Breeding ethics
We wish to clearly display our breeding policy to our adopters, for the sake of transparency and sincerity. Raising American Collies, you will understand, is not an "easy way" and involves making choices for the good of the breed.
We only produce Collies from 100% American lines.
We are not talking here about “American type” or “with ?% American blood” or “50% American – 50% English”. This is the guarantee of conservation of our lines.
We guarantee the parentage of your puppy by DNA FILIATION.
The package carried out at the Orivet Laboratory includes screening for all genetic diseases inherent in the Collie.
We wish to work on the 5 existing coat colors recognized in the USA, in order to open up to better genetic mixing with a much wider choice of breeders.
The Pedigree
Our dogs are sold with a UKC Pedigree (United Kennel Club)
international official register.
This pedigree is a "definitive pedigree" legally attesting to the membership of a breed.
They therefore do not have an LOF Birth Certificate, nor an affix recognized by the Société Centrale Canine and are not to be presented for the confirmation examination (purely French stage in the canine world).
Why ?
First of all, the American Collie has a different standard from the English, which does not allow it to be recognized in France (mainly because of the size difference). This also avoids that we use our dogs in a LOF breeding where the dogs are very different from our Americans.
We talked about the desire to work with the 5 coat colors, as is done in the USA, for a very valid reason in our eyes : better genetic diversity. The LOF only recognizes 3 : fawn, tricolor and blue-merle, directly limiting the possibilities of selection.
The absence of registration with the LOF allows us to have this freedom.
DNA and hereditary diseases
All our breeders are identified by DNA and screened for all hereditary diseases .
A parentage by DNA is worth all the pedigrees in the world : it's your puppy's unforgeable identity card, proving that his parents are indeed such and such: as our adults are on file genetically , you can have your puppy's DNA parentage carried out for an additional fee.
Regarding genetic diseases, not all of them are given the same degree of priority in our selection : we cannot claim to breed only with undamaged breeding animals, in all breeds, because the genetic pole would run out at great speed V !
I invite you to read the excellent file devoted to hereditary diseases in the Collie on the site:
eye diseases
Collies can be affected by two main ophthalmological diseases which are AOC: Collie Eye Anomaly and PRA: Progressive Retinal Atrophy.
The AOC is a very widespread disease in the Collie, about 30% of affected in France, this percentage reaches 50 to 90% for the American Collie which is only very little genetically screened. This is a difficult selection to carry out to obtain unharmed or non-carrier dogs!
It is an anomaly of the eye which is distinguished in 4 more or less disabling grades, grades 1 and 2 do not cause any change in vision and are not progressive: the dog will have normal vision all his life ! Grades 3 and 4 causing blindness are much rarer.
APR has only been genetically screened since 2015! Before, we could have suspicions of transmission when the descendants of a breeder declared the disease, which takes several years... but it is difficult to know if it comes from the father or the mother in these conditions... It is a disease of the much more disabling eye than AOC.
For the APR, we only practice marriages with at most one of the two parents free carrier so that no puppy is born affected.
For the AOC, we are currently selecting new breeders who are not genetically carriers in order to limit risky marriages.
=> All puppies likely to be affected by AOC are examined by fundus examination at the age of 6 weeks by a veterinary ophthalmologist.
Degenerative Myelopathy
It is a serious disease, deeply affecting the dog after a few years and inevitably leading to euthanasia when it occurs early.
We only carry out marriages with a maximum of one of the two parents free carrier so that no puppy is born affected.
The MDR1 Mutation
The MDR1 mutation affects many sheepdog breeds, its prevalence would be nearly 75% in Collies, so it is impossible to do without in a breeding program !
It can put your dog's life in danger if precautions are not taken on the use of certain drug molecules and anesthetics.
Dogs (-/-) are at risk, but also dogs (+/-) in which the safety of these products cannot be guaranteed.
You will find the list of molecules and drugs to avoid on www.collie-online.fr
Regarding anesthesia, make sure that your veterinarian uses gaseous anesthesia with intubation (safe protocol allowing the animal to be ventilated if necessary and adapted to any type of surgery) and not a " fixe ” by intravenous injection.
It is a disease which however has no physical expression on the general state of your dog : if we take the usual precautions, it will have no impact on his life.
We will do our best to select breeders over the years (+/+) but given the prevalence of this mutation in the breed and the absence of disabling physical expression, the MDR1 mutation does not have priority in our breeding program.
There will therefore possibly be all types of marriage.
=> Note that the profile of your puppy can be known thanks to the optional package at Orivet and that an information document will be given to you as well as a prevention label stuck in your puppy's health record.
Gray Collie Syndrome or Cyclic Neutropenia
Canine cyclic neutropenia is known in Collies. It is a stem cell disease causing a cyclical drop, every 10/12 days, in the number of white blood cells in the blood. It leads to a general fragility of the dog which will only survive two or three years...
Currently, all our Collies are free from Gray Collie Syndrome.
Von Willebrand disease type 2
It is a blood disease affecting platelets and causing bleeding, bruising and complications in the event of injury or surgery. All breeds can be affected, it is not a disease specific to the Collie. Its seriousness means that it is systematically screened!
Currently, all our Collies are free from Von Willebrand.
Hip or elbow dysplasia
Dysplasia is a disease of the hip or elbow joint which is expressed by abnormal and early wear of the cartilage. The causes are both genetic and environmental.
It is not genetically detected but can be detected by X-ray after the age of one year.
For the sake of quality, I made the decision to have all new breeders x-rayed in order to be able to provide you with reassuring information on this point.
All our breeders are now x-rayed for the hips and elbows and outside studs are only done with dogs that are x-rayed and free of dysplasia.
Dress Colors
There are at the Collie not 3 but 5 coat colors recognized in the USA!
We follow American guidelines for dress color selection. Given the size of our herd, all matings are considered, preferring to emphasize the selection of hereditary diseases rather than the production of a particular coat color.