Performance Border Collies?

[emilymarston]

Hello!! I was just wondering if there were any good performance/working type Border Collie breeders in Australia?? I've been doing a bit of research and couldn't find too many breeders suitable for agility. So far I've found Guiremere, Kayladene, Adensly and Kerodan but I was wondering if there were any more? So does anyone know of, or bought from, a good working Border Collie breeder?

I've started training my cocker in agility and have fallen in love with the sport!! Sad thing is my dog hasn't. So in a couple of years I would like to add a Border Collie to my family to continue with agility

[OSoSwift]

There are many working (as in sheep) border collie breeders all over Australia.

[kelpiecuddles]

My neighbour is an agility junkie(has her own equipment even) and has four border collies which are all highly trained, she also works with many of her borders' siblings. I can ask where her dogs come from if you like. Any border collie from sheep working lines should do well in agility.

[ness]

There are also plenty of show line bred BCs competing successfully in the agility rings. Most importantly is a healthy, fit, sound dog who has had DNA tested parents for the various conditions (TNS, CL, CEA) and hip and elbow scores that can affect a BC. That's not saying any of your list are not breeders worth considering but more just information to consider as a part of your research.

Edited May 17, 2013 by ness

[dragonwoman]

There are also plenty of show line bred BCs competing successfully in the agility rings. Most importantly is a healthy, fit, sound dog who has had DNA tested parents for the various conditions (TNS, CL, CEA) and hip and elbow scores that can affect a BC. That's not saying any of your list are not breeders worth considering but more just information to consider as a part of your research.

x2

[Salukifan]

There is no doubt that the right working line BC with the right handler is pretty hard to beat.

However, I always go by the adage "don't buy a Ferrari if you don't drive as well as Michael Schumacher".

These are hair trigger dogs, that require incredibly focused, accurate handling and a lot of training to get sufficient team work and control to go well.

For every gun team I've seen, I've also seen barking spinning dogs whose handlers are unable to get them cleanly around courses. There is also the issue of bar dropping due to less than ideal jump styles with some teams.

So go in with your eyes wide open but do talk to the handlers of these super fast high drive dogs about the amount of effort it takes to get them going as well as some do.

A good dog to aspire to if you're prepared to put the effort in to but not a dog for everyone IMO. Of course when they're off duty, they still require a lot of effort to keep busy. Vicki here would be a good person to start with.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Haredown Whippets

[aussielover]

Are you trialling in agility yet? If not I would be going to lots of agility trials and seeing which dogs you like and talk to the owners about how they work and how they are at home.

In fact you only need to look at a trial catalogue or trial results to see the breeding of the top performing BCs.

I like the guirmere and kerodan dogs, there are lots who have been very successful in agility (and are very nice looking too as a bonus!) I haven't had experience with the other 2 breeders you have listed.

Vickie on DOL has guirmere dogs who are extremely successful in agility so perhaps give her a PM

Why do you think your cocker doesn't like agility? There are also lots of successful cockers in agility- it's about finding the right motivation!

I also trial with a gun dog and while she isn't as fast as a fast BC, she still has fun and can do pretty well. She's actually been a good intro to agility. I can imagine it would be tough having a high drive, super fast BC as a first agility dog!

Edited May 17, 2013 by aussielover

[sheena]

We have a young guy from Dunwurkn & couldn't be happier. Lovely personality, heaps of drive, loves his agility, very healthy & lots of follow up support from Allison. She even has a facebook page for all her pups, so that we can all keep in touch (those who want to) Performance homes get first priority. Her dogs are into Agility, flyball, herding & Frisbee. :)

[Dogsfevr]

There are a number of Guiremere dogs in this state competing at top level but there owner /handlers are people that OsoSwift is talking about .

Good handlers who match the dogs well.

There are also many show breed dogs competing in this state at the same top level .

[benshiva]

There are some fantastic agility Border Collies out there that come from show lines. Calanais, WInpara, Danari, Nahrof, Dalheath to name just a very few.

I'm extremely proud of one girl in particular that I bred, who has had a wonderful agility career.

Good luck in your search. xx

Edited May 17, 2013 by benshiva

[emilymarston]

Are you trialling in agility yet?

Why do you think your cocker doesn't like agility?

No, I'm not trialing yet. My cocker is very close to my mum, and she freaks out in public without her. Last time we performed some tricks in public, in front of an audience, she ran off the stage looking for my mum. So we're not really ready to trial just yet.

Bonnie is not very driven, but occasionally she will go crazy and actually run during training. I've tried different treats, toys, praise e.c.t but she only really gets moving when doing tricks. I'm working on her drive at the moment, we're getting better by incorporating tricks into agility. A few weeks ago I did some training with my cousins BC and even though he's never done agility in his life, he was so much faster and willing to work than Bonnie.

I'm hopefully taking some agility classes soon, so we can both improve. I'm still very much a beginner, but as I improve I would like a dog that enjoys training a little more.

Here's a recent video of me + my cocker doing some agility practice

[emilymarston]

There are also plenty of show line bred BCs competing successfully in the agility rings. Most importantly is a healthy, fit, sound dog who has had DNA tested parents for the various conditions (TNS, CL, CEA) and hip and elbow scores that can affect a BC. That's not saying any of your list are not breeders worth considering but more just information to consider as a part of your research.

Yes, I have been looking at dogs from show lines. My cousin has a dog bred by Terrabella, and he is just a great and energetic dog to work with. I'm still on the fence on which sort of lines I want my dog to be from, it's so hard to pick because I love both varieties for different reasons. Thanks for the reply!

[aussielover]

Awww your cocker seems lovely. She seems happy and motivated enough during training. You don't seem to be doing much moving in that video more standing and poitning- with my slower dog, I find she is much more enthusiastic if I run with her or away from her.

[kelpiecuddles]

Call me crazy but it seems to me like you aren't being very confident in your directions, the dog seems confused sometimes and might do better if you were clearer with your signals. Maybe go on youtibe and watch a few videos of the pros and see how confident their hand signals are and then compare to give yourself some ideas, I'd suggest watching your video with the sound off as it might be easier to see what I mean. Please don't take it the wrong way because you are well on your way I'm just trying to offer some constructive help. :)

[Kavik]

There are lots of working line BCs around :)

Vickie and DeltaCharlie would be good people to talk to regarding the various lines around.

[emilymarston]

Call me crazy but it seems to me like you aren't being very confident in your directions, the dog seems confused sometimes and might do better if you were clearer with your signals. Maybe go on youtibe and watch a few videos of the pros and see how confident their hand signals are and then compare to give yourself some ideas, I'd suggest watching your video with the sound off as it might be easier to see what I mean. Please don't take it the wrong way because you are well on your way I'm just trying to offer some constructive help. :)

Yes, I've really started doing agility in the last 12 months so I'm very much a beginner. I haven't had any classes yet, but hopefully we'll be going to some soon. Thanks for the help!! I haven't tried running around much before, as I don't really know what I'm doing just yet, but I'll give it ago tomorrow and tell you how it goes :) thanks again for the help!

[Sayreovi]

I think you need to make sure you can live with a border collie first, it's all well and good wanting one to do agility with but that is such a tiny part of the dogs life. I personally would get a dog suited for my lifestyle that can do sports than a dog that can sports but might not fit.

I regulary see the Kayladene and Adensley BC's compete in agility (as well as flyball for the latter) and while the Kayladene crew is extremely hard too beat when they run clear it comes down too intensive training, excellent foundation and having access too your own complete set of equipment doesn't hurt either! :D

Nothing wrong with have a slow and steady dog that makes you work harder too get the best out of them, makes you a better trainer! :)

ETA: Just watched the video, what a happy little dog. I agree with the others you need to start running a bit more, with a slower less motivated dog you can't just stand rather still like those with nutcase driven BCs :p I would have rewarded more as well as it seemed a bit repetitive and your dog was probably getting board. I have Tollers and while they are as smart and can be as driven/fast as BC's they won't work forever doing the same thing, so short quick rewarding sessions are best :)

Edited May 17, 2013 by tollersowned

[emilymarston]

Awww your cocker seems lovely. She seems happy and motivated enough during training. You don't seem to be doing much moving in that video more standing and poitning- with my slower dog, I find she is much more enthusiastic if I run with her or away from her.

Thanks for the tip!! Tomorrow I'll try to run with Bonnie during training and see if we both improve. I'm still a beginner in agility but this sounds really helpful already :)

[emilymarston]

Nothing wrong with have a slow and steady dog that makes you work harder too get the best out of them, makes you a better trainer! :)

Thanks for the tip!! My cocker is pretty slow and steady most of the time, hopefully I'll learn a lot about agility from her :)

[kelpiecuddles]

No problem. If you look about half way through when he misses a couple of jumps it's probably most obvious what I mean. You give him the direction but it's not clear enough to him which way you want him to go so he stops and looks at you, which is good, atleast he's focussed on you. If you can make your directions really clear and confident you might find some of your frustrations with him resolve because his confidence will probably increase too. If you see him stopping like that when you are training use it as a reminder to make your arm directions stronger for him. Good luck!