Our Breeding Program
A Focus on Performance and Temperament
We breed intelligent, biddable, working border collies with loads of confidence and natural herding instinct. We strive for dogs that have an off-switch, so they are pleasant to live with, but are eager, focused, hard-working partners when it's time to go to work. We want dogs that “live to please” and don’t quit when the going gets tough. Our dogs live up to this standard themselves and are from the best working lines (both sheep and cattle) in the U.S. & Canada.
A Focus on Health
We do everything in our power to maximize the chance that your Double J puppy's body will hold up to his drive. We take health seriously. In addition to hip and elbow certification, there are many genetic tests that have been developed for border collies, such as testing for CEA, IGS, TNS, MDR1 and Early Onset Adult Deafness. Working lines are not exempt from these diseases and puppies should never have to suffer from something that can be easily prevented by breeders. In addition, we BAER test our puppies at 7 weeks to check for congenital deafness.
A Focus on Preserving the Working Border Collie
We believe it is important to protect and preserve the integrity of the border collie as a working breed. We train all of our dogs on sheep and cattle and actively compete in stockdog trials. Our puppies are registered with the ABCA, the premier working line registry in the U.S. Because the AKC recognizes ABCA registered dogs, customers who wish to pursue dual registration may do so easily. With built-in versatility, Double J dogs are well-suited for herding, agility, and search and rescue homes. However, we feel they are not ideal for pet-only homes or for people needing a service dog.
A Focus on a Good Start
We believe the first few months of the puppy's life are critical to him being a well-adjusted dog. We follow Puppy Culture protocols for raising our puppies as this program encapsulates much of what we had already been doing for years, but puts more emphasis and structure on the timing of various activities and exposures. For 12+ years pre-Covid we included weekly visits to nursing homes and assisted living facilities, as this was a blessing to the puppies, the residents, and the volunteers who helped. Since Covid, our socialization efforts have involved inviting more people to the farm, especially kids, and taking many local road trips to explore city and country sounds, sights, and interactions.
A Focus on Relationships
Above all we desire to build and maintain strong relationships with customers. We involve customers with a litter from the very start through a private online group dedicated to just that litter. Here we post pictures and videos of the puppies from birth to eight weeks and here littermate owners are able to keep in touch with each other and with us, sharing ideas, highlights of their puppies as they grow, etc. Despite all we do to produce to quality dogs, we know the risk of becoming kennel blind. Therefore we welcome owner feedback on our puppies throughout their lives, we make critical breeding decisions based on this feedback, and a Double J puppy is welcome to come back to us at any time, for any reason, for its entire life. When things don't go as planned, our customers find full support from us, and those relationships inevitably become the strongest because of it.
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