How to Choose a Good Breeder
Regardless if you want a livestock guardian dog, a working farm dog, a pet, a dog for a sporting venue, or a show dog, the selection of the breeder will be the most important step in your puppy buying decision.
Here are some very basic tips on what to look for in a good breeder, regardless of breed.
Not all breeders are created equal -
and neither are the puppies they produce!
Keep in mind that anyone, by definition, who owns a female dog at the time it gives birth is a "breeder", even if they deny being one. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard people declare "I am not a breeder! I just.... "have a litter occasionally", "have pet dogs", "want to have one litter"... etc. If you produce a litter of puppies, you are a breeder. Denying being one does not negate your responsibility to health test, screen potential owners, or be responsible for the lifetime of the puppies you produce.
1) The breeder should seem trustworthy to you. They should be willing to answer all of your questions, and no question should be deemed stupid. They should be a person that you will want a friendship with AND they should be committed to remaining in contact with you for the life of the dog.
2) They should be MORE than willing to give you email addresses of previous purchasers as references.
3) A breeder should be knowledgeable about their breed. They should be familiar with its historical origins, type of temperament it should have and correct physical characteristics and health (coat, color, size, longevity, etc). They should educate you about the breed's disadvantages - especially genetic predisposition to health problems and characteristics like shedding, slobber, dominance, inter-dog aggression, etc. that may make owning the breed a challenge. Beware of anyone who sounds like a salesman and tells you that their breed has no disadvantages! Good breeders will play devil's advocate.
4) If you go to their home, it should be reasonably clean (remember - you are visiting a farm/ranch - sometimes young, sick or injured animals are brought into the house for special care. Also, farms and ranches have animals - animals poo, alot! Reasonably clean means that the animals -and people!- are not living in poor conditions, that pens and cages are not packed with feces/urine, and that the animals are healthy and well cared for) and the dog areas should not be covered with feces (1 or 2 piles are fine but not weeks worth). Dogs should not smell of dog urine or feces (farm dogs do love to roll in livestock poo, so that doesn't count LOL). Dogs and pups should not be afraid of their owner, nor so aggressive that they are attacking you with their owner present.
5) ALL dogs used for breeding should AT MINIMUM have OFA/PennHip certified hips and any other breed specific recommended tests. Elbows should be OFA evaluated (DJD rating should not be higher than a 1). Eyes should have been examined by a certified veterinary Ophthalmologist within the previous 36 months. Any breed recommended genetic DNA tests should have been completed.
This applies even if you just want a pet, as health tested parents lowers the incidence of genetic and heritable health problems in the puppies. Even good breeders can produce unhealthy dogs on occasion. The difference is that the good breeder is on a mission to find and remove those genetic influences from their breeding lines. The irresponsible breeder doesn't care enough to health test.
All health testing should be provable with either a link to the dogs OFA certification page and/or copies of the health certifications.
Imported dogs that are being bred in the US and Canada should also have their health testing done prior to breeding.
6) All pups should be no less then 8 weeks old when purchased, preferably 10+ weeks old for livestock guardian dogs, and should come with a veterinarian issued health certificate (even if this is not a State requirement).
7) DO NOT ever buy from a pet store or broker of any kind. Even if the puppies do not come from a traditional "puppy mill" they will not have been produced by any ethical breeder because good breeders do not sell to brokers or pet stores (and they also do NOT sell them at flea markets, livestock auctions, out of the backs of their pickups, on the side of the road, at Walmart or Cabela parking lots, or on craigslist!, etc)
8) IF the breeder does not ask you a lot of questions and/or doesn't seem interested in where the puppy will live or what will happen to the puppy after the sale, WALK AWAY. Screening buyers is just one indication of a good breeder who cares about their pups for life.
ALL purchase conditions and requirements (including what happens to the dog if you can no longer keep it) should be laid out in a purchase contract which you must READ before signing - if it contains anything you do not agree with DO NOT SIGN IT.
9) Websites are for browsing and information purposes only and should NOT be a PRIMARY factor in your decision process. Get to know the breeder - a good breeder will want to build a relationship with you which will last past the time of sale through the dogs lifetime.
10) Be aware that in the US well bred Maremma Sheepdog puppies average $800 - $2000, and English Shepherd puppies average $500 - $1000, and if the selling price is significantly above or below that for an 8-12 week old pup, you should probably walk away under MOST circumstances.
Here are some very basic tips on what to look for in a good breeder, regardless of breed.
Not all breeders are created equal -
and neither are the puppies they produce!
Keep in mind that anyone, by definition, who owns a female dog at the time it gives birth is a "breeder", even if they deny being one. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard people declare "I am not a breeder! I just.... "have a litter occasionally", "have pet dogs", "want to have one litter"... etc. If you produce a litter of puppies, you are a breeder. Denying being one does not negate your responsibility to health test, screen potential owners, or be responsible for the lifetime of the puppies you produce.
1) The breeder should seem trustworthy to you. They should be willing to answer all of your questions, and no question should be deemed stupid. They should be a person that you will want a friendship with AND they should be committed to remaining in contact with you for the life of the dog.
2) They should be MORE than willing to give you email addresses of previous purchasers as references.
3) A breeder should be knowledgeable about their breed. They should be familiar with its historical origins, type of temperament it should have and correct physical characteristics and health (coat, color, size, longevity, etc). They should educate you about the breed's disadvantages - especially genetic predisposition to health problems and characteristics like shedding, slobber, dominance, inter-dog aggression, etc. that may make owning the breed a challenge. Beware of anyone who sounds like a salesman and tells you that their breed has no disadvantages! Good breeders will play devil's advocate.
4) If you go to their home, it should be reasonably clean (remember - you are visiting a farm/ranch - sometimes young, sick or injured animals are brought into the house for special care. Also, farms and ranches have animals - animals poo, alot! Reasonably clean means that the animals -and people!- are not living in poor conditions, that pens and cages are not packed with feces/urine, and that the animals are healthy and well cared for) and the dog areas should not be covered with feces (1 or 2 piles are fine but not weeks worth). Dogs should not smell of dog urine or feces (farm dogs do love to roll in livestock poo, so that doesn't count LOL). Dogs and pups should not be afraid of their owner, nor so aggressive that they are attacking you with their owner present.
5) ALL dogs used for breeding should AT MINIMUM have OFA/PennHip certified hips and any other breed specific recommended tests. Elbows should be OFA evaluated (DJD rating should not be higher than a 1). Eyes should have been examined by a certified veterinary Ophthalmologist within the previous 36 months. Any breed recommended genetic DNA tests should have been completed.
This applies even if you just want a pet, as health tested parents lowers the incidence of genetic and heritable health problems in the puppies. Even good breeders can produce unhealthy dogs on occasion. The difference is that the good breeder is on a mission to find and remove those genetic influences from their breeding lines. The irresponsible breeder doesn't care enough to health test.
All health testing should be provable with either a link to the dogs OFA certification page and/or copies of the health certifications.
Imported dogs that are being bred in the US and Canada should also have their health testing done prior to breeding.
6) All pups should be no less then 8 weeks old when purchased, preferably 10+ weeks old for livestock guardian dogs, and should come with a veterinarian issued health certificate (even if this is not a State requirement).
7) DO NOT ever buy from a pet store or broker of any kind. Even if the puppies do not come from a traditional "puppy mill" they will not have been produced by any ethical breeder because good breeders do not sell to brokers or pet stores (and they also do NOT sell them at flea markets, livestock auctions, out of the backs of their pickups, on the side of the road, at Walmart or Cabela parking lots, or on craigslist!, etc)
8) IF the breeder does not ask you a lot of questions and/or doesn't seem interested in where the puppy will live or what will happen to the puppy after the sale, WALK AWAY. Screening buyers is just one indication of a good breeder who cares about their pups for life.
ALL purchase conditions and requirements (including what happens to the dog if you can no longer keep it) should be laid out in a purchase contract which you must READ before signing - if it contains anything you do not agree with DO NOT SIGN IT.
9) Websites are for browsing and information purposes only and should NOT be a PRIMARY factor in your decision process. Get to know the breeder - a good breeder will want to build a relationship with you which will last past the time of sale through the dogs lifetime.
10) Be aware that in the US well bred Maremma Sheepdog puppies average $800 - $2000, and English Shepherd puppies average $500 - $1000, and if the selling price is significantly above or below that for an 8-12 week old pup, you should probably walk away under MOST circumstances.
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