Ok... so, there is a Border Collie female named Belle training with my Flyball team. Her owner brought her to classes while in heat last week -_-, and I got into a conversation with her about her decision to breed Belle. She is a very sweet dog, but I for real thought she must be mixed with a spaniel or a Golden, because the most BC thing about her is her markings, period. Belle has cleared health certs, and is AKC pointed. I think she only needs 1 major before she's a Champion (therefore, she forfeits an ABCA registration). The owner has bred Papillons and is involved in Papillon rescue, she got a BC because she wanted a bigger dog to show, because bending over so much to show her Paps was getting harder with age (LOL at that one). But, I'm positive the pups would be well raised and socialized. Belle has never seen livestock, but she does a bit of Agility & Flyball with her for fun.
Other people on the team seem to support her, but me & the one other really enthusiastic BC lady are kind of sick over it. Belle is super mild-mannered and a dog that could be trusted with about anything, but I have never seen an ounce of intensity in her. She's stocky & tall (about 15 lbs larger than my male BC), fluffy, short-muzzled, & tires after a few runs. Besides that, she just does not care about working either way... and she's super slow! I mean, she's a wonderful family dog, but literally a black & white Golden Retriever! I have never seen her actually focus on the ball, her owner, other dogs, n o t h i n g. This dog basically bumbles around, like "Ohhh, a ball", and does not even pick it up or bring it back half the time. When I met her, I thought she may be a senior dog, but she isn't even 2 years old!
Basically, what is everyone's view on this? She IS health tested, proven in conformation, very friendly & social, but basically dull as could be. I would guess that she *could* pass her CGC with a very easy trainer, but even if she did earn that, is it ethical for her owner to breed her? I kind of want to know partly, to see if I'm just snobby. But I would honestly prefer a sometimes overwhelmingly high-herding-drive BC to one that would be perfectly content to lay around indoors all day & that would just wag their tail at livestock.
This is Belle: (note the intensity when retrieving the ball )
This is Bailey, the other BC-enthusiast's working-bred dog. She is beginning to trial on sheep already and she's only 1 year old. She's also nearly done with Flyball training, even though she has chasing habits:
Other people on the team seem to support her, but me & the one other really enthusiastic BC lady are kind of sick over it. Belle is super mild-mannered and a dog that could be trusted with about anything, but I have never seen an ounce of intensity in her. She's stocky & tall (about 15 lbs larger than my male BC), fluffy, short-muzzled, & tires after a few runs. Besides that, she just does not care about working either way... and she's super slow! I mean, she's a wonderful family dog, but literally a black & white Golden Retriever! I have never seen her actually focus on the ball, her owner, other dogs, n o t h i n g. This dog basically bumbles around, like "Ohhh, a ball", and does not even pick it up or bring it back half the time. When I met her, I thought she may be a senior dog, but she isn't even 2 years old!
Basically, what is everyone's view on this? She IS health tested, proven in conformation, very friendly & social, but basically dull as could be. I would guess that she *could* pass her CGC with a very easy trainer, but even if she did earn that, is it ethical for her owner to breed her? I kind of want to know partly, to see if I'm just snobby. But I would honestly prefer a sometimes overwhelmingly high-herding-drive BC to one that would be perfectly content to lay around indoors all day & that would just wag their tail at livestock.
This is Belle: (note the intensity when retrieving the ball )
This is Bailey, the other BC-enthusiast's working-bred dog. She is beginning to trial on sheep already and she's only 1 year old. She's also nearly done with Flyball training, even though she has chasing habits: