10 ?’s We’ll ask- Our Application

1. Have you been a dog owner before? A working dog breed? How was that?
2. What do you envision the purpose of this puppy to be, in your family? Where will it live? Who will it bond to/be trained by?
3. Do you currently have other dogs? cats? animals? How do they interact?
4. You really want to have another family member, like a permanent teenager?
5. Do you have children? what do they know about raising dogs?
6. Is your property fenced?Will you do “My side!” training, regularly?
7. Is someone going to be at home most of the time, or how do you plan to care for this dog when in town, etc. (Our dogs know their farm and don’t ‘roam’. But it takes lots of active and interesting work and love to have made them WANT to be here, more than anywhere else, even though our gate is open and they could go. They know it is their spot to patrol and guard, and they do. But some puppies will do this almost automatically, and some will need a few minutes of training often over time. When well trained, these type of dogs should never need to be chained as adults.
8. Do you know about the American Working Farm Collie Association?  farmcollie.com
9. Have you or will you read their materials on training/raising English Shepherds?
10. When you do so, will you please join their yahoo email list, and just lurk, reading member messages? It’s  about training and neat things the dogs do, and questions and solutions that come up. It was the best resource for us as new working dog owners, when we had a lot more livestock than we do now. Or even if you don’t. It’s the best place to meet or read  people who know the minds of these dogs. It’s what our breeder told us to do, and she was so right!
11. And an extra question: Are you willing to leave us your name and address, and give us feedback on how your dog is doing from time to time, successes and struggles? And can we post a little summary of that- how the dog does, what happens to it, on the puppy’s personal page? Thanks! Brina and Tali.

 

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