FAQ Breeding and Rearing Puppies

Our Breeding females are chosen for the temperaments, character, trainability, herding instincts.

They must fit into our pack both in the house and Kennels, they all get their time as house pets and as flock dogs. These females could be for sale at any time as we believe they deserve to have individual attention as their final reward for working for us.

These females will mostly be fully trained experienced flock dogs by the time they are five years old, at which time we will be starting to look for the best possible forever home for them, where they can work stock, teach their owners about sheepdogs and stock, become someones 24 hour companion and friend.

We do this because it is unfair and indeed cruel to keep these active dogs without the one true fix in their lives, LOTS of WORK. and unfortunately we do not have enough to satisfy them, though we do make work for them by using them as school masters for our students.

Our Stud Males are chosen for the temperaments, character, trainability, herding instincts. They must fit into our pack both in the house and Kennels, they all get their time as house pets and as flock dogs.

Good temperament of all our dogs is extremely important but difficult for the average owner to understand when greeted by barking and what appear to be aggressive dogs. Our dogs live in a family pack and visitors are considered as outsiders, but stay with us a few days and you will truly be hooked into the wonderful outgoing friendly nature of even the shyest (lowest in pack order) of the females when they accept you into the pack.

Our females give birth to their puppies under observation in the house, usually in the sitting room for our comfort.

The puppies spend their first few weeks in the house, (bathroom or kitchen)

No, our puppies are reared until five weeks of age in the house where we can handle them as often as possible, and they are exposed to the noises of the hoover, washing machine, hairdryer, television, bathroom and kitchen activities, during the evenings they are invited into the sitting room to socialize with the cats and older dogs including our two Toy poodles. Only at five weeks do the pups go out into the puppy kennels.

They go into the puppy Kennels which have a heated bed area and a sawdust run which opens up on the the main exercise yard so the puppies under supervision can join with other dogs playing and at other times interact safely through the bars. During the day in good weather they go into the outside puppy run which is overlooking the sheep paddocks and farm yard, they see cars, tractors etc going past. During all this time they are still handled several times a day. The regular photograph sessions give us a real insight into their individual characters.

Yes, we consider this essential and have hi-jacked (really they love it) the next door neighbors children almost everyday, weather permitting to come and play with the pups, unfortunately they are growing up and we are just about to hi-jack some younger children.

Socialization starts the minute the pups are born, being regularly handled, even before the eyes and ears open, is essential to a well adjusted puppy. This handling continues until you take delivery of your new puppy. It is essential that the puppy continues to be introduced to new and extremely varied situations for the rest of their lives as learning never ceases with a dog.

We feed a natural diet right from three weeks of age called "Natural Instinct", visit their website for more details.

At six weeks of age the puppies are started on Raw chicken carcasses and wings and a high quality commercial dry feed which is 28 - 30% protein level, specially formulated for pre-weaned and newly weaned puppies.

We also add Ewes milk re-placer until six weeks of age at which time the pups are fed on dry food.

Before the advent of the CEA gene test we eye tested every litter of pups, but now we know the status for CEA within our breeding dogs we feel there is little need to eye test them at six weeks of age, however we are always vigilant and will adapt again if this is required.

Yes, we will take a deposit for a puppy but only when the litter is born.

Please email us using the subject heading "puppy waiting list ". We will then place you on the "puppy waiting" mailing list.

You will be notified of any proposed mating's and subsequent definite pregnancies and finally the birth of the litter and the gender of the pups before they are placed on the web site for general viewing.
You will be given a link to view the pups photo's and you may choose your pup.

It is at this time a deposit will be required. 

After persons on the waiting list have had a short time to respond the web page is opened to general viewing only if there are any puppies still available.

We have a waiting list for our puppies and I have found this to be the fairest way to take orders for pups.

If you have purchased your pup for Sheep or Stock work:

1. and you are having trouble with getting the pup to show instinct on stock or getting started with its herding training, we will give you six "free" half hour training sessions at the center.
2. After No: 1, should the pup show absolutely no working instinct we will take him back and replace him.
3. If at any age the pup becomes unfit to do the work for which it has been purchased due to a proven hereditary or genetic fault and subject to veterinary confirmation from our own chosen vet, we will replace it with another puppy.

If you have purchased your pup for Agility/canine sports/walking companion

1. and/or it turns out to be a nuisance around stock (in that you cannot stop him or control him) we will guarantee to take him back, he will then be trained as a sheepdog and found a home suited to his calling,  This happens very occasionally but as these dogs are bred to work then it is essential that if the dog is not happy being just a pet then they must be returned to me.
2. and/or it turns out to be a nuisance in the home or walking (and you have exhausted all training solutions) we will guarantee to take them back, he will then be trained as a sheepdog and found a home suited to his calling,  This happens very occasionally but as these dogs are bred to work then it is essential that if the dog is not happy being just a pet then they must be returned to me.
3. If at any age the pup becomes unfit to do the work for which it has been purchased due to a proven hereditary or genetic fault and subject to veterinary confirmation from our own chosen vet, we will replace it with another puppy.

Yes, though we do prefer that you visit us at the center, to meet the puppies and their parent/s and of course us, we also understand that it is sometimes impossible to take time off to collect your new pup especially if you are some distance away.

We offer a delivery service throughout the UK, Northern and Southern Ireland

Yes, we are certified as experienced approved shippers with British Airways and American Airlines and we are well known to other major airlines as regular shippers.

We can offer a complete service, please read the Export Worldwide enquiries page and then contact us

As a general rule Border Collies bred to work stock, and our Border Collie Puppies are bred first and foremost for their Herding Ability which could make them unsuitable as ordinary Household Pets. Border Collies need to be exercised every day mentally and physically. Astra Sheepdog Puppies have made top class obedience, agility and fly ball dogs not to mention their success on the Sheepdog Trials field.

We take each application for a puppy into serious consideration.

Border Collies can and have changed peoples lives completely.

Our Border Collies are not bred with the show ring in mind, they are modeled on the Original Working Border Collie that shepherds have developed over hundreds of generations into the most popular herding breed on the planet. A breed that can turn its paw at virtually anything you ask of it. Showing in the breed ring would drive most REAL Border Collies absolutely MAD.

Our puppies are registered with the ISDS The International Sheepdog Society who have allowed the UK Kennel club to transfer registration from the ISDS into the UK KC.

If you are exporting your puppy you will need to apply for an export pedigree from both the ISDS and the UK Kennel Club in order to transfer the registration into your countries registration body. However the ISDS has truly gone international and has accepted many counties in affiliation with them. Please ask the ISDS for more information on this.

We recommend that if possible you visit us at least once to prove to yourselves that we are who and what we say we are, we would also enjoy meeting you and checking you out too.

However if you are unable to visit us, we would love to have regular photo's and accounts of your pup as it grows and matures, the good and the bad. We want feedback to know that we have done our job right.

As we are licensed by Law as a dog breeder and the LAW states that we cannot allow the puppies to go to their new homes until they are eight weeks old please do not ask us to allow them to go younger as a negative may offend.

We have not had reason to believe that any of our current or past bloodlines are possibly affected with deafness. Therefore, due to the current method of examining the puppies for deafness and the stress involved it is not something we do unless we should suspect a problem.

Our pregnant females are wormed regularly throughout pregnancy and whilst they are rearing their pups. The puppies are de wormed between two and three weeks of age, this is repeated every two weeks until the puppies leave for their new homes. We do not use supermarket de-wormers only medication issued by a Vet.

We only feed high quality 28 - 30% protein level feed specially formulated for pre-weaned and newly weaned puppies. We also add Ewes milk re placer until six weeks of age at which time the pups are fed on dry food.

Our mothers vaccinations are kept well up to date to ensure maximum cover to the puppy in uteri through to ten - twelve weeks of age when the pups should have started its vaccination program.

When you get your puppy at eight weeks we suggest talking to your own vet about when to start vaccinating and to perhaps cover the pup with a course of three vaccination by the time it is 14 weeks old. But your own vet may advise differently according to the current risk in your area.

The jury is still out on the instances of Hip Dysplasia and Epilepsy in the ISDS Border Collie, we hear of these afflictions more and more, but as yet there has been no clear genetic link established. Here at Astra Sheepdog Centre, we do our best to protect your next Border Collie from these and all other afflictions. read our FAQ Breeding for more information.