we get our newest family member. Also have a long 2.5 hr drive to pick him up. Still not decided a name either...

Hi all. My wife and I got the good news on Monday, that come late Dec we'll be a couple + one small four legged tri-colour rough collie pup! Today the breeder sent through some pics of the whole (5 wk old) litter playing outside. Sooo cute. Now wondering how we'll wait 5 WHOLE WEEKS! Happily the wife and I are going on our honeymoon on fri for 3 weeks so at least will be distracted for 3 of the 5 weeks. So, until then, an obsessive amount of reading up on how to prepare for a little ball of fluff in the house, and how to get all the training and whatnot right. Hawk

A Brittney, Mac, 14 and still kicking! He has had a range of issues his whole life. Taught me not to buy from a pet shop ever since. He was from one, and i expect his mother and father were related. Had hip dysplasia (can run sideways, always funny), is epileptic, has had arthritis, and the list goes on. He's now fairly blind, deaf as a post but loving life. Lives on a small farm with my dad, and his brother (6 yr old Brittney - not bought from a pet store). Mac is more active than him though, he is always our running around on the farm whenever my dad goes out. Is also a complete legend. Believe it or not, he caught (and ate) 13 rabbits in one week. Used to have a problem with them, then Mac ate them! Unfortunately don't have a photo of him, at least not one that less than 7 or so years old.

I live in Canberra, where in NSW is it?

Hi Hawkeye, I hoped I read your other post right, I suggested a walk through the dog show so you could show your partner some Collies and maybe even ask some show people about their experiences with the breed and suggests some breeders to research. Can I ask if you went, how did you find it? After reading this thread I thought about my first experiences with shows and realise it can actually be off putting so I hope you had a better experience than I did many years ago. Seeing a DOLer offer to meet you there and introduce you to Collie people sounded like a very warm opportunity so I hope if you got there that it went well. Wasn't there a thread earlier this year on how registered breeders might consider reviewing their marketing and advertising of their dogs to be competitive with BYBers? I'm not wanting to start an argument but I thought maybe this was along similar thoughts, if so many people look for a dog by online searching and they come up with easy access BYB pups, maybe registered reputable breeders could use marketing and websites to reduce the perception that show dogs are a whole different world? I've spoken to breeders who just wanted to tell me how expensive their dogs were to buy or breed so the litters would be soooooo great and how many wins the dogs have had etc but at the end of the day that's not the information I wanted or what I think the regular pet dog owner wants either. I have owned pedigree mains registered dogs and crossbreeds, their first and most important thing was to be loved family pets regardless of where they came from but yes, I did feel it was a scarier and more difficult thing to find a pedigree dog. Hi Sorry for the delay. We didn't manage to get to the dog show, my partner got called into work and so i was left car-less in a car dependent city. Ultimately we have been left high and dry, now desperate to see an actual collie (at a show or otherwise) before i make the decision to drive some 4 hrs to see a potential puppy to 'adopt' (is that the correct term? Can't buy family right?). I've contacted a bunch of breeders, being careful not to just ask 'interested in one of your puppies - when i next litter expected', instead trying to start a conversation with them. Only one replied, and while hopeful, hoping to get a bit more concrete plan sorted. We have, not necessarily a limited window, but a best time to get a puppy (just before Christmas, where my Christmas shut-down will enable me to be home everyday). So, not knowing where to go from here is rather frustrating. Any suggestions would be appreciated. As for a pedigree, i'm not overly fussed, we have no plans on showing said pup. But we do want something we can be sure is a full collie, and not mixed. Had a bad experience buying a dog (well my parents) that was said to be a pedigree, but just didn't have the certificates. He - Mac, turned out to have a range of medical issues, hip dyspepsia, epilepsy, various skin conditions to mention a few. So we don't want to go down that path, instead we want something that we know is a pedigree, from a reputable breeder (think Mac's problem is he was likely inbred, perhaps close family in fact). (funny thing is Mac, now 14 shows no sign of going anywhere even though he's well past the life expediency of his breed - Brittney. He lives on a farm, with acres to run, and is up and out running around each day - although he also sleeps a lot...) So any pointers in this area would be warmly welcomed. Hawk

I'm guess the OP is referring to me here. Put it simply, i wanted to introduce collies to my partner so we could be sure that a collie is in fact the right dog for us. I already know this, as i've had one before, but she hasn't. I think they referred us to the dog show, as that's where we could see said dogs, even if they are show dogs. We are not after a show dog, but there we may be able to find a breeder, and perhaps a non-show dog. THe long and the short about it, is we just want an example of the dog, to be sure about it. Ideally that would just be someone in a park with that specific dog type. Problem is, we've never encountered one.

Ah excellent, thanks, will head over tomorrow! May even be able to find a breeder too! Not that we want to show our pup, merely to get one that we know is a full collie. Thanks! Hawk

Hi All So i'm brand new here but hoping i could lean on the forums expertise in dog ownership and whatnot. My partner and i just bought and moved into a (rather old) new house, which among other things, has a big, fully fenced backyard. Both my partner and i grew up with dogs, she a German Shepard and later a pug, and me a rough collie (Bluey) and later Brittney's (Mac and D'arcy). We have, for some time now, been interested in getting a dog of our own. After some discussion we've tentatively concluded that a rough collie is the one for us. However, before we go ahead and get one, we want to make sure we've ticked all the boxes. What i'd like to do, is set up a meet with a collie, just so that we can be sure it is the breed for us before we go ahead and get one. Can anyone offer me any suggestions on how to do this? I honestly can't remember ever seeing a rough collie in Canberra, and have only found 1 breeder. Then, does anyone have any suggestions on how to choose, and approach a breeder? Not done it before. Thanks in advance. Hawk.