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Our Breeding Programme
To our minds, the aim of every responsible breeder should be to improve the breed. However, achieving this objective is neither simple nor easy, especially with the restricted gene pool in this rare breed, and involves taking account of the following:
However, our aim goes further: we believe in Natural Rearing (a concept pioneered by the late Juliette de Baïracli Levy), and a holistic approach, so we completely avoid the use of processed foods and chemicals (whether they be in cleaning products or vaccines, for example) and focus on producing healthy animals who have not been "contaminated". Our long-term objective is to breed multiple-generation NR dogs with a view to increasing longevity and improving health, as we understand has been achieved in some other breeds, where lifespans have been approximately doubled. Whilst we do not hold ourselves out as experts by any means, if you are interested in a puppy from us or would like more information on how to take a more natural approach with your own dog, you are welcome to ask us more about this and we will endeavour to help. It is also useful to share experiences, since those who naturally rear Estrelas are few and far between.
Equally, if you aren't sure whether the breed is for you, please do contact us: we welcome visitors who want to establish whether the breed is for them, as Livestock Guardian breeds such as Estrelas, are quite different to many other breeds and this difference should not be underestimated.
We also feel strongly about expanding the bloodlines in the UK because we are not comfortable with in-breeding and the associated health risks and, in our view, the gene pool has been far too small for a very long time (and, for this reason, we were, to our knowledge, the first people to import the semen of an overseas Estrela into the UK to use via Artificial Insemination). This is in line with the Kennel Club's views on in-breeding, who state (under "Genetic Diversity"):
"Recent research demonstrates that for many breeds of dog genetic diversity is being lost generation after generation and in future dog breeders will need to start to manage these losses in genetic diversity in order to minimise the potentially serious risks that are associated with increasing loss of genetic diversity."*
If you are considering buying a puppy, you may like to use the Kennel Club Mate Select system to check the co-efficient of in-breeding ("COI") of each of the parents and of the puppy. For further information on COIs, please click here. We would also recommend asking the breeder you are considering buying from, for sight of copies of both parents' health tests, details of health conditions in the relevant lines (please see our page on Estrela Health) and whether they will be contributing to the Estrela Health Database, since we believe this speaks volumes about a breeder's integrity.
In following the NR method, we believe in allowing the pups to take milk from their mother until she and they are ready to wean naturally (rather than forcing them to wean at a certain age). Additionally, we believe that it is psychologically beneficial for the pups to stay with their Mum and littermates and live among our pack of Estrelas for longer than the standard 7-8 weeks (typically, a pup of ours will go to its new home at 10-12 weeks of age). Needless to say we also wean them onto a raw diet. The puppies are reared in our home so that they are used to being in a home environment, socialised with other animals and a variety of people, and exposed to as many sounds and new experiences as possible. We also encourage their future families to visit as much as possible during this time.
Because of our own experiences and the published information on the dangers of conventional vaccination (for example, by Canine Health Concern, Christopher Day MA VetMB VetFFHom MRCVS, and Roger Meacock MRCVS), our pups are given homeopathic nosodes from our holistic vet in place of vaccinations. We worm them using non-chemical methods (i.e. with DE and/or herbally and homeopathically), if at all necessary, though Mum and pups are tested for worms, to avoid arbitrary and unnecessary worming.
Acquiring a pup from us will involve entering into a contract designed to protect the long-term welfare of the dog and the breed.
If you are looking for a puppy, please do not hesitate to contact us, either to enquire about joining our own puppy list for any future litter, or to be put in contact with other breeders who we believe are reputable, knowledgeable and have the long-term welfare of the breed at heart.
* Reproduced with the kind permission of the Kennel Club.
- Structure, i.e. structural soundness;
- Type, i.e conformation to the breed standard;
- Health, i.e. the avoidance of disease (inheritable and otherwise); and
- Temperament.
However, our aim goes further: we believe in Natural Rearing (a concept pioneered by the late Juliette de Baïracli Levy), and a holistic approach, so we completely avoid the use of processed foods and chemicals (whether they be in cleaning products or vaccines, for example) and focus on producing healthy animals who have not been "contaminated". Our long-term objective is to breed multiple-generation NR dogs with a view to increasing longevity and improving health, as we understand has been achieved in some other breeds, where lifespans have been approximately doubled. Whilst we do not hold ourselves out as experts by any means, if you are interested in a puppy from us or would like more information on how to take a more natural approach with your own dog, you are welcome to ask us more about this and we will endeavour to help. It is also useful to share experiences, since those who naturally rear Estrelas are few and far between.
Equally, if you aren't sure whether the breed is for you, please do contact us: we welcome visitors who want to establish whether the breed is for them, as Livestock Guardian breeds such as Estrelas, are quite different to many other breeds and this difference should not be underestimated.
We also feel strongly about expanding the bloodlines in the UK because we are not comfortable with in-breeding and the associated health risks and, in our view, the gene pool has been far too small for a very long time (and, for this reason, we were, to our knowledge, the first people to import the semen of an overseas Estrela into the UK to use via Artificial Insemination). This is in line with the Kennel Club's views on in-breeding, who state (under "Genetic Diversity"):
"Recent research demonstrates that for many breeds of dog genetic diversity is being lost generation after generation and in future dog breeders will need to start to manage these losses in genetic diversity in order to minimise the potentially serious risks that are associated with increasing loss of genetic diversity."*
If you are considering buying a puppy, you may like to use the Kennel Club Mate Select system to check the co-efficient of in-breeding ("COI") of each of the parents and of the puppy. For further information on COIs, please click here. We would also recommend asking the breeder you are considering buying from, for sight of copies of both parents' health tests, details of health conditions in the relevant lines (please see our page on Estrela Health) and whether they will be contributing to the Estrela Health Database, since we believe this speaks volumes about a breeder's integrity.
In following the NR method, we believe in allowing the pups to take milk from their mother until she and they are ready to wean naturally (rather than forcing them to wean at a certain age). Additionally, we believe that it is psychologically beneficial for the pups to stay with their Mum and littermates and live among our pack of Estrelas for longer than the standard 7-8 weeks (typically, a pup of ours will go to its new home at 10-12 weeks of age). Needless to say we also wean them onto a raw diet. The puppies are reared in our home so that they are used to being in a home environment, socialised with other animals and a variety of people, and exposed to as many sounds and new experiences as possible. We also encourage their future families to visit as much as possible during this time.
Because of our own experiences and the published information on the dangers of conventional vaccination (for example, by Canine Health Concern, Christopher Day MA VetMB VetFFHom MRCVS, and Roger Meacock MRCVS), our pups are given homeopathic nosodes from our holistic vet in place of vaccinations. We worm them using non-chemical methods (i.e. with DE and/or herbally and homeopathically), if at all necessary, though Mum and pups are tested for worms, to avoid arbitrary and unnecessary worming.
Acquiring a pup from us will involve entering into a contract designed to protect the long-term welfare of the dog and the breed.
If you are looking for a puppy, please do not hesitate to contact us, either to enquire about joining our own puppy list for any future litter, or to be put in contact with other breeders who we believe are reputable, knowledgeable and have the long-term welfare of the breed at heart.
* Reproduced with the kind permission of the Kennel Club.
