Brood Bitch Shareholder programme

We are always keen to hear from people who would be able to offer a suitable full-time home to one of our selected breeding female dogs.  

For over 25 years we have had many successful agreements for our Brood Bitch Shareholding program.   (we do a Stud dog program too) 

The girls are often offered at slightly reduced rates.  

We do not agree with giving you one of our valuable puppies or dogs for free as we may never get to breed them for any number of reasons, and you will get "paid" in a puppy or whatever is agreed (or price of a puppy) once the agreement is fulfilled.   

We stand to loose far more as we will put the work in to teaching you way before we get to breed the girl. 

This agreement can be a way of learning for FREE from a leading breeder and trainer skills which have taken over 30 years to master. 

However, before rushing into becoming a Brood Bitch Shareholder, we would ask you to consider the implications of the role which requires a huge amount of time, dedication, commitment & patience.

Detailed bespoke written clear agreements tailored to each individual dog and shareholder.

What do our brood bitches do?

Our ‘brood bitches’ are females who are selected to produce the next working sheepdogs of the future. 

We have around 6 brood bitches who live with families or individuals or shepherds, usually also working the sheep on those farms on a full time basis and they are used by us to breed the next generation of puppies, who then become part of our Sheepdog Puppy Development Programme.

Our Puppy Development Programme is Licensed with the Shropshire Council, The legislation they enforce is designed to promote good breeding practices & help prospective purchasers to identify those breeders who breed responsibly within the law.

Our brood bitches normally have no more than 4 litters and most definitely retire from breeding when they are 8 years old.

The brood bitches

We have a variety of different types of working border collie whose primary job is to become fully fledged sheepdogs on farms around the world.  

We don't exclusively look for one particular type, as we are most interested & focused on the health & working characteristics and temperaments of our dogs.

The type of dogs we select to become our brood bitches are not pet dogs, but they can usually settle in a pet environment with ease given the right activity and commitment levels of the shareholder. 

They have been extensively tested to have the core ability and strong herding instinct to become themselves fully trained working sheepdogs. 

As such, they are extremely energetic, strong, intelligent and can often be very demanding to their carers if not given enough sheep work or other activities involving the use of their brains.

For this reason, it is a requirement that our Brood Bitch Holders must provide an active home for our Brood Bitches. This could include for example

Regular access to sheep either real daily flock work or regular training on sheep, or competition Performance Dog Sports, such as Sheepdog Trials, Agility, working trials, Obedience, Trick Dog, amongst others.  

If you take part in any of these activities to a particularly high standard with your dog we will support you all the way to the top level.

What does a brood bitch holder do?

The main role of a brood bitch shareholder is to provide the overall care & welfare for our brood bitches. 

You will provide a full time active home and our dog will live with you. 

You must keep in regular contact with us about her season dates, general health & overall well-being. This is extremely important, as it allows us to plan our future mating's & breeding.

The puppy or dog can be matched with you from around 8 to 12 weeks old and will remain in your care until she retires, or for life, if agreed. 

If you are allocated a potential brood bitch, you will be expected to follow the same Puppy Development Programme as our puppy shareholders. 

The dog will be extensively character tested and will also undergo a series of health tests & screening.   Providing the dog passes all tests, and is accepted into our breeding program and we may well breed from her to fulfil the initial agreement.  

Once we no longer want a litter/litters according to our agreement then you will have the option of keeping her for yourself as a brood bitch in a full-time capacity. 

If having a young puppy does not appeal to you, we also have the option of giving a full time home to brood bitches who have already come through the programme and received some or all their herding training, and passed all of the necessary tests. 

These dogs are usually up to 4 years old & already have a basic level of training and used extensively to teach our sheepdog handling students how to train a young sheepdog. 

Occasionally we have older part and fully trained girls available on the Brood bitch sharing scheme. 

Just like buying your own puppy or working sheepdog outright, becoming a brood bitch shareholder is hugely time consuming and impacts on the whole family.   

This is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year experience, although of course you are allowed to have breaks & holidays. 

It is a hugely challenging but extremely rewarding role.

However, as a SHAREHOLDER we too have a responsibility way beyond that of just selling a puppy to you.  

Essential Criteria

If the role appeals to you, you should be able to answer "yes" to all of the following:

• Do you have experience or a very keen interest in training sheepdogs?
• Are you & your family able to live with a strong & energetic dog wanting a job more than it wants to rest?
• Do you have access to a suitable vehicle for safe transportation of the dog?
• Do you have a suitable home environment to allow a medium dog crate to be housed or suitable kennels meeting licensing standards?
• Are you able to provide a fully fenced (6 foot fences) & a secure garden area for the dog?
• Are you able to attend regular sheepdog training sessions with your dog?  If not are you willing to take regular video and seek my help on training or take time to attend a two or three day clinic? 
• Do you have plenty of spare time to keep your dog mentally & physically exercised?
• Are you at home to ensure that the dog is not left for more than 3-4 hours at any time, other than overnight? It is vital that puppies and dogs are supervised at all times during the day.
• Do you have regular access to sheep and the time to spend working the dog for a minimum of 15 minutes per day 5 days a week. 
• If you do not have regular access to sheep can you provide 60 minutes of alternative training of games like scent work, agility, obedience, heel work to music etc. 
• Be prepared to keep in touch with the breeder and take regular photo and video to share the exploits of the dogs life.
• Keep the breeder notified of seasons, health issues, behaviour traits etc.  
• Be prepared to either  
• Willing to whelp & rear a litter of pups or let the bitch return to the breeder for the pups to be born and reared. (all help and advice given freely). 
• Pay a fee to become a Shareholder.in the bitch, this fee allows you the full use of the bitch for everything other than breeding until the agreement is fulfilled.  

Terms and Conditions are bespoke to the dog and both parties needs and agreed with each individual Shareholder. 

Your Support

As previously mentioned, being a brood bitch shareholder is a time consuming role and to get the best out of the agreement it requires a huge amount of dedication and willingness to learn and work with the Breeder . 

Under our close supervision and guidance however, you’ll receive the highest levels of support & guidance to help make developing our future sheepdogs a fun and rewarding experience.

When taking on a Brood Bitch, all basic costs are for your responsibility as you will have full use of the dog for the job you are wanting her to do as well as a family pet. 

All of the following are provided to you FREE:

• We will offer sheepdog Training classes for you and up to two additional dogs, whilst we are within the agreement. 
• FREE help and support on building your own knowledge on Breeding and rearing sheepdogs. 
• We will even take the bitch back to board FREE of charge whilst you are on holiday. 
• We will even train the bitch on sheep for free, if needs be, though one of main ideas of the Shareholder program is for you to learn the crafts and skills yourself as cheaply as possible. 

The Process

There are a number of stages to complete before becoming registered as a brood bitch shareholder.

• Ensure you meet all of the necessary Essential Criteria above
• Email us to confirm your interest & to provide your basic application details
• If successful, a home check will be arranged (usually via Zoom) to ensure your home & garden is safe, secure & suitable to house one of our puppies
• Providing you pass the stages above, you will then be required to visit us to meet our dogs and to match you to a suitable puppy/dog which is going to compliment your job and own lifestyle/character needs.
• Once all stages have been completed successfully, you will be added onto the Brood Bitch Shareholder waiting list for suitable puppies or adults.
• When a dog is available, we contact people on the list & determine their interest a suitability to match to that dog.

If you haven't been put off continuing your interest in the role and would like to start your application process.  click here.