Buying a Border Collie Puppy
What to expect from a breeder who puts Health, Welfare and Temperament first.
Border Collies are active working dogs. They need a great deal of stimulation and are not a suitable breed for someone who wants an easy pet.
Essential Documents
- Heath Certificates (both parents)
- Signed AWF Puppy Contract
- KC Registration Certificate (if applicable)
- Microchip Registration Certificate
- Temporary Pet Health Insurance
- Vaccination Certificate
A Good Breeder Will:
- have socialised and habituated the puppy
- provide a supply of food
- provide a blanket smelling of Mum
- follow the Code of Practice for Dog Breeding
Official Health Schemes
- Hip dysplasia
- abnormal formation of the hip joint – pain and lameness
- Elbow dysplasia
- abnormal formation of the elbow joint – pain and lameness
- The BVA/KC eye testing scheme
- checks for many inherited abnormalities that can cause progressive blindness or pain. Gonioscopy tests for primary glaucoma/PLA (pectinate ligament abnormality), painful progressive eye disease leading to blindness
Other Diseases
- Deafness – congenital
- more likely in merle or mostly white dogs: KC Deafness Testing Info
- Epilepsy
- currently being researched
DNA Tests Relevant to Breed
- CEA/CH – Collie eye anomaly/Choroid hypoplasia
- congenital eye defects, may cause blindness
- CL – Ceroid lipofuscinosis
- progressive fatal brain disease
- Goniodysgenesis
- eye more likely to develop primary glaucoma
- IGS – Imerslun-Gräsbeck syndrome
- vitamin malabsorption, causes ill health
- MDR1 – Multidrug resistance gene 1
- toxic response to certain drugs
- Raine’s syndrome
- poorly formed, weak, painful teeth
- SN – Sensory neuropathy
- progressive nerve damage, eventual paralysis
- TNS – Trapped neutrophil
- syndrome faulty immune system, sometimes fatal
Other Tests
- BAER testing for congenital deafness
Further Information
TBC