Hello from southern Lewis County, NY !

K

KathyC

Forums Novice
Hi !

I live in farm country on about 30 acres. Almost every day I update my website www.tughillcam.com .
I also have my heirloom vegetable seed business, 'Ommas-Aarden'.

I have 5 dogs...2 rescues, Stinky the grandpuppy and 2 shelties - Whylee(9years) and Punkbrat Suzie(5 months). Whylee is a smaller one, but too big for show at 17 inches high. Suzie is of the larger size Shelties and is a very very fast runner, outrunning the whole lot of them. She loves it when she gets them going and chase her. One of her things is jumping over the other dogs parallel, back and forth. They take it well.:smile2: I'm not real keen on fixing her, because she is a mahoghany sable and it would tickle my heart if she had pups... although I think it's not a good idea to breed her first heat. When is the best age ? She has magnificent qualities and I can't see stopping this particular gene pool :wink2:
 
Welcome Kathy and furkids!!

Certainly sounds like you have your hands full between the 5 dogs, the farm, the seed business and keeping your web updated. Hope you enjoy the forum. I have a sable and white sheltie that's also 5 months old. She is going in to be spayed on Aug. 27th. I couldn't let her have pups even if I had bought her without the spay / limited registration on her litter. I know myself, I would just want to keep them all.:rolleyes2::lol: Welcome again Kathy and enjoy the forums.
 
elaine2004 said:
Certainly sounds like you have your hands full between the 5 dogs, the farm, the seed business and keeping your web updated. Hope you enjoy the forum. I have a sable and white sheltie that's also 5 months old. She is going in to be spayed on Aug. 27th. I couldn't let her have pups even if I had bought her without the spay / limited registration on her litter. I know myself, I would just want to keep them all.:rolleyes2::lol: Welcome again Kathy and enjoy the forums.
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Can't forget the 2 grandsons ! (3 and 1)

there is no limitation thing on the paper. It's a hard decision.
Landaff, NH eh ? I went to Woodsville High School for a couple years back in the 70s. Landaff isn't far from there.:yes:
 
KathyC said:
Hi !

I live in farm country on about 30 acres. Almost every day I update my website www.tughillcam.com .
I also have my heirloom vegetable seed business, 'Ommas-Aarden'.

I have 5 dogs...2 rescues, Stinky the grandpuppy and 2 shelties - Whylee(9years) and Punkbrat Suzie(5 months). Whylee is a smaller one, but too big for show at 17 inches high. Suzie is of the larger size Shelties and is a very very fast runner, outrunning the whole lot of them. She loves it when she gets them going and chase her. One of her things is jumping over the other dogs parallel, back and forth. They take it well.:smile2: I'm not real keen on fixing her, because she is a mahoghany sable and it would tickle my heart if she had pups... although I think it's not a good idea to breed her first heat. When is the best age ? She has magnificent qualities and I can't see stopping this particular gene pool :wink2:
Click to expand...

I know what you mean about puppies.:yes:
However, breeding should only be done by those who have studied on it for years and who have had experience with a mentor. I am in the process of studying now and have been for about 3 years and I'm trying to find a mentor but there are precious few good breeders in my area, much less good Sheltie breeders.
My website (listed in signature) explains it better.
But to more directly answer your question, the best age is two years, because that's when her health tests (not just a vet check, OFA [checks for hip dysplicia], CERF [checks for eye disorders like PRA], and on top of that checking for epilipsey, and vonWillebrands disease) can be certified.
Breeding is serious business because you don't want to pass on health problems or temperaments flaws (if any are present) to the puppies. I'm always telling people that breeding should only be done to improve the health of the breed you love and to try to keep the breed as close to standard as possible.
I'm not trying to sound mean in any way and my apologies if I do, but since I want to be a breeder myself one day this is a huge topic of intrest for me.


Welcome to the site whether you breed your dog or not though. We love new members!
 
Welcome

Welcome to the group; would love to see pictures of your dogs.
I'm sorry to say but I have to agree strongly with Greydawntreader about the breeding. Isn't your female oversized, cuz you say the other one is 17 inches and the small one. That would mean the dog you a thinking of breeding is bigger then that? :no::no::no:
 
Rizack said:
Welcome to the group; would love to see pictures of your dogs.
I'm sorry to say but I have to agree strongly with Greydawntreader about the breeding. Isn't your female oversized, cuz you say the other one is 17 inches and the small one. That would mean the dog you a thinking of breeding is bigger then that? :no::no::no:
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Thank you all for the warm welcome - and no offense taken. That would take quite a bit :biggrin2:

Yes, my 9 year old is 17 inches high, my little fat man, Whylee.
My new mothers day gift, Suzie, is the fast one who is almost as tall as the 9 year old already and is 5 months old. She's not a show dog, but wow, could she whoop the pants off some in competition jumping or running. I realize it would take some studying, but I figure I'd do that while she is growing. The nice lady I got her from is willing to help answer questions. I'm just afraid I wouldn't be able to find a suitable stud when the time comes, since she is of the larger strain of pedigree, I wouldn't want to mate her with, say, a 13" sheltie, right ?

If I could get all of them to pose for a group shot, that would be awesome.
 
KathyC said:
Thank you all for the warm welcome - and no offense taken. That would take quite a bit :biggrin2:

Yes, my 9 year old is 17 inches high, my little fat man, Whylee.
My new mothers day gift, Suzie, is the fast one who is almost as tall as the 9 year old already and is 5 months old. She's not a show dog, but wow, could she whoop the pants off some in competition jumping or running. I realize it would take some studying, but I figure I'd do that while she is growing. The nice lady I got her from is willing to help answer questions. I'm just afraid I wouldn't be able to find a suitable stud when the time comes, since she is of the larger strain of pedigree, I wouldn't want to mate her with, say, a 13" sheltie, right ?

If I could get all of them to pose for a group shot, that would be awesome.
Click to expand...
I'd love to see pictures of your dogs too.:winkgrin:
Finding a good stud is usually hard, but I'll tell you what I know. To help keep the puppies within the size mentioned in the standard, I would advise breeding her to a smaller male. That also helps to ensure that the puppies won't be too big for her to whelp.
The stud should compliment any faults that you female has in regards to matching the breed standard and visa-versa.
You should require that the stud be completely health tested and a good representative of his breed, as well as of a good temperament.
Also, he should be an experienced stud, which will help a lot since your female has never been bred before.
Also, during the breeding, the stud and female should be supervised. It isn't completely safe to let them do it on their own. I won't go into details for obvious reasons, but there is a part of it called the "tie". They should not be separated during the tie, because that could injure the male, female, or both. The "tie" usually lasts for about 15 minutes, but can be as long as an hour.
Also, when she has her puppies, please do not let customers take them home until they are at least 8 weeks old. Puppies need at least the first two months of life with their mother.
Some places you can research:
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Puppy_and_Puppies_Place/thread/461986
(A thread I started on Dogster. It's about finding a reputable breeder, but you'll find some useful info in there.)

http://www.chelsea-collies.com/newborn.html
(This article, though about Collies, should be extremely helpful to you.)

Also, you should prepare a whelping box after you breed her and before she has the puppies, similar to this one (the picture is from a friend of mine, I do not claim it in any way):
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk295/twilighteyesPuppies/Keggers/Keggerpregnantinwhelpingbox.jpg


Hope that helps you get started on your research.:smile2:
 
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