Newbie101

Hi everyone. I'm in touch with an ANKC registered breeder who has ticked all the boxes I was looking for in a good breeder and appears open and honest. Due to breeders being pretty swamped with interest there's no guarantee we'd even get a puppy as it will depend on what personalities the pups have around 6 weeks as to who would be suitable. We are after a wonderful pet, not a dog to breed. But because I worry about stuff, I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not about the hip scores for the mum of the litter mainly due to a potentially mitigating factor (read on) so I'm just doing my homework. The sire (via artificial insemination) has 2:1 hips and 0:0 elbows and is from a well known breeder with lots of champions (sire's sire is a grand champion). The dam has 12:2 hips and 0:0 elbows - but she had a bad bone break when she was still developing and the breeder thinks this is why her hip score is like that. The dam's brother has 3:4 hips and the dam's daughter who was retained from her previous litter for breeding scored 2:5. Anyway the breeder deliberately chose a sire with very low scores just in case. I also would have thought that if there were concerns, the sire's owner wouldn't have been willing to let this match to happen? And if we assume worst case and that the 12:2 wasn't because of the injury, are we still only talking a small risk of having issues esp as the pups of this pair would likely improve on the dam's score? Online, there are multiple conversion tables where a BVA 12:2 is a OFA "Mild", FCA "C" (eg. wikipedia) - but other places like the OFA website (www.ofa.org) says it would be an OFA "Fair", or FCI B1 ie a normal rating. Now that is extra confusing...?

Thanks for all the advice. I've spoken to a couple of breeders on the phone and they were really helpful, particularly in putting my fears to rest that a BC = a dog that has to have 2+ hours minimum of exercise a day We're on some waitlists and will see what happens! In the meantime there are a lot of things to read and watch on raising and training a puppy. A couple of different puppy schools and trainers were recommended by the breeders which was good.

The second breed on our list was Labradors, but we were worried they would be a bit too lazy for us, eg to go jogging once old enough? But whenever I mention collies to people (who don't own one) they suck their breath in which is a bit offputting! Yet when we talk to BC owners that we meet around the place the dogs seem much more laid back than I'm otherwise led to believe, and none of the ones I've spoken to were giving the two hours exercise & training every day I've seen recommended elsewhere, although they'd usually do something extra on weekend... So now I'm second guessing myself again as to who to believe.

Oh gosh sorry I really stuffed up while writing my post, what I posted wasn't my intention at all Its meant to say we'd only leave the dog outside on the occasions when we aren't home during the day. Most of the time someone is home and the dog would be free to come and go! And hence my question about floors inside... No point in having a dog that just lives outside, let alone a border collie... Yep am aware re puppy bone development and not exercising them much. Yes am finding that the good breeders are a bit busy! Prepared to wait though, but who knows how long the current dog boom will last, wish I hadn't spent two years making up my mind on the commitment required! Discovered rally-o the other day which looks like a good outlet for a BC.

My family and I have been considering getting a dog for quite some time now, and the breed we all love the most is the border collie. We were also considering labradors but we've been hanging out around dog parks (lol) or out walking and its always the border collies that we can't get enough of... For us the main practical reason for BC's is they are more active and a bit smaller. We have a family of 4 (2 kids grade 8 and 6), and we have chickens. I work 5 days a week but 2-3 of those are from home, even pre-covid. My wife temporarily is at work 8-4pm 3 days a week, and mornings on the other 2 days so it would be infrequent for our dog to spend a whole day by itself. My daughter is after a dog that she can go jogging with. We are pretty active and on weekends would usually be able to go for a longer bushwalk. After puppy training is over, my intention was to leave the dog outside in our fenced backyard. We have a large covered patio. As far as I can tell, we would be able to provide enough mental and physical stimulation for a BC to be happy? We live in Brisbane, just checking that a BC wouldn't need to live inside in A/C all the time in summer? We only really turn the A/C on when its like 34+ anyway... We have hardwood timber floors, how bad is this going to be for them... If nails are kept trimmed or worn through lots of walks/runs, is the damage somewhat minimised... I'd be horrified if I was somehow tricked into buying from a puppy farm or bad breeder - if a breeder is registered I take it this means we are on fairly safe ground? How do I know if there's certain breeders to stay away from? A standard black&white BC would be great, we aren't after colours. Thanks for your thoughts!