[Castle Farm]

fully trained dog would set you back £800

A fully trained collie would cost you more like £2000+  if it was any good and were not talking trial types either.

I have a pup here on training at the moment and at 9 months shes worth £800 and not fully trained yet..another year might do it.

[egglady]

bl00dy hell!  ok so maybe i dont need a sheepdog after all.......whistles as she goes off to find the orange bucket.........

[egglady]

actually, maybe i could just train the horses to round them up like they do in america with the cattle!  now that's a mighty fine idea......whistles as she drops the orange bucket and goes off to find her cowboy hat!!!

[knightquest]

 

[Castle Farm]

You should be able to find a pup around 8-10 weeks old from working stock for between £100-£150.

Make sure you see the mum and dad if possible and buy it from a farm, not some pet shop or puppy dealer

The instint to herd is programmed into a working collie pup. What she/he is doing when she gets around the back of the sheep is bringing them for you to kill.
You need to create that bond as leader and if and when you get one spend quality time and as much 'yard work' as you can without boring the pup.
By 12-15 weeks she should have learned  sit/ lie down/come. The most importand thing is being able to stop her (lie down) before she/he is allowed near sheep off the lead.

If you have any sort understanding to how a 'working collie' does what it does and have the patients and time to train pups on there is always a ready market for a part ot fully trained sheepdog. I know of a lady who takes youngsters on and charges £75 per week each and usually has them there about 2 months. The last time I heard she had 8 in on training. Nice little earner if you can build up a reputation for it.

[CameronS]

You could allways train a sheep pig -  like babe??        

[Padge]

Egglady     OH was EXACTLY the same    didn't need a sheepdog  but wanted one..............after years of nagging we went for the puppy option   from a farm   with working parents        shes red and white    recently dissed as rubbish on here if my memory serves me correctly.......however being as we didn't need a trials or show dog it doesn't matter...................she's a hugely intelligent dog with a wonderful working instinct.........something not all of them have despite claims to the contrary..............she does as Castlefarm say sit lie   ets  and works well with OH tho on a leash at the moment...............she needs some proper training to fine tune but currently does what is needed for the time being...............a worthwhile investment and companion

[Freddiesfarm]

Another option is a retired sheepdog.  I never retire mine as I think it ages them, so they continue working in some shape or form til the day they pass.  But I know other people who retire perfectly welltrained dogs which aren't able to manage the larger flocks.

Castlefarm is right - I train dogs and I am sure there would be plenty of people who help you train a young dog and provided you give it plenty of mental and physical stimulation there are no isses with collies.  My partner and I started out rescuing collies and had no sheep and then ended up having to buy 200+ ewes to keep them entertained but we do have 7 dogs at the moment plus other dogs in for training.

Look carefully for responsible breeders with good pedigree ISDS dogs and insist on seeing the parents working before selecting a pup.

A good dog is a wonderful companion, work mate and friend!