Question about hips

[sea4th]

This is the first time I've ever breed a dog

Well, at least she didn't say "bread".

 

She also asked how she is ever going to become a breeder if she never does it?

 

Even AKC has a stand on responsible & irresponsible breeding. The answer is, whether for AKC, ABCA, whatever is that you do your research FIRST. "FIRST" often takes years. "FIRST" is the ability to admit that your dog might not be worth breeding---as difficult as that often is. "FIRST" is working with your dog BEFORE it is bred, not a hobby that comes after you've bred her & produced pups. All pups are cute. Ever work with a rescue or shelter? Dogs there began as cute pups as well, often a result of a mentality like yours.

 

Before you undertake bringing more dogs, more lives on this earth, volunteer some time with a rescue or shelter FIRST. In fact, if you decide to undertake the responsibility of bringing a litter into this world, you should probably play a part in helping in the exit from this world---take part in a euthansia, holding a living creature while it's put down, for no other reason than there are already far too many dogs & far too few homes.

 

All this is done BEFORE, not after you've had your dog produce a litter of pups. If you're not a troll, maybe this might mean something. If you are, well, sometimes it needs to be said anyway.

 

Vicki

[MrSnappy]

Originally posted by ScoutsMomma:

How am I going to become a breeder if I never do it? And yes I am going to do agility and herding. Whether you guys think I'm a brainless oaf or not.

Have you never heard of the learning curve? You don't decide to do brain surgery on someone and go to medical school afterward.

 

So you don't breed your bitch and then try a dog sport with her later.

 

If you are a serious breeder - or if you want to be taken seriously, at any rate - you don't start with your first exposure to the breed (ie your bitch with the funny hindend that your friends think is pretty), you start out by getting very involved with the breed, spending a long time learning how to evaluate the breed for all its many merits and how to pick a good breeding bitch and select an appropriate stud for her, and you have a purpose for the production of the pups.

 

If you want to be a BYB, no one can stop you, unfortunately.

 

I don't think you're a brainless oaf. I think you are obtuse and self involved.

 

RDM

[ScoutsMomma]

Well,I've gotten some good advice and some down right rude comments,I'm going to do what 'MrSnappy' said and I'm going to start obedience with her next week and I'm going to work my way up to agility and then once I get more familiar with the breed I'll breed.

 

SoloRiver- You can take your dumb comments and shove it.

[DonH105]

If you want to get familiar with the breed, then you should herd, because that is what the breed is all about. Obedience and agility are all right, but they do not define the breed.

[ScoutsMomma]

I would do herding but there is no one that I know in my area that teaches it.

[DonH105]

What part of California are you in? Maybe someone can point you in the right direction. I know there are a number of alternatives around Portland.

[amc]

There are many competent trainers all over California. There are even some who work with people who want to 'do herding'. Let me know your general vicinity and I'll point you in the right direction.

[ScoutsMomma]

I am in southern california in the Riverside area. Should I do obedience first?

[Bill Fosher]

Obedience, at least formal, competition-style obedience, trains the dog to focus on the handler at all times. It can be antithetical to what's needed in a good herding dog -- which is in part the ability to focus on stock behavior while still remaining responsive to handler direction.

 

What you ought to do before you even think about breeding Scout is see whether breeding her would improve the breed. The breed is defined by its ability to work stock (this is different from what the AKC will tell you) so until you have really worked her on stock you have no way of knowing whether she is a breeding prospect or not.

 

To give you an idea of where I am coming from regarding doing your homework, I have been working with Border collies on sheep nearly every day for the past 10 years. For the past three years, sheep farming has been my full-time job. I am currently starting two young dogs, who will be my fifth and sixth attempts at training stockdogs. I have traveled throughout the Northeast and Midwest and parts of Canada working with dogs, going to sheepdog trials, meeting other handlers, and attending clinics and lessons with world-famous dog trainers. I have studied these dogs with people who have spent their entire lifetimes working with them and training them.

 

In another couple of years, I might be ready to breed a litter. I'm a slow learner, but many people I've talked with describe a 10-year internship with the breed. If you're not committed to the breed and what it is meant to do, you shouldn't think about breeding Scout or any other Border collie.

[amc]

ScoutsMomma,

 

If you really are interested in finding out about the 'real' working Border Collie, plan to attend the Wool-Do-Mar sheepdog trial Jan 2-4 in Wildomar, CA. It's 40 miles down I-15 from Riverside. Check out the website at www.socalstockdog.com. You will have the opportunity to see what a working Border Collie can do, and you will be able to meet the local people involved with working dogs.

 

Good luck.