We’ll soon be welcoming a new puppy into our home, but she’s not been easy to find. I’ve been searching for the last five months. Ideally, I wanted one from sheep working lines, because I’ve got sheep of my own that I wanted to train a pup to help me with, after losing my wonderful collie, Esther, last year.
So I thought I’d share what I’ve learned along the way, because finding a genuinely healthy border collie puppy at the moment is much harder than it should be, and there’s a lot to know if you want to successfully find your ideal pup.
This complete guide to finding a border collie puppy describes my search, where to look, which lines to go for, finding a good breeder, what to ask and look for when you visit the litter, as well as how to research litters to make sure your pup is as healthy and temperamentally sound as it can be.
Where to look for a puppy
It’s always best, where you can, to find owners or trainers who do well in dog sports, showing, or sheepdog trials, and ask them directly. If someone has a good following on social media and clearly does well with their dogs, most won’t mind being asked if they know of any good litters at the moment; it’s always a good place to start. If you know someone like this personally, even better: ask them directly.
Failing that, if you do need to look online, Champdogs is a good place to start, since it’s generally where show line and sport line breeders advertise their puppies. Bear in mind, though, that some of the best breeders will have waiting lists, so the litters currently advertised there may not represent the very best available. If you can identify a good breeder in advance and get yourself added to their waiting list, that’s often a better route than waiting for an advert to appear.
Be wary of sites like Pets4Homes, Freeads, other general classified sites, and Facebook groups. You do get some good litters advertised on there, but anyone can list a litter, and there’s no requirement for a breeder using these sites to be reputable, or to have carried out any health testing at all. It’s not that these sites should be avoided altogether, just that everything covered in this article matters even more when a litter has come from one of them.
Once you’ve found a litter you’re interested in, the rest of this article will help you work out whether it’s genuinely a puppy worth taking home.
Why I moved away from working lines
I was genuinely shocked by how difficult it was to find a healthy puppy with properly health tested parents from working lines. It’s often said that no border collie lines are entirely free from epilepsy or hip issues; I’m not sure that’s strictly true, but it was certainly difficult to find a puppy that was fully health tested from working lines. Most now have the genetic DNA tests done, which screen for a whole range of nasty inherited conditions, and it’s genuinely good that this has become far more common than it was a few years ago. Breeders can take swabs from inside their dogs’ cheeks and send them off to the lab, who conduct a long list of genetic tests – such as the My Dog DNA Advanced Package.
But most breeders still aren’t checking eyes or hearing (other than the DNA tests – there are eye and hearing tests that can be carried out physically), and most aren’t checking hips or elbows either. This really matters, because collies so often have hip issues. Some are, unfortunately, still breeding from dogs with known conditions like epilepsy or hip dysplasia, or dogs who are known to pass these conditions on to their puppies.
Even the few litters I did find where at least one parent had been hip scored tended to come with something else not quite right, whether a congenital deformity incidentally found on x-rays, or known temperament issues in the parents, to name but a few.
I think part of the problem here is less about intent and more about visibility. These litters are often intended for farmers and trials handlers, who may not always realise their dog has an underlying condition. Epilepsy, for instance, may happen at night when the dog is alone in its kennel. Hip issues can be similarly hard to spot, since a dog with hip problems is often still very capable of working sheep, as the arousal and adrenaline involved can numb aches and pains that would otherwise be obvious. One of the most common ways dogs show they’re in pain is through aggression directed towards their owners. This is particularly likely once they’ve settled for the evening and don’t want to move. But a working dog kennelled outside overnight may simply not be around people at that point for this to be seen, and where it is seen, it can sometimes be met with firm discipline rather than being recognised as a sign of discomfort, leaving the dog with no real way of communicating how they’re feeling.
Collies are also often so intent on getting the chance to work sheep that they’ll rarely turn down the opportunity, however much pain they might actually be in, which means the handler is often genuinely unaware that anything is wrong.
That said, this doesn’t explain every case. It’s regrettable, but there will always be some handlers who have enough space to keep a large number of dogs, and who aren’t especially concerned if one becomes unable to work because of a medical issue. That’s a very different situation to the rest of us, with one or a small number of family pets living in our home, who can’t easily afford to treat a health condition and, more importantly, don’t have the luxury of simply “getting another one” if things go wrong. We have to get our choice right the first time.
There’s an ethical dimension to this too, and it comes down to us as buyers as much as to breeders. If people keep buying puppies from lines already known to produce health or temperament problems, there’s very little incentive for that to change. Every puppy bought from an untested or poorly tested line, however lovely that individual puppy turns out to be, is effectively a vote to keep breeding that way.
By contrast, you tend not to see these issues nearly as much in show lines, and often not in sport lines either. That’s largely down to accountability. Show and sport breeders are, essentially, pet owners themselves. They’re out at shows every weekend, their dogs are a huge part of their lives, and if they breed a dog with health problems, word gets around the community fast. There’s a real incentive to stop breeding from a dog if a health issue shows up, and while that’s not always an easy decision for a breeder who’s invested years into a line, it does happen.
ISDS – the alternative working sheepdog registry
The International Sheepdog Society (ISDS) is an alternative registration body for border collies, often preferred by sheepdog trials handlers over the Kennel Club. I wouldn’t be at all put off if puppies are only registered with the ISDS – it was the only registration option. available for border collies before the Kennel Club officially recognised the breed in the 1970’s, so it has a wealth of history about the breed. However, be aware that it is mostly the sheepdog trials handlers and farmers that use this option for registration who, as a rule, don’t hip score or carry out any eye or hearing testing. For the sake of the working collie as a whole, this really needs to change, and the more people who insist on a hip-scored puppy before committing to buy, the more pressure there is on breeders to start making this kind of testing standard practice.
Steer clear of unregistered and farm-bred litters
Given all of this, I’d suggest it’s probably best to avoid working lines altogether, or anything bred on a farm or elsewhere that isn’t registered with a recognised body. Without registration, you have no way of properly researching the pedigree for either health or temperament issues, which removes almost all of the tools covered later in this article.
One rule that applies whatever you choose
Whatever line you’re considering, ALWAYS ask what health tests have been carried out, and ask to see the actual results, not just take a breeder’s word for it. If the tests have genuinely been done, the owner will have confirmation of the results to hand; if they can’t produce anything, that tells you something in itself.
It’s also worth keeping the usual puppy farm red flags in mind throughout your search, whatever line or type of breeder you’re considering. The PDSA has published an excellent article, Could You Spot a Puppy Farm?, covering exactly what to look out for, and it’s well worth reading alongside everything in this article.
What to ask when you find a litter
The first thing I’d always ask is whether the puppies’ parents are health checked, and whether that includes DNA testing. It’s worth knowing what DNA testing can and can’t tell you, though: it screens for a specific list of known inherited genetic conditions, but it doesn’t cover everything. Hip dysplasia and epilepsy are two of the most important conditions in collies, and neither can be picked up by a DNA test.
For hip dysplasia, the only way to know is to have the puppies’ parents’ hips x-rayed and formally scored, through a scheme like the BVA/Kennel Club hip scheme, which gives a numerical hip score for each hip. Hip and elbow scoring is, in my view, non-negotiable, given how often I see collies with hip problems (two of my own have had hip issues, one with a question mark over it too). It’s also worth asking about hearing (a BAER test), early onset deafness testing (EOD), and eye checks, since collies are prone to both collie eye anomaly and progressive retinal atrophy (PRA).
At an absolute minimum, you want hip and elbow scoring plus DNA profiling, and don’t just ask whether it’s been done. Ask to see the results, and if you’re not sure what they mean, it’s easy enough to look it up. For collies, the breed average hip score is 11; ideally, both parents should score below that average.
Epilepsy is a similar story. There’s currently no DNA test that can identify it, even though it’s well recognised as being hereditary in collies. Since it can’t be tested for directly, the only way to get any sense of risk is through the kind of pedigree research covered below, looking at whether epilepsy shows up anywhere in a dog’s close or extended family.
As well as health testing, ask about the mother’s temperament. Is she friendly with people and other dogs? I would avoid any litter whose mother is fearful in any way – this is likely to be passed on to the puppies. Does she chase traffic? This may be a deal-breaker if you live near busy roads, or if the puppy will need to be walked on roads as opposed to being driven to quiet walking locations. Ask about the temperament of the father, as well as any other relatives.
What health testing actually costs
It’s worth knowing the full costs of health tests, if only to understand why some breeders skip it (figures below are correct as of 2026, but do check current pricing, since fees can change). A joint hip and elbow submission to the BVA/Kennel Club scheme currently costs £150 in scrutineer fees alone, on top of the vet’s own charge for taking the x-rays, which typically runs to somewhere between £150 and £350 depending on the practice and whether sedation or a full general anaesthetic is used. All told, most owners are looking at somewhere in the region of £250 to £400 just for hip and elbow scoring on a single dog.
Eye testing through the BVA/Kennel Club scheme costs around £72 per dog per visit, and it isn’t a one-off: it needs repeating periodically rather than being done once and forgotten. A BAER hearing test typically costs somewhere around £150. DNA panels covering the range of conditions relevant to collies generally run to somewhere in the region of £80 to £150, depending on the laboratory and how many conditions are included in the bundle.
Add all of that up, for both parents, and it’s easy to see how a breeder doing every recommended test properly could be looking at well over £1,000 in health screening alone, before a single puppy has even been born. That’s a high cost, and it’s a large part of why thoroughly tested puppies tend to cost more to buy, and why you should refuse to pay high prices for puppies whose parents have not been health tested.
None of this is an excuse for skipping testing altogether. It’s simply the reality that explains, without excusing, why some breeders cut corners here, and it’s a reminder that paying a bit more for a puppy from properly tested parents is very often money well spent.
Researching the pedigree
This bit takes real time, but it’s worth it. The Fitting Border Collies database lists collies that owners have reported as having had a seizure. It’s not a complete picture, since only owners can add their dogs, but it’s a genuinely useful research tool. You can search individual dogs, going back through parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, and see whether a dog you’re considering keeps appearing on there. If it does, it’s worth also checking who that dog was mated with, since the other parent may be the one carrying the risk. There’s currently no DNA test for epilepsy, so this database, alongside groups like the Border Collie Pedigrees Facebook group, is genuinely one of the better tools available.
The Anadune Border Collie Database is one of the most valuable tools available, yet very few puppy buyers know about it. A five-generation pedigree from a breeder only tells you who a dog’s relatives are. Anadune lets you actually investigate those relatives: health test results, photos, and details of any previous litters they’ve produced. Not all border collies are added to Anadune – it’s up to breeders or owners to add them – but many are present, and if parents are not on there, relatives further back might be.
The Kennel Club’s health test results finder is another one worth using alongside these, since it lets you look up a dog by name or registration number and see official, verified results for hip and elbow scores, eye tests and DNA tests, which is a useful way to cross-check anything a breeder tells you.
Don’t stop at the parents. It’s worth working through the wider family where you can: parents, grandparents, siblings, half-siblings, previous litters from both parents, and offspring of the grandparents if you can find them. This is where patterns start to emerge.
Previous litters deserve particular attention. If the dam has already had one or two litters, you potentially have a dozen or more adult dogs out there who can tell you a great deal about hips, elbows, temperament, epilepsy, longevity and working ability, information a first litter simply can’t give you. If either parent has had a previous litter, it’s well worth trying to track down and speak to owners of those puppies too, rather than relying on paperwork alone. People are usually happy to talk about their dog, and hearing first-hand how a full or half-sibling has turned out can tell you far more than a set of test results ever will. The Border Collie Pedigrees Facebook group is often a good starting point for this, since owners will sometimes post asking if anyone can tell them anything about health or temperament from a dog’s pedigree, and you can do the same.
A puppy’s parents having good hips is good, but collies with good hips can still pass on hip issues to offspring. So it’s also important to look into whether the siblings also have good hips, whether the previous litter did, and whether the grandparents have consistently produced good hips across multiple litters. That pattern tells you far more about what’s actually likely to be passed on than any single dog’s result.
It’s also worth paying attention to what isn’t there. If a pedigree has dozens of dogs in it and virtually no health results recorded anywhere, that’s telling you something too, even if it isn’t a dramatic red flag on its own.
To sum this whole section up as: don’t just research the puppy, research the family. The puppy in front of you is eight weeks old. It’s the relatives who tell you what they’re likely to become.
One thing worth bearing in mind: a single affected puppy doesn’t tell you very much on its own. If a prolific sire has produced hundreds of puppies and two have developed epilepsy, that’s very different to a sire who’s produced twenty puppies and had six affected. Context really matters here. Equally, a dog with excellent hips can still have a full sibling with terrible hips, and while that wouldn’t automatically rule a litter out for me, it would make me want to dig a lot further.
Going to a few dog shows or sheepdog trials, even before you’ve got a puppy, is another good way to pick up information. Standing and watching, or asking owners about the lines behind dogs you particularly like, can tell you a surprising amount.
How is the puppy being raised?
Beyond health testing, I’d always ask how the puppies are being brought up. Are they outside in a kennel or barn, or inside the house, getting used to normal household sights and sounds? This matters more than people often realise. Puppies raised somewhere very quiet can find the noise and chaos of a family home genuinely overwhelming when they first arrive, and that’s a difficult start for everyone.
There’s also a knock-on effect on excitability. Puppies used to long, quiet stretches punctuated by brief, exciting visits from people can struggle to switch off once they’re in a busy household where people are around constantly, since their previous routine has effectively taught them that “people around” always means play. That’s often where an inability to settle begins.
It’s also worth knowing that stress experienced by the mother during pregnancy can, through a process called epigenetics, influence puppies’ likelihood of developing an anxious temperament. This is thought to be nature’s way of preparing a litter for a potentially risky environment, but it’s a good reason to ask how the mother was looked after during pregnancy, and not to assume a kennelled or quieter set-up is automatically worse. Sometimes a bitch genuinely does better away from a hectic household, as long as the space she’s in is clean and well cared for.
What to watch for when you visit
Watch how the breeder, and any other people around, interact with the puppies and the older dogs. If any of the dogs seem worried or cower away from their own family, that’s a real red flag, and can point to puppies arriving with some degree of trauma that’s genuinely hard to undo, even with good training. Confidence around their own household is what you’re looking for.
Mum’s temperament matters enormously, since puppies are learning from her directly, not just inheriting traits genetically. You want to see her comfortable and friendly around visitors. The sire’s temperament is worth knowing too, particularly if he’s around the puppies much.
Look at the environment as well: puppies raised somewhere clean, with people tidying up after them regularly, tend to learn early on not to toilet near their bed, which makes house-training considerably easier once they’re home with you. Ask for plenty of photos and videos too, not just what you see on the day you visit, since it’s easy for anywhere to look clean and tidy when you are visiting.
If you can see any feeding videos, it’s worth noting whether puppies are sharing a bowl or have individual ones, and whether there’s any squabbling over food. Tension around resources at that age can be an early indicator of a puppy predisposed towards resource guarding later on, so it’s something I’d want to avoid.
I’d also ask whether the puppies have been wormed, and whether they’ve been tested for giardia, or whether the breeder has had giardia in previous litters. Some breeders will proactively test for parasites, including giardia, as a matter of course, precisely to make sure their puppies go to new homes free from this nasty parasite, which can lead to long-term gastrointestinal issues if left untreated.
Most breeders won’t do this, but if you find one who does this without being asked, it is generally a good sign of how thorough they are more broadly. Giardia is a genuinely nasty parasite, and if puppies contract it young, it can affect gut health their whole lives. Given everything we’re learning about the gut-brain axis, gut damage at that age may well have knock-on effects on behaviour later, even if the exact mechanisms aren’t fully understood yet.
A word on unusual colours
If you’re drawn to one of the less common collie colourings, it’s worth being extra diligent. Unusual colours aren’t generally seen in the show ring, partly because of long-standing preferences there, which means there’s less of the natural accountability that comes with breeding for showing or sport. Where a colour is in high demand and commands a higher price, there’s more incentive for breeding to be done for looks and profit rather than health or temperament. Simply because there are fewer collies with rarer colours about, and they have not been about for long, they may have been bred largely for looks from a fairly limited gene pool, which is worth bearing in mind. If you do want an unusual colour, look for a breeder ideally pairing that colouring back with well-bred, health-tested black-and-white lines, and be even more thorough with your health checks.
Where I ended up
After everything I’ve seen, both in practice and living with my own dogs, one with epilepsy, and one with hip problems, I realised I wasn’t prepared to compromise on health. My next puppy is actually coming from a show line, from a breeder I’ve known and trusted for a long time, who does every health test going, and then some. It’s not the working-bred puppy I originally set out to find, but I’m confident I’m giving myself the best chance of a healthy dog, and that matters more to me than whether she can herd sheep brilliantly or not.
If you’re searching for a puppy at the moment, take your time, ask to see the paperwork rather than just being told it exists, and don’t be afraid to dig into the pedigree further than the breeder hands you. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it.
Six things to remember
- DNA testing doesn’t cover everything. Hip dysplasia and epilepsy can’t be picked up by a DNA test; hips need to be x-rayed and formally scored, and epilepsy risk can only be assessed through pedigree research, since there’s no DNA test for it.
- Always ask to see the actual results, not just take a breeder’s word that testing has been done. A breeder who’s genuinely tested will have the paperwork to hand.
- Research the whole family, not just the parents. Siblings, half-siblings, grandparents and previous litters tell you far more about what’s likely to be passed on than a single dog’s result.
- How a puppy is raised matters as much as genetics. Environment, cleanliness, and even the mother’s stress levels during pregnancy can all influence temperament.
- Watch for red flags beyond health paperwork, including squabbling over food, nervous or fearful adult dogs, unusual colours bred primarily for profit, and the general signs of a puppy farm.
- Stick to registered breeders (ISDS or Kennel Club) wherever possible, whether working, show or sport lines, since registration is what gives you the ability to research a pedigree at all.
Useful links
• Champdogs
• International Sheepdog Society (ISDS)
• BVA/Kennel Club hip scheme
• Kennel Club health test results finder
• Fitting Border Collies database
• Anadune
• Border Collie Pedigrees Facebook group
• PDSA: Could You Spot a Puppy Farm?