Puppy Raising

Welcome to Rising Tide Border Collies! Our first litter, The National Parks litter (Arya x Jagger) of 4 girls and 3 boys was born on May 22nd, 2022. Our second litter, Arya x Zavi, is planned for early 2025. To meet all of our dogs, including breeding dogs, breeding prospects, dogs we have produced, and outside studs, click here.

We strive to produce sound, biddable, and healthy border collies that will excel in any sport thrown their way. We always say that our sport dogs are our family dogs first and foremost, therefore, a wonderful off-switch and even temperament are incredibly important to us. While Arya may be an incredibly drive-y sport dog, she is the most relaxed family dog, and she has never met a stranger. We want these puppies to be able to be ready to go whenever, and wherever, while just as easily being able to do nothing at all.

We raise our pups using both Puppy Culture and Avidog enrichment protocols to give these puppies the best start they possibly can get. Our puppies are raised in our home (on Long Island, NY) and will be going through Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) and Early Scent Introduction (ESI), as well as socialization/exposure to different sights, sounds, novel stimuli, etc. Our puppies go home with a foundation in crate training, car rides, clicker training, sport dog foundations (recalls, tugging) as well as the foundation skill of being happy and confident in exploring their world. We also expose them to dock diving (swimming off the ramp), agility (playing in a few different locations), and scent work (classical conditioning imprinting to the AKC/NACSW essential oils). Our goal is to set our puppies up for success in both performance sports and life.

Our puppies are fed an AAFCO approved raw diet and are acclimated to different types of food, including different kibbles, and proteins. Our puppies are weaned naturally (not simply taken away from mom at 6 weeks of age), as we believe this is in the best interest of the puppies.

To get a more in-depth look at how we raise our pups feel free to join our facebook group, linked here.

Meet the RT Team

Michelle Belio

Michelle is a certified dog behavior consultant (CDBC) through the IAABC, a certified pet dog trainer (CPDT-KA), a fear-free animal professional (FFAT), as well as an AKC CGC & Trick Dog Evaluator. She is the owner and head trainer of Pawsitively Waggin’ Academy LLC. While you can find her and her two border collies, Arya and Rainier, competing in a multitude of dog sports on the weekend, you can find her working on complicated dog behavior cases during the week. Her work primarily consists of working privately with clients on behavior modification, as well as obedience, dog sport foundations, and scent work training. She is on the path to becoming a fully approved AKC Scent Work Judge in 2025.

Her knowledge of canine behavior, dog sports, husbandry, and raising/training puppies provides her with the ability to raise the most sound puppies in mind and body possible. Michelle’s main dog sport interests are Scent Work, Obedience/Rally, and Agility. Her Rising Tide pups are Arya and Rainier!

Michael Spiotta

Michael has his MA in Animal Behavior and Conservation from CUNY Hunter College, where he researched the use of visual signals in African wild dogs. He has conducted hands on research in the field of animal behavior both here in the U.S. and abroad. He has had the opportunity to work with a variety of both captive and wild canids. He has also spent the last decade working with both domestic cats and dogs, and consulting on behavior modification and socialization plans for privately owned animals, as well as shelter pets.

Michael’s knowledge of animal behavior and welfare, as well as his hands on experience in socialization, training, dog sports and more, provides him with the ability, in concert with Michelle, to raise the most sound and stable puppies in both mind and body. When not working with dogs, you can find Michael traversing remote and wild places in search of elusive wildlife, and pursuing his passion of wildlife conservation, education, and photography! Michael's main dog sport interests are in Agility, Scent Work, Dock Diving, and Obedience. His Rising Tide pup is Reef!

ENS & ESI

As mentioned above, we raise our pups using both Puppy Culture and Avidog enrichment protocols to give these puppies the best start they possibly can get. Our puppies are raised in our home (on Long Island, NY) and will be going through Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) and Early Scent Introduction (ESI).

Please find below video examples of ENS & ESI.

Pen Enrichment

From the whelping box to the various pen set ups we have, our puppies are thoughtfully stimulated and challenged on a daily basis. Our whelping box and pen set ups are always clad with grippy/non-slip flooring to allow for puppies to grip, while being able to explore their 'sensory' items. There have been many studies done on the correlation between good orthopedic health and the ability to grip flooring while nursing/in the whelping box, so we always make sure our puppies have good flooring under their feet.

We incorporate different textures into the whelping box to allow the puppies to interact with their environment from a young age. From gently rolling "hills" (rolled up hand towels), to tiles, rubber grip mats, and more - puppies are encouraged to explore on their own, as well as experience the different textures "on the way" to nursing, which allows for small daily challenges.

Outdoors, the puppies have a variety of different sensory enrichment toys and objects to interact with. They are able to opt in or opt out to different types of stimulation, such as choosing to hear sounds by tugging on a toy connected to a wind chime (video below). They are also exposed to random objects, such as balloons tied to the pen outside to allow the puppies to view novel objects.

From a breeder perspective, we take note of which puppies interact with what first, and how each particular puppy enjoys exploring the world around them.

Socialization

Here at Rising Tide Border Collies, we agree with and support the science that proves that quality socialization allows for proper development and a more mentally sound dog. From a young age, our puppies begin to socialize with vetted people at our home, whom we know well. When they are a bit older (approximately after 4 weeks of age) they are introduced to puppy-appropriate dogs (of different breeds and sizes) to socialize with.

Starting at 4 weeks, our puppies begin to have several safe outings per week, where they get to interact with people/children and get to take in different sights and sounds! Some of the outings we did last time included an ice cream parlor, a few different breweries, plant nurseries, and more. By the time our first litter went home, they had spent 500+/- miles in the car - transported safely via Ruffland Crates, where they learned to relax and sleep while traveling in the car.

We support the idea that quality is more important than quantity, and make sure that each of our socialization trips are well thought out, and safe for our puppies in both mind and body. We advocate for our puppies and teach every member of the public that interacts with them what to do and what not to do, to allow our puppies to only have positive experiences with people.

We have many posts in our fb group, linked here, from our National Parks litter outings! Additionally, you can find more photos and clips in our story highlights titled 'socialization' on instagram, linked here.

Life Skills

Throughout their time here, puppies learn different skills to help them in many aspects of life! Examples include nail trims, crate training, potty training, sound desensitization, and more. They are exposed to 'daily' in-the-home sounds such as vacuums, kitchen sounds, things dropping and more. They are also exposed to out-of-the-home sounds such as cars/motorcycles, fireworks, landscape equipment, dogs barking, etc., in outdoors settings as well as via sound playlists.

We do nail trims every 3 days via a dremel and/or nail clippers to allow puppies to enjoy nail care. All of our puppies from our first litter are phenomenal at nail care, with many of them trying to be first in line when the nail care supplies come out.

They are exposed to a crate starting at 2.5 weeks of age, and begin the "crate training" process at approximately 4 weeks of age. They begin with having small treats and chews in individual crates (closed), then some meals, then day time naps, then overnight sleep from approximately 6 weeks until they go home. During the day a few crates are always open for pups to choose to take a nap in a crate. As stated in the "socialization" section, puppies are also crate trained in the car during their time here with us, as they travel in ruffland crates to our socialization destinations.

Puppies begin potty training at approximately 2 weeks of age, starting with litter training in short litter boxes, then artificial turf, and then finally real grass. Puppies always have access to potty in a real grass potty station within their pen in the puppy room for emergencies, but are taken out frequently to potty from 3 weeks of age and up, and we find our puppies choose to wait to go outside rather than use the indoor grass set up.

As behavior consultants/trainers, we advise our puppy homes to keep up their life-skills training upon arriving home. Although we put a lot of work into their "training" when they are with us, these skills must be kept up after leaving our home in order to stick long-term. We encourage our puppy owners to reach out to us regarding any questions with raising their pups!

Example of what early sound desensitization + solid genetics can do. Below is a video of Rainier when she was 1.5 years old, competing in UpDog at a field that is close to a skeet shooting range. The gun shots do not phase her as she plays the game!

Dog Sport Foundations

Our puppies learn many dog sport foundations while being raised here! Our puppies are introduced to tugging, restraint recalls, frisbee rollers, clicker training, AKC/NACSW Scent Work target odors via classical & operant conditioning, dock diving (via ramp & swimming), obstacles via running through agility jumps (bars down) and tunnels, and so much more.