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I notice there are a lot of people that want to get puppies from breeders, vs. shelters or rescues. Before you hand over thousands of dollars for your purebred dog, make sure you do your research. First, if you found the breeder through a newspaper listing, run and don't look back. It took us over a year to find a reputable breeder for our English Bulldog, and another 8 months of waiting for our puppy because he does not breed on a regular basis.
Contact the national club of whatever breed you're looking at. They in turn should point you towards a local chapter, where you can get in contact with a local breeder. Once you find a breeder you like, use this checklist to identify a good breeder:
Make sure your breeder strives to improve the breed. Ours regularly shows his dogs and does extensive medical testing before breeding to ensure that they have no health issues.
Lastly, there is no such thing as a reputable breeder breeding things like Labradoodles, Chiweenies, Schnoodles, etc. These are mutts and can be found at your local animal shelter. Also, no reputable breeder will allow their puppy to live in an aquarium at the pet store. While you will get instant gratification by purchasing one there, you are in for serious health problems and housebreaking issues, since your pup sleeps where it pees and poops. Let's stop supporting puppy mills and backyard breeders. They are the reasons our shelters are so overcrowded.
There are pros and cons to both. Even a hobby breeder has the advantage of being able to tell you something about the history of the dog's life, personality and family--although health issues can always crop up later in life regardless.
Shelters mostly have a short term, caged relationship with the pets they pick up, with the exception of those that specialize in animals with health issues. Even those that screen carefully tend to screen the would be owners more carefully than they can the actual dogs. The best insurance is a return guarantee from either.
I think the degree of positive socialization is the most important thing in choosing a family pet and if you cannot provide it to a young dog, then get an older dog that has had a stable known background if you are not dog experienced and dog ready.
Contact the national club of whatever breed you're looking at. They in turn should point you towards a local chapter, where you can get in contact with a local breeder. Once you find a breeder you like, use this checklist to identify a good breeder:
The "national club" is more likely than not a group of folks who show dogs at dog shows - in some breeds, these showdogs are unsuitable for anything but looking pretty in the ring - for many breeds, you need to really learn about the breed to get the "type" you are looking for. Finding sporting/working venues where the dogs actually do something may open other doors to you.
I have had good luck with working breeds, but I will say that some of them have herding instincts or needs for activity that not everyone or every living environment can handle. My first dog, and one of my favs, is an Australian shepard, but they definitely have their drawbacks in an urban yard!
Lastly, there is no such thing as a reputable breeder breeding things like Labradoodles, Chiweenies, Schnoodles, etc. These are mutts and can be found at your local animal shelter. Also, no reputable breeder will allow their puppy to live in an aquarium at the pet store. While you will get instant gratification by purchasing one there, you are in for serious health problems and housebreaking issues, since your pup sleeps where it pees and poops. Let's stop supporting puppy mills and backyard breeders. They are the reasons our shelters are so overcrowded.
Thank you...there are so many people out there mixing breeds to make a buck on it, it is disgusting. I have rescued 2 such designer mutts and love them dearly...but I certainly did not intentionally seek out or pay for either of them, they were both abandoned. Pet stores should sell pet food and pet supplies, not actual pets...the only way it will stop is if people stop buying from places like these. There should be laws making it illegal for pet stores & BYBs to sell dogs (& cats!) when there are so many in shelters in need of homes already. I agree, if you must have a purebreed and there are none in the shelter, go to a real breeder who is in it for the right reasons, and be willing to wait. I know a guy who drove from El Paso to Oklahoma City for his Westie...then when he decided he couldnt handle it, guess who got to take the little furball in and find him a home...(luckily it was easy, I already had someone lined up because I could tell this guy would not step up to the plate...!)
Also think about contacting your local breed specific rescue - for tips on choosing a good dog - what to look for in that breed, and possibly adopting one of their rescues!
It took me a year to perform my due diligence before I bought my Lhasa from a breeder. First, I had to examine why I wanted a dog, and whether I was actually READY for the commitment. With that finished (it took about three months of self-scrutiny), it took another three months of reading about all the different breeds that interested me. With a list of my top five, I started going to dog shows with those breeds in attendance. At the shows, I spoke not only with the breeders that had dogs in the rings, but also with others outside the rings. I told them about my interests and preferences, and got very valuable feedback, including the names of three local breeders that came well recommended for my breed of choice. (All but one of my choices were eliminated during that process.)
I contacted those three, and questioned them on their breeding philosophies (frequency, number of instances per female per year, traits bred for -- and bred out, etc. I discovered two of them were related, mother and daughter. The mother had been breeding Lhasas for a world market for thirty years, and tracked her off-springs lineage to verify the success of her targeted traits. Both mother and daughter were invaluable throughout the life of my first Lhasa, and the purchase of the second.
I've since learned how lucky I was to follow this procedure. I hope to rescue a dog when I am again able to add another to our family, but have to admit that I am concerned about my ability to be an adequate "doggy-Mom" to an abandoned animal. Both my canines have been well-bred, and trained from their moms and littermates before I even met them -- my training was easy after that good start, and I am not certain I could handle the special needs of abandoned animals.
A reputable breeder will interview YOU. They should also be doing their due diligence to do their best to ensure a good placement for their puppy. They will ask about you experience/expectations for the pup; who will be caring for him; who your vet is; are you able to provide references; what your plans for the pup are and should have a spay/neuter clause in the contract. They will take the dog back at any time for any reason.
Thousands for a new registered dog? Showing dogs makes one a responsible breeder? Don't get a deliberate cross? Did you get your talking points from the AKC?
While I'm sure you posted this with the intention of being helpful, do you realize that you sought and purchased the most outstanding argument for the revision of our current breed system? An overbred dog that cannot even whelp naturally, much less its other congenital problems, should not be perpetuated in its present form.
Even the label "Backyard Breeder" screams contempt for those who are not fulltime breeding professionals, in other words- make their economic impact through breeding and selling dogs. Any activity that would impact this is attacked and cast in a derogatory light. Otherwise well-meaning but uneducated persons swallow it up like gospel and spit it back out with self important glee.
The dog world encompasses a great deal more than rescuing and spoiling child-substitutes.
Even the label "Backyard Breeder" screams contempt for those who are not fulltime breeding professionals, in other words- make their economic impact through breeding and selling dogs
.
Actually, just the opposite is true. Reputable breeders do so to improve the breed (- the expenses outweigh the money they make on selling pups - especially considering they have a very limited number of litters hence the waiting lists). Sometimes that includes showing or other competitions depending on the breed (ie sporting dogs with field titles). People who breed for profit tend to care more about the money than the dog. The reputable breeders I know of have actual jobs to pay the bills.
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