59 replies to this topic

[juliepoudrier]

Everyone wants Piper, because she's so wee. RDM

Same here with Miss Larky. Now all I need to do is find a *really tiny* stud dog to breed her to, and no doubt I'll have a litter of miniature border collies that I can sell for really big bucks (because they'll all be as cute as their mom!). LOL! (In case anyone who doesn't know me is wondering--it ain't gonna happen....)

J.

[Maralynn]

Same here with Miss Larky. Now all I need to do is find a *really tiny* stud dog to breed her to, and no doubt I'll have a litter of miniature border collies that I can sell for really big bucks (because they'll all be as cute as their mom!). LOL! (In case anyone who doesn't know me is wondering--it ain't gonna happen....)

I guess it's a real shame that I had Kipp neutered . He's only about 18" and 29#. WIth prick ears and smooth coat his looks would have complemented Lark's so nicely. And those pups could have even been working mini BCs...

I can't imagine what in the world some folks are thinking, but I guess breeding dogs like that they are only thinking about $$$

[juliepoudrier]

And those pups could have even been working mini BCs...

What a GREAT marketing concept. Everyone needs mini working border collies. Heck even handlers could finally get rid of all their little pocket auxilliary terriers and the like and simply replace them with a mini working border collie. I can see the dollars flowing now.

I can't imagine what in the world some folks are thinking, but I guess breeding dogs like that they are only thinking about $$$

Yep, it's all about the $$, and of course these breeders are operating under the sadly too true belief that "there's a sucker born every minute."

J.

[Liz P]

Yep, it's all about the $$, and of course these breeders are operating under the sadly too true belief that "there's a sucker born every minute."

But ther IS!

[sheepandakom]

One of our fosters has a "mini BC" right now. Her Piper isn't even 25lbs and we believe she's about 8 months old. She makes my little Manse look big. The foster really likes the pup and hasn't put her on the website. She is afraid that people will want her only because she's small. I can't remember where she came from, but I think it was from one of the shelters in southwest VA. The first time I met her, she was at the vet's office resting after having been spayed. Piper and a puppy we believe was a BC/Pyr mix were curled up together. Piper looked tiny next to the bigger, but much younger, Pyr mix puppy.

Emily

 Piper1.JPG   686.41K   94 downloads  Piper2.JPG   453K   85 downloads

[juliepoudrier]

But ther IS!

Oh yes, and they're all out buying miniaturized versions of something or doodle crosses....

J.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

My Jen was measured at a flyball tournament once and after they finally got her to stop wiggling , she measured at 15 1/2 inches. That made her a height dog, easy. There was a crowd waiting around to see, even though we were almost the last in line that morning. You can just imagine the conversations I had at that tourney from people who didn't actually know me (certain people knew better, lol!).

Her littermates ranged from her, to smallish/normal to normal, to one 22 inch dog at least (I think he wasn't the only big one, either).

That's the thing with the little Border Collies, they are often one-offs, so it would take a lot of culling to get the size down consistently using just purebreds. Narrow that down to just dogs that work even to a standard of basic competence, and are healthy and of sound temperament, and you'd have a nearly impossible task.

It's a good example of how even one physical standard makes it difficult to select for sound working ability.

[MrSnappy]

 Piper1.JPG   686.41K   94 downloads  Piper2.JPG   453K   85 downloads

It's a real good thing VA is so far away, and that the pup is already named Piper, because that is one damn cute puppy.

RDM

[MyMace]

Yesterday my fiance called me from work to inform me that his boss's wife has purchased what the breeder claims to be a miniature border collie. This obviously upset me very much, and I asked for the phone number of the breeder, and offered help to the boss if he ever needed it. (As I'm assuming they don't know much about BCs if they think mini BCs are legitimate) The next day I gave my fiance puppy pads that we never used (We bought a pack of 50 when Ghost was 8 weeks, and after he shredded 2 to bits we never used another) along with about 5 pages of useful info on the BC breed to give to them, with my offer of continued help if they ever needed it. I was most concerned when I heard that the pup was already jumping up on their 1 year old daughter, so I thought they would welcome any help.

Well, the boss was very polite and thanked us, but about 45 minutes before my fiance's shift was over, he was motioned over by the wife, where she was extremely rude to him, resorting to abusive language, and basically said that she knew everything about the breed and didn't need anyone's help.

I still offered help to the boss if he ever needs it, but have given up on having a reasonable conversation with the wife. I am looking forward to that pup hitting 6 months of age needless to say.

Reguardless, this is very distressing information, and I am hoping that this problem is not too wide spread. Has anyone else heard anything of this sort?

Autumn

you have to be kidding me!!!!??? i have never heard of a mini bc...absolutely crazy! in addition to maceo, our bc, we have a 4yr old yorkie, levi, who weights about 7.5 lbs... this breed has this issue as well, with the breeding of 'teacup' yorkies...they are suppose to be between 5-8 lbs...not 2 and 3 lbs...it is terrible for the dog, and leads to MANY health issues... i hope this kind of expoiltation doesn't happen to bc's! levi and maceo are the best of friends, but we would be in trouble if levi was any smaller! especially with the way those two play 'tug o war' lol!

[Northof49]

My Jen was measured at a flyball tournament once and after they finally got her to stop wiggling , she measured at 15 1/2 inches. That made her a height dog, easy. There was a crowd waiting around to see, even though we were almost the last in line that morning. You can just imagine the conversations I had at that tourney from people who didn't actually know me (certain people knew better, lol!).

So is Jen acutally 15.5 inches? Just wondering because I know in flyball a lot of dogs seem to be measured smaller than they actually are. Even our dogs who stack well for measurement were always measured less then their actual height. I always hate measuring flyball dogs that are used as height dogs for agility trials, as I invariably get into an argument wtih the handler because my measurement is always different than their flyball measurements.

[Blueborders]

We've seen several "mini" border collies pulled out of shelters here in Texas. I, in fact, have a foster failure that's only 17lbs and 15" tall and is about 1 1/2-2 yrs old. Everything about her is miniaturized except for her personality. I haven't had a chance to put her on sheep yet but plan to in the next few weeks. She's extremely herdy with the other dogs so it should be interesting to see what she may or might not do.

[Northof49]

We've seen several "mini" border collies pulled out of shelters here in Texas. I, in fact, have a foster failure that's only 17lbs and 15" tall and is about 1 1/2-2 yrs old. Everything about her is miniaturized except for her personality. I haven't had a chance to put her on sheep yet but plan to in the next few weeks. She's extremely herdy with the other dogs so it should be interesting to see what she may or might not do.

She is VERY cute

[Carson Crazies]

Small Dog says he'd be better classified as a miniature border collie. I've actually had people ask me if he was.





But yes, it's all about the almighty dollar - teacup this, and miniature that. *sigh* If you want a small dog - then get a small dog. I think it's quite senseless to mess around trying to mini-fy an already established breed.

[Janet808]

I have a question (and please forgive my ignorance, but I'm clueless on these types of topics), how do you make a miniture BC, Aussie, or any large breed?? I'm confused, as to how you do this. Do you look for a small BC and breed w/ another small BC, in hopes that they keep getting smaller and smaller???? Sorry, but just don't get it.

[Dalesred]

Still thinking about this..blech...
Could it possibly be that the ignorant egomaniac who the OP tried to help has actually got the breed wrong?
Could it perhaps be a sheltie?

On a slightly different tack, I once allowed pretension to get the better of me and asked the new scottish vet what mix he thought my Meg was.

He looked at me over his glasses and said 'she's a wee blaack doog, madam.'

[juliepoudrier]

I have a question (and please forgive my ignorance, but I'm clueless on these types of topics), how do you make a miniture BC, Aussie, or any large breed?? I'm confused, as to how you do this. Do you look for a small BC and breed w/ another small BC, in hopes that they keep getting smaller and smaller???? Sorry, but just don't get it.

I think you could start this way, but as Becca points out you could still get larger pups out of two smaller dogs, so it would take longer to really fix the miniaturized traits. I wouldn't doubt if breeders bred in some sort of toy breed to get a similar result, much more quickly.

J.

[MrSnappy]

At least with Aussies, the "standard" for a so called mini Aussie is 25-40lbs. That's border collie sized, and not very "mini" at all - it's just not the same size as the giant show Aussies that go up to 70lbs etc and are all hair. I know many working bred Aussies that are in the 30-40lb range and are certainly not minis.

Then we come to the so called "toy Aussie" and I really do not see how these critters are not infused with some toy-breed blood, like maybe pomeranian or similar. I mean look at them:



"Estimated to be 10" (and) the micro aussies estimated to be 8-9" and 608lbs"

I don't know too much about breeding, but I don't know how you would scale a 40lb breed down to a 9lb breed without crossing it with something already in that size range.

They don't even really resemble Aussies anymore, when they get to that size.

RDM

[Flamincomet]

Still thinking about this..blech...
Could it possibly be that the ignorant egomaniac who the OP tried to help has actually got the breed wrong?
Could it perhaps be a sheltie?

Unfortunately I'm almost positive they got the breed right, the boss's grandparents have BCs, so he knows what they look like, and when my fiance asked him if it was perhaps a sheltie he said defidently not.

Sad that people can get tricked like that, they aren't for sure even going to get a "mini" as the dam was 15 lbs (Yes, 15!!) but the sire was average sized. Try explaining THAT to the ignorant wife!!

And OMG, GROSS!! Those mini "aussies" look more like poms than anything! They defidently had to be cross-breeding to get those things!

Autumn

[Anda]

Their eyes are just wrong. Beah.

[Northof49]

I don't know too much about breeding, but I don't know how you would scale a 40lb breed down to a 9lb breed without crossing it with something already in that size range.

They don't even really resemble Aussies anymore, when they get to that size.

RDM

They have been crossed down with smaller breeds similar in looks, etc and then bred back to look sort of like Aussies. A lady not too far from me breeds Mini and Toy AUssies, and you can defintely tell the Toy Aussies have something else in them. I am thinking maybe poms or papillons. All of hers had tails and tail sets like a JRT though. Ugly little things - look like something the cat would drag in from the sloughs.