Hi I'm looking for a pup and thinking about a Catalan Sheepdog, so wondering if any owners are here to share experiences or answer basic questions.

Thanks,

Mark

As well as asking  here have u contacted the breed club?

https://www.champdogs.co.uk/club/1077

https://catalansheepdogclub.co.uk/

Depends where u are but they are having a show in June. If u are able to attend restrictions permitting it would be a good chance to meet the dogs in person as well as breeders and owners

Way ahead of you!

Thank you both for the quick response, very good advice and I came here right after emailing the club and putting the show in my diary.

Are there any other resources you'd recommend or tips that might not be in these or the Kennel Club site? I've read the relevant parts of those, so no need to cover what's there.

It's pretty good to be honest so I'm mainly looking to connect with owners and breeders you know about the breed, or might have other suggestions.

As I've not done this before I'm not sure how hard it might be to find a suitable pup, how much the pup itself might cost, and to get specific advice about the breed for which the show seems ideal.

Thanks again.

Have u looked in the breeder section here and owners for that matter . Contact them and have a chat to learn to learn  more about the breed
If u decide its the breed u want building a relationship with a breeder u like is the best way forward. Also a large dose of patience, its not an easy time to find a well bred pup of any breed
If u can get to any shows in the future that would be helpful as well.not sure when they will be given where we are with covid unfortunately

I'll see if any respond here and if not try contacting. There's a show planned for June so if that goes ahead I'll be there too. Thanks.

I suggest u go to the breeders section anyway more likley to get responses contacting people direct. 
It still possible there are  members who have them and will see your query but its better to speak to the breeders in that section

As a trainer, I've worked with a few. They have all been reactive... Be warned. If you don't want your "flock" guarded, then maybe reconsider!

UPDATE: for anyone finding this topic and wondering about a Catalan Sheepdog puppy.

I went to the Catalan show last June (2021) and highly recommend it as a way of meeting the breed, owners and breeders (next will be April 2022 so we may see you there!). I'm shy and would normally have stayed an hour or so and left as soon as I felt I'd got the essentials. Instead I really enjoyed it and stayed all day! Spoke to lots of people and made friends with several of their dogs. It was enough to confirm that (after earlier online research) I wanted to look for a Catalan pup while still not being sure if I'd be capable enough, or able to find one in a reasonable time because there aren't many breeders, fewer planning litters and all have waiting lists. More than one of the dogs I met at the show was imported but I didn't want to do that, particularly with this breed.

From there I had some names of breeders and contacted them, as well as emailing via the lists on here. I had several replies but no prospect of a dog in the short term.

Then a breeder phoned who had a litter due in July. She was very experienced and keen to check me out as well as my unusual living situation, on a boat. We spoke every evening for over a week and eventually she decided to offer me a pup! Later a breeder I'd met at the show offered me one of hers too but one is enough for now :-).

We visited the pups at four weeks and collected at eight (Sept 2021), and now my Catalan is living with me on my boat and doing incredibly well.

Catalans are not regarded as suitable for a first time owner, which was my situation, but I have shown that if you know dogs well and are willing to give time to your dog and learning how to raise them it is possible. I think you need to be grounded, then with the help of a knowledgeable and helpful breeder, you can decide realistically if you are ready for this breed, or if you should consider something more straightforward. You need to know yourself well first I think.

I have found my Catalan to be a very rewarding pet and companion so far. She's gorgeous, smart, demanding, and has a luscious but low maintenance coat (not a dog hair to be seen). Mine learns readily (a treat maniac!) and so is easy in most ways so long as you can learn fast and do what is needed for this breed (e.g. lots of socialisation and habituation, mental stimulation etc) and have the right resources (the breeder on hand and good books in my case, as well as searching online and asking questions, like here). I read a lot and planned everything well before she arrived and then continued to study and update as we went. I did little else, putting in a lot of work with her, both the normal stuff and solving some unusual problems of indoor training and keeping her safe on a boat. Now at seventeen weeks she's happy, a pleasure to live with and take for walks with games and training, she's house-, er boat-trained, has good recall (waiting for wanderlust to kick in!), good at heel work, loves find games etc.

I'm retired and so have had the time to take her out three or four times a day for walks, frequent short car trips to experience different situations etc, and eventually long car trips. I was fortunate to meet lots of owners on the towpath and in local parks and quickly find great places to take her where she meets new dogs, usually daily, as well as regular dog friends. Looking back at how shy she was I can see how important this has been. Also my learning how to respond to her anxiety and help her overcome situations which she found difficult. If you do this the right way it is amazing to see how quickly she becomes comfortable with anything from loud noises, shops, different types and size of dog, swans, people etc. So much teaching myself how to respond too, and my partner!

I've not been to any formal training but would recommend it as an option. I was planning to do this but found I was able to train based on advice, reading and figuring things out, and had no difficulty finding considerate owners with dogs to help socialise her. I like problem solving so this suited me. Others might prefer more guidance or not be so blessed with resources and time, in which case I think regular hands on help could be very useful.

I hope some will find my experience above useful. I've always loved dogs and had an easy relationship with them, and now I have one of my own this is being taken to another level.

Two books I found very helpful (I have more but these two are enough IMO, though I'm still reading more):
- Mini Encyclopedia of Dog Training and Behaviour by Colin Tennant
- Think Dog (An owner's guide to canine psychology) by John Fisher (found in a second hand bookshop on one of our habituation trips!)

So pleased for you and that u came back and told us how it all went
Sound like u and her are having a great time