Getting a Dog, part IV

This is the fourth in a series of articles on Getting a Dog. All articles are linked from the menu on the right, in the Articles section.

Getting a Dog - Part IV
Where to Get a Dog

By now, you probably have a better idea in regards to what kind and age of dog you would like to bring into your home, so let’s talk a little about where you can get a dog from. After all, they don’t grow on trees and you can’t just pick one up at the 7-11 on your way home.

There are two different ways of getting a dog: purchase and adoption.

These terms are nearly interchangeable when they refer to getting a dog, as nearly any place you get a dog from will require you to pay some kind of fee or purchase price, and nearly all will require you to sign a contract and/or provide references in order to get the dog.

For the purpose of this book, we’re going to use the term purchase to refer to getting a dog from a breeder or pet store, and we’re going to use “adoption” for getting a dog from its current owner who may need to find the dog a new home, or from a rescue or shelter.


Purchasing a Dog

Let’s talk about purchasing a dog from a breeder or pet store first.

The goal of this article will be to introduce you to what you should look for in order to find a reputable breeder, how to tell a backyard breeder from a good breeder, and what you should know about pet stores and puppy mills.

It will talk about some of the things you may expect a breeder to ask you before he is willing to place a dog with you, as well as the things that you should ask your breeder before deciding to purchase a dog from him.


Breeders and Backyard Breeders

In the United States, there is no specific license or training required in order for people to breed their dogs. As a result, we get many different kinds of breeders with many different kinds of breeding goals. Depending on the kind of breeder you are buying from, there are large differences in the quality of dog you are getting as well as in the kind of guarantees that you are offered.

When I say “quality”, I’m not necessarily talking about the dog being the kind of dog that will win in the show ring. Quality, to me, applies to the health and temperament of the dog just as much as its pedigree.

It’s an unfortunate fact that the old adage, “You get what you pay for”, does not necessarily apply when it comes to getting a quality dog. Some breeders will charge you a lot of money and the dog you get may still have genetic health or temperament issues. That is not to say automatically that the breeder has ripped you off, as there are many health problems that cannot even be avoided with the most careful screening, but it should be something to bear in mind when you buy a dog: price does not indicate quality in most cases. Just because a breeder charges $1200 for a puppy does not mean his dogs are of a better quality than those of a breeder asking $400 for a pup.

The best, and really only way, of knowing that you will receive a quality pup is to make sure that you are buying from a reputable and knowledgeable breeder. More information on how to tell a reputable breeder and what kinds of questions you should ask them will be discussed a little further down in this chapter.

Right now, let’s talk about the different types of breeders that are out there. All dog breeders can be sorted into one of these three categories: commercial breeders, hobby breeders, and backyard breeders.


Commercial Breeders

A commercial breeder is what some people might call a professional breeder, in the sense that this person or facility makes their money only from breeding and selling dogs. I don’t like to use the term “professional breeder” for commercial breeders because the word “professional” also implies they are professional in their practices: highly knowledgeable and ethical. And most commercial breeders aren’t.

Commercial breeders have to be licensed by the Department of Agriculture, and must provide care according to the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). However, since there is a shortage of inspectors to enforce this, many don’t even meet those basic standards.

In most commercial breeding facilities, you can expect to see a large number of dogs who are treated only as breeding stock. The dogs are kept in kennel facilities, don’t spend a lot of time around people, and their primary purpose is to produce offspring.

You should expect most commercial breeders to do some amount of health testing on their breeding stock and to offer a basic guarantee along with the puppies, but you may not expect the puppy to be raised in a family environment or to be well-socialized with people in the critical first few weeks of its life.

The primary purpose of a commercial breeder is to sell dogs.


Hobby Breeders

The term hobby breeder applies to someone who breeds dogs but does not make his living primarily from the sale of puppies and adult dogs.

Many people who are not familiar with breeding often mistakenly assume that a hobby breeder is automatically someone who is not knowledgeable enough to become a professional breeder, or someone who lacks the experience. The opposite is true in most cases. In the US, it’s the hobby breeders who are the primary source of quality purebred dogs.

The reason for this is that most hobby breeders don’t have a large breeding operation. Most have only a handful of dogs, and most make sure that their dogs are the best they can be prior to breeding.

You should expect this type of breeder to show their dogs in conformation (the dog show ring), which is one way of proving that their dogs meet the written standard of their breed in terms of appearance, temperament, and size. You should also expect this type of breeder to do extensive health checks on their dogs, from DNA testing to prove that their dogs carry no genetic diseases, to getting their eyes, hips, and elbows certified. If they breed a type of working dog, these breeders are generally heavily involved in dog sports, getting titles on their dogs to prove that they can perform the work for which they were bred. Breeders who breed working dogs sometimes don't show in conformation, but are instead primarily active in dog sports.

The primary purpose of a hobby breeder is to improve the breed and produce quality puppies that will go to good homes.


Backyard Breeders (BYB's)

Contrary to popular belief, the term “backyard breeder” does not necessarily apply to someone who literally breeds dogs in their backyard. What it means is someone who is breeding dogs for no other reason than because they can.

Unlike a hobby breeder, a backyard breeder is generally someone who knows very little about the procedures that go into responsible breeding, such as the necessary health checks or showing the dog in conformation. A backyard breeder gives little though to whether dam and sire are a good match for each other in terms of their genes or not. He does not title his breeding stock in any kind of dog sport or other activity that would indicate whether the dog has the ability to do the job its breed was originally created for.

Sometimes it’s very easy to spot a backyard breeder:

They are breeding dogs that do not match the breed’s written standard. What is important to remember is that every breed only exists because there is a written breed standard. The standard is the blueprint of what an ideal dog of that breed should look and be like.

For example:

The German Shepherd breed standard calls for males to be no taller than 26” at the shoulder. A breeder who advertises Shepherds using terms such as “large, old-fashioned, oversized”, and whose dogs are 30” at the shoulder or taller, is a backyard breeder. He does not care about the breed or the breed’s standards, he only produces dogs that he thinks will bring him the most money because he can make people believe that they are rare or unusual.

Beware of any breeder who uses the term “rare” when talking about the dogs he breeds. Many backyard breeders like to sucker people into buying puppies by advertising specific breeds, breed mixes, or colorations as rare, hard to find, or unusual. They would have you believe that a color that is actually a fault, meaning the dog should never be bred and cannot be shown, is rare and worth twice the price because you’re getting something “unique”.


Breeding mixed-breed dogs:
A sure sign of a backyard breeder

Another sure way of telling a backyard breeder is if they are purposely mating a female of one breed to a male of another breed and then charging large sums of money for the mixed-breed offspring. They generally refer to their dogs as hybrids or designer dogs and usually advertise them using made-up breed names such as Maltipoo (Maltese and Poodle) or Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever and Poodle).

The reason many people are purchasing designer dogs is because they come with promises that these dogs will be free of the genetic problems that pure-bred dogs are often plagued with, that they will be non-shedding or hypo-allergenic, and that they will make better companions.

In reality, none of these things can be predicted with a first-generation cross (a mix between two dogs of different breeds). A mixed-breed pup inherits genes from both his mother and his father. This means that the puppy may inherit genetic problems from both sides of his family. It also means that no breeder can tell you with any amount of certainty which type of coat your puppy will end up with. Instead of the desired non-shedding Poodle coat, the Goldendoodle puppy may inherit the shedding Golden Retriever coat instead.

The very term designer dog is a misnomer. The term designer implies that the breeder has created a very specific product that will have a specific look and carry specific traits. The only thing that is designed in terms of these dogs is the “breed” name the breeder uses for their product.

For example:

A breeder crosses a Pug with a Beagle in order to sell Puggle puppies. It is his claim that these puppies will all be between 10 and 15 inches tall when they are fully grown, will have the floppy ears of a Beagle, and a slightly longer snout but the facial wrinkles of a Pug.

Which sounds really good when you put it like that, except that there is a big flaw in this theory: when you’re mixing two completely different breeds’ gene pool, you cannot predict what the outcome will be. Even though the breeder may expect his puppies to be what he’s claiming, the fact remains that each puppy in this litter can inherit any of the traits from either of his parents. That means, one puppy could be the size of a Beagle with the face of a Pug, while another in the same litter could be the size and shape of a Pug with a Beagle snout and Beagle ears.

If the breeder claims they can predict what you’ll get, it is a 100% sure sign that they do not understand the first thing about dog breeding and genetics.


Signs of a Reputable Breeder

• The breeder’s main goal is to improve and preserve the breed.
• The breeder only breeds one breed of dog.
• The breeder will require a contract.
• The breeder will offer a guarantee.
  
  
• The breeder does not (generally) advertise in a newspaper. Puppy buyers usually find them through referrals from breed clubs, rescues, owners of their dogs, and other breeders.
  
  
• The breeder will ask you many, many questions about your lifestyle, your family, and your dog experience. He wants to make sure that his puppy is a good match for you.
  
  
• The breeder will require references from you.
  
  
• The breeder will be more than happy to show you his facility and his dogs. He will let you meet the dam and sire if he owns both, or only the dam if the sire is owned by someone else. He will show you their pedigrees as well as their health certificates.
  
  
• The breeder will be involved in breed clubs and dog sports and will be happy to tell you about them and answer your questions. He will give you references for these clubs that you can check on.
  
  
• The breeder will stand behind his “product” if there is ever a problem in terms of health or temperament, or another issue. Most breeders ask their puppy buyers to keep in touch with them over the lifetime of the dog to send updates and ask questions. The breeder should take the dog back, or help place the dog in a different home, should that ever be necessary.
  

Questions you Should Ask the Breeder

About his breeding program and experience:

• How long have you been breeding?
• How long have you been with this breed?
• Have you bred any other breed?
• How many litters do you breed each year?
• Do you belong to any breed clubs or organizations?
• Can I get references for the organizations you belong to?
• Do you train and title your own dogs?
• Do you have references for puppy buyers I can contact?

About his breeding stock:

• Do you have the parents on site? Can I see them?
• What kind of congenital defects are found in this breed?
• Are the dogs clear of canine hemophilia?
• Are the dogs clear of thyroid problems?
• Are the dogs’ hips and elbows OFA certified?
• Are the dogs’ eyes CERF certified?
• Can I see the results of the health tests and certifications?
• What titles do your dogs have?
• Ware the good and bad points of the dam and sire?
• Can you explain the pedigree to me in detail?
• Do you temperament test your dogs? If so, how?

About his puppies:

• How and where do you raise the puppies?
• What do you do to socialize the puppies?
• How early can I bring the puppy home?
  

About the purchase:

• What guarantees do you offer?
• Do you have a spay / neuter agreement?
• If there is ever a problem, can I return the puppy?
  

One thing that all reputable breeders have in common is that they truly care about their dogs and want the best for their puppies as well as the breed that they love and are breeding. You can expect a reputable breeder to answer all of the questions listed on the last page, and give you information about his dogs on top of that.

To see an example of a quality breeder, please check out the website of Wildhaus Kennels, a breeder of working-line German Shepherd Dogs. You will see many of the things to look for and ask about in a quality breeder:

• low number of breedings (no more than one or two a year)
• all dogs are trained, worked, and titled
• pedigrees and OFA results are on the website
• purchase information & healthy warranty is on the site
• "Brags" page shows abilities & quality of previously sold pups

Incidentally, they also have some great articles with information on their site, including one on finding a quality breeder that is worth checking out.

Be prepared for a reputable breeder to ask you just as many questions, if not more, before he sells you a puppy, because he wants to make sure that you will be a good home for the puppy he has bred and that you will also be a “forever” home, meaning that this dog will be a lifetime commitment for you, not a novelty that will be returned, given to someone else, or dumped at a shelter when you get bored or annoyed with it, have to change jobs, or have to relocate.


Things your Breeder may Ask You

• What are your living arrangements? Do you own or rent?
• Do you have a fenced yard? If not, how will you provide exercise?
• Do you have children? If so, what ages are they?
• How many hours do you work? Do you travel frequently?
• Who will provide for the dog if you travel?
• Where will the dog stay while you are at work?
• Have you ever owned this breed of dog?
• Have you owned other dogs? If so, what happened to them?
• Do you own any other dogs now?
• What is your experience with this breed? What are your expectations?
• Are you aware of the grooming requirements for this breed?
• Are you aware of the exercise requirements for this breed?
• Do you have other pets? What kind?
• Do you intend to breed / show / train the dog?
• Do you know the dog laws in your community?
• Have you selected a veterinarian?
• Where will you dog sleep / eat / etc.?

One thing that you should also know is that a good breeder will want to stay in touch with you after you’ve bought the puppy. They will want you to send updates and photos so they will know how the dog is doing, whether there are any health problems, and that he is in a good home.

to be continued