Border Collie Puppies
Lock-Eye Puppy Page
"Border Collie puppies with character"
Michelle and Pearl.
Border Collie puppies bred
by Lock-Eye Border Collies are in training around the world! Lock-Eye Border Collies
produces awesome puppies for a variety of work and activities. These include herding
dogs that gather cattle and sheep, as well as dogs that excel in top level Canine
Sports, such as Agility, Flyball and Obedience. There are also several Lock-Eye
Border Collie puppies in training around the country to become Search and Rescue
dogs. We are proud of them all! We are located in North Eastern Oklahoma. (Westville,Oklahoma)
Feel free to call us at: (H) 918 723-3052 or Cell: 918 930-0039 if you would
like to talk the "Old Fashioned Way."
I
especially have a soft spot in my heart for search and rescue dogs. The Smooch
x Bronze breeding born 1-14-02 brought Dessa into this world. Dessa is an acronym
for Drive Energy, Search for the Scent and Alert.
Dessa was destined to become a Wilderness Search dog. Kelly in Washington state
works for the National Park Service and Dessa is her 3rd Border Collie she has
trained in this lifesaving work. Since Kelly and her family live in an isolated
mountain valley , there are limited opportunities for socialization. It was decided
that Dessa would benefit from an extra month here in Oklahoma. She remained until
12 weeks old. Dessa was taught basic obedience with the clicker method, taught
to tug and fetch and Dessa also "talks" on command.
She does that with a flair! It's guaranteed to bring a smile. It was critical
that Dessa be extensively socialized with the world and all it's oddities.
The border collie puppies born as a result of our breeding program are produced through a very selective process. Many people expect to get the perfect dog by just putting two Border Collies together. We study each potential Dam and Sire objectively to determine what qualities each might bring to the gene pool of the puppies. Temperament is equally as important as herding ability, for without a biddable nature, the working relationship between human and dog suffers. Some breeders think it's OK to breed a female every heat cycle. Raising a litter of puppies takes a lot out of a bitch and they need a full year to recover. We feel strongly about only breeding our Lock-Eye Ladies once per year. Many times they are not bred that often. I feel it is important that the mother be given time to recover from raising her puppies. Her health is always put first.
Our puppies are raised in the house with human interaction. The advantage of working at home raising Border Collies is that I am there to mold their minds in these critical first 8 weeks of life. This IS my "day job" - (24/7). You can never make up for lack of socialization at this stage, so I take my work very seriously! When the puppies are 2 weeks old, they are fed "fresh squeezed" goats milk from a bottle. This has an amazing effect on the puppies. There is a vast difference in a puppy that is bottle fed and one that isn't. Feeding pups from a bottle imprints them on humans. They are still allowed complete access to mothers milk, of course.
Hope
x Fuse pups were born on April 8th,2004 |
I have an experienced assistant who helps me when the puppies are between 4-7
weeks old. Marlene is pictured to the left with Hannah and some of the Colt x
Dinah puppies from April,2002 litter. We take each puppy out individually and
clicker train them as soon as they can take a treat from your hand. When they
go to their new homes, most Lock-Eye Border Collie puppies are already very familiar
with commands such as Come,Sit, Down, and Wave. They are Leash Trained, they play
ball, AND tug like Pit bulls. Some (almost) :-) know their Agility contacts! If
you aren't familiar with clicker training, it is a totally positive method of
training, adapted from the way Dolphins are trained using a whistle. It is so
easy, it could be mistaken for magic! I refer to my clicker as a "magic wand!"
For more information on clicker training, read our class handout from
Ain't Misbehavin' Clicker training
classes and visit Gary Wilke's web site at: http://www.clickandtreat.com.
I highly recommend all of his video tapes!
Here are some other clicker training
links: http://www.clickertrain.com.html
http://clickertales.com/clickintro.html or http://www.click-l.com /Gems/
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**A
few clips showing what our puppies learn through clicker training.
Click on
the yellow box to view them.
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We crate train our puppies starting at 4 weeks old. We do this by first leaving an open crate in the puppy play area. They naturally go in it when they are sleepy. We then close the door for 30 minutes, or until they wake up and need to go potty. Right outside the door to the crate, we put a "litter box" (a large wooden frame with shredded paper). The puppies learn to use it! They potty as soon as they get out of the crate, and I gradually move the box to a corner of the pen. This keeps the playpen very sanitary.
Dinah x Colt puppies in the play pen at 3 1/2 wks. (With Beth)
This
is my puppy play area. Smooch x Lazer pups. They are 4 1/2 weeks old in this photo.
Between
4-5 weeks of age they use the litterbox for eliminating. They go to it on their
own!
The benefits of the potty area is tremendous. It makes clean up a breeze
for me and the pups
learn to keep their play and sleep areas separate from
potty places. This helps house train them
and keeps the puppies clean. When
the puppies are larger, I will replace the wooden frame with
a plastic "under
the bed" storage box. It needs to be low enough for the pups to hop into
it.
It is amazing to watch a 5 week old puppy in mid-play stop and run to the litter box!
This is a Smooch x Lazer puppy named Zing! ownned by Mary Rimmer. In this clip
Zing! was 7 weeks old.
New owners can continue this method and it makes house training a breeze. Just change the litter box to a plastic box and move the box closer to the door to outside. The biggest problem when house training a puppy is not knowing exactly when the puppy has to go potty (it seems like ALL THE TIME). With the litter box method, the puppy goes to it, so you can gently pick it up and take it to the door and say, "Wanta go out?" You then click and treat when the puppy eliminates outside! No problem at all. The new owners could take this one step further and have a "designated potty area" outside. Wouldn't it be nice not to have to hunt for those "tootsie rolls"?
As the puppies grow, they can "hold it" longer, so we increase the time they are in their crates. At first we put two together. This helps ease the transition to being crated alone and they aren't as stressed with this method. By the time they are 6 weeks old, they are being fed meals in their individual crates. Normally they are totally crate trained by 7-8 weeks.
Starting at 4 weeks, the puppies are given rides in a vehicle and also in our "little red wagon". This early exposure to movement prevents them from getting carsick later when they go to their new homes. The puppies that fly to their new homes are rarely stressed when they arrive. This is because all the noise isn't new to them! I place a rawhide in the crate when they fly and usually it is chewed on. Puppies that are stressed, don't chew on rawhide. Generally Lock-Eye puppies come out of the crate a licking and a wagging! We have shipped puppies to Denmark, Korea and Brazil. Even with these extremely long flights, they have faired well and are frisky and friendly with their new families!
We take our young puppies to the local nursing home and also to Cooksen Hills Christian Ministries. (See "Puppy Social" page)The latter is a Children's home. They all love to play with puppies! This early socialization with children sets a positive tone for the puppies relationship with "little people". My own daughter, Beth loves puppies and has been known to "Camp out" in the puppy play pen. Too cute!
When the puppies are 4-5 weeks old, we start taking them to advanced obedience classes at The Canine College once or twice a week.
Great Distractions!----------The red and white BC is Twix
(visit his page) (Ivy x Bronze son)
....OK, I confess, the pups are the distractions for the older, trained dogs,not actually IN the Advanced classes...YET! We play "Pass the Puppies"while the dogs are on downstays. There is a very large puppy play area where I let the puppies frolic and practice the zoomies! I appreciate Rae Duane of the Canine College for allowing me to bring my puppies for this valuable experience. Visit her web site: www.caninecollege.com
The health of our puppies is very important to us. Having worked at a Veterinary Clinic as a Veterinary Assistant for 7 years was valuable in teaching me how to provide the best of care for my dogs. We remove the dewclaws immediately at birth. There is less stress on the puppies by doing it then. (They are still a bit "numb" from being born). If you wait for 3 days and take them to the Vet's office, you are exposing them to disease.
At 3 weeks old our puppies are wormed with StrongidT. It is very safe for the puppies. Worming the puppies at 3 weeks old is critical. Even if the dam is worm-free, worm larvae is encysted in the dam and they are passed through to the puppies via the placenta. (encysted worms can't be killed by giving the dam worm medicine) If the puppies aren't wormed at this age, there is a very real danger of the puppies having seizures from the worm larvae migrating to the brain. We continue to worm with StrongidT at 2 week intervals until the puppies are 6 weeks old. At 7 weeks old we switch to a 3 day treatment of Panacur (Fenbendazole). The puppies are also treated with Albon as a precaution against Cocci. (very common in puppies)
We
give the puppies their first vaccinations at 6 weeks. The puppies go to their
new homes between 7 and 8 weeks with a health record and a sample of Bil-Jac
dog food. Follow up shots need to be given at 9, 12 and 15 week shots.
The vet will also worm the puppy and it is not uncommon for the puppy to pass
dead worms. Rabies should be given between 4-6 months old.
In
addition to providing the best possible environment and stimulus for the puppies'
first 8 weeks, we continue to be available for any questions the new owner might
have regarding training the puppy and/or problems that might arise. This is just
as important to us as breeding and raising our puppies. We encourage puppy buyers
to join our Lock-Eye Border Collie Chat Group. All Border Collies owners are invited
to join,not just those that have Lock-Eye BC's. Even if you are only thinking
about getting a BC,you are welcome. It's a great place to learn all about BC's.
This is an e-mail list that allows an open forum for discussion about any
Border Collie related activities:
Questions or Comments about this site
E-Mail
Me
or call (918) 723-3052
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