We finally have a puppy-free home once more – hurray! Oh it must be so hard to say goodbye, people say to me. It really isn’t. When they are 9 weeks old, Border Collie puppies are such hard work! Still, they are lovely as well and it has been a joy to have a couple stay a little bit longer. One puppy on its own is so much easier to manage than a whole litter.

It’s been really hot these past few days and after coming home from an outing on Saturday I realised the pups were a bit hot, so I put some water in their paddling pool. They loved it! Looks as though these pups will be water babies, just like their mum, Ounce and their grandad Sox.

Agility puppy?

Before the pups go off to their homes, I try to take one or two final photos of them aged 9 weeks old, to put into their puppy pack. This provides a nice reminder to their owners of exactly what they looked like then they went home. Not sure if this is the best look for Angus? Lol.

I don’t particularly want my puppies to go off to ‘working homes’ to do specific sports or activities. They are certainly not sufficiently from working lines to work sheep. However, if they do go on to do agility or something else, it is wonderful to see that progress and teamwork happening. I have one or two Agility Champions in the making..

I think Angus is going to have the best life, with his uncle Ziggy and old boy Sam. And of course his mum and dad, Mandy and Bob. They already adore him so hopefully he won’t be too spoilt! Margo was a bit calmer for her last photo shoot.

A busy day at 9 weeks old

I had to have Angus back after a couple of days in his home, because I was finally able to do my obligatory school visit! The children LOVE seeing my puppies and were so entertained to see Angus and Margo playing so happily.

This is part of my ‘therapy’ work, supported by the wonderful charity Canine Concern. As you can see, Mrs Edwards, the Head Teacher, adores meeting the pups. Her dog Mabel is also a therapy dog and supports children on other days to my visit.

Eye Tests

I have always done eye tests on my litters, usually when they are six weeks old. Unfortunately the vet responsible for doing the testing was neutering street dogs in Greece during August, so Vespa has not been done at this time. Of course if her owners were going to breed from her, I would make sure she was tested first

The examination for Collie Eye Anomaly (CEA) is just a precaution. These puppies are hereditarily clear, as both parents have been DNA tested, as well as having an annual examination. It’s good to have got the merle puppies done though, with their blue eyes.

Away she goes!

Margo’s mum Jane came back from holiday and rushed up to collect her straight away. She is going to live with three other Dentbros puppies. Lucky girl.

I know I will definitely see both Angus and Margo fairly often, so it was easy to say goodbye to them today. Next week I am going to write about ‘the most common mistakes new puppy owners make’. What do you think will be on there?

Buy the Workbook

The Workbook – A Year With Your Puppy is available to buy. It was written and designed to be a hands-on, interactive book for you. It will help you survive the first year with your puppy, but also act as a memento of that time and the journey you have been on. You can write notes and stick in pictures of your puppy throughout the year. Lovely!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think. NO PUPPIES AVAILABLE

Bye bye Vespa

The Sunshine Litter are ready to go off to their new homes! Vespa has already headed off into the sunset with her family. She will have a wonderful life in Cornwall, with her big brother Bentley, from the Lovely litter.

Travelling at 8 weeks old

Vespa was a good girl in the car on the long journeys and so far seems to doing well. When puppies are this small they can travel beside you on the seat, or in the footwell, where they are more likely to settle. Of course they do need to be secure when they get bigger and the sooner they can cope with this, the better.

Meeting older dogs

It’s hard to know how to manage meeting the other family dogs. Most older dogs are indifferent to puppies, until they get into their faces! They hate that, so should not be left alone with a puppy in the first few weeks.

Sometimes the older dog wants to play with the puppy, but again, that is not a great idea for a little while. Fortunately these puppies understand that not all older dogs are friendly, but some like to play.

8 weeks old recall in puppies

I don’t really understand why people keep their dogs on lead all their lives? Well, I suppose not all dogs are Border Collies! This is what happens when you call two 8 weeks old puppies:

It’s not that hard really, is it? Bearing in mind these two were out of my sight and exploring a new part of the garden, which is unfamiliar and exciting! And there are two of them, so they tend to stick together.

IT JUST TAKES PRACTICE!

Honestly, I call them several times a day, from the time they can run around. I call them and give them their food. Or I call them and make a fuss of them. Or I call them and give them a treat; they are good at eating from my hand now.

Before I take my new puppy for a walk, I have already practised recall hundreds of times. My puppies know that I am a big reward! They love me – see Murmur’s face 🙂 Because I work so hard on my recall with my dogs, every day, they come to me.

They come even when they are running across a field chasing a deer. Or engaging in a game of chase with another dog. They stop dead and run back to me. It is not rocket science. Quin barks at strange dogs (ones he doesn’t know and ones that are strange). He will start towards them barking and try and chase them off, if possible. But if I call him (not shouting, just calling) he comes straight back.

Quick Quiz

Why don’t you have a go at a quiz I wrote for fun, a few years ago. Here’s the link: Quick Quiz. My top tip: dogs are not people.

NB: THESE PUPPIES ALL HAVE HOMES. Visits are by appointment only. There is someone here at all times.

Buy the Workbook

The Workbook – A Year With Your Puppy is available to buy. It was written and designed to be a hands-on, interactive book for you. It will help you survive the first year with your puppy, but also act as a memento of that time and the journey you have been on. You can write notes and stick in pictures of your puppy throughout the year. Lovely!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think. NO PUPPIES AVAILABLE

At 7 weeks old the puppies are almost ready to go

The Sunshine litter’s world is continuing to grow, so they are getting ready to go off to their new homes. They are able to run across a much bigger space, and have the confidence to start exploring new horizons. I am so lucky to have large indoor and outdoor spaces that I can manage. This is much more enriching for them as puppies.

Helping around the house

As well as gardening, which they are obviously very helpful with, the 7 weeks old puppies are pretty handy in the kitchen. Here is Margo helping with the dishwasher.

Older dogs

Quin is amazing with the puppies, continuing to tolerate their play around and on him. Murmur plays with the puppies, joining in with their games, including a bit of chase.

Mind you, not all the big dogs love puppies. Aura and Busy pretty much hate puppies and get very grumpy if one runs over to say hello. I naturally try to keep them out of the way for most of the time. However, it’s useful for them to grumble at the puppies and even give the odd snap at them. Puppies need to learn! I always say to people that older dogs are allowed to say ‘no thank you, go away’.

Please don’t stop your dog from being able to do this, because otherwise they may learn that the only way to get rid of a rude, pesky dog is to actually bite it?

Still feeding from mum

Ounce is still feeding the puppies, but this is a much quicker affair and this is really only a supplement to the food I am giving them. As you can see, they have to stand up to do this, as even three of them struggle to fit if she lies down.

This is why dogs jump up – they have to reach up to take food from their mother. They lick her face to get her to give them food, so if your dog jumps up and licks you, they love you and want food!

More visitors at 7 weeks old

By 7 weeks old the puppies are a bit more interesting and entertaining, so we have been lucky enough to be visited by some teenagers. I would say this is the perfect age to introduce a dog to your family if you have never had a dog before.

Teenagers will enjoy the companionship of a dog, whilst leaving it alone to enjoy its own space. They are able to take some responsibility for a dog and might even enjoy the odd family walk.

Personally, I would never expect a teenager to look after a dog – they can’t look after themselves, so that’s a bit of a big ask! They are also busy, and very tired, so don’t expect them to remember to feed a dog, or have the energy to walk every day.

But dogs are enormously comforting for teenagers and asking them to help is a good life lesson.

Introducing

It’s about time I told you their full names. Margo’s KC name is ‘Dentbros Shine Like a Star’. They are named after songs relating to Sunshine, but ‘Shine’ was a bit short, so I added ‘Like a Star’ from the song by Aswad, which I love.

Angus’ KC name is ‘Dentbros Sunshine on Leith’ which is a Proclaimers song I love from one of my favourite parts of the world. He needed a Scottish pet name as well.

‘Dentbros Here Comes the Sun’ – a Beatles song, of course. Vespa is going off to live with big brother Bentley very soon.

NB: THESE PUPPIES ALL HAVE HOMES. Visits are by appointment only. There is someone here at all times.

Buy the Workbook

The Workbook – A Year With Your Puppy is available to buy. It was written and designed to be a hands-on, interactive book for you. It will help you survive the first year with your puppy, but also act as a memento of that time and the journey you have been on. You can write notes and stick in pictures of your puppy throughout the year. Lovely!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think. NO PUPPIES AVAILABLE

Playing all day in the sun at 6 weeks old

Trying to take ‘nice’ pictures of puppies at 6 weeks old is like trying to catch a box of frogs! Someone will always be looking the wrong way, or pulling a funny face. Yes, Ounce, that’s you! Murmur can always be relied on to look regal though, bless her.

I thought it would be fun to take a photo of the three lilacs – wrong! No chance. Oh well, it’s a nice one of Vespa and Murmur. Then I tried to take Vespa in amongst the flowers, but she preferred to eat the lobelia. Angus was much more cooperative.

First outings

Dog breeders are required by law to microchip their puppies before they leave for their new homes. I do this when they are 6 weeks old. Why wouldn’t you do it? It ensures that if they are lost they can be easily returned to their owner. The owner is required by law to transfer the dog into their name AND to keep the details up-to-date.

You shouldn’t ever buy a dog that hasn’t already been microchipped? And make sure you update your details, usually once a year. You can see the puppies were a massive hit with the vet staff.

Travelling at 6 weeks old

It’s lovely being able to stick the pups into the van and know they are secure. Again, it is a legal requirement for dogs to be secured when travelling. A ‘loose’, on the back seat of the car, can fly forward and kill the driver.

I was able to give the puppies a chance to explore the van with me right next to them, whilst we were waiting to be seen by the vet nurse yesterday. It’s great for them to have the experience of travelling before they go off to their new homes.

Health testing

Today we are going off to Davies, Specialist Vets to have their hearing tested. It is not a requirement for me to have this done, as a KC Assured Breeder, but I like to be thorough and take advantage of the tests if they are available. If you breed merle to merle in Border Collies, you will almost certainly have hearing issues, so I am demonstrating that this is not the case for my puppies.

More visitors, more playtime

We haven’t had many visitors over the past week, but those who have been have had wonderful cuddles. These pups are definitely people and dog friendly now!

Angus’ owners brought Ziggy, who is Quin’s brother, to meet their new addition to the family, now that they are 6 weeks old. Ziggy and Quin have a bit of a love/hate relationship. They don’t ever fight, but they don’t really like each other much either. This is very common with litter mates as adults.

In fact, people who do have two dogs from the same litter often have to keep them separated as they fight regularly, but this is not so for those from different litters. Angus and Ziggy will be great friends, I am sure.

A great way to start the day

Every morning now I sit in the run and enjoy my puppies. Ounce will always choose to lie between my feet and it seems that her son is just like her. Happy days!

NB: THESE PUPPIES ALL HAVE HOMES. 

Visits are by appointment only. There is someone here at all times.

Buy the Workbook

The Workbook – A Year With Your Puppy is available to buy. It was written and designed to be a hands-on, interactive book for you. It will help you survive the first year with your puppy, but also act as a memento of that time and the journey you have been on. You can write notes and stick in pictures of your puppy throughout the year. Lovely!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think. 

NO PUPPIES AVAILABLE

Let the fun begin!

When they are 5 weeks old, Border Collie puppies are starting to get lively! They are much more adventurous and really starting to explore their environment. This morning I saw one go under one of the raised dog beds for the first time – that’s always a favourite place to explore.

Dogs and children

I love having visitors, because it means I am forced to stop doing other jobs and spend time enjoying my babies. In the past week our visitors have included some delightful young children, another one of my puppies and one of the owners who came to stay. Perfect.

Of course children and dogs are wonderful to watch together, but you should never leave children unsupervised with young dogs, as things can easily go wrong. At 5 weeks of age, puppies are pretty wriggly, so I try to ensure that people are sitting down to cuddle them.

Other dogs again

Once again, we had another Dentbros puppy visiting, which was lovely. It’s so good to be able to see how the dogs are developing, and how the owners are finding them to live with. I can be a bossy about their ongoing management, which I was told kindly ‘shows I care’. I provided some advice about weight management, which can be difficult.

Knowing how much and what type of food to feed your dog is an absolute minefield! I follow Cat the Vet as I find her advice and information really interesting. I feed my dogs Royal Canin because it works for my dogs. But I don’t follow the ‘feeding guidelines’ at all.

I feed them what works for them. If they are a bit overweight, I cut it down, if they are underweight, I add a bit more. Keep it simple. The amount of protein will also determine their energy levels. Easy does it! Not too much for pet dogs who mooch around most of the time.

Family playtime at 5 weeks

Every litter I learn new things. This time it has been the absolute joy of having two really lovely dogs playing with their family. Quin and Murmur are SO sweet and gentle, so I am really hoping this will continue to make a positive impact on how they are around other dogs in the future.

It’s important to give the puppies the chance to explore their boundaries and want to do more. They need stimulation, and rest.

Puppies at rest

They do still spend a great deal of time asleep, thank goodness. People think they have to take lots of time off when they get a puppy, but that is not the case. If you do, you will spend most of the day watching your puppy sleep.

You can see how much bigger they are getting! I got my camera to try and take some ‘nice’ pictures of them, in the garden. It is essential to have a ‘wrangler’ though, because I need to be lying flat to get this picture. Think I need a bit more practice!

Blue eyes

It looks as though Angus and Margo (above) will have blue eyes and Vespa’s will be grey, like Murmur’s. It’s a shame about the blue eyes, they are so light sensitive. But hey, it comes with the merle colouring. And I can’t deny it looks very sweet! Angus doesn’t look like a piglet does he?

NB: THESE PUPPIES ALL HAVE HOMES. Visits are by appointment only. There is someone here at all times.

Buy the Workbook

The Workbook – A Year With Your Puppy is available to buy. It was written and designed to be a hands-on, interactive book for you. It will help you survive the first year with your puppy, but also act as a memento of that time and the journey you have been on. You can write notes and stick in pictures of your puppy throughout the year. Lovely!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think. 

NO PUPPIES AVAILABLE

The Sunshine litter are 4 weeks old today!

There has been such a big difference in the puppies during this past week. At 4 weeks old, the puppies have already spent half their time with us, but it is only now that they begin to be hard work! They are so much more lively and fun – this is the time we really enjoy them.

I moved them downstairs once they had started to eat solid food. They need to be part of family life now. They are very much in the middle of things! The TV is there, the radio is on. Kitchen appliances and vacuum cleaners all make a noise. And of course there are the other dogs!

Other dogs

Normally, you wouldn’t have other dogs visit puppies. However, if they are dogs I have bred myself, why shouldn’t they come and see us? It’s so good to see my puppies, all grown up and lovely. Charlie, Aura’s son, from the A-Z litter is one of my favourite boys.

He’s such a gentle boy, who has brought so much pleasure to the children at his local school over the past few years, supported by the charity Canine Concern.

As you can see the other dogs all take an interest in the puppies, so they are bombarded with plenty of interesting smells. Murmur and Quin are both so sweet with their family members. Look at Murmur in with them here… I can’t wait for her to have her own litter.

New spaces at 4 weeks old

When they move downstairs, I add a crate to the run. I cover this up with towels, so that it becomes a cosy space for them to sleep in. It’s great to have them used to this, so that they like being in a crate when they go to their new homes. Crates are useful to keep your puppy safe, just like a cot for a baby.

The puppies don’t stay in their run all the time though. I have them out for chunks of the day, especially in the evenings, when I can sit on the floor and spend time watching and playing with them. It’s fascinating to see their characters developing.

The great outdoors

At around 4 weeks old I try to get the puppies outside. This involves a further run setup, so there is a bigger space for them to explore. I find that they only go out of the door at first, but it won’t be long before they are going further afield.

Poor Ounce gets grabbed by them everywhere she goes! They still feed from her plenty of times each day, although I have been putting food down for them, as I described last week.

You can see that Angus already has some teeth! It won’t be long before they are biting and chewing everything in sight. So if you are visiting, keep your shoes on, but don’t wear laces!

The right breeder

I’ve been reflecting once again on the challenge of finding the best homes and the challenge for people of finding the right breeder. There has been some publicity this week about a champion agility person who over-breeds their dogs in horrific conditions. We just don’t have enough control over how and when people can breed from their dogs.

Likewise, there are inexperienced people who want to do a great job, but don’t have the knowledge needed and end up not being able to find a home for a puppy without advertising online. Hopefully I am the ‘Goldilocks breeder’ who has experience and knowledge, without being commercial. There aren’t that many like me though, which is such a shame.

Unfortunately, there are also hundreds of amazing homes and I receive an enquiry MOST DAYS.  It’s so hard, because I don’t really know what to say to all these lovely people.

I always recommend people look at the list of Assured Breeders on the KC website and also contact the breeders on the Champdogs website. There are more thoughts on finding the right homes on the blog from the Mystical litter. I currently have homes for the next litter…

NB: THESE PUPPIES ALL HAVE HOMES. Visits are by appointment only. There is someone here at all times.

Buy the Workbook

The Workbook – A Year With Your Puppy is available to buy. It was written and designed to be a hands-on, interactive book for you. It will help you survive the first year with your puppy, but also act as a memento of that time and the journey you have been on. You can write notes and stick in pictures of your puppy throughout the year. Lovely!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think. 

NO PUPPIES AVAILABLE

What do 3 weeks old puppies do?

And they’re off! The Sunshine litter are 3 weeks old now and they are much sturdier on their feet. I shared a video a few days ago, saying ‘running about – well not quite running’, but they’re not far off!

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Playing

This is the time when they really start to engage with each other and explore their area a bit more. The world is still a small place for puppies who are 3 weeks old, but they will become more adventurous very soon.

I’m quick to introduce more toys to the run, although these won’t be played with just yet! The puppies will need a range of different kinds of toys, including things to cuddle up to (as Vespa is demonstrating above!) They also need things to chew, as those teeth will be arriving soon. Toys that move and make a noise are important too.

Visits from owners

Normally, when the puppies are 3 weeks old I have the new owners visit to be vetted by me. Not this time! One owner came the day after they arrived and will visit weekly. The other two have to come when they can, as they both live a few hours away. They are very welcome though, as they are ‘existing owners’ and I know I can trust them to raise these pups well.

I do need plenty of other visitors, because I love my pups to be really used to meeting people and experiencing different situations. Unfortunately this does not include people I don’t know. The house is busy enough for me and the dogs.

If you want to know how to apply for a puppy, why not read about how to contact a breeder?

Toileting

Amazingly, puppies do try not to toilet in their bed, even before they can see and hear. Now that they can do both I expect their bed to stay more or less dry. I have always used newspaper in the run, because its free and absorbent. I have found puppy pads have a tendency to get chewed and tend to slide around a bit, but I know most people swear by them.

This time I have decided to try and create a toileting tray, which I know people have found successful. This is a designated container, which the puppy are supposed to target. I’ll let you know how that goes!

Solid food

Once we get to three weeks, I start to introduce solid food. Well when I say solid, obviously it’s not crunchy yet! I feed my dogs Royal Canin complete kibble and I always introduce them to the Starter food first, with some puppy milk powder to soak it in. There are a wide range of views of on what is the right way to feed our dogs, just as we all eat different foods. I’m not joining that argument. I feed what works for my dogs. They like it and they have the right levels of energy for the life they live.

I am mentoring a person who has a litter sired by Quin, just as I was mentored by the breeder who’s stud dog I first used. I showed her how I make up the food and gave it to them. She asked me about quantities and how often to feed them. Hmm, that’s a bit of a tricky one. It’s one of those ‘suck it and see’ times.

So I gave them a heaped tablespoon of food, soaked yesterday and they weren’t really interested. This morning I gave them that much again and they tucked into it, finishing it off. They quickly get the hang of it, but they don’t really need it.

It becomes a bit of a competition then, between me and Ounce. Who can feed first and when will they be satisfied? I aim to be feeding them four or five times a day by four weeks and then increase that to ‘as often as possible’ by six weeks (probably six times a day). But then it quickly drops off again, with them having four meals a day at 8 weeks and going to 3 meals by 10 weeks. They eat very small amount of food at a time as well, even at 8 weeks it’s still only a few grams at a time.

NB: Visits are by appointment only. There is someone here at all times.

Buy the Workbook

The Workbook – A Year With Your Puppy is available to buy. It was written and designed to be a hands-on, interactive book for you. It will help you survive the first year with your puppy, but also act as a memento of that time and the journey you have been on. You can write notes and stick in pictures of your puppy throughout the year. Lovely!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think. 

NO PUPPIES AVAILABLE

What do 2 weeks old puppies do?

The Sunshine litter are already 2 weeks old. Every time it takes me by surprise, how quickly they change. I tell myself that nothing much happens for the first four weeks, but the reality is that they change every day. The feeding pattern settles down, with bigger gaps between feeds. Ounce goes out for walks, as normal.

Handling at 2 weeks

During the second week, I am able to start to handle the pups regularly and gradually introduce them to other people. You can see how proud I am of my puppies – they are my life! I love breeding with so much care and attention. Regular handling makes my dogs very people friendly, which makes them very desirable as pets.

My puppies are always born upstairs, but this time they have been in an adjoining bedroom, although I have spent lots of time with them, as has my mum. She was a breeder before me and is very proud to see the beautiful dogs I have produced.

I put them into this box to clean out their whelping box. They love it in here – a nice safe place. They always choose to huddle up if they can.

Visitors at 2 weeks

One of the owners lives locally to me and they are good friends. So they have the special privilege of coming over weekly to watch the progress of their boy, Angus.

Family also visit and enjoy a sneaky cuddle in the garden. And responsible, dog friendly children are allowed to cuddle too. It all helps.

I’ve been so lucky to have five previous puppy owners come to visit already! These people have become good friends and they love to see the next litter arrive. They know each other as well and are excited to hear that these puppies are once again going to existing owners of Dentbros Dogs.

Moving around

They do start to get up onto their feet by the end of the second week. What is absolutely amazing is that the puppies start to move off the vetbed and onto the newspaper to wee. I find this incredible, considering they cannot yet see or hear. They stagger about, often falling over. Clever puppies!

Then again, they also still spend a huge amount of time asleep! All that eating is such hard work. Of course they have doubled in weight around the end of the first week and that growth rate continues.

They start to realise that they have siblings and just start to engage with each other and with Ounce, their mum.

Eyes opening

Towards the end of 2 weeks, they begin to open their eyes. They start with little openings in the corners of the their eyes. Then gradually, over the course of a few days, they all open their eyes fully. I think it takes a while for them to start to use their eyesight to navigate, but they manage so well without vision, it’s hard to tell.

Of course I am interested to see if they will have blue or brown eyes this time. Merle collies often have half blue and half brown, as my previous merles have.

NB: Visits are by appointment only. There is someone here at all times.

Buy the Workbook

The Workbook – A Year With Your Puppy is available to buy. It was written and designed to be a hands-on, interactive book for you. It will help you survive the first year with your puppy, but also act as a memento of that time and the journey you have been on. You can write notes and stick in pictures of your puppy throughout the year. Lovely!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think. NO PUPPIES AVAILABLE

Welcome to the Sunshine Litter

On Tuesday 11th July 2023 Ounce gave birth to her third (and final) litter. I have named these the Sunshine Litter in memory of my beautiful Sunshine and because the sire of this litter is the gorgeous Sunnydean Gingerbread Man (Dougie). He is such a sweet boy. Although his breeder, Helen Berry and I had not met before the mating, we have been in touch for a few years. I know that Helen breeds with the same Assured Breeder ethos as me, primarily for health and temperament. Isn’t her boy gorgeous?

Colours again

Unfortunately Bodie, who I used last time for the Punk Litter, was no longer available, so I knew I needed to look elsewhere. I was a little wary about using another merle, but there is a lot to like in Dougie’s pedigree, so I decided to go for it! The merle coat in Border Collies is very attractive and much sought after, but it can be problematic if the breeding is not managed. Busy’s dad, Taboo was a chocolate merle, so I have had four merle puppies already. They are such lovely dogs!

The Kennel Club describes the merle coat as follows: “Merle, also known as dapple in some breeds, is a distinctive pattern of colours used to describe the coat of some dogs. Merle dogs can come in a range of colours, but the pattern is usually a splash of darker shades, marbled against a lighter background. This type of coat is inherited, and the gene that causes this pattern can also affect the colour of a dog’s eyes and some parts of their skin, usually their nose or paw pads.”

Merle to merle breeding is a big no-no. Border Collies should NOT be bred merle to merle as this is almost guaranteed to cause birth defects, including deafness and blindness. This is true of other breeds as well – the Kennel Club will only register certain breeds, not including French Bulldogs. So any merle must be bred to a dog with a ‘solid’ coat, such as Ounce’s.

What colours?

I have talked often about the reason for having a pedigree dog – it should mean you have the same as every other dog of that pedigree. The fact that you know what you are getting and can plan for it. You know the temperament fits your lifestyle and the health of the dog is what you want.

At the same time, it is interesting to have something a bit different, isn’t it? There is nothing wrong with that, as long as health is not compromised. This litter had four possible coat options:

• red and white
• red merle and white
• lilac and white
• lilac merle and white

Lilac merle is VERY rare! I don’t know any official figures, but I reckon lilacs represent around 1/1000 Border Collies (or two out of five in my house!) Merle collies are around 10% of the breed. I’ve never met a lilac merle.

Here they are!

You can see we have three different colours in the Sunshine litter. Pretty special, huh? A lilac merle girl, a red merle boy and a lilac and white girl. Wow! They are very different from Ounce’s first litter.

Only three?

I must admit, I was expecting four or five. Ounce had five in her first litter and four last time. The four week scan showed definitely three, with ‘possibly more’. I used a different person to do the scan this time, who is clearly not quite a clear and accurate. Well, he said three and that’s what we got.

Doing a scan halfway through is really useful, because it helps to know what to expect for two reasons. First of all, you know roughly how many homes to line up, so you can manage the expectations of the people on your waiting list. Secondly, you can manage the birth more easily if you know that there aren’t going to be any more.

This time, I thought there would be more, because bitches usually have around the same number of pups each time. However, it was clear fairly quickly that Ounce had finished, as she became calm and relaxed. We kept a close eye on her and checked her over, but she was quite well.

At birth, the puppies weigh 200-300g. I weigh them every day to start with, to check they are all feeding well. Once they are well established I don’t tend to worry too much. They double their birth weight within a week.

Read more about the Border Collie breed if you are interested. Or read about what it is like to own one.

NB: All have homes

I do have homes for ALL of these puppies, of course. I look for a loving homes, suitable for a Border Collie. As with many of my puppies in recent years, these three are going to existing Dentbros puppy owners, and friends.

Visitors required for the Sunshine litter

If you have known me a while, you will know that I like to have lots of visitors to see my puppies! I invite close friends and family (no children) for the first three weeks. After that, I like to see a wide variety of people I know, including children.

The last couple of weeks are often quite busy, so don’t leave it too late. They will be gone all too soon.

NB: Visits are by appointment only. There is someone here at all times.

Buy the Workbook

The Workbook – A Year With Your Puppy is available to buy. It was written and designed to be a hands-on, interactive book for you. It will help you survive the first year with your puppy, but also act as a memento of that time and the journey you have been on. You can write notes and stick in pictures of your puppy throughout the year. Lovely!

Remember..

Please CONTACT ME if you want to know more about me and my dogs?  And feel free to COMMENT if you want to tell me what you think. 

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