FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Buying a new puppy is an intimidating experience. We are here to make the process easy for you and have compiled a list of our most frequently asked questions. We do believe in full transparency and are happy to answer any questions not listed on here.
Why should You want one of our puppies:
- Because their parents are DNA health tested, or DNA health tested by parentage (their parents were already tested NORMAL, often for over 160 different diseases common to all breeds of dogs).
- because our puppies are very well socialized, reared in our busy home with all the associated noises and smells.
- Because our puppies meet loads of people simply because even during COVID, as Licensed breeders we were allowed to operate as a business (other breeders had to stop all visits) and we still had a busy work and home life not to mention loads of prospective puppy visitors, including children.
- Because our puppies are whelped in my bedroom with 24/7 supervision, then move into our sitting room or kitchen, until 5 to 6 weeks old, then they are moved out into big purpose built runs but still brought into the house for attention.
- Because we are fully Council licensed and inspected, and have been since 2002 with no advisories (like your car MOT).
- Because our dogs are all treated with respect and humanity.
- Our dogs live under the best of care and love life here on our smallholding.
- Our Mum's are trained to work sheep and help teach people the art of sheepdog training and handling, they are then placed in forever working homes usually by the age of 3 or 4, often they have only had 2 litters by this age and will most likely never be bred from again, but live and work sheep with their new families all over the world.
- We provide an extensive Puppy Instruction Manual
- and FREE access to an Online puppy training course valued at £500.00
Because we understand this is a very big moment for you and promise we are here for you not only for the period of matching a suitable pup to your family but to guide you through taking him/her home, settling in through teething/training, adolescents and throughout your dog's life, we can help you with our 30 years of experience if something goes wrong, we have a network of experts to ask for second opinions in most situations.
Are the puppies up to date on vaccines:
Yes they are.
We work closely with our vet to determine the best shot and deworming schedules for our puppies and you receive written records of what they have had, with recommendations of a program to follow.
Have the puppies seen the vet:
Yes they have.
Their veterinarian, Award winning Bridgnorth Veterinary Center carries out a complete physical on them just before 8 weeks of age and provides a signed certificate of this if you request it, however they are available to liaise with your own vets if needed.
Do you have a health guarantee:
Yes we do.
Every Licensed breeder is subject to the Sale of Goods Act, but we also have a Contract which you should check out.
What is your application process:
We ask you to complete our application form, attend a Zoom interview, then a visit to meet our puppies and dogs for matching you with the right puppy. Please check out our Selection and Pricing page.
Why do your prices vary:
Please check out our Selection and Pricing page
What payments do you take:
All of our non-refundable deposits are done using Paypal.
Final balance is payable prior to or on collection/delivery of your puppy by BAC payment, funds must be cleared into our account before we release the puppy to your care.
How do we reserve a puppy:
After approval after our initial zoom conversation, it is up to you to confirm that you wish to proceed to booking a puppy for your family, this will guarantee that there is at least one puppy for you to meet on your first visit and/or collection at 8 weeks of age.
Can we switch to another puppy after we meet them: Making a down payment on a specific puppy ensures that the puppy will be here when you arrive for them. You are also however welcome to meet the rest of the family at that time and you can switch that reservation to one of the other available puppies at that time if you wish.
Is my deposit refundable: We do not refund unless the reserved puppy develops a health condition. You can however move the reservation to a possible future litter if you decide to wait.
Do you ship puppies: We prefer for everybody to come here and meet us and our puppies but we understand that's not always feasible. We do have a network of certified couriers available to deliver the pup to you, but this is usually a last resort or an available option AFTER you have made at least one visit to meet us. COVID rules override everything.
Can you meet us halfway: We do have a courier who does take puppies to meet people occasionally. This is usually done to help someone be able to make the trip in one day.
He charges between £100 to £450.00 depending on your location or your chosen meeting place. This allows you to balance your desired trip time and distance with your budget.
Many of our long distance owners combine pickup with a holiday night away from home so they can collect early morning so the pup can travel on an empty stomach.
What are the puppies eating:
We feed RAW - strongly suggest you keep them on RAW, full instructions on feeding are given in our Puppy Instruction Manual, we do however also give them a high quality dry kibble 70% meat/no grain for those of you who do not see the real benefit of feeding a dog as naturally as possible.
What is the puppies potty schedule: From 6 weeks of age our puppies have outdoor access at all times. Therefore they usually don't tell us when they need to go potty. We recommend taking them every few hours and have a routine you use so that they can tell you. Full instructions are in the Puppy Instruction Manual
Are the puppies socialized: Yes they are. Because we often have more than one litter at a time we have loads of visitors and they get to socialise with all our litters if they are over five weeks old
Are the parents onsite: For the majority of our puppies we have our own stud dogs. However we do genetic test all of our females and we will travel for a male sometimes if they make a better mating than male we own.
Can we see where the puppies live:
We constantly show video of our puppies life from birth.
We are happy to show you our setup where the puppies play outdoors, however we will not take you inside.
We have to protect ourselves from COVID and other viral flu these days.
We have frequently have small babies and do our utmost to keep them and us, free from any type of exposure.
How long have you been in business:
We live dogs 24/7, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, we rarely take a day off. It is our entire life.
We have made our living from breeding and training sheepdogs since 1999 and in 2017 diversified into breeding Border collie Cross Poodles, The Bordoodle, for the growing Active Family Pet market.
We are professionals and have high standards of health, handling and welfare.
Are you a puppy farmer:
The term "Puppy Farmer" is a person who puts profits over the health, welfare and improvement of the animals.
Many single litter or single breeders do not have our vast experience and do not carry out a 10th of the level of care we put into our girls and babies.
Our dogs have a great life being dogs, loose in family groups most of the day, they get individual training to become sheepdogs, they live in the best of conditions, even the kenneled dogs have heating and dehumidifiers to regulate temperatures at night, we use every tool available and study continuously scientific peer reviewed courses to improve our knowledge and facilities and training so that we can further improve the border collie sheepdogs, the Poodles and their cross.
We just about break even after emergencies and constant improvements.
All of our dogs are under a licensed veterinarian care, and our Vet visits our property at least twice per year.
How often does a mother dog have puppies:
We work with our vet to determine this. After making sure that the mother is healthy and in great condition we never breed so that a litter is born within 12 months of the girls previous litters birth. We ensure all our girls are never bred until at least their second season and they never have more than 4 litters.
What happens to a Mother that doesn't have puppies anymore:
Our goal is to never allow a mother to breed if its detrimental to her health. Our girls are placed into family homes around 3 to 4 years of age to work as sheepdogs or become active family pets.
Are the puppies fully weaned by 8 weeks:
Yes they are. Watching nature is amazing and the mother dog usually weans them around 6 weeks of age. She then starts to distance herself from her puppies slowly as she prepares them for life with their own families. At times a mother will still be allowing her puppies to nurse as a comfort but they have been on solid food for awhile already.
When can the puppy go home: They cannot leave here legally before 8 weeks of age and occasionally we may retain them for a week or two if we believe they will benefit to stay with us longer, though this is very rare.
What is the puppies temperament: This varies from puppy to puppy but we will be glad to try to explain any certain puppy to you. Please see our Selection and Pricing page .
Do you have videos of the puppies: Yes typically each litter has Loads of family video. These videos are usually posted on our website. There is also an individual GOOGLE puppy photo album which you will be given access to to upload photo and video or your puppy growing and training with you throughout its life, we love watching them grow up and it is easy to keep updated with the pups progress.
Can we Facetime you and the puppy: We arrange Zoom calls so that we can meet you and discuss your wishes and needs and do a home check (virtual) prior to inviting you to our home to meet our puppies. This Zoom call should NOT replace meeting us and our puppies in person. We are very busy looking after the animals and cannot be free to take random calls, so we ask that you email us as the best way to communcate unless in an emergency.
Are the puppies micro chipped: By Law your puppy must be micro-chipped by 8 weeks and the chip first registered into the breeders name, we do a free transfer into your name.
INSURANCE:
This is essential and we provide 4 weeks FREE cover for your puppy should anything go wrong. We cannot stress enough that you should continue this insurance throughout the dogs life as vet treatments can be very expensive and if the condition would have been covered by your insurance we will NOT make compensation if you have not taken out additional cover at any period of your dogs life.
What should we have along when we get the puppy:
We usually provide a moms scented blanket, puppy food to get you started and a few soft toys.
