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Relic's sire, Midderry Frank is a very popular stud who’s been bred a lot and produced many awesome puppies which means issues are almost certainly going to pop up. But recently there has been an alarming number of his offspring testing with hip dysplasia, out of several different females. Of 31 hip tested offspring, there has been 13 with hip problems (41.9%) which is simply too much and too close for comfort for a breeding prospect. So despite Relic’s awesome temperament and all of her amazing traits, I am washing her from my breeding program and placing her into a permanent home.
Relic's pedigree is stacked with very impressive herding dogs and she has definitely turned on to livestock. She is absolutely a delightful little thing. Relic is immensely friendly, sweet, outgoing and social. She loves every single person and dog she's met and has a calm polite demeanor in her interactions with people. With dogs, she's very playful and silly. She has high toy drive and loves to play, equally enjoying tugging, fetch, balls, discs, soft toys, any toys she can get her paws on. She's just as happy to entertain herself as she is to play with a person or dog. Relic also has great food drive and loves to learn. She picks up on behaviors quickly and is wicked smart. She enjoys training and is a pleasure to work with, very focused and cool headed. In general, she has a cool and calm demeanor about her around the house. She is a high drive young Border Collie and can certainly be rowdy but she's showing a lot of signs for great clarity and an easy dog to live with, with a natural off switch. Another thing to love about her is how affectionate she is! She has a lot of time for love and cuddles, she’s super sweet and not a big licker. Relic has already been BAER and CAER tested clear and is DNA panel clear by parentage. I’m also willing to have her hips x rayed before placing her, especially if she’ll be going on to do sports, to make sure she’s sound for the work but even if she herself tests perfectly, with so many half siblings failing hips I’m just not comfortable moving forward with this line. It’s very sad but I’m sure she’s going to make someone super happy.
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Puppy details:
My puppies are raised with Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS), Early Scent Introduction (ESI), Puppy Culture, and my own brand of enrichment and training which I have been refining over the years. Pups are well-started on potty training, crate training, leash training, clicker training, resource guarding prevention, the concept of operant conditioning and will have an established training relationship with humans. They are socialized to many different people and animals. Puppies come with included private lessons up to 6 months old, a thorough health guarantee, are from health tested parents, and of course, lifetime breeder support and answers to any and all of your questions. • Puppies will be matched to homes at approximately 8 weeks old, after we do temperament testing. • Matches are made based on the temperament and background of the puppy and goals/needs of the applicant. • Matches are not made on a first-come first-served basis. • I don’t accept any deposits or payments until after puppies are assigned to homes. • Visits by approved applicants are welcomed. • Puppies are not shipped via cargo and must be picked up personally from our residence in Northern Nevada. Our nearest airport is Reno-Tahoe International. Plan for a good amount of time for pickup: to come to our home and visit a while, meet with the dogs, etc. • Wait times can vary greatly, I am in the process of streamlining my application review. If there’s a litter pending or on the ground that you are interested in, please feel free to reach out regarding updates on your application. • Puppy prices can be found on my website. My health testing standards:
Full panel DNA OFA hips OFA elbows OFA shoulders OFA spine OFA heart OFA patella OFA eyes I’ve been increasing my health testing standards over the years and I’m at a place I’m very happy with. Going forward, all of my breeding prospects (no matter the breed) will be screened to the standard listed above. I pride myself on offering above and beyond health testing in my program and test extensively outside of breed requirements. All of my dog’s health results are publicly posted on their respective pages on my website. Friendly reminder that just because you don’t like a breeder or disagree with someone’s program, doesn’t necessarily make that breeder “bad.” The internet makes it easy for people to dehumanize others and forget there are real people on the other end. I have a lot of respect for those who choose to be kind despite differences in opinion.
Holding every breeder to your personal standard of excellence and demonizing them when they don’t fit it is unreasonable. It doesn’t make someone a bad breeder just because you don’t like them or their choices. Treating breeders as if they are not people with full lives outside of this space, with mental and physical health, with families, homes, careers, and personal limitations to what is accessible for them is unkind and unhelpful. Sharing your experiences with the goal of being informative is one thing but personal attacks, slander, name calling, etc. are uncalled for and it really speaks more volumes about the individuals partaking in the hatefulness than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion and conversations should be had. I am not for standing by and allowing true wrong doings, heinous acts, or abusive behavior to slip under the radar. This goes both ways… how you conduct yourself as a breeder AKA a professional in the industry leaves an impression and speaks volumes. As breeders, I feel like we should be constantly striving to better our programs and build our community, not tear it down. There are truly problematic people out there who are actually abusing or neglecting dogs/puppies, hoarding ungodly numbers of dogs (I’m talking 20, 30, even 50 plus dogs, numbers that no person can reasonably care for without staff onsite), who are completely unsupportive of their puppy owners, or are totally ill prepared to actually raise a litter. There are endless truly bad breeders who are perpetuating the poor outlook the general public has on breeding as a whole. I just can’t help but feel like if all this energy spent bashing breeders who are doing good by their dogs, puppies, and owners was put towards people who are actually problematic, maybe a positive difference could be made. I’ve had many people ask about this topic, so without further ado let’s talk about heat cycles! Hopefully this can be a good source of information if you’re new to owning intact females or even if you’re just curious how other people do it. A lot can vary between different breeds and even from dog to dog, so I’ll go over things as a general guide and if you have questions, feel free to ask.
There are 4 stages of a bitch’s hormone cycle: •Proestrus - the start of the heat cycle, coming in. 10-14 days. •Estrus - the fertile period, standing heat. 3-5 days. •Diestrus - the period after the heat cycle, going out. ~7 days. •Anestrus - the period between heat cycles, resting phase. Girls can have their first heat anywhere from 6 months to 2 years old (with some exceptions starting earlier or later). I have found that most of my dogs go into their first season between 10 and 18 months. The first heat may be a little different than the ones she will experience in the future, but typically it’s about the same. There can be physical and behavioral signs to look for when your girl is getting close. She may become more needy, whiny, and drives may change. She may experience appetite changes. She may become different socially with other dogs. Or, she may not show you any signs at all! They like to keep us on our toes sometimes. Physically, the vulva will swell and she will begin having discharge. You may be surprised just how much it will swell during her heat! It’s significant. Below are some of my general guidelines during heat cycles. Do: Continue moderate exercise Keep away from intact males Allow rest Don’t: Allow swimming or submerging in water Over feed Attend places with dogs you can’t trust It’s good to remember when your girl is in heat that she isn’t ill. It’s normal and it shouldn’t be hard on her. But there are precautions to take for her and yourself. For instance, no swimming, which increases the risk of pyometra as water may enter the vaginal canal. Pyometra is the biggest danger to having intact females (risks vary by breed but can be life threatening), but you can watch out for it as a responsible dog owner. If you notice any abnormalities, particularly lethargy, poor appetite, vomiting, abdominal swelling or foul discharge, see your vet immediately! Since pyo is a bacterial uterine infection, you can even monitor your bitch’s temperature during and after a heat cycle to detect any fevers early. The only method to ensure prevention is to remove the uterus, but unfortunately that is not without its own negative side effects. If I were to spay a non-breeding female, I would wait until well after 2 years old and after a minimum of 2 heat cycles. Girls can definitely gain physical and mental maturity with their first few heat cycles. Bitch britches/diapers/panties are wonderful for keeping your home free of mess, but don’t wear them constantly. Having a warm moist environment is perfect for bacterial growth so I give my girls far more time without panties than with, even if this means additional crate time during heat. Pants will NOT prevent a tie from happening! They are not a chastity belt. Dogs can and will breed through extreme measures so it’s important to have a foolproof plan for preventing unplanned pregnancies. To expand on the behavioral and social differences with females in heat, especially with other dogs, is challenging because it varies so widely between individuals. There really is no foolproof guideline and you must learn from your own dog, but I have experienced a large sum of girls in heat between my own and client dogs so I will give some examples that I have observed. Some girls become very flirtatious and playful, soliciting attention and play from other dogs. They act almost puppy like in their behaviors and silliness. They seem to be in a perpetually good mood and may allow passes with other dogs they normally wouldn’t. These are the types of girls that are usually big flaggers. Flagging is when a female in heat dramatically holds her tail to the side, her back tensing and almost arching, very clearly displaying her vulva which as she gets closer to standing heat will also tense and rise up and outwards some. This is the position they take to be bred / tied with. The flirty girls will sometimes do a less dramatic display of flagging towards other dogs before they are in standing heat. You will also sometimes see it when you touch near her rear, for examination or putting on her britches. Some girls are the total opposite when in heat and even leading up to being in heat. They have a hairpin trigger, they may accept less interaction from other dogs, becoming snappy and downright aggressive. You may see an increase in possession or resource guarding. They will have a different demeanor about them and it’s usually pretty clear if you know how to perceive social tension in dogs. They may get into fights with dogs they are otherwise totally fine with and it’s very important not to let them practice that too much as it could sour a relationship on a lasting level. These girls are likely to not accept the advances of a male until they are actively in standing heat and not a moment after. Other dogs may also perceive your bitch in heat differently. Even neutered males are likely to be affected, as well as many females intact or spayed. Neutered males can even tie with a bitch in heat. Females may be “aroused” by her and try to mount or hump her. Lots of females will mark over her urine and spend additional time smelling her and where she has been. So ultimately, within dog to dog interactions it pays to know your girl and any other dogs she will be interacting with so you can set everyone up for success. Sometimes everything is playful and flirty, sometimes it can be simply dangerous depending on the dogs and it can be anywhere in between, as those examples listed above are kind of the extremes of each side. How I handle each of my girls in heat is mostly the same as usual, with a few caveats. I recommend keeping track of your girls cycles so you have the information to look back on. It does get easier as you gain experience with it! Don’t let heat cycles deter you from keeping intact girls, it really isn’t a big scary thing if you are responsible and diligent. |
AuthorThe human behind the dogs. Archives
August 2025
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