Breeder questions

[Spottydog0]

When we got our last pups a long time ago we didn't go for registered/show breeders and to be honest I saw some really dodgy ones.  For me the main thing I want to know is how the puppies (and their parents) are cared for (i.e. not in cages and living in a family home) and general interactions the puppies have had with kids, visitors and other pets.  The ones we had turned out to be great, their breeders, whilst not registered, clearly loved them and their dogs were definitely members of the household, both sides were comfortable that there were good pups going to a good home

 

Most postings for puppies seem to show them with a very specific background (such as grass or a blanket) and almost staged making it really difficult to know how they are kept.

 

I totally expect a breeder to ask me a lot of questions, am I wrong in wanting to ask a registered breeder to see the environment the pups are brought up in and be informed about any tests/health issues for the parents so that I am comfortable with it before putting down a deposit?

 

As there are a lot of breeders on this site I thought I'd ask.

[Mairead]

Going to a registered breeder or ethical rescue group I would compare to buying your car from a long established car dealership rather than from someone parked on the side of the road with a 'for sale' sign on the car. If you want a quick bargain expect there will be risks.

Do you have a specific breed in mind and why do you want a puppy rather than, say, an older dog that has maybe grown too tall or not tall enough? 

Have a read of the ads elsewhere on this site for Breeders, Puppies for Sale and Older Dogs for Sale. That will give you an idea of what health tests breeders are doing but remember it is still a gamble, like shuffling and dealing from a deck of cards. As breeders we try to make sure we have as many good cards in the deck as we can.

It is a risk letting strangers come to your home which is why some photos may look staged to you, and you may have to fill in an application form and let the breeder get to know you before visiting. Many breeders will have kennels because bitches in season need to be kept secure and you cannot have all your dogs in a house at once. A person with a couple of dogs only as house pets may be in partnership with another breeder, or they may be someone who doesn't know what they are doing but just loves puppies, or thinks it is easy money,

and breeds from the same pair repeatedly.

Look in the Events section to see what events are on near you and go along to see the different dogs and how they behave. Don't be surprised to see some dogs in crates (cages) at the events that is for the dogs' safety.

That's probably enough homework for now.

Edited November 11 by Mairead

[Dogsfevr]

A dog that is raised solely in the home doesnt equate to better ( yes our pups where home raised ).
A breeder to ensure a pup is well rounded exposes their dogs to all facets of life ,there is more to providing enrichment than being in a house .
We crate train our puppies Why because so many owners fail this area when they need day stays at the vet or after care recovery in a crate  or travel in a crate in the car etc etc.
We feed our dogs in crates because varying age stages ,requirements & meds .
Our pups where taught crate skills 
Each dog is feed in a manner that means we know exactly what is happening.

Our puppies never saw kids & that was never an issue,we dont have other pets which most breeders dont .
Visitors experience within reason ,people seem to think pups just get exposed to everything & anything & you do that with development .
We dont rush to wean the mother & she wont be placed at stress for every Tom,Dick & Harry to visit .
Our puppies went lead trained we start at 5 weeks,grooming table trained from 5 weeks, there play area for enrichment was better than what most parents provided for their own kids & they where where taught life skills like the door gets shut & go learn self independance .
I wouldnt get hung up on one area because unless the whole package is balanced it means nothing.
Health tests should be provided .
As for people inspecting our home NO
All our people visited the pups out the front in a well set up neutral area.Never ever was an issue with any of our puppy buyers bar 2 & those 2 never got to buy a pup of us as their obsession to want to walk through our house to tick the piece of paper was weird ,creepy & crossed the line of information they needed to see.
My home is my private residence ,pups are raised for the first few weeks in my bedroom & then moved to family room.
Depending on breed & litter size common sense will tell you pups need to move to a more suitable area .
Your not going to have 10 GSD till 8 weeks in a small pen in the family room .
So a person needs to think logically about hygenic,safe housing for a  litter of puppies 

As for photos well no sane person is going to post pictures of dirty bedding etc etc so Yes pictures posted are staged .
Also understand that breeders need to comply with their State laws on whelping & raising puppies irrespective of breeder,BYB 
 

Edited November 11 by Dogsfevr

[Rebanne]

My pups were raised in the house until about 4 weeks old then kicked outside to the backyard. They still came inside in pairs or on their own and were exposed to crates and cats. No kids. Most of my pups went interstate or even OS. Had a couple go to "locals" who did come to my house as they were more friends then just buyers. And yeah photo's would be staged, bedding freshly made up etc. I wouldn't be showing pics of pups on a poopy blankie. All health tests were sighted or a copy given to buyers.

[Mairead]

Are you up to date with veterinary costs (routine and emergency), flea control costs, council regulations, local dog training clubs, boarding or petsitting costs?

I wouldn't recommend board and train. Training is a daily and ongoing part of dog owning that you need to learn. If you don't teach your dog manners it could provoke another dog and come off worse. Never walk your dog while wearing headphones or earbuds or looking at your phone, and don't go to a cafe or dogpark and not keep an eye on your dog the whole time.

 

 

Edited November 11 by Mairead

[tdierikx]

@Spottydog0would you be comfortable with a breeder inspecting your house and yard to see if it's up to scratch for their expectations of you as a potential owner of one of their pups?

 

Interestingly, most puppy buyers will be taken aback at the suggestion that their home be checked out, yet it is perfectly fine for them to expect to be able to inspect a breeder's premises... just sayin'...

 

T.

[Rebanne]

I googled the address of any potential buyer interstate. You can see a lot.

[Spottydog0]

5 hours ago, tdierikx said:

@Spottydog0would you be comfortable with a breeder inspecting your house and yard to see if it's up to scratch for their expectations of you as a potential owner of one of their pups?

 

Interestingly, most puppy buyers will be taken aback at the suggestion that their home be checked out, yet it is perfectly fine for them to expect to be able to inspect a breeder's premises... just sayin'...

 

T.

Most definitely I would, and if I was buying from interstate I'd happily do a facetime type call to show them, and let them see my personal facebook feed with my non-staged photo's of the previous dogs.

 

I'm also happy to answer detailed questionnaires as a buyer but I guess I'm in a minority as a buyer wanting to verify a seller personally looking at the responses here.

 

When I sell things that aren't cheap I always expect buyers to come into my house to assess me and check I'm genuine and not hiding anything and I do the same. 

[Mairead]

It is living beings involved not handbags.

Maybe you have been lucky so far and no one has come back later to steal from you. But there is a network of breeders who share stories. For example of people pretending to be buyers but who were actually working for export agents. 

 

[Dogsfevr]

On 12/11/2024 at 9:00 AM, Spottydog0 said:

 

 

When I sell things that aren't cheap I always expect buyers to come into my house to assess me and check I'm genuine and not hiding anything and I do the same. 

So you sell your stuff from your bedroom??
Your happy for strangers to come into your room to ensure your legit??

Im going to safely assume you have a neutral room you sell stuff from & most likely CCTV to ensure your safety .

I mean no sane person is going let let Joe Public just have free range through their house so they can confirm .
I mean anyone telling me that sends Red flags up as im not going to just go into a randoms house if there selling stuff either ,could be a serial killer.

I can safely tell you if wanting to snoop through a home is your thing you will get more no from breeders .
Most breeders do outside ,neutral for meet n greets .Get to know each other & go from there .
All aspects covered in a respectful & responsible manner .
We ourselves did communication before pups where to be viewed & we where old fashioned & did phone calls only as we could learn alot by what was said not written,we never did questionaires as so easy to fudge answers & thats not a tool we base a pup for life to be sold by .
We always ensured contracts,diets ,breed history etc where all covered before any commitment was made .

As a side note a good Dobe breeder in the US was murdered after people came to his home to look at pups,they also stole the pups .
 

 

Edited November 13 by Dogsfevr

[sheena]

On 11/11/2024 at 3:19 PM, Spottydog0 said:

When we got our last pups a long time ago we didn't go for registered/show breeders and to be honest I saw some really dodgy ones.  For me the main thing I want to know is how the puppies (and their parents) are cared for (i.e. not in cages and living in a family home) and general interactions the puppies have had with kids, visitors and other pets.  The ones we had turned out to be great, their breeders, whilst not registered, clearly loved them and their dogs were definitely members of the household, both sides were comfortable that there were good pups going to a good home

 

Most postings for puppies seem to show them with a very specific background (such as grass or a blanket) and almost staged making it really difficult to know how they are kept.

 

I totally expect a breeder to ask me a lot of questions, am I wrong in wanting to ask a registered breeder to see the environment the pups are brought up in and be informed about any tests/health issues for the parents so that I am comfortable with it before putting down a deposit?

 

As there are a lot of breeders on this site I thought I'd ask.

Just asking out of curiosity....what breed of puppy are you after?

[Spottydog0]

On 13/11/2024 at 2:32 PM, sheena said:

Just asking out of curiosity....what breed of puppy are you after?

Shar Pei so we'll be looking at $7k to $10k for two and the breed has a number of known health issues most of which can't be tested for hence wanting to see the parents. Plus they're definitely a dominant breed and can be difficult.