New Puppy Questions

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cthulhucometh

Forums Regular
Hello all, I'm new to the site and Shelties and I have a few questions. I've owned a couple Border Collies and been raised around them as a kid so I've had a love of herding dogs for a long time and I have no place to keep Border Collies anymore so I figured a Sheltie would be the perfect dog because of their smaller size for where I live. My questions are about how much on average would a registered female cost? Is the ASSA a Sheltie registry or just a part of the AKC? Do they generally have the same hip problems that Border Collies can be subjective to? There anything I really need to know other than the regular grooming that their coats require? Thanks for any help any one can give me!
 
Welcome to the forums! This is a great place to share information, ask questions, and just chat about dogs.

I can't answer all your questions, but I know others will. I have a 7 month old AKC tricolor female that I purchased from a breeder in January of this year for $750. Shelties are high energy and need exercise, but not as much as a border collie. :smile2: Others will address your other questions and add to mine, I am certain.

And, as I'm sure others will say, shelties are wonderful dogs! :smile2::smile2::smile2:
 
Welcome to the Sheltie Nation Forum.

I am going to move this thread over to the "considering a sheltie" area of the forum, as I am thinking that you may get more responses over there.

Under the "Considering a Sheltie" part of our forum we have a couple of "stickies" that I recommend you look through. They give a lot of helpful hints regarding your search for your new pet.

Here are the links to those threads:

http://sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=8640

http://sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=6530

Welcome to the world of Shelties!
 
Hi there!

There should be no price difference between males and females. I'm not sure how that started, but it's the mark of a sketchy breeder. ASSA is simply the parent club, they don't maintain their own registry. I'd have to look up the statistics against Border Collies, but I suspect the HD rates are lower in Shelties, and disease more easily managed because of the size.
 
Welcome. Glad to have you here.

Here is Canada, the price depends on whether you are showing the dog or not. With Emma, because she was not to be shown, I paid $850 for her. If she had been a show dog, it would have been $3000. The breeder now charges $950 for her pups for a pet/companion dog. She does have multiple champions in her lines, which can increase the value of the pups.

One thing to watch for: if they refuse to give papers or to let you register, walk away. In Canada, it is illegal to refuse either.
 
As with all dogs, you need to be very sure of the breeder that you are buying from.

You can pay as much for a dog from a puppy mill as you can from a show breeder for a companion dog.

And then there are also the backyard breeders. This is a controversy that I won't weigh into now, because that was not your question.

All to say, in Canada, for a "pure-bred" sheltie you should expect to pay $700 and upwards. Any less, and you need to question the source.
 
Thanks to everyone for your replies! I plan on wanting to do agility as well as it being my companion. I have seen on some breeders websites where they want you to sign a agreement that if you buy it for a companion dog that you aren't supposed to breed your dog, is this a common practice?
 
cthulhucometh said:
Thanks to everyone for your replies! I plan on wanting to do agility as well as it being my companion. I have seen on some breeders websites where they want you to sign a agreement that if you buy it for a companion dog that you aren't supposed to breed your dog, is this a common practice?
Click to expand...

Very common. I would actually be worried if the breeder did not have that agreement for the pups sold as companion pets. Good breeders do this to maintain the integrity of the breed, as it prevents dog who do not meet the standards as closely as possible/improve the breed being bred. I know that my Riley's registration was held by the breeder until we neutered him, then transferred the papers. Also, companion pets are usually sold with a limited registration, which does not allow any offspring of the dog to be registered.

Dogs with full registrations are sold, but they are the show quality (hence quality enough to be bred possibly). Show quality Shelties typically run about 2-3 times more than the normal price and females are harder to come by. Also, most breeders will require you to co own a show quality pup and have it shown.
 
cthulhucometh said:
Thanks to everyone for your replies! I plan on wanting to do agility as well as it being my companion. I have seen on some breeders websites where they want you to sign a agreement that if you buy it for a companion dog that you aren't supposed to breed your dog, is this a common practice?
Click to expand...


I agree that selling a dog under limited registration is extremely common.

When I was looking for a dog for agility, I looked for parents of the puppies where at least one parent had it's Championship and one with either obedience or agility titles. The agility titled dogs, I made sure that the line also contained champions as well. This way, I wanted to make sure that my dogs were structurally as close to the breed standard as they could be.
 
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