Hi

Any sheepdog experts here?  I have been offered a pup from good registered working sheepdogs  I got last choice here and really the pup seems the most timid and stand offish of the 5 and when I actually went to see them my pup it went of to the corner of the shed and slept!  While the other4 stayed at the door interested in what was going on all around.  Should I wait until I get the pick of another litter some other time or could this pup be OK?

Calum

I'm not a sheepdog expert, but I am hoping to be with dogs. I would say not to get the dog, because if you are paying a lot for a registered dog, you wouldn't want to mess up. If the dog is timid, and only wants to sleep, it could be a sign that they might not want to work, and might not be easily trained. What age is the pup? What are you planning on using them for?

I have never had a sheep dog. You could ask the breeder about the dog's behavior. Is there a reason why he is like that. Did you just catch him at a bad time?

Well, my dad's got 3 working collies, mother and 2 daughters, if that's any qualification, lol. I think the fact that you say this pup was the 'last choice' of this litter says all you really need to know. Other people have been there, seen it and not rushed to pick it for themselves. Sounds as if it may make someone a wonderful pet dog but a working dog? Unless there was an actual reason for its behaviour at the time you saw it, it may not have the necessary character traits needed for a working dog. Could you honestly imagine it having the determination and strength of character to run down & dominate a field full of sheep? However, saying that, the runt of the litter is occasionally just a slow developer; and given time and patience, it *could* grow into the best dog you'll ever work with. I think I'd only take it as a potential working dog, if I was in a position, if it became necessary, to swap its status from working dog to family dog though.

Have you ever considered getting a part-trained dog? Not only would the bulk of the hardest work have been done for you but the dog's character would be more developed and thus better known. It'd be less of a lottery not only in terms of money but also time and patience and effort on your part if this is to be your first go at raising a working dog.  

The pups are just 6 weeks old and off good working parents.  I want to train my own sheepdog.  Basically as some breeders would tell me the pup that comes staright to you and looks the most confident would have been the 1st to go.  She's a female pup and last available one.  They will be ready in 2 weeks time to be collected.  Maybe I did just catch her at a bad time.  

Yeah I may take it on that basis "the runt of the litter is occasionally just a slow developer; and given time and patience, it *could* grow into the best dog you'll ever work with." Although there is nothing abviously "runtish" about the pup.    I was fortunate to get a 4 year old trained dog from a good freind a couple of years ago.  (see my avatar pic! her name is Kim)  She is a very useful dog but just lacking a lot  power when driving the sheep and not good enough on the stop command.  I would just like to have more of a "connection" with a dog I've brought up myself.  the price of dogs here in Scotland are easily fetching four figures with some pups/semi-trained going for £500.

'Runt' probably wasn't the right word for what I meant (Mum was yelling at me at the time and I couldn't think of just the 'right' English word for what I meant!). I suppose I was thinking more 'daft' as in the 'daft' lambs you get sometimes. Do you know what the pup's birth was like? Were there any problems? Was it rushed? Or did she need any sort of assistance? Those things can have an effect sometimes up to weeks on from the actual birth.

Anyways, at 6 weeks old, she is still just a baby. Who knows what sort of dog she'll ultimately grow into with a bit of help from you? Plus - and I hate trying to answer these questions online for just this reason - not having seen how the puppy behaved and reacted for myself it is impossible for me to tell what her body language etc was saying at the time she 'went off to the corner and slept'. That sounds more like a content, relaxed puppy to me. A nervous or anxious dog wouldn't have gone to sleep!

The more I think about it, the greater my gut feeling grows that, if I was you, I'd take her on and just see how she goes. After all sheepdogs do need to be calm and steady around the sheep, in addition to being inquisitive and keen. Maybe her natural forwardness* and inquisitiveness will come out as she matures or even just once she's away from her litter mates; maybe they dominate her; or maybe she's so laidback, she's content to just step aside and let them 'hog the limelight'.

*there I go, making up English words again!

(It might also be worth checking with the breeder to see if the pups had just been wormed etc when you visited - I've known individual animals to be pretty 'knocked off' for a time after dosing.)

How do you convert £'s to $'s?

You just need to look up the exchange rate - I got it out of the newspaper - and then do the maths. For example, today the exchange rate is 1.635590 meaning £1 is worth just under $1.64 ($1.635590). So the £500 Calum was talking about earlier works out to be worth $817.80 at today's prices. It was probably slightly different yesterday and will be different again tomorrow and again the day after that.

(It used to be pretty stable around £1 = $2, then the pound crashed until it was almost £1 = $1. Now it's gradually climbing back up again (or the dollar's falling in value again depending on your point of view!).

How do you convert £'s to $'s?  Just type in what you want to know into "Google" and hey presto!

Yeah I think I will get the pup in a couple of weeks time.

Quoted from Calum

How do you convert £'s to $'s?  Just type in what you want to know into "Google" and hey presto!

.

Haha! Very funny. What if I needed to know, and the power was out?

Quoted from southdownsrock

You just need to look up the exchange rate - I got it out of the newspaper - and then do the maths. For example, today the exchange rate is 1.635590 meaning £1 is worth just under $1.64 ($1.635590). So the £500 Calum was talking about earlier works out to be worth $817.80 at today's prices. It was probably slightly different yesterday and will be different again tomorrow and again the day after that.

(It used to be pretty stable around £1 = $2, then the pound crashed until it was almost £1 = $1. Now it's gradually climbing back up again (or the dollar's falling in value again depending on your point of view!).

Thank you Hannah.   So when someone prices a dog at £500, the actual price varies? Weird. Kind of like silver and gold here, right?

It only varies if you're intending to buy the dog in any other currency than pounds. £500 is always £500 but the equivalent price in dollars, euros, etc will constantly vary as the value of the currencies rise and fall against each other, yep, in exactly the same way as the price of gold and silver rises and falls against the value of the dollar. As the £:$ price rises and falls, you'd need to hand over either more (or fewer) dollars to get the £500 that you need to buy the dog with. The £500 price itself (of the dog) doesn't change but the number of pounds you'd be given for the same amount of dollars does (and vice versa if I was coming to the US and changing my pounds into US dollars).

For instance, overnight the pound has grown in value against the dollar so that £1 is now worth $1.6424 U.S. dollars so to buy the exact same £500 dog today in US dollars would cost you $821.20, $4.40 more than if you'd bought her yesterday. Or if the dog was on sale in the US for $500, it would cost you $500 no matter when you bought her but, because I first have to change my pounds into dollars, it would have cost me the equivalent of £305.70 last night but only £304.43 this morning.

Thanks Hannah. I understand now. Educational. They would never teach these things in Public School, here.

OK UK members only!  Can anyone reccomend a good puppy food product for a collie pup. I've been looking at beta and Wellbeloved but hardly seem recession busting!

tell me about it! We had a very old dog we fed senior iam's to I swear he looked better for it and added time with us, so I trust them. We felt it might be worth feeding to our cats to get them off to a good start. Again its not cheap- we mixed more expenisive ones with cheaper bands. To be honest a lot of pet shops get stuff in with no labels or mix expencive with cheap too thaen bag it up for them selves- normally there cheap stuff.

If you are looking for something heathly, but NOT cheap, get a grain-free product. Besides raw meat, that is the healthiest thing you can feed your dog.

Well I got my new pup.  Shes settling in nicely romping around the garden and sussing out everyone.  She hasnt even pooped or pissed in her bed yet and only does it when she gets out, a very clean puppy! at 7 weeks  She's eating Winalot puppy tinned food and in a transition from bakers puppy to purina Beta dry puppy food.  She's doing really well for the 1st 3 days.  Oh yeah I called her 'Molly'  Pics to follow

Calum

Glad shes doing good, enjoy puppyhood while you had it, it gose so fast!

Glad to hear shej's getting along nicely! Most dogs, puppy or not, don't like to pee in their bed\home in the first place, so if you keep her going outside, she should do fine. Good luck, and can't wait to see pics!

Welcome to Molly. I can't wait to see pictures. I bet she is a fluff ball. Enjoy!

Pounds into dollars....don't forget there are Canadian dollars and they are different again. I think they are running at $0.80 American. One Canadian dollars gets you $.80 American. It is confusing that we use the same name.

Ooh yeah. I forgot about Canadian dollars! Like on books, it says US(A): $13.27 Canada: $28.59, or something like that. Probably not that dramatic, but I am always glad I'm not in Canada.

Okay, here is a real example on a book that I have right here beside me: USA $4.99 Canada: $7.50

Molly

Ahhh! She looks devoted to you already- you can see it in her eyes.