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HOW TO SELECT YOUR BORDER COLLIE PUPPY !

  1. Temperament = Absolutely essential.
  2. Working Ability = for herding and performance dog sports this is essential pre-requisit
  3. Pedigree = this gives an idication of possible potential work and health traits
  4. Character = indicates tenacity and trainability.
  5. Gender = male v female
  6. Colour = colour does not make a dog.
  7. Coat length = Smooth v Medium v Rough the coat does not make a dog.
  8. Price = Quality is worth every penny spent

We suggest that this is the order that you approach the purchase of your Border Collie puppy.

Bute holding sheep on the fence

 

Pedigree (Full five generation) and Registration with the ISDS. (International Sheepdog Society)

This feature is VERY important when purchasing a Border Collie for Work or Sports such as Herding, Sheepdog Trials, Dog Agility, Flyball, Obedience etc. because it gives a pretty good indication as to what type of dog you are likely to have when he is grown up.

 

,However if you are just looking for an active companion/pet then obviously the first point Pedigree is really of no real concern other than knowing that teh breeder understood at least some important concepts of breeding.

 

It is almost certain that if there is NO pedigree/ registration available then there cannot be ANY knowledge of any problems both genetic and temprament within the bloodlines of your puppy.

 

Each bitch must show us her natural herding instinct, character, temperament, trainability before she is mated, read more

 

Each Stud dog must prove himself at work before he is used, read more.

Read on...

 

Only the very best stay with us for Trials and Full Farm duties. Unfortunately we do not have enough work nor time to keep all our breeding bitches for any length of time, in fact; we believe it would be CRUEL to do so. Therefore, these dogs may well be available, at any time, to the right homes as partly trained or fully trained sheepdogs.

 

Please register your interest with us if you wish to be considered to provide a forever home to one of our bitches. read more

 

Astra Keyne

 

Breeding a Performance Sports Dog

We have specialized in producing ISDS registered border collie puppies with strong sheep herding instincts and have placed a great deal of emphasis on wonderful temperaments and biddable.

As a border collie breeder we have achieved recognition for breeding border collie "sheepdogs" with power, agility, stamina and biddability.

Read on...

 

The "Astra" lines of Border Collies have excelled in

  • Sheepdog Trials at National level.
  • Dog Agility at Crufts and Olympia
  • Fly ball

with several Dogs now qualified for World competition in all of the above performance sports.

Other disciplines Astra Dogs enjoy are

  • Obedience
  • Working Trials
  • Search and Rescue
  • Running partner
  • anything you can think of
Healthy border collies

 

Breeding for Healthy Border Collies

We were one of the first ISDS Border Collie breeders to

  • eye test all litters of puppies at six weeks of age for CEA
  • microchip all puppies bred by us.
  • screen test all breeding stock for their CEA genetic status.
  • hip score for Hip Dysplasia,
Read on...
  • encourage feedback from our owners as to the health status of their "Astra" prefixed dogs as they mature and grow older
  • COMING SOON = Owners can have their own page on our site. Please get together all your photo's and news - it won't be long now.
Temperament is essential with the Border Collie

 

Breeding for Temperament in the Border Collie

Historically, the Border Collie temperament was not specifically selected for; in fact it is possible that the best dogs had/still have sensitive and "One Man Dog" characters simply because they never meet many persons on the farm and rarely even leave the farms.

Read on...

 

It is also generally accepted by farmers that the Border Collie is a great even if sneaky watch dog, wary of strangers. In my view it was and may still be an advantage; to retain this quality in the working Border Collie to help prevent theft of your best dog.

 

Because of this many Border Collies are still produced with a similar temperament.

 

However, we are selecting for Temperament and already are consistently producing ISDS registered border collie puppies with wonderful temperaments and biddability.

 

As the female provides more than 60% influence on the puppies temperament we believe that a female must have a very sweet nature. All females used for breeding have undergone extensive handling and testing to ensure that their basic temperament is excellent.

 

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Breeding for Colour in the Border Collies

Without loosing the working ability that the ISDS registered working sheepdog is renowned for, breeding for colour alone must not be done.

This makes our task extreemly difficult, as many factors must be taken into account before a mating is decided upon.

Read on...

 

Since 2000 we have been re-introducing the rarer, very stunning colours back into the standard classic Black/White and Tricolour Border Collie lines, these colours include:-

  • Red and whites also called chocolate or brown,
  • Lilac, a dilute form of red and white, chocolate or brown
  • Slate, a dilute form of Black
  • Red or Brown Merles, also called chocolate merles,
  • Blue Merles
  • the dilute (slate/lilac) version of each merle,
  • Sable
  • All of the above colours often come with Tan cheeks, eyebrows and legs (tricolour)

 

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Breeding for Conformation in the Border Collie

We believe that the breeding for conformation goes hand in hand with all of the above but especially so with the working ability. A dog which is bred to work must also be capable of working all day in any condition to which it has already been acclimatized.

We look for the following:-

Read on...

 

  • neither too tall or small
  • neither too heavy or light
  • i.e. a balanced dog with
  • excellent easy flowing movement
  • extreme agility i.e. can jump/climb/turn etc with ease.
  • good average sized head for good brain space
  • good feet preferably shaped like a cats'.
  • easy care coat

We also believe that if the breeder starts to get too critical about structure, angulation, colour pattern, ear shape or tail carriage, the dogs shape (conformation) and other important aspects, such as temperament and working ability, start to change and you end up with something you did not expect and most probable do not want.

 

For example: the structural and temperament differences between the modern Kennel Club show/breed border collie and the working ISDS border collie.

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