ESC Breeder Litter Listing FAQs
Yes. The litter listing must meet the required standards laid out in the English Shepherd Club’s Breeders’ Requirement and Recommendations (ESC BR&R) document.
- I will do a hip x-ray and submit to a nationally or internationally recognized diagnostic service for evaluation of all my breeding dogs. If a dog has suffered an injury that makes an evaluation impossible, documentation and a vet report will be accepted. I understand that both parents must have hip evaluations before a litter is listed on the ESC website.
- I will test for MDR1 unless my breeding dogs are normal/normal by pedigree. (Normal/normal by pedigree means both parents of the dog have been tested and the results have been recorded within the ESCR database.)
- I will provide documentation of the results of all screening tests of my breeding dogs to the ESC Registry and understand the results will be added to the ESCR database under each dog’s name.
- I am aware that for the ESC website litter listings ONLY, the following criteria apply: the minimum age for parents of litters posted on the ESC website is 18 months at the time of whelping. Only ONE back-to-back litter per dam is allowed to be posted on the website. (Less than 10 months between litters defines a BTB litter). A breeder is allowed a limit of three listings per calendar year. All litter listings will include the dates of the previous litters from the dam.
- I will comply with state laws regarding the age at which puppies are allowed to leave their dam.
- I will maintain written records of all my breeding dogs including health records, breeding dates and litters, during their lifetime. I will keep a record of names and contact information of all puppy buyers (recorded at the time of purchase). I will provide the results of all diagnoses of any hereditary problems
to the puppy buyers whose dogs might be affected. - I will register my breeding dogs and all litters with the ESCR.
- I will not knowingly sell or donate dogs to commercial dog wholesalers, dealers, brokers, retailers, pet shops, or any other person or organization for resale or to be given away to any public fundraising event. Nor will I sell on any public property (store parking lots, intersections, dog parks, etc.).
- I will not speak falsehoods or misrepresent the ESC or other breeders.
- I will comply with all federal, state or provincial, and local government laws and regulations concerning the keeping of dogs.
- I understand that I must be a member for one full year before being eligible to be listed as a breeder with the ESC.
- If breeding more than one breed, I will disclose the breeds I have and will not intentionally create a “designer” breed using English Shepherds. (A designer breed is defined as any dog created solely for the purpose of aesthetics and appearances. )
The second half of the document covers things that are not required, but are recommended. It consists of:
For all dogs and litters, I will:
- Provide a safe/healthy environment with fresh water, daily exercise, daily human interaction, and nutrition appropriate to the age of the puppy or adult dog.
- Follow the vaccination and worming protocol of my veterinarian or current AVMA recommendations and provide the buyer with documentation of products used.
- Understand that the ESC recommends puppies leaving their dam at a minimum of eight weeks.
- Not sell more than one puppy from a single litter to a person or household.
- Honestly represent my breeding dogs and puppies and will not mislead any person by omitting any information regarding health of the animals or their relatives, their behavior history or ancestry.
- Provide socialization opportunities for each of my dogs and puppies, including such things as: daily human handling, exposure to different environments,
exposure to different people and children, exposure to experiences beyond the area where they live within the first eight weeks of life. - Breed dogs with the potential to contribute positively to the breed. Conscientiously plan each litter, selecting a stud dog and dam to be mated based on pedigrees, working ability, temperament, and structure.
- Not breed any male or female until they are physically and mentally mature, nor breed any dam repeatedly in such a manner as to endanger her health or that of her puppies.
- Discontinue breeding the dam beyond an appropriate age.
- Show discrimination in the sale of the puppies and be concerned with the type of homes in which they are placed. Have a written or oral contract stating
responsibilities and rights of breeder and buyer. - Accept return of a puppy or dog (bred by me) at any time during the dog’s lifetime or work with a reputable rescue to rehome said puppy or dog. Make every effort to redeem any dog (bred by me) should he or she ever be in the custody of a dog pound or animal shelter.
- Educate potential owners about the challenges of the breed in order to foster an understanding of the breed’s innate character and prevent training problems. At a minimum, I will provide buyers with the ESC Puppy Handbook.
- Be a resource for buyers of puppies or older dogs (sold by me) for the life of the dog, helping puppy owners with advice, training, behavior modification
information, and referrals to trainers in their area. - Encourage every puppy buyer to permanently identify his or her dog with a registered microchip or tattoo that includes my contact information as a primary or secondary contact.
- Submit a Working Trait Evaluation for each parent of a litter.
Information concerning how to join and a link to the online membership application may be found on the ESC Membership webpage. You may choose between online application and payment or printing out the application and sending it along with payment in the mail.
This form can be downloaded from the English Shepherd Club Breeders’ Requirements and Recommendations page. If submitting through the mail, both forms should be sent to the address listed on the ESC Membership webpage. However, if you did not send in the English Shepherd Club Breeders’ Requirements and Recommendations form when your membership forms were completed and there is some urgency then you may get a legible scan or digital photo of the printed and signed ESC BR&R form and send it directly to the Litter Listing Coordinator.
https://englishshepherd.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/breeder_requirements.pdf
You have to choose whether you want to pay back-dues to the time your membership lapsed or rejoin the club as if you were a new member.
If you decide to rejoin the club as if you were a new member you have to fill out a new club membership application and send in a new English Shepherd Club Breeders’ Requirements and Recommendations form. You will have to wait a year for the club to post any litter listings for you, just as if you were a new member.
If you decide to pay back-dues, you do not have to fill out a new club membership application or send in a new English Shepherd Club Breeders’ Requirements and Recommendations form. You would be able to request litter listings as soon as your payment was verified.
If your child is a minor you must be listed as the breeder, as minors cannot legally enter into a contract. Please put a note clarifying the relationship someplace on the listing form.
If your child is not a minor, you will either have to lease the dam or your child will have to join the English Shepherd Club and provide an ESC BR&R and all the other paperwork for litter listing as an independent breeder.
You have a choice here. The first option is writing and submitting a lease agreement that outlines you shall be leasing the dam from your spouse and includes both your signatures.
However, since the owner of the dam is your spouse, you do have a second option. You may simply put both your names on the litter listing form as the official breeder. Please note that your spouse’s name must be added to your club membership and you must send in a joint ESC BR&R form if you choose to list as married co-breeders.
The two required health tests are hip x-rays and MDR1.
Both the sire and dam are required to have a hip x-ray to screen for hip dysplasia, unless they have had an injury that makes such evaluation impossible. This x-ray must be submitted to a nationally or internationally recognized diagnostic service (such as OFA or PennHIP) and the results must be sent to the ESCR before the litter listing is posted. If such evaluation is impossible because of an injury, documentation of the injury by a veterinarian should be sent to ESCR instead. Information about canine hip dysplasia can be found at the English Shepherd Club Breed and Breeder website (http://www.escbreederinfo.com/) under the “Health Testing” option of the “Planning/Breeding” tab.
Information about MDR1 can be found at the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine website (http://vcpl.vetmed.wsu.edu/). If your English Shepherd is not clear for the MDR1 mutation based on pedigree as recorded in the English Shepherd Club Registry, you will need to get your dog tested for the mutation and submit results to the ESCR. However, if official MDR1 test results are available for your dog’s sire and dam but have not been sent in to the ESCR, you may obtain those instead and send them in. Please note that this exemption only applies if both the sire and dam of your dog have been tested, not if one or both of them are clear by pedigree.
These tests are not required to qualify for a litter listing, but if you have done these tests, you are required to submit official documentation of results for inclusion on your litter listing and so they can be added to the ESCR database.
Hard copy of any test results may be sent to the registry address listed on the ESCR’s website (http://www.esc-registry.org/ ).
Alternatively, you may use the ESCR online Information Submission form (http://www.englishshepherd.org/esc-registry-form.html). You do not have to fill out the entire form unless you wish to do so. You may simply fill out your name, your dog’s registered name, check off any health tests, and attach the appropriate certifications where indicated.
No, if you are using an outside stud, he does not have to be registered with ESCR, although you will have to submit the outside stud’s pedigree and registration information for inclusion in the ESCR database. Submitting this information does not mean that the dog is registered with the ESCR, it simply means that the dog will be included in the pedigree database. You will need that information later to register your litter.
Please note that outside studs are required to conform to the same health test regulations that a stud owned by you would have to.
Information about registering and forms can be found at the ESCR website ( http://www.esc-registry.org/ ). The litter does not have to be individually registered. Instead use the Litter Registration Application form which is available on the ESCR website.
Breeders must also fill out the Litter Listing form. This can be done either with the online form found on the Litter Listing Webpage (http://www.englishshepherd.org/litter-listing-form.html), or by downloading and printing the .pdf Litter Listing Form available on that page.
If neither option is working for you please contact the Litter Listing Coordinator, Jean Rawlings, at moonlightinshadow@gmail.com. Blank Word templates are available for you to fill out. When sending these Word documents back to the Litter Listing Coordinator, please make sure they are saved in a file type from which it is easy to copy and paste. The volunteer who maintains the website needs to be able to quickly copy blocks of litter listing information for upload.
Please remember to include your full address when filling out a litter listing. While street addresses are not published on the ESC Litter Listings Webpage, they are labeled by state.
No. Breeders wishing to be noted in the Club Newsletter should contact the editor of the Shepherd’s Call for an entry. Similarly, breeders should contact the person assembling the Breeder’s Directory for inclusion in that publication. Information for the Breeder’s Directory is usually collected in February for a spring publication.
No, it is not prohibited.
Litter listings can be submitted four to five weeks prior to the scheduled arrival of the litter. They will not be posted until four weeks before expected delivery date because of the difficulty of confirming pregnancy during the first month after breeding. If you are unsure about the process and necessary paperwork after reading this FAQ, please contact the litter listing coordinator for help.
Litter listings normally stay up 8 weeks after the birth of the puppies. However, if you still have pups to place after these two months you should contact the Litter Listing Coordinator to request that your listing remain posted for a longer time.
The current litter listing coordinator has noted the following trends:
- Provide good photos of the sire and dam. Listings without photos are less eye-catching.
- Don’t skimp on your description of the sire and dam. You don’t have to write a novel, but people want to know the temperaments of the parents. Pay attention to the working characteristics of the breed in your description.
- Consider creating a web page for your litter. This allows you a larger space to talk about the sire and dam, and provides a location for puppy photos. Some people do this by creating a blog, but there are also many places on the web where you can get a free website that is fairly easy to put together with some work.
The English Shepherd Club will post a listing for an older pup provided it meets three criteria.
- the puppy is back at the breeder’s home
- the puppy is under 18 months in age
- the puppy is from a previously listed litter on the ESC website
The English Shepherd Club maintains a Breed and Breeder Information website (http://www.escbreederinfo.com/) that includes a lot of helpful information and articles. Topics include breed conservation, breeding strategies, breeding considerations, information on care of the pregnant bitch and puppies, evaluation of puppy purchasers, puppy placement, and puppy contracts.
In addition, the club has Puppy Packets available (http://www.englishshepherd.org/breeder-puppy-packets.html) that can be given to your new puppy owners. The Packets include a Puppy Handbook, Puppy Planner, sample newsletter, plus information about joining the Club. The cost is only $8.00 per packet. If purchased separately, the handbook and planner would total $16. There is a minimum purchase of three Packets.
Jean Rawlings, Litter Listing Coordinator
Contact: litterlisting@englishshepherd.org