Breeding prime Border Collies on a Heidelberg farm

Point out Border Collie breeders in South Africa, and Venron Border Collies (Venron) is prone to come up. Ronald and Venessa Juckes have constructed a status for his or her excellent canines, together with Kennel Union of Southern Africa (KUSA) breed champions and grand champions.

“There has solely been one supreme champion, and that was our Glen, whom we bred, owned and confirmed,” says Venessa. The Venron puppies are bred from these award-winning strains, guaranteeing an distinctive lineage.

The couple have intensive dealing with, coaching, and breeding expertise, and are predominantly concerned in KUSA actions. Ronald’s trade credentials are additionally spectacular.

“Ronald has dealt with Border Collies competitively in Europe. He’s certified to guage all herding breeds in South Africa and is recognised by varied worldwide our bodies all over the world,” says Venessa.

“He judged on the Australian Border Collie Nationals and has been invited to guage on the Border Collie Membership of Nice Britain’s fiftieth Anniversary Present subsequent yr.”

Moreover, Ronald has served on the federal council of KUSA for over 5 years, he’s the chairperson of the Free State Kennel Membership, and chairperson of the Sasolburg Kennel Membership.

The early days

Ronald was as soon as concerned in judging sheep and collaborated with buddies who had been stud farming Ile de France sheep in KwaZulu-Natal. It was from this farm that they purchased a seven-week- previous Border Collie, Nandi, 37 years in the past, taking her residence to their 0,2ha property in Kempton Park, Gauteng.

The couple acquired Nandi’s brother, Biggles, quickly afterwards. This was the start of a lifelong ardour for the breed.

They labored at South African Airways on the time and used their worldwide journey to “immerse themselves within the essence of the breed,” says Ronald. They noticed world requirements first hand, met with breeders and handlers, seen and dealt with many Border Collies, and attended quite a few competitions, such because the famend Crufts occasion in Birmingham in 1990.

“Not lengthy after Crufts, we imported our first Border Collie, Charles, from the UK. He got here from a New Zealand bloodline,” says Ronald.

The couple would go on to import extra canines from the UK, and in addition from Australia and the US.

Within the early days, they competed in varied disciplines (obedience, carting, and leaping) and educated with varied sheepdog instructors. In 1992, Nandi earned the South African Sheepdog Affiliation’s Certificates of Working Skill (CWA 559). Nevertheless it was when the couple was launched to breed reveals that they realised they’d discovered their area of interest, and that is the place they nonetheless compete at present.

Ronald and Venessa relocated to Lions Relaxation Farm close to Heidelberg within the early Nineteen Nineties to offer their canines extra space and freedom, initially utilizing them to maneuver inventory. Venessa left South African Airways to coach and take care of the canines.

Ronald is now retired and says they’re “interest farmers” concerned with Bonsmara cattle and sheep manufacturing, and share 100ha of maize with a neighbour. The couple proceed to journey overseas to attach with fellow canine breeders, view bloodlines, and keep updated with developments within the worldwide Border Collie group.

Breed traits

Border Collies have their origins in Nice Britain. Their intelligence, hard-working, tenacious nature, and excessive vitality, coupled with a pure herding intuition, led to their historic utilisation as sheepdogs. This pure drive should be rigorously guided, nonetheless. A Border

Collie requires coaching to channel its vitality and allow it to work calmly with sheep and co-operatively with its handler, Ronald and Venessa clarify.

They advocate that puppies begin sheep work across the age of 5 to 6 months when they’re quick sufficient to outrun a sheep, however they need to solely be labored for a couple of minutes a day.

Puppies shouldn’t be uncovered too early to difficult sheep like ewes with lambs, or rams, as this may knock their confidence. It’s greatest to begin coaching with ‘dogged’ sheep – these which might be calm and conversant in working canines.

When it comes to temperament, the Kennel Union of London describes the best Border Collie as balanced – neither nervous nor aggressive – whereas additionally being eager, alert and responsive. Ronald highlights their superior intelligence: “They’ve a ‘reasoning intelligence’ whereas different canines have a ‘studying intelligence’. Actually, their reasoning capability is that of a five-year-old youngster.”

He offers an instance of a sheepdog arriving at a closed paddock with a flock. This canine could initially wait patiently however then surrender and wander away, as would the sheep. “A Border Collie would regard this as a puzzle, investigating the paddock and searching for openings or another technique to get in,” says Ronald.

That is why at Lions Relaxation Farm, bitches in season are kennelled in enclosures with safe gates, excessive partitions and overhead roofing, with out which they might scale the partitions or discover one other technique to escape in the hunt for a mate.

Border Collies are identified for bonding with one human (Ronald and Venessa are every favoured by sure canines), and a few people will be extremely impartial. Nevertheless, the Venron canines love to satisfy and greet strangers and luxuriate in consideration, making them good household canines.

Breeding practices

The couple’s operation focuses on breeding for the development of Border Collies, producing puppies succesful bodily and mentally of assembly their future homeowners’ wants, whether or not as working companions or companions. Ronald emphasises that “if canines usually are not match for operate and effectively constructed, they shouldn’t be bred”.

All Venron canines and puppies are registered with KUSA and the South African Sheepdog Affiliation.

Venessa explains that their breeding course of is lengthy, with many elements to be thought of. “Our mantra is temperament, which incorporates working capability and exercise ranges, well being, and bodily/psychological soundness,” she says.

The couple start by figuring out their breeding inventory, and a slew of checks are then carried out. Bitches are DNA-tested for genetic ailments with the usage of internationally sourced DNA kits. The mouth swabs are despatched to a laboratory in Scotland for evaluation.

“The outcomes give us each bit of information to plan our breeding course of all the way down to coat color,” says Ronald. The breeding inventory can be health-checked by vets who guarantee all inoculations are updated.

“Weeks are spent learning pedigrees, phenotypes [physical characteristics] and genetic outcomes to determine essentially the most appropriate mate for every lady,” says Venessa.

They draw on their database of hundreds of Border Collie pedigrees in South Africa and overseas, permitting them to calculate relationship and inbreeding coefficients going again so far as 10 to fifteen generations.

The coefficients are a measure of how probably a pet is to inherit the identical gene variant from each its mother and father, as a result of mother and father sharing a typical ancestor. The next share can enhance the chance of genetic well being issues.

The couple have imported many canines through the years, however have not too long ago been importing semen to make sure genetic variety of their bloodlines.

“As soon as we’ve recognized essentially the most appropriate pairing, we decide the timing – now we have a database itemizing every lady’s seasons,” says Venessa.

“Then we consider two months’ gestation and two months of pet rearing, and make sure that throughout this time we’re residence to facilitate the breeding, birthing and rearing.”
Customised birthing crates are used to make sure the dam doesn’t by chance lie on the puppies.

Venron breeding inventory shouldn’t be bred below two years of age, nor over the age of seven.

“Throughout a lifetime, most of our ladies may have a most of three litters, spaced roughly each 18 months to 2 years aside. That is carried out to make sure a woman’s long-term well being, and it additionally offers us the chance to guage her pups from earlier litters and make notes of the positives and negatives,” says Venessa.

Canines which might be not being bred stay with the household for the remainder of their lives.

Pet elevating

Puppies are carefully monitored and uncovered to mild dealing with. In instances the place the litter is massive or when the dam struggles to supply sufficient milk shortly after giving beginning, puppies are supplemented by means of tube-feeding till they are often progressed to bottle-feeding.

“We begin to introduce solids from about three weeks, which is when the true work begins with three to 4 meals a day, vet visits for first inoculations, deworming and microchipping,” says Venessa.

Venron additionally makes use of an early neurological stimulation programme throughout pet elevating, which includes tactile stimulation, thermal stimulation and publicity to gentle stressors. This improves puppies’ stress responses and improves their cognitive operate.

“Within the pet space, puppies emerge from their kennels by themselves and change into house-trained naturally,” explains Ronald. That is additionally the place socialisation takes place by exposing the litter to sheep, different canines, and people of various ages and sizes.

At seven weeks, Venron puppies are evaluated for well being and conformation, and temperament-tested to find out elements resembling exercise stage, independence, and affinity for working with people.

Compatibility and profitable homing

Ronald and Venessa work carefully with potential homeowners, visiting their farms to evaluate compatibility based mostly on elements resembling way of life, property kind, and the age of their kids (very younger kids and Border Collies generally is a difficult mixture as a result of canines’ herding intuition and excessive vitality stage).

Potential homeowners are additionally made conscious of Border Collies’ requirement for bodily exercise and psychological stimulation, with out which they’ll change into stressed and develop undesirable habits. Individuals searching for pets relatively than working canines must be ready to speculate important effort and time of their Border Collies.

Venron puppies are solely made accessible to accredited houses, and stay within the couple’s care till they’re eight weeks previous. After buy, homeowners are supported, with Venessa and Ronald making themselves accessible for questions and suggestions.

Whereas the couple guarantee primary pet coaching, they stress that the onus is on the proprietor to proceed with coaching. In addition they insist that puppies attend socialisation courses and an obedience course to forge a bond and lay the muse for a well-behaved companion.

Challenges for breeders

Venron’s success has been constructed on the person strengths of the couple, each of whom are actively concerned in each side of the enterprise. Nevertheless, the trade shouldn’t be with out its challenges.

“There’s no slicing corners with skilled canine breeding, and it’s an costly enterprise. The laborious work that goes into it’s also not all the time obvious,” says Ronald. In consequence, a registered, inoculated pet from absolutely health-tested mother and father, bred by an moral breeder, might price upwards of R20 000.

Venessa provides that more and more advanced regulatory necessities are a big problem for breeders of pedigree canines.

“New rules imposed by the Division of Agriculture have successfully doubled the value of imported bloodlines, that are required by moral breeders to take care of genetic variety within the breed. We at the moment are required to make use of ‘brokers’ and pet journey firms to do what now we have all the time carried out.

“There may be additionally extra, time-consuming paperwork that needs to be accomplished by the agent.

The longer this takes, the older and greater the pup will get, requiring a much bigger crate and extra inoculations and blood checks. Which means the typical breeder, irrespective of how captivated with their breed, can’t afford to usher in the required strains.

“Many moral breeders will merely cease breeding, which is able to go away a big hole out there for unscrupulous yard breeders who don’t care in regards to the well being and temperament of the pups they produce,” says Venessa.

Venron has made a big contribution to elevating breed requirements in South Africa, but it surely faces an unsure future. For now, purchasers selecting a pet from Venron usually are not solely investing in high quality, sound temperament, and dependable working capability – they’re supporting moral breeding practices.

E-mail Venron Border Collies at [email protected].