Duszah Border Collies

I (Tina) have had border collies as a part of my life for all of my life. My father used to manage very large properties through out my childhood. Border Collies were self proven workers with brilliant herding instincts. Cooee was my first very own Border Collie. I was 19yrs old (wow over 20yrs ago). He was medium coated, black and white and had a very soft, sweet nature unless a ball was involved and then he was obsessed. 
Cooee proved to be such an amazing dog in every way that we decided to keep his daughter Whippa. We are grateful we did, as we lost Cooee shortly after, although very sad, a piece of him lived on in our old girl.

Whip was the most beautiful girl ever and from 6 weeks old she chose our son Dusty who was 9mths old. She use to sleep under his cot and follow him everywhere. Whip passed away just recently at 14yrs old , she was amazingly attached to Dusty. Every night she slept with him, after Dusty picked her up to put her in bed as she was getting stiffer with age. The bond there was truly breathtaking. Whip loved to play ball and swim and has been a great teacher for the newer additions to our family, showing them the ropes and playing nurse or mother hen! Whip can be seen under our Rainbow Bridge section.

Once whip started getting along in age, we again made the decision to keep a pup. We joined her to a wonderfully talented yard dog whom had parentage excelling in competition through out. This joining produced our beautiful maggie (Magpie).

Maggie was a very destructive puppy, if she could chew it or dig it then consider it done. She warmed our hearts deeply and is now an a Pets for Therapy dog at the Daffodil Cottage in Bathurst with her mum Mindy and together they make such a special difference to peoples lives. 

We have great friends whom breed Pedigree Border Collies and I cannot recommend them enough, Rivermaid Border Collies. I have asked about 1million questions through out our visits etc. I had a dream to go into it all properly should I take the road of Border Collies as pets and stepping away from the working lines. I thank Rachael for all her help and guidance on doing it right.

After extensive research and weighing up time factors we decided to start looking for our boy. This was not an easy task for us. Refusal after refusal as we had no credentials behind us as far as pedigree Border Collies go.

The decision was made, I would drop back to part time work, full time Border Collies/Horses and of course mother. Then I could take my love and passion to a new level and here is where Duszah Border Collies arose.

Thea knew me from when I was a child and knew of my love for all animals as I used to help or pester her with rescuing and pound duties. I knew she had some lovely Border Collies when I was growing up. Thea agreed on the future sale of a chocolate boy.

3yrs later Copper arrived. Good things come to those who wait. I said no to many puppies before Copper, I waited on him. I liked the parents and grandparents and hoped he would be something special. So many things I liked and wanted - Big broad head, massive lion mane, good bone, great conformation, the list was endless and a nature to melt you right to the core. We genetically tested Copper for CEA, CL & TNS and all results came back negative/clear of mutations. It was meant to be. He was our boy we had wished for.

We are so very grateful for our foundation border collies. Thanks goes to Wanda, Thea, & Maxine from Heidesa Kennels NZL. 

As we added to our fury family we always considered to only do this if the family members before were all still getting their much needed attention as we believed it wasn't fair on them to miss out to make room for another.

We have chew toys and dig spots, so they can entertain themselves for hours. If we go to work or town they are safe here and we do not feel they are locked up. Being a nurse, on shifts, there is nearly always someone at home and then they have the run of the house yard and house as well as their playground. They also have the acreage as much as possible. We have a kennel complex which have a box and large cage area, but this opens into a day yard area and only be used when we are absent or someone is cycling. We don't believe in caging or chaining dogs/puppies unless it is for their own safety. We have a whole puppy playground, used only for them, they have a kennel with cement flooring, which has a closed in bedroom where they have a heat matt and bar heater, or air cooling, then they walk out into a fully snake proof fenced area of fun! Lawn, dirt, sand, bricks and concrete are all available surfaces for them to get use to. 

Our happy little family enjoy each other and are constantly playing. The youth in them had bought the puppy back out in our old girl whom we lost in 2016 sadly. Paw prints over the heart. She is dearly missed.

I am so grateful to raise my kids with the love of border collies, I thank them for their help in teaching them love, friendship, kindness and how to have fun! Alizah and Dusty have a special gift when it comes to animals and have been enormously important in the raising of our Duszah babes.

Our beautiful family has grown nicely and we have retained next generations which is exciting. We are constantly thriving to better our bloodlines with careful selection.

Whelping our first litter as registered breeders, was a very exciting moment for us here and we are forever grateful to those who have helped us on our journey so far. We believe that our border collies complete us as a family.

I am a big believer in things happen for a reason, we are grateful for every one of our beautiful dogs and we love our family, no one ever misses out. All our dogs are smart and responsive, will sit, drop, shake, stay on command (many other tricks) inside a pack our alone. I am proud of each and everyone of them. We spend a lot of quality time with our dogs and it shows in their outstanding temperaments and progeny. 

We have deflected many strong opinions as to our breeding program over the years. We have even been labelled colour breeders which may put us in a box with some breeders we do not wish to be associated with. Our stud's difference to breeders who breed solely to produce colour is that we do look at dog A and dog B and see what each of them will better in the joining. We consider drive levels, conformation, personalities and then if we happen to produce any coloured pups it may be a bonus. We ourselves have chosen the best pups to keep under guidance of show mentors who help us look past the colour and choose the best pup, the best possible pup to continue our bloodlines. We think this can be seen in the quality of what we are keeping to brighten the future of our stud. We are constantly thriving to better what we have. All of our puppies are the same price regardless of colour or sex. Colour is never put first and never should it be.

We do not breed to earn income. If I wanted to earn money I would work full time as a registered nurse instead of only 5 days a fortnight so our dogs don't miss out on anything. We do this as a passion, because we love having our dogs and love having puppies. We strive to produce puppies who have the best possible start in life and go on to make wonderful family pets who can excel in many disciplines, if their families choose to take them further. 

We have had to make changes to our planned breeding over the years, since we ventured into pedigree BC's. I will happily share as we personally made the mistakes of buying from breeders who have not understood genetics, not known they had issues or even scarily known of the possible outcome they could produce but not cared. These are dogs from outside studs.

We had a bitch that we purchased develop lupus, an autoimmune disease; she was de-sexed before breeding any puppies. (Her breeder did not know and learnt of it with us, so not a mistake, a lesson). We had a boy who's hip scores were 13 when we tested him, upon research we learnt of known HD in the lines, (sadly grandmother was euthanised) he was de-sexed before ever breeding, not a chance we would ever take, for him to sire any litters. We purchased one girl who's personality was scattered, she was very timid, very small and not at all a good representation of the breed in many ways, she was never bred.

All 3 above were de-sexed as to ensure we personally are breeding puppies that we can hold our head high for, that we know we are not knowingly breeding with the possibilities of problems in their future life. Heart breaking as you think buying from a registered breeder you will get it right... NOT always the case. Heartbreaking that dreams you had for them were shattered because they could not be all you hoped them to be for your kennel; Disappointing because we had hip/elbow scored, genetic tested, done everything right. BUT at the same time it was the RIGHT choice for Duszah! The right choice as we believe in breeding healthy, well adapted, confident, versatile, beautiful natured pups who reflect their parents we are proud of. Here is why our slogan is Duszah Border Collies - Quality temperaments are just the start.

Above is a great reason to not sell puppies on main registration. Not because we don't ever breed puppies worthy of being so, but because it is scary to think that our dogs could be bred with those who may have issues like above and then the progeny whom may have issues are tied to us. A lot to chance on no real gain for us. Our reputation on the line to help someone else, is simply not worth it. This is why all our puppies are sold on a limit register. We have worked too hard to be where we are for it to be chanced. Sorry. We are happy to advocate for the breed and offer advice to new comers, we respect the breeders who have sold to us by not selling on main registration and we will strive to continue proving that Duszah Border Collies are worthy of their reputation. 

Breeding puppies is not our number one priority, the health and safety of our family come first. Breeding puppies cannot be thought of light heartedly; time must be allocated; bitches must be at optimum health and the decision be made after extensive thought and discussion. In a way we feel we can share and allow someone else the pleasure of owning a BC themselves by allowing them a beautiful puppy, but only when all the above boxes are ticked.

We will carefully select homes for our puppies if and when we are blessed in the future. :)

Please take the time to look through our site and enjoy our wonderful dogs.