Puppies

Everyone loves puppies! But not everyone understands or knows all the work that is involved in raising a litter of pups. I own ABCA registered Border Collies, use them on almost a daily basis with my goats and occasionally on cattle. I’ve had Border Collies since about 2008 and I am raising the third generation of pups since Miss Allie was given to me those many years ago. Some folks would say I am terrible for raising pups when so many dogs are in need of rescue, well I cannot depend on a dog that is in a rescue to be a working dog for me as there may be issues that suddenly pop up that make it a bad choice for the work I do. In other words, I want to know EXACTLY where that dog came from so I know what to expect from that dog and the best way to do that is raise a litter.

I don’t raise a litter every year, I only raise a litter when there is a need for another working dog. I carefully select a sire that will compliment or move my training abilities to a higher level, or move to a more or less aggressive bloodline. Then breeding arrangements are made and the wait begins. It isn’t long but when your best dog is at the breeder and you don’t have a reliable other dog, life can get stressful. Then when the pups arrive, a different stress level begins. Cleaning up after the birth, cleaning the linen and bedding on an almost daily basis for the first three weeks, then introducing food and puddle pads and the hourly cleaning. To top it off, you need to start looking for homes for the pups you aren’t keeping. The interview with potential owners, finding out their work operations, checking references, vet visits. You lose a lot of sleep.

On top of all that busy stuff, you need to socialize the puppies with daily handling and play. When the puppies wake up at 11 PM for a rowdy play time, you need to be prepared for accidents or puppies ganging up on each other. I’ve fallen asleep only to be abruptly awakened by sharp teeth in my big toe or nose. They don’t like quiet toys, they have to have plastic containers, dog food pans and the bark, growl and whine. Yes, they are puppies and yes they are so darn cute but after 11 weeks of dealing with the puppies, sometimes you get tired of the nonsense. Sometimes you get tired of their tricks or sneaky moves that allow them to escape their room and run down the hall to the other bedrooms or kitchen and promptly pee all over the floor. Mopping floors at 2 AM is not the easiest when you’ve picked up the poo and it is smeared all over and the puppies think the mop is a tug-of-war toy. Have you heard of hanging tree dogs? They are aggressive cattle dogs and have a great bite, well I have hanging mop pups, they hang from the end of my raised mop until they are 4 to 12 inches off the floor. I’m tempted to put them in the bucket with the mop but I don’t.

Possum on the left and Wren on the right.

Big Jim with his blue eye. He is handsome and when he finally grows into his body, he will be a powerhouse.

I still have 4 of the 8 pups in this litter. Three are to go to other homes and I am keeping the runt who is no longer a runt but a sweet pup of what I think is superior intelligence, who will be my first trial dog. The only male from the litter is so pretty, with one blue eye and a white face and mottled ears. Then there is Possum, she looks like a possum to me, if you look at her face and white on her nose and that almost completely white tail. Wren will be leaving this weekend, to go to Texas, and I will be glad to see that one go. She is mean, she is aggressive and she bites! That is what a good working border collie should be like on livestock, not the other pups. So, after this weekend, I hope the crazy calms down a bit.

The weather hasn’t been good to me on this litter and they have spent most of their lives inside, unlike other litters of pups but they are tearing it up outside and the male had to have a bath after today’s venture outside. They are a lot of work and are fun to play with and watch develop their personalities. I can’t wait to see how they all turn out when they are fully trained and working. That is what I am after, that finished product, a working dog that can give me hopefully ten good years of work and maybe in this litter of 8 there might be one champion trial dog if I am lucky.

Those of us who use dogs with livestock and breed an occasional litter are not only raising dogs for themselves, they are improving the breed and ensuring the breed continues as one of the best working dog breeds. For now, I can dream about Jewel, the pup I am keeping. Will she be as great as her Aunt Jinx? Time will tell but for now, there is a whole world out there for these pups to conquer.

Jewel, the runt that caught up and is smart as a whip and perhaps a little too smart for her own good.