aviary

Thank you. I respect that other people feel differently about health testing, but it's important to me and I would really prefer not argue about it, or be treated like a bad owner/future owner for caring about it.

Yikes! That was pretty condescending.

D'Elle thank you for the suggestion. I've fostered with BC and all breed groups in the past, and it's not what I'm looking for. I'm fine waiting and meeting people and hearing different perspectives along the way :-)

Health testing is non-negotiable for me. I used to work with a BC rescue, and in that short time we had a dog surrendered to us from a "good" breeder completely blind at a young age. And thank you, but I am able to tell the difference between a BYB and a good breeder who also does health testing.

Thank you!

Gloria- I was thinking maybe a cat or two, but a menagerie would work too ;-)

Hey guys, I filled out the contact form on Fiona's website a while ago, and never heard anything. Just filled it out again over the weekend. Just wondering if there's a better way to contact her? Thanks!

D'Elle, I went through all the breeder posts on the boards and the following have been recommended at one point or another: - Red Top Kennel - Blue Ridge Border Collies - Serendipity Stockdog - Kathy and Jack Knox - Broken Circle Border Collies - Dianne Deal - Orchard Run Border Collies - Status Stockdogs - Creekside Farm - Herbert Holmes - Stephanie Goracke - Ron Enzeroth - Bruce and Linda Fogt :-)

I'm having a hard time because most of the guidelines for finding a breeder are on what they *shouldn't* be doing. That's fine, but does the absence of red flags means the breeder automatically has great dogs? To me it should be the absence of red flags, plus positive things, which to me are things like health testing, socialization, etc. Does that make sense? Are there other "positive" aspects I should be considering? Obviously doing well at trials is great, but since I don't need a dog to work I'm not sure if that would really make much of a difference in my case.

mum24dog, I'd be interested to hear how you chose your breeder, since you were looking for a pet not a working dog. It's crazy how different dog cultures define a "good" breeder. For most responsible pet people, health testing and socialization are non-negotiable (not a judgement). *Edit: by responsible pet people, I mean as opposed to people who buy from pet stores and bybreeders

Thank you! Should have mentioned, I'm looking at 2018, so no rush.

Hey all, I'm sure the breeder posts get old, but I'm looking for something pretty specific, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Does know of a breeder who: 1. ABCA registers 2. Does CEA/CH, CL, TNS, etc., health testing 3. Raises puppies in home with extensive puppy socializations with kids, animals, different situations 4. Raises puppies with dam and sire 5. Positive reinforcement training with their dogs/low stress environment for mom ​I don't want to start any arguments on training methods, this is just what is important to me. Looking for a sweet, medium drive dog with a solid temperament to be a companion and participate (not necessarily compete) in herding, agility, and dock. Possibly SAR work as well. No preference on appearance, and I'm willing to travel anywhere in the US for a dog. Thank you!

Thank you, Mr. McCaig!

Thanks mum24dog. I was wondering if it was something like with a dachshund, where they look a certain way for a purpose, but I haven't seen any pre-AKC dachshunds so they may well have changed their appearance too. Or like with Mals, where the ones still bred to work look pretty much the same as the AKC Mals. And of course I ask here; you guys are the collie experts!

There's a post called "Demise of the AKC" so, no, I wouldn't call my view on the board all that skewed. And while I did write this in a humerous, snarky way, my question is completely serious: Does anyone know the reason for the AKC breed standard to look so different from the traditional BC appearance?