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Our philosophy at Washoe Valley Collies About Health and Genetics
...is that we have set out to raise the happiest and healthiest
Rough Collies we could!
Our first standard is temperament. If our dogs don’t kiss us, then they don’t belong here!
Second, we try to breed the healthiest Collies we can. Our pups are ranch-raised and in our home, so grow into rugged and friendly dogs.
Third, we try our very best to meet the Collie standard. This is not an easy task. We belong to the Collie Club of America and ascribe to their standards and ethics. Our dogs have their eyes checked, their hips checked, and other medical checks for soundness. We try to breed to the Collie Standard as put forth in the Collie Club of America.
Fourth, we are absolutely fanatic about GOOD nutrition. We believe you are what you eat. We supply a great foundation, with good nutrition, for our pups from conception onward! All our dogs are raised on Abady dog foods raw meat, and nutritional supplements. We believe that our dogs are carnivores and deserve to eat meat, not grain. We also feed our dogs a high fat diet. Our puppies and pregnant moms have Peak Grow for Puppies added to their diet until weaning is done (mom) or six months old (pups). All our other dogs get Peak Performance2, fish oil, and enzymes added to their diet. You can see the difference in our puppies. We get “complaints” all the time that our puppies ‘...are too healthy!’
Fifth, Customer Support. We maintain ongoing relationships with all our puppy buyers. We will help our pet owners with ear taping, grooming, and nutrition, if the new owner desires it. We are trying to form a Collie social group, so all our Collie children can play together occasionally and and just have fun! If someone wants a show dog, we’ll try to help them as much as we can in the show biz department too!
Sixth, We Support Collie Rescue. We have ongoing relationships with our regional Collie Rescue organizations in Nevada and California for fundraising, puppy placement, and an occasional help in an emergency housing for rescue Collies. We feel we ‘always have room for one more’ here at the ranch!
Finally, We Show. It’s not easy being in the ‘show biz’.....it’s expensive, time consuming, and frustrating, But we try. And you know, sometimes we win. But if you don’t try, you’ll never know, know, right?
That’s us at WVC! Happy, healthy, (and sometimes show worthy) Rough Collies! Come on up to
Washoe Valley and see us sometime!
Updated Information - Our Health and Genetic Testing Program
We have begun in 2007 to implement the following health and genetic testing on all our breeding stock:
- CERF Eye Exams on all puppies
- Early Neurological Stimulation done on all newborn puppies
- MDR Gene Status testing on all breeding parents
- Food Allergy Tests on all breeding parents
- OFA Hip/Elbow X-rays on breeding parents at 2 years of age
- General blood panel tests to check organ function, such as thyroid, before breeding
- Antibody Titer testing, if necessary, to check immune function
- All puppy buyers are given their own MDR cheek swab test kit to test their purchased puppy
- Herding Instinct Test, we feel it’s important our Collies know their breed heritage and have the soundness and health to do the herding job they were intended for. We maintain a herd of sheep at our place to do this.
- Herding Instinct Tests are soon to be available at our place for those interested in testing their Collies.
With the above health/genetic screenings in place on our breeding pairs, we can somewhat predict what will be produced in our puppies. Although not an exact guarantee, we can give our purchasers a fair ‘guesstimate’ at what their puppies will carry in their DNA.
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