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When considering a puppy from a breeder...


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OK, it's probably none of my business how anyone acquires a puppy. But I believe that Border collies should be bred for working ability and temperament. Period.

 

People are often asking me whether I bought my dog from a local Maryland border collie breeder (one you can find by googling "working dogs for working people"). (The answer is "no"). Or they'll ask me what I think of this local breeder.

 

Asking is good. If you're thinking of buying a pup from a breeder rather than acquiring one from rescue, asking around is a really, really good idea. Before the fact, because people don't want to be the bearers of bad news after the fact. This example illustrates why. (Besides, it's all too easy to fall in love with a puppy face and have your heart overrule your head).

 

If you look at the "pinned" topics above, you'll see one on "Seeking Information on Getting a Border Collie?". Good to read. Peruse the list of breeders you'll find on it that have been expelled from ABCA. You'll find one with the initials MAH.

 

To return to this particular local breeder, if you look at their list of sires and examine their pedigrees, you'll find the first dog was bred by none other than MAH. So, even though their home page offers a disclaimer that they are not "in any way" associated with MAH, there is at least some connection.

 

Now you'll see on their home page an announcement that they've bought two new sires. Lovely colors, a lilac merle and a blue merle. If you check out their pedigrees, you'll see that the lilac merle was bred by Baird Creek Border Collies. I sure hope it's not the same Baird Creek (from California) that was the subject of this post a year ago (and if someone knows for sure it's not the same, please let me know!). But if it is, and if even a fraction of what I've read on these Boards about Baird Creek is true, I fear we may find our Maryland-area rescues and shelters the unhappy recipients of some dogs with very nasty temperaments indeed not too far in the future.

 

"All politics is local". Don't make the mistake of assuming, just because some kennel with a bad reputation is 3,000 miles away from you, that its dogs may not show up locally.

 

This list of "tips" is also good. (How many red flags can you spot in this particular local breeder's website?).

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Interesting post. We're looking at a breeder right now and this gives me more information to work with. Thank you.

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I guess there's now more than just one breeder in the greater DC area who is breeding for "lilac".

 

Thank you for your thoughtful post, Lynn. I thought I knew what I was doing when I went about getting my first purebred pup (and the second and the third).

 

One thing I would suggest now to anyone who was interested in a particular breeder would be to ask here (on the boards) and request private messages in reply. There are people here whose opinions about responsible breeding I respect, and who would steer someone in the right direction to find a responsible breeder. PMs might just make it easier to express an opinion without arguments.

 

If I knew then what I know now...and I still realize that I don't know very much.

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