Puppy Buyer's Guide

This is meant as a guide for those who have already decided that they know they can provide a good home to a puppy and know which breed is right for them. Please do your part to lower the amount of puppymills, dog brokers & pet stores who sell puppies to the public. Here are some tips:

Recognizing an unethical breeder When you talk to people about their puppies, there are a few warning signs that you may be dealing with a disreputable, unethical, or irresponsible breeder: 1. The "breeder" lacks knowledge about the breed 2. The "breeder" shows ignorance or denial of genetic defects in the breed 3. The "breeder" has no involvement in dog sports 4. The "breeder" doesn't let you observe the puppies or adults, or let you see the kennels 5. The "breeder" has no documentation and cannot provide a pedigree 6. The puppies are not socialized How to read those ads! Here are a few more things that you ought to look out for. "Champion lines" -- look instead for Champion sired or Champion parents. All Champion Lines means is that there is a dog somewhere in your puppy's family that was a champion - it says nothing about the quality of the parents at all. Anyone can buy a puppy from a champion, but it does not mean that they have any other interest in the breed but to bank on the name and make money. The puppy may have been sold as a pet (since it had some problems that prevented it from being shown) and an unethical person did not have the dog desexed and is still breeding puppies. "AKC Registration" or "AKC Papers" -- So what? AKC registration does not guarantee quality. AKC papers are much like the title of a car - papers are issued on the junked chevy on blocks in your yard just as easily as they are on a brand new, shiny Jaguar. AKC does not control breeding, approve litters, or guarantee soundness. Unfortunately, in the hands of some unethical breeders, it doesn't even guarantee that the dog is purebred. AKC Registration is automatic if you buy from a reputable breeder - they will provide all necessary paperwork when you buy a puppy. It is not a selling point, and shouldn't be treated as one. Be wary of other "registrations", as well. There are several groups that are registering dogs, occasionally even mixed breeds, for a fee. This registration means nothing, and is of no value to you. Not that AKC papers really mean much, either. "extra-big", "extra-small" -- breeders trying for extremes are rarely raising healthy dogs, and any ad that has to stress the size and weight of the dog to sell the puppies is suspect, in my opinion. Usually, these dogs are outside of the breed standard and are subject to their own medical problems due to excessive size or lack of it. "rare" -- Why? Is the dog showable? Are there too many defects for the animal to be bred? What kind of problems does this "rare" color or size or pattern entail? There are many people buying "rare" white Boxers and Shepherds, not realizing that they are not show-prospects, and that they are buying a dog with medical problems from lack of pigmentation, and possible behavioral problems as well. There are even some people selling unusual cross breeds as "rare" dogs, and people buy them thinking they are getting some unique treasure. I don't want to be too harsh about this, though -- every breed we see today is the result of some specialized and "rare" breeding to create a certain look or behavior. Shepherds herd, retrievers retrieve...because we have selectively bred them to do so. A breeder who is trying to 'recreate' a lost breed may fall on either side of the ethical divide. Shop with care. "see both parents" As noted in questions to ask a breeder , this is not usually a good thing. Rarely will a good breeder have the luck to own both dogs for the perfect litter. If you can see both parents, it often means that the person had two dogs in the back yard and didn't supervise them carefully enough, resulting in puppies. I probably get more mail on this one statement than anything else -- people who legitimately have both parents are incensed that I would suggest that they are unethical and bad breeders. That is not what I am suggesting -- there are some good and very reasonable reasons to have both parents on site. However, you need to ask the right questions and understand why this is true. If the breeder doesn't have an answer, or the answer is something like "well, they were just such cute dogs..." or "we bought another dog so we could have puppies" you need to evaluate whether this breeder is doing the right thing. They might be, they might not. It's up to you to ask. "Must go now!" Why? Are they too big to be cute anymore? Need more money? Is there a problem? Be very wary of this one.

Dealing with a reputable breeder While many dogs bought from newspaper ads and yard signs are healthy and happy, far too many are ill, poorly socialized, genetically flawed dog-catastrophes waiting to happen. When you are trying to screen prospective breeders, here are some questions that might be useful. How long have you been in the breed? What others have you bred? You probably want to avoid anyone who has "switched" breeds every couple of years, from popular breed to popular breed. Otherwise, look for someone with some experience with the breed you are interested in. If they are new to your breed, do they have experience with a similar breed? Also, be very wary of people who have multiple dog breeds. It is not uncommon to find people breeding more than one kind of dog (for example, quite a few Akita breeders are also interested in Shibas), but a breeder producing litters of many different breeds of dog is not going to be your best source, and probably should be suspected as a puppy-mill or disreputable breeder. What kind of congenital defects are present in this breed? What steps are you taking to decrease these defects? Avoid anyone who says "none", or "not in my dogs!". There are genetic problems that are present in almost every breed. Do some research here, and make sure you know what kind of answer you should be getting from the breeder. READ MORE ABOUT THIS HERE. A reputable breeder should be able to tell you what kinds of problems might be present in the particular breed (for example, hip dysplasia, entropian, thyroid problems, etc) and what kind of testing is available to find it. It goes without saying that the breeder should be doing those tests on all their breeding stock. Any dogs that are showing signs of any of these problems should not be bred -- avoid anyone who is breeding dogs with genetic problems, or who is not testing their dogs and bitches. I can't stress enough that you need to have a good idea of what the correct answers are here. Get any good dog book, call the breed club, find out what to expect before you fall in love with that cute puppy face! A breeder that can't tell you what kinds of things affect their dogs isn't going to be breeding to avoid them. Do you have the parents on site? Can I see them? This is kind of a trick question - most breeders will not own both dogs. They will own the mother (and you should be able to see her), but the best match for that bitch probably belongs to someone else. So, if you can see both parents on site, you should be a little suspicious. It may mean that the breeder has a large pool of dogs and is carefully matching them - or it can mean that they had two attractive dogs in their backyard and had either a planned or unplanned breeding just because they had a male and female at the same time. You should be able to see the mother and any other dogs on site when you visit. If the breeder hesitates, you should wonder why - are the dogs kept in clean, healthy conditions? are they too aggressive to let loose? You should be very comfortable with any reason not to see the dogs. However, remember that you should not be interacting with very young puppies, and might be prevented from seeing puppies that are less than 4 weeks old. This is ok, and is simply the breeder trying to eliminate any chance of illness in the puppies - they don't know what kind of dog diseases you may be carrying, and don't want the litter to get sick. What are the good and bad points of the parents? What titles to they have? Usually, breeders will start to gush at this point and enumerate all the wonderful qualities of their dogs - and the best I've talked to also will point out their flaws. What you're looking for here is temperament, possible aggression, how they deal with people, how they're not "perfect". As for titles, reputable breeders show/field trial their dogs, and they should be carrying points towards a championship, if not champions already. This is important - while there are many wonderful dogs out there that haven't seen the inside of a show ring or the woods, if the breeder is truly trying to improve the breed, they will be comparing their dogs to other breeders and trying to breed dogs that match the standard. The only way to do that is to show/field trial their dogs. Many breeders compete in obedience as well, and will have Companion Dog (CD) or other obedience titles for the parents. Often, this is a good benchmark for temperament and behavior. Can you explain the puppy's pedigree? A good breeder should be able to tell you something about dogs on your puppy's pedigree. Have them explain the often cryptic letters and titles awarded, and get a good feel that they know the lines they are breeding from. At the very least, they should be able to provide you with a 4 generation pedigree and be able to tell you about the dogs. You might see the same dogs listed a few times on the pedigree - the breeder should be able to point out any linebreeding and inbreeding and explain the benefits and dangers of both. Where were the puppies raised? How have you socialized them? What you're looking for here is an indication of what kind of socialization the puppies have had. Ideally, you want the breeder to have raised the puppies in the house, around the normal daily activities of a household so they are used to the noises and activity of humans. Someone who says "in the garage" or "in the kennels" can also have well socialized puppies, but you need to be more careful. Have they spent enough time with the puppies? Socialization is so important to getting a well-adjusted, well-mannered dog. Puppies should have been exposed to people, other dogs, new situations, normal household sounds and activities in order to learn. A puppy raised without this important social interaction can be shy, fearful, aggressive, or have other problems as they get older. Dogs need to know how to play, how to handle new situations, how to relate to people. How many litters do you have a year? This too can be a tricky question, because some breeders do have the appropriate facilities to raise muliple litters at the same time. However pay closer attention to their selection process for their breeding pairs. Have they done the necessary health testing for this breed? Are they breeding to supply public demand or to better the breed? Breeders who have puppies all the time may not be paying enough attention to the genetics and health of the puppies. If someone has three litters (especially if they note that it was "unexpected") on the ground at the same time, they are certainly not planning these puppies! All puppies should be "expected" and well planned. If they're not, it's a crap shot as to whether you're going to get a good puppy or a nightmare. What guarantees do you have for this puppy? At the very least, the breeder should guarantee the puppy against any debilitating genetic problems, and insure that the puppy is in good health. I recommend at least getting a 2 year health guarantee as most problems will not occur until the second year. That is why so many unreputable breeders offer a one year health guarantee - this isn't long enough for problems to emerge. A breeder should be prepared to take any dog back for any reason - part of being an ethical breeder is making sure that the puppies have a good home and that it stays that way. When can I take the puppy home? Puppies usually go home between 8 and 12 weeks. Avoid anyone sending tiny puppies home. Puppies sent home too early don't have the chance to develop healthy interactions with other dogs, and can be sickly or have problems eating. I often see people with puppies that are five or six weeks old -- these tiny babies are too young to be separated from their mother. Spaying/Neutering At a minimum if you are buying a Pet quality puppy, the breeder should require you at least sign a spay/neuter contract. Reputable breeders do not want to see more pet quality dogs in rescues because two pet quality parents were bred and the puppies were not high quality. If your puppy is already spayed/neutered before you bringing him/her home - that's a big bonus for that breeder and yourself. He/she is showing how much they care for their breed by having their pet quality puppies spayed/neutered before leaving their care.