Vista Dei Breeder Info Page

Never Knew there were so many colors of Shelties? Click on the picture above to go to a nice web site with pictures of the different coat colors, with an interactive link showing the possible colors of puppies you will get when you breed different colored parents!

The Collie Club of America has provided a great service to all breeders on their pages of Contracts.. Sample contracts for puppy sales, stud service, health maintance forms, Dogs in Will Dispositions, AKC incapacitation notice, etc. Sample Contract forms

This link will take you to a site that really (in my opinion) addresses the fine points of being a responcible breeder. There are many many moral issues involved beyond the idea of breeding "show dogs". Find out if you really have what it takes to be responcible in your breedings, to each and every pup and their new owners! Do some soul searching on your Breeding Ethics!

Sue Ann Bowling has put together the ULTIMATE Sheltie Breed information site! A wonderful educational site for the history of the breed, List of Register of Merit Sires, Century Club shelties, Versitile Shelties, National Specialty winners, etc. Also included, Color inheritance on various unusal colors such as the brindle and piebald, growth charts and sooooo much more! Sue Ann Bowling Sheltie pages

Here is a list of Sheltie Breeder's Kennel Names in Alphabetical Order. Includes links to their web pages and contact info if available. This is a great resourse if you are researching pedigrees, you can often find just who bred the dog and where the kennel was, and is also nice for virtual "kennel hopping" to view other people's sheltie breeding programs. Compiled by Winmarshelties. Kennel Names

Expecting a litter? Print out this article, it gives a week by week "To Do" list as well as weekly developement of the Mother and fetus.
Take me to the welping handbook!

I have had some very active litters, and set about finding simple, inexpensive items I could use for play and developement. Check out some of the agility based toys we created, more will be added, and we welcome your suggestions. I believe a busy, active puppy devolpes into a confident adult. Our puppy toys!

You looked at the Survey in the upper right of this page, and you see that ALOT of tests need to be done on both the male and the female before a breeding is done. BUT you have no idea what some of the test mean, or what disorders they are testing for? UH OH! Before you breed, you need to understand the disorders and the tests that can help prevent breeding affected individuals... you don't want to bring unhealthy puppies into this world, do you?
Here is a list of the common tests and genetic disorders in the Sheltie Breed
Learn More About DM (there is no test at this time to identify and prevent DM)
Learn more about CERF
Learn more about OFA
Learn More About VWD

Medical Dilemma - A sermon
by Darla Duffey Fayr Wynds Shelties Jax Sheltie Rescue
Where vaccines and medical procedures go: Think about it: you are a CLIENT, and your vet is providing a service. You are PAYING for it. In the olden days, we were encouraged to visit professional people with deference in our hearts, cap in hand, and follow their advice without question. We know better now, don't we? We know that our doctors are specialists who specialise in pharmaceuticals and surgery. We know our vets are the same, don't we. Would we go, say, to visit an accountant, and stand by while he grabbed our money and deposited it, without our permission, in his overseas bank account? So, logically, we wouldn't stand by and allow a stranger control over our animals' lives without asking any questions, would we? ..... If it makes you feel bad, don't do it. If it makes you feel small, walk away. If you feel uncomfortable, nurture your intuition. If you are not respected, respect yourself. If it doesn't seem right, question, question, question. If you don't want to do something, don't do it. If someone tries to force their way onto you, smile and be thankful, and then go your way. If they try to blackmail you, take the hit, then do your own thing. If they try to frighten you, go inside and find the real truth. Do not be afraid. Have courage. OK - be afraid, and do what is right anyway. Follow your heart, your head, your gut feelings. Learn to listen to yourself. Who says they know more than you do? Have the courage to walk your own path. This is precisely what 'our' dogs have come to teach us.
(reprinted with author's permision)

Hard lessons to be learned:
by Dorothy Christiansen, Lynnlea Shelties
1. Nature has litters so that SOME survive. It is man and his ego that feel that all MUST survive or we are failures.
2. Not all survive in the wild, why should in our kitchens be any different.
3. Despite everything you do or try or the vet does or tries, some puppies will not live. We have found Day 3 to be most critical time.
4. Sometimes the ones you try so hard to save are destined to become heartbreak for someone else once they are older. (seizures, kidney failure)
This is not to minimize the pain you feel. I have also sat and rocked and cried and told myself breeding dogs is supposed to be fun. At those times it is not. I have also learned that killing myself is not worth it for the heartache the loss can bring. We now do minimal intervention, usually feeding a smaller puppy that gets shoved aside, staying with a new mother all night to be sure she has the hang of it. Our survival rate is probably around 85-90%. You did what you could, went way beyond. Don't beat yourself up for it. You did nothing wrong. I doubt that there was anything you could do or could do better. Go rest.. You tried.
(reprinted with author's permision)

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