breeder in Iowa area

[Hope/P.]

I am new to the BC board. I am looking for a good breeder around the Iowa area for a BC puppy. Also any information on trainers in my area would be great. I have looked throughout the BC Boards on what to look for but I am having a hard time finding a good breeder.

 

Thanks

[red russel]

Hi Hope. It will help folks help you if you let them know what you hope to do with the dog, what kind of training you are looking for and where in Iowa.

 

dave

[Debbie Meier]

A good starting point is to come on down to the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival on the 8th of June held at the Dallas County Fairgrounds in Adel, each year we have a little sheepdog trial there. You can watch the dogs and get a chance to chat with different trainers and breeders from here in IA. Entries are just now coming in so I can't tell you for certain who will be there, but some of the common names are Bob Johnson from Tingley, Curtis Dukes, from Kent, Nyle Sealine from Princeton, John Holman from Clay Center, Nebraska, Linda Meyer from Stanhope comes from time to time, Joel Hollatz from Exline may be there also.

 

If that weekend does not work or if you are in southeastern IA a good place to visit would the trials that Gary hosts down in Keosauqua, IA, they will be cattledog trials and will be held on June 22-23 and then he will host a single day trial on Sunday July 7th.

Bob Johnson down in Tingley, host a weekly practice at his place just outside of town which is about 1.5 hours south and west of Des Moines every Tuesday evening, many handlers and people new to stockdogs get together down at his place.

 

Who to buy from and what type of dog you buy is dependent on what your goals are with your dog. If you are looking for a good pet or companion I would suggest looking into rescue, some get pups in if you are willing to wait. If you want to trial on sheep or cattle or have livestock and want to use the dog then looking for a breeder who has produced good dogs that they themselves and others trial and/or use would be the path to go. Also working with someone who is exceling with their dogs in the same venue that you aspire to participate in is important.

So many times people buy a pup and then look into what it takes to use the dog or trial the dog to discover that the pup they purchased was not bred or selected for what they wanted to do, so they either give up their goals until the can manage owning another or rehome their pup/dog and buy a different one. By taking your time, learning as much as you can about training and how the dogs work you can increase your chances of buying a pup that will give you the best chance of being able to do what you want it to.

 

I know of one litter that may have some pups available, the breeder cattledog trials and uses his border collies at home on cattle, the pups are by a past USBCHA National Champion Cattledog, other pups by this male have well on cattle and he has siblings that have done well both on cattle and sheep. The female is a nice natural dog and should produce pups that most anyone can handle and train. He had only one female in the litter so you would have to be willing to take a male and I don't know if they are all spoken for but I can get you in contact with the breeder to get further information if you are interested.

[Crawford Dogs]

What part of Iowa are you in? I know of quite a few nice breeders that do health checks and produce dogs with sound temperments and excellent working ability. Nice to have more Border collie lovers in Iowa!

[Liz P]

So many times people buy a pup and then look into what it takes to use the dog or trial the dog to discover that the pup they purchased was not bred or selected for what they wanted to do, so they either give up their goals until the can manage owning another or rehome their pup/dog and buy a different one. By taking your time, learning as much as you can about training and how the dogs work you can increase your chances of buying a pup that will give you the best chance of being able to do what you want it to.

 

 

Just as disappointing, perhaps even more so, is to buy a dog, get excited about how his training is coming along, have him almost ready to run Open then find out you have to retire him for health reasons. For example, he goes deaf or it turns out he has hip dysplasia so bad that he can't move at the end of the day. You want to stack the odds in your favor by buying from a working breeder that also does health tests on breeding stock.