Finding a good breeder

If you are going to buy a puppy, you need to know how to recognize a responsible, caring breeder and - just as important – where to find them.

If you don’t take the time to do so, you could end up with a dog that suffers from serious medical issues or behaviour problems, causing you a great deal of heartache, frustration, and expense. Worse, you could end up unknowingly supporting the cruel puppy mill industry.

> Download a printable list of Essential questions to ask a breeder to see if they meet these criteria.

To learn some specifics about how to recognize good pet sources, read these Pet Sources Guidelines.

Internet classified sites are not the place to look for reputable breeders because they don’t post their puppies there. Puppy mills and backyard breeders use these sites to promote their business. Good breeders rely on their websites, word of mouth and their national and/or regional breed clubs for referrals.

To find a reputable breeder go to the national or regional  breed club or your local kennel club. The breed club should have a code of ethics that members must meet.  You can also find rescue dogs available through the breed clubs.

Find out just how big the difference is between the life of a puppy bred by a caring, reputable breeder and the life of a puppy mill dog by reading Jasper and Logan’s story.

Dog breeding is — or should be — a big responsibility. Those who don’t have the knowledge, time, space, love, and money to breed and care for dogs at a high standard should not be breeding. Unfortunately, many people do, because they can make a lot of money in this business.

Really good breeders put a great deal of time into caring for their dogs, researching and deciding which dogs to breed, and screening potential buyers. They are very involved in their breed club, they participate in shows and other competitions, and their dogs are a huge part of their lives.

They do all this because they care — not to make money. Ethical dog breeders usually make, at most, a small profit from the sale of their puppies; most of the money they make goes to cover expenses such as health screening for genetic disorders, stud fees, vet fees, registration, etc.

The only way you can know for sure that a breeder is responsible and humane is to personally visit and see the conditions their breeding dogs and puppies are kept in. Be sure you visit before you hand over any money. You also need to ask specific questions and see certain paperwork to make sure they meet the standards of a good breeder. Below are the hallmarks of a good breeder that you should look for.

A responsible, ethical breeder:

• Breeds dogs of only one or two breeds, and does not have a larger number of animals than they could reasonably provide with a good quality of life.
• Requires you to visit and will show you their dogs (including the mothers) and where they are housed.
• Has facilities that are clean and spacious and their dogs are healthy and well socialized.
• Keeps puppies clean, warm, well fed and with their mother until weaned.
• Doesn’t allow puppies to go to new homes before 8 weeks of age.
• Raises their puppies in the home where they become accustomed to household sounds, such as the phone, dishwasher, vacuum, people coming and going, etc.
• Is a member of their breed club and national kennel club (in Canada, the Canadian Kennel Club), and adheres to the clubs’ Codes of Ethics.
• Is very knowledgeable about the breed and asks you many questions to ensure your lifestyle, knowledge of dogs, and attitude are a good fit for one of their puppies.
• Will talk openly about their breeding program and breeding practices.
• Has working knowledge of genetics and will talk to you about genetic disorders prevalent in the breed and how they are working to prevent them. (Every breed has tendencies toward certain genetic disorders.)  Learn more at: Canine Inherited Disorders Database.
• Screens all their breeding stock for relevant genetic disorders and removes affected animals from their breeding program. Affected animals are spayed/neutered and may be placed as companion animals as long as health issues are disclosed to buyers/adopters.
• Takes lifetime responsibility for their breeding dogs and the puppies they produce and will take back any animal of their breeding, at any time, for any reason.
• Does not breed animals younger than 18 months and stops breeding by middle age, which will vary depending on the breed.
• Stops breeding any female dog once it has delivered 3 to 4 litters if it’s a large breed, and 5-6 litters if it’s a small breed.
• Provides guidance and support to puppy buyers over the years.
• Provides a contract that spells out the breeder’s obligations and the purchaser’s responsibilities, such as obedience classes, spay/neuter and general care of the puppy.
• Provides a guarantee of overall health and temperament as well as absence of genetic disorders. The guarantee offers some financial reimbursement, not simply a replacement puppy.
• Provides puppy buyers with proper paperwork including a bill of sale, Canadian Kennel Club registration papers, vaccination certificates and copies of genetic screening clearances for the sire and dam (father and mother) of the litter.

 Recognizing the breeders to avoid

Here are a few red flags common to puppy mills, brokers, irresponsible breeders and scammers:

• Not requiring you to visit them and their dogs
• Not asking you anything about your experience with dogs, your lifestyle, etc.
• Offering to ship or deliver the puppy to you or meet you in a public place to hand it over. They may initially talk about you coming to pick up the puppy but at the last minute they suggest saving you the trouble and just meeting you somewhere.
• Offering puppies of many different breeds
• Requires you to send money to another country
• If you do visit, they bring the out puppy to you so you don’t see the mother, littermates or where the dogs live. Be wary of barns and sheds on the property that could be full of dogs.
• Doesn’t know anything about genetic disorders and doesn’t have their dogs screened by veterinary specialists (such as hip x-rays, opthamologist, cardiologist, etc.)
• Provides no guarantee or only a guarantee that requires you to send the puppy back

Commercial breeders

Commercial breeders are large-scale breeders that have dozens to hundreds of dogs of various breeds. They either sell directly to the public, advertising in newspaper and internet classified, or they may sell to pet stores.

Some of them are actually puppy mills that simply call themselves commercial breeders to look better.  Others may provide clean facilities and sufficient staff, but the volume of dogs they have makes it impossible to provide the loving care and attention that a reputable breeder provides in their home.

Backyard Breeders

This term is used for people who either intentionally breed one or a few dogs but have very little knowledge, or who have an accidental litter because they hadn’t got around to spaying their female dog yet. They may seem harmless, but there are so many of them that they make a substantial contribution to the pet overpopulation crisis.

Chances are you know someone who’s a backyard breeder, though you’ve probably never thought of them in those terms.

How about Bob from the accounting department at work who sent out an email last week to all employees about the adorable Cocker Spaniel pups his dog Sassie just had, who all need to find a home.

Or the young couple in another part of town advertising on Kijiji that their Cockapoo Chelsea had a litter — the second in a year, apparently.

Or what about your friend, Sally, who kept meaning to get her 11-month old Labrador mix Frida spayed but just never got around to it. One day the kids let her out of the house by mistake and she had a quick rendezvous with the neighbour’s dog, Max. His owners just never got around to neutering him either! Now Sally has to find homes for 5 puppies.

< Back to “Finding your Fido”