[piggy]

Thanks for all the names,we have gone with Ruby.
She is so nervous but day by day getting better,she has been to the vet for her jabs and the vet told me she is underweight so we are now gradually trying to increase her food which was hard at first as the breeder didnt give me any of the food she was on and i couldnt get any anywhere to gradually switch her over,they had been feeding her adult food,now we have her back on a puppy food.

Bottom picture is spangles

[Sandy]

I love Ruby!!! It will take a while as border collies are not big foodies (not like Labs) I am sure some good quality puppy food will be fine!!!! My daughter had a dog called Ruby!!!!

[doganjo]

I can't believe after all the recent hype about dog breeders and sick dogs that there are still some that don't have a clue how to properly raise a litter.  Why oh why do they think it is all right to give puppies adult food when they wouldn't feed steak to a 4 month old human baby - or would they?  Well done you fro getting her back on puppy food as soon as you could. That's probably why she is thin, and did they worn the bitch or the pups regularly - I'll bet not.

[piggy]

Annie(hope its ok to call you annie)

To be honest she wasnt what i was after the advert was red/white border collies for sale,so i called the lady asked general questions and went to see them about 2 hours later,when i got there i saw these 2 pups in a outdoor pen and i thought oh these cant be the pups there not red,met the lady who was an older lady she said here they are the 2 i hoped that werent the ones for sale but they were,i felt very let down as im sure you can see by the pics i've posted she is not red but i felt so sorry for them i picked the more outgoing pup who was alot heavier than her sister,god knows what the vet would have said about her because if mine was underweight the other one must has been well well under as i really could could tell when i picked them up,i choose ruby purly because the lady said she was more playfull than the other pup and as i have 2 borders already who arent great with other dogs,they are fine with dogs they know but are very protective of me, so i thought she would fit in better,there was no way i was leaving without a pup as the pen they were in was fine space wise but all sides were exposed so the straw in the pen was soaking wet,i asked if they sleep in there all the time but she said they went in to a stable at night.asked when wormed and was told 4 weeks ago but like the vet said to me from the nerviousiness i very much doubt they have been handled regually or wormed.she has now had a spot on to treat worms and fleas so we are going in the right direction.

[robert waddell]

piggy i can understand why you bought the pup but surely you should wait till the right one comes available ie well handled sociable and one that ticks all the boxes      far to often pups are advertised born and reared in the house and only there if at all when you come to view IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THERE PERSONALITY

[Leri]

Ahhh - Ruby is a lovely name and she's a lovely looking dog. Sounds a very sad story and now I'm worried about the other one. Poor thing!
One of my sows is called Ruby! She's my favourite :-) x (We got them my mum and Dad's ruby wedding time)

[doganjo]

piggy i can understand why you bought the pup but surely you should wait till the right one comes available ie well handled sociable and one that ticks all the boxes      far to often pups are advertised born and reared in the house and only there if at all when you come to view IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THERE PERSONALITY

Perhaps you are harder than the rest of us Lilian's OH, but I probably would have done the same as Piggy in the circumstances if I had just been wanting another collie.  Since I breed my own I have no need to buy in, but I can certainly see that emotion takes over when you go to see a litter and find two scrawny pups that need someone to take care of them better than the breeder.  Well done, Piggy.

[robert waddell]

our first collie (sheba) was reared in a barrel inside a shed  the first thing we had to do was wash her after that she commandeered the cat igloo
our next collie was a male(uist)a fantastic dog and the two enjoyed each others company and yes we did breed from them unfortunately he was killed by a speading motorist  sheba was in pup and the best pup kept(spot) we then started to search for another male dog and honestly the condition that the dogs were kept in was appalling and we did walk from them eventually getting (ben) from dumfries direction  we now have 5 all with different personality's and natures and all in the house some would lick you to death and two (bitches)would certainly rip the arse of you (isn't that rite happy hippy)  hard possibly but definitely practical

[piggy]

I mated cassie my first collie with a red/white in the hope i would get some red pups,she had 6 pups all black/white spangles is her daughter,although i registered spangles as a black/white now she is older (3) she does have a red tint along her back,i had been told that if i bred spangles she would have the red gene but i dont want to breed her just to get a red/white pup hence wanting to buy one,i can spend far more time with 1 than 6!
My dogs live outside,there choice when we first had cassie from 8 weeks she lived in the house until she was about a year old which is when we moved to our current house where we have 6 acres,she hates coming in the house and when she had her pups indoors it was a massive struggle to keep her in every time someone opened the door she'd be out like a shot,spangles stayed in the house for 4 weeks then when out and she is the same,ruby the pup was also born outside so used to being out.
Ruby is fine with me and my dad who is here every day but this weekend we have had a new problem in that my step son came over and the nervousness is still showing barking at him generally just very frightened,but i am luckly my parents are dog trainers at our local club who cassie and spangles go to twice a week and ruby went last week just to sit on peoples lap till shes finished her jabs and she can start her classes.
Its such as shame as the pups i bred were handled from day 1 by the kids and were all sent off with there kc reg,eyes/hearing tests,puppy packs and enough food for there new homes to switch if they wanted and when i went to see ruby there was a child around but there cant have been much handling if any.
Yes she wasn't what i was after but(i dont mean to sound big headed)i am luckly enough to work from home so im here 90% of the time and 1 more to feed isnt really a problem.

Karen

[Rosemary]

Karen, whatever you were after, I think you've done really well with this pup. She looks like a different animal in the recent photo, from the first one.

If I had gone to see them, I'd have taken both  and probably bought myself a heap of trouble 

[piggy]

Thought i'd post an update,Ruby is coming on so well,she goes training twice a week and is soon to take her good citizens bronze test,she has been to 2 dog shows altough not old enough to enter then it was more about walking her around and meeting other dogs,when i first had her she had like ocd with water the minute anyone turned a tap on she was there after a drink but this soon settled down after a few days we have buckets of water everywhere could only think that maybe she had been deprived of it before as shes not like it now.It has been a real struggle with her weight she a picky little monkey and  i have had to worm her twice as the first time didnt get rid of them all,i think shes always going to be on the lean side like spangles but my older collie spangles mum i have to watch as she does get fat,we also had a real problem with the car every journey shed be sick and would run off the minute i opened the car door now if i leave the door open shes in there no more sick or worry,shes a real worker will just sit and watch the sheep or geese for hours unlike my other 2 who are more from the show line so with so hard work i think she is going to make a great worker but i will have to have some help with that!
Had a couple of bc breeders look at her and they say shes lilac not red.
Pic of her last night in the garden.

[SallyintNorth]

Ruby is a very lovely and very lucky collie.  Sounds like you are bringing her on from strength to strength. 

[Sandy]

Thats a nice happy ending to a sad tale, I do know a lot of working dogs get a rough deal but its nice to see Ruby has been saved and having a good life!!! Lovely!

[Old Shep]

Poor little Ruby doesn't seem to have had a good start in life, but things are looking up now for her.  My mum & dad always fed their pups on porridge oats made with cows milk - probably not the done thing now but they always had fit and healthy chubby puppies :-).  I'd be tempted to add some cooked chicken pieces or mince to her puppy food - just to give her a boost.

[Rosemary]

She looks lovely - lucky pup!

We used to have a picky eater - I used to grate a wee bit of cheese on her dinner (I do mean a wee bit). It was enough to get her started. Then I used to cook brown rice and chicken for them - then discovered the same in a bag(Burns dog food) and she never looked back.