fot. Beata Patrzałek
Border collie is not a breed for everyone. It is not suitable as a companion for children’s games, a garden gnome whose task is to decorate a beautiful garden, or simply a companion for weekend walks in the forest. There are many other breeds that will find themselves in this. Border collie is a working breed whose purpose was to herd sheep over large areas, working closely with the shepherd. Therefore, it needs both physical effort and mental work to satisfy its needs.
This is what I am guided by and this goal guides me when I make breeding plans and choose dogs that will live under my roof. We have replaced sheep herding with agility, although who knows, maybe we will return to our roots someday. At the moment, we occasionally go to herding training with trainers working with the breed. Therefore, when choosing dogs, I am guided by their health, temperament, and physical characteristics that allow them to engage in such activities.
I do not run a breeding business for profit. I want to bring healthy and valuable puppies into the world that will retain typical breed characteristics and prove themselves in work or sport. Litters that will appear under my name in the future will be dictated by my preferences and whether I would like to take a puppy from a given litter myself. If a dog does not meet my expectations regarding temperament, even though it is healthy and beautiful – I will not use it for breeding because I consider it unethical.
We are a registered breeders in ZKWP (FCI).
Puppies leave the breeding facility with a ZKWP (FCI) metric, which the guardian can use to obtain a pedigree in ZKWP. The folder with documents includes a copy of the contract, copies of the parents’ test results, as well as a health booklet with information on vaccination and microchipping. The future guardian also receives access to the litter review card.
Puppies receive a starter kit that includes food they ate in the breeding facility, a collar and leash, hygiene pads, a blanket, and toys.
Puppies leaving the breeding facility have undergone eye and BAER hearing tests. They are vaccinated according to their age and dewormed several times. As breeders, we make every effort to test our dogs and carefully select breeding pairs to avoid genetic diseases and defects in puppies.
Puppies in our breeding facility are subjected to early neurological stimulation. They have access to sensory toys and socialization obstacles tailored to their age. We do not enforce quarantine, so while still in the breeding facility, they have contact with various people and are taken on trips to different places to socialize with their surroundings. They get to know both the forest and the traffic.
Puppies participate in home life like the rest of our dogs. They are located close to us, and we devote a lot of time to them, giving them a lot of attention and love. They are familiar with household sounds and situations. We introduce them to various sounds, smells, foods, objects (vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, umbrella), the veterinarian, and car rides. From the beginning, they are accustomed to the cage. At the appropriate age, we start playing with them, both in groups and individually. Recordings of the play are shared with future puppy guardians.
Socialization should be continued in the new home.
Breeding is not the main goal of our breeding program. We want to enjoy our dogs and train with them. They are full-fledged members of our family, and their comfort and well-being come first. We do not breed dogs that we have doubts about their breeding value. For this reason, we have not yet had puppies under our roof. However, this does not change the fact that over the years of our activity, we know perfectly well what our preferences and goals are. We know what breeding policy we want to pursue and what breeding style is closest to us. We will not have many litters in our lives, but each one will certainly be unique, extraordinary, and madly loved.
If you answer yes to any of the following statements, know that a dog from our breeding is not for you. We want to provide our puppies with the best future and loving homes. We do not breed dogs for profit, we have jobs that allow us to maintain our pack. Therefore, selling puppies is not our main goal.
We are not interested in breeding dogs for profit. We have jobs that allow us to maintain ourselves and our dogs. Therefore, we are not interested in selling puppies and do not treat it as a business. It’s our passion. We love this breed, we love sharing our lives with them and their company. The person who takes a puppy from us must be aware that they will join our family and we will want to maintain contact, as well as provide help and support in difficult times. Our responsibility for the puppy does not end when it leaves our home.
We plan litters for ourselves – to leave ourselves a puppy from what we consider a valuable pairing and to have a descendant of our beloved dog. When choosing a stud, we focus on his health and the health of his pedigree, his temperament, and his potential for work. We fell in love with the breed for its usefulness, sensitivity, and complicated character, which requires good communication and attentiveness to the dog’s emotions from the guide. We do not consider these traits as flaws and we do not intend to breed dogs to flatten these traits to make them easier and less demanding family members.
We have high standards when it comes to breeding dogs. Health, beauty, and acquired breeding rights are not enough reason for us to bring puppies into the world after such a dog. A very important aspect for us is the dog’s temperament – its stable character, willingness to cooperate with humans, attitude towards the world, and lack of fear. Border collies are a very diverse breed in themselves, often difficult, fearful, neurotic, sensitive, and prone to fixation. We want to avoid these traits in further breeding because they do not serve both in work and in everyday life with a dog.
Our dogs have complete sets of tests necessary for further responsible breeding. We do not limit ourselves only to testing hip, elbow, and possibly shoulder joints. We also X-ray the spine, regularly examine their hearts, hearing, and eyes. Each of our dogs has also undergone genetic tests that exclude a number of different diseases that puppies could inherit. We also require this from dog owners who we would like to use for breeding. Our dogs are under constant veterinary and zoophysiotherapeutic care.
We take breeding seriously and responsibly, so we expect new guardians of our puppies at the appropriate age to perform a full set of tests on them and make the results available to us, which we will make public. We care about the health and well-being of the entire breed and want to conduct a transparent policy of our breeding to contribute to the development and improvement of the breed’s health.
We breed working dogs. Their exterior is secondary only to health, origin, and temperament. However, it is not the case that the exterior is not important to us. It has a huge impact on the dog’s movement and physical abilities. Therefore, we focus on dogs with a light, athletic build and proper (balanced) angulation. Coat and color are not a priority in our choices. Our dogs’ lines are typically sporty. They include well-known working and sport dogs such as Fetch Granting Pleasure, Eiri Greme Moss, Darleyfalls Born With Style, Tanhill Glen. These are lines that lead the way in agility competitions – fast, flexible, agile, quite small but not rickety, usually with short hair.
When choosing homes for our puppies, we prefer guardians with experience with dogs, preferably with the breed. We expect the potential guardian to have specific plans regarding what and where they will train. We do not hide that our breeding is focused on agility, and we look for homes for my puppies among athletes and people who train agility. We do not expect the dog’s guardian to compete regularly in competitions, but we expect them to provide regular training to the dog, tailored to the dog’s age and physical abilities. Puppies are selected for new guardians based on the character and expectations of the guide. We inform what we expect from the puppy and what problems may arise in the future based on observations and knowledge of a given line. Before deciding to entrust a puppy, we can ask the environment for references for a potential guardian candidate. We also require the completion of a survey before the conversation, which will give us interesting information and allow us to verify the conditions that the new home can provide for the puppy. Before issuing the puppy to a new home, we require the signing of a contract that includes a provision that the dog will not be intended for further breeding. The provision can be canceled after the dog meets all breeding requirements – obtains breeding rights ZKWP (FCI), has a complete set of tests, and proves its breeding value by working/sporting.
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gmina lubochnia, powiat tomaszowski, województwo łódzkie, Polska
+48 570 076 217
hello@hazyhills.pl