I know I’ve said this before in other blogs but it’s worth mentioning again:
When I desired to breed Border Collies 30 years ago, I wanted a breed of dog I would love and envision myself enjoying and was an easy breed to train, and this led me to the Border Collie. The thing that has surprised me the most with the Border Collie breed is it isn’t for everyone. Unfortunately, we have had a considerable amount of disappointments with the BC puppies especially Bronwyn’s, to the point we stopped breeding her for the sake of the puppies.
Finally, when we bought our farm and decided to start breeding, we knew it was going to be an adventure filled with many rewards and for the most part it has been. I can honestly say, that I never started breeding because of the financial gains and to be quite truthful there’s been more financial input from us. Our initial investment for whelping and puppy care has been exorbitant. I also didn’t expect for so many people to be careless regarding puppies/dogs and this was very much an eye opening experience.
Moving on…there are a lot of people in the herding world that frown upon anyone crossing the superior breed of Border Collie to anything but the Border Collie. I do have to admit this bothers me a bit too but at times it’s good to clean up a genetic line. Hardcore trialers (herding folk) are many times focused on the exceptional herding traits versus health issues, and this is a result of many health problems; especially eye and hearing problems. So if you have inbred or line bred for a number of years, it’s a good idea to look into “outsourcing.” Unfortunately, many breeders are reluctant to do so.
The Painted Egg At Copper Barrel Farm: This business belongs to both Gil and I. He’s an investor in this endeavor (dog breeding), and we are both in this together. So this brings me to our plan for this year of 2023. I will breed Border Collies but only for myself and a very select number of individuals that have experience with the herding breed or have the financial resources to provide training for the breed, and have land, preferably 3-10 acres minimum. Gil convinced me that he is interested in breeding the Bordoodle. Gil has expressed his reason for this, and it’s really based upon his ability to keep up with the dog and their level of activity but at the same time the Bordoodles are an easy breed to train and this is what I look for, for myself. More individuals are equipped to handle this breed and they are quite the characters (the breed- not the people, but at times the people too). The Bordoodle has proven to work with most individuals/families.
Breeding: Not unless something changes, we will offer this breed over the Spring or Summer. This depends on Ivy’s cycle. We will start accepting applications with non-refundable deposits come February. However, we will only have 6-7 openings if we do not receive deposits for the amount of expected puppies (this is based on past litters). We will not breed her during this time but will carry all of the non-refundable deposits for the next breeding cycle. Ivy usually comes into season every 4-6 months.
Having said this, Gil and I are looking forward to seeing what Ivy and Baxter produce. In a separate blog, I will list their individual temperaments, and of course their health test results are available on our website and on www.gooddog.com. Please, don’t ask for me to email them to you.