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How to choose a good breeder?
Big, bright ads in famous magazines are impressive of course, but what do you know about who gave the ad? Unfair breeders thrive on the ignorance of the customer. Some customers spend a lot less time selecting their puppy than they do finding a new washing machine. But with knowledge, you’ll be able to avoid cheating.
You need a breeder to whom you can turn with a lot of questions on growing your dog-
- hair care,
- feeding,
- education.
If you have already held a dog and know how to do it, you will need information about the features of this breed.
If you plan to show and knit your dog, you will need the help of a breeder to prepare and participate in the show.
Determining how good a breeder is can be difficult for a newcomer, but if you know what to look out for, you can avoid some mistakes. Below are the necessary requirements that a good, good breeder must meet. These few tips will keep you safe from dishonest and lying breeders.
Feedback from dog owners
One of the best ways to choose a breeder is based on feedback from other customers, recommendations from dog owners bought from the breeder.
Talk to these people, find out what they like about this breeder and his dog. It’s worth remembering that much more feedback is from a live conversation, not from the pages of newspapers and magazines.
A personal impression
The second point is a personal impression – how much the breeder himself will enjoy in personal communication, how good your communication will be. If you are interested in listening to what the breeder tells you, if you can see that you are also interested in the breeder, there is a good chance that your communication will continue to be successful. Just take into account that breeders are living people, each has its own character and nature, one person can not please everyone without a good understanding.
When talking to a potential breeder, pay attention to his behavior in general. If you think he’s reluctant to answer questions or is putting pressure on you to impose on your puppy. Or he’s rushing you to make a decision. Rest assured that this person is only interested in your money. He’s not in love with his breed (and people who are in love with their breed are willing to talk about their dogs for hours and will be happy if you ask them a thousand questions).
The breeder must be a member
Your breeder must be a member of one or more dog breeding and training clubs. Why?
By interacting in such clubs with similarly interested people, he has the opportunity to learn more about the breed, dog care, and breeding news. Belonging to a club gives the breeder the confidence that his knowledge is not outdated.
A breeder should exhibit his dogs at shows
- The next requirement for the breeder is that he must exhibit his dogs or a dog. Here you can say: “But I want a dog for me, I’m not going to show it, what I am care about ?”. It’s a big one!
- On the one hand, participation in shows gives the breeder the same as belonging to the club. It allows the owner of the dog to exchange information and ideas with other people.
- An exhibition is a competition to produce the best dogs. Breeders exhibit their dogs, put everything on the shelves, for them a little bit means impressive pedigrees, they try to show how good their dogs are compared to others.
- On the other hand, participation in shows and good results show that the dog is really fit for his breed and there are no disqualifying vices or exterior.
It is a misconception that all breeders exhibiting are rich people. Basically, they are ordinary, middle-class people who want to prove that their dogs are producing decent offspring. A breeder who does not show his dog can not objectively assess it and deprives himself of the opportunity to learn a lot at shows.
A show dog breeder is known to others in his breed – he has a reputation which he cherishes. And he’s likely to be just as careful and diligent in selling you a puppy ‘for yourself’ as he is in selling a ‘show dog’.
The breeder’s responsible for the future of his puppies
Responsible breeders will not sell their dogs to whom. They need to make sure that the buyer can provide a decent life for their puppy and will be a responsible and caring owner.
If you ask a breeder what it takes from you to buy a puppy and they say, ‘You pay the money – and the puppy is yours!’ then rest assured that the breeder’s main goal is to make money on dogs.
Pocket dogs are a special category of dogs. And a breeder should pay special attention to its future owners. Normally, decent breeders will find out if you have young children in your family, how attentive you are, whether you’ll drop your puppy, step on him, give him first aid on time, etc. In other words, a mini dog is not sold to the first person with money.
At what age does the breeder sell puppies
Ask the breeder at what age he sells puppies. Of course, the older he is, the better. A puppy should be foreplayed and grafted. The first vaccination is at 2 months. If you buy a younger puppy, you take a big risk. In some cases, breeders will deliberately deceive the customer about the puppy’s age (for example, to make him seem small for his age).
So if the breeder says the puppy is 2 months old, but you look into the puppy’s mouth and see that his teeth haven’t erupted yet, make sure the breeder is lying.
The breeder must sign a contract before the sale of a puppy.
A faithful breeder will not refuse to sign a puppy sales agreement with you that protects your rights in the event of your puppy’s illness or death. This protects not only you from force majeure but also the breeder of the puppy you are selling.
The breeder should know as much as possible about the breed he’s breeding.
Be sure to ask the breeder to give as much information as possible about the breed, its characteristics, care, as well as its shortcomings and problems (which are present in absolutely every breed). The breeder must have as much information as possible to be able to write a book about the breed. This means that the breeder is a really enthusiastic person and doesn’t see puppies as commodities.
The breeder should provide as much information as possible on puppy care
A good breeder should give very detailed information on puppy care, a whole “package”. How to feed than feed, how to bathe, how to pick up a pair in the future, how to transport a puppy, how to notice signs of hypoglycemia. Why we focus on hypoglycemia is because it’s very important. There are too many horror stories from respected people about puppy deaths due to this disease. Only because they were not well aware of the symptoms, prevention, and treatment of hypoglycemia.
The breeder must help you with your puppy in the future
Ask your breeder if he will help you in the future if you have any questions or concerns. Can he call you on the phone if something happens, or consult you on any questions?
A good breeder should see your problem as his or her own and, if necessary, help with advice and action. In critical situations, quickly find out what to do if your dog gets sick and provide you with the phone numbers and addresses of good breeders.
Trust your instincts
Don’t forget to trust your intuition as well. If you’re worried about something, you better go to another kennel.
So, hopefully, these tips will help you map out breeders from whom you can buy a puppy under certain conditions.
So, what questions should you ask a breeder?
Below is a brief list of the questions you should ask a breeder from whom you intend to buy a dog:
- Will the breeder give you time to show your puppy to the vet and determine his health?
- Will the breeder give you written instructions on feeding, care, vaccination records, and health?
- Does the breeder want to know what dogs you had and what happened to them?
- Does the breeder ask questions such as: if you have room to walk your dog, who will take care of him at home?
- Are puppies sociable, are they clean, how does the bitch behave?
- Ask them to show you their mother and puppies as well as copies of their manufacturer’s papers and diplomas. And, of course, puppy cards
- Is the breeder ready to give you information about people who’ve bought puppies from him before, or show you feedback from people involved with the breed?
- Does the breeder want to know more about you before selling his puppy?
- Does he exhibit his dog, is he a member of a breeder’s club, which one?
- How long has he been breeding this breed?
- How many other dog breeds does he breed or have he bred?
- In his opinion, what problems does he have with this breed?
- What is the life expectancy of your chosen breed of dog?
- Ask him about his character, temperament, and dressing habits in this breed.
- What conditions and guarantees are included in the puppy’s sales price.
Important tips about breeders
- When talking to breeders, you often hear your puppy grow up in the arms. This means he was in physical and emotional contact with people, not in a cage.
- Visit the kennel, take a close look at the puppies and take each one in his arms.
- Remember, when they say that a puppy with a pedigree simply means that you’ll get certain documents about his origins, but they don’t guarantee that he can get on with people.
- Keep in mind that with your puppy you’ll need to get documents from the breeder about the dog’s origins (make sure you check the dog’s stamp number with the number on his ear or groin), his vet’s passport and vaccination notes.
- Responsible breeders will usually give your puppy a bowl and some of the food he received after weaning, as well as a calendar of puppy development.
- Get ready for any questions from the breeder. These questions may sound personal to you concerning your living conditions, the planned birth of your children, your livelihood. Don’t be offended – they are primarily related to the seriousness of your intentions to have a dog, the quality of the maintenance and breeding of your future pet.
- It’s quite possible that you’ll get rejection after your answers. If that’s the case, think about it – maybe you really shouldn’t take responsibility for the life of a living creature? After all, despite the use of the great phrase of the French pilot and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that we are forever responsible for those who have been tamed, there are still people for whom it still carries a deep philosophical meaning.
- Bypass breeders who praise their breed unbridled, with absolutely no emphasis on the problems. The fact is that each breed has its own features, problems, difficulties, advantages and disadvantages, positive and negative sides of the content. There is no ideal breed in this respect, and cases of the absolute balance of these two opposite poles are as rare as in real life.
- Beware of sellers offering puppies of “rare” colors, either miniature or, conversely, giant versions of one breed or another, which are not acceptable under the FCI standard. It will take time and a lot of effort to get to the bottom of this, but it’s well known that nothing really valuable can be obtained without effort, and only what we have produced with great difficulty is appreciated. In any case, if you are experiencing any difficulties, do not hesitate to seek specialist help. You will never be rejected.
- So before you go out and buy a puppy, make sure you have some decent breeders. Talk to each of them, ask them a few questions and then make this important decision.
- We hope all these tips will help you choose the right breeder. Remember that there is nothing embarrassing about you taunting the breeder with questions. Still, you are going to buy a new family member who will be with you for many years. This is a very serious step. You have to be satisfied with your choice.
- I sincerely wish you to find a real, really good breeder for your future, the most beautiful dog in the world.
