What to look for when choosing a dog breeder
Here is a list of questions that should be asked to dog breeders if you are looking to buy a puppy from them. I have placed them not necessarily in the order that you might naturally ask them but in the order of importance I have placed on them. This is just my opinion so take it as that! Depending on how breeders answer and how willing they are to explain and demonstrate the answers should give you an idea of the dog breeder. A good dog breeder should be happy that prospective parents of their puppies are asking these questions and should be more than happy to show you the answers not just tell you!
The breeder you buy a puppy from you are supporting a dog breeder, please make that count!
What do you do to socialize your puppies? Puppies need to be socialized way before 8 weeks old if they are to be able to face a world full of variabilities, other dogs and other people. Puppies need socializing to be started by 3-4 weeks in a developmentally appropriate way so that they learn that they can trust people and that new circumstances are not scary. If puppies don’t get that socialization then the owners they go to will have a long hard road to make up for that lost time. There didn’t used to be any tested socialization techniques that were available for public use but now there are several that are available if breeders want to use them. Some are ENS Early Neurological Stimulation, Puppy culture, Badass Breeder, rules of 7. Let the breeder show you, not just tell you how they get their puppies ready for life.
How do you pair puppies to prospective homes? Are puppies paired with new homes based only on sex and color or do they interview prospective homes about factors that will influence the decision. A high energy puppy being placed with an older couple, a timid dog being placed with a family with rambunctious toddlers? These are things that a good breeder would want to be careful about. Is the breeder interested in making a good pair or are they just wanting to trade you the puppy for the money? If so please rethink your decision.
What temperament testing do you do on your puppies prior to placement? There are several methods of temperament testing with varying amounts of accuracy based on the type of testing and the person performing the test and evaluations. A lot can be seen on a good temperament test that would not necessarily show up until after the puppy goes to their new home. How people focused is this puppy? What is this puppy’s energy level? How much prey drive does this puppy have? Do you see any resource guarding in this puppy? Do you see any resource guarding in this puppy’s parents? What is this puppy’s nerve strength?
What health testing do you do on your breeding dogs? Check with the OFA and AKC about the dog breed you are looking at to see what health tests they recommend before you ask. Here is a link to the OFA website to search for tests by breed. If you are buying a mixed breed dog ie doodles, the parents should be tested according to their breed.
https://www.ofa.org/browse-by-breed If you want a healthy puppy that grows up to be a healthy dog for a full lifetime those health tests go a long way! A heart defect, blindness, arthritis can really affect a dog. These tests don’t guarantee that every puppy they produce will be perfect but if the parent dogs have bad knees, bad hips etc the chances that they will have a puppy that also has bad knees hips, etc goes way up. If they aren’t doing the testing you don’t know! Do they do genetic testing on their breeding dogs? Don’t take their word for these things look them up yourself! Genetic testing results are not always available for the public but the breeder can always share the results with you if they have it. If they have done other health tests they should be submitted to the OFA and those results are public information searchable by dog registration number. Also breeders may say that health testing is done but what are the results. A breeder that has gone through the hard work of getting these results should be very proud to show them off!
What temperament testing do you do on your breeding dogs? It is great to do temperament testing on puppies before they go home but some temperament traits are genetically linked and cannot be trained out, they just have to be managed.
Where do your adult dogs live when they are not raising puppies? Do their dogs live with them in their home? Do they live in a guardian home, do they live in a kennel? You should be able to see pictures at the very least of the dogs living conditions. Ask to meet the parents if you can.
Do you offer a health guarantee for your puppies and what does it cover? A good breeder should be able to offer a 2 year guarantee that covers any life threatening or life altering disease. Rarely will a breeder offer to pay for expensive surgeries but they should agree to replace the puppy.
What do you do for parasite control/treatment? Puppies are prone to getting a variety of different parasites. It is expected and should be anticipated by any good dog breeder. There are a variety of different schools of thought as to parasite control and treatment. As a buyer, you should look for a stool analysis from a vet stating that there are no parasites present.
Are the puppies examined by a veterinarian before going home? All puppies should be examined by a licensed veterinarian before going to their new homes. If this is not done, you need to ask yourself why. When you get your new puppy you will probably be taken up with their cuteness and might not notice a problem until much later. A Vet will catch those things.
How are you preparing puppies for the transition to their new home? Leaving their home and littermates and mother is hard for new puppies. A good breeder will send the puppy home with items with their littermates and mother’s scent on it to ease that transition. Also they should send you home with the food they have been feeding them with instructions on how much to feed and the schedule they are on so that you can make as few big changes as possible right when they get home.
What is your vaccination policy? Dog breeders sending their puppies out into a world with many diseases should be protecting their puppies from those. This isn’t an area to scrimp on. Vaccines lose their reliability if they are not stored correctly. If your puppy got a vaccine that was purchased from a feed store and administered by a person with no training I would not rely on that. Also some breeders are into doing everything natural, feeding raw and not doing vaccines. If so did they do titer tests? You should think about it and make your own decision.
Can I see my puppy’s parent’s pedigree? Even if you are not buying a registered dog ie a doodle, you should somewhere back in the lineage be able to see some kind of a pedigree somewhere. If you are buying a purebred dog even if you aren’t getting registration papers, you should still be able to get a copy of their parent’s pedigrees.
A word on doodles.
Most doodles are a mix of a hypoallergenic dog (poodle) with a regular coated dog (lab or golden retriever) and doodling greatly reduces the shedding and the allergen load depending on the dogs. Our doodles are a cross between 2 hypoallergenic non shedding breeds so they are totally hypoallergenic and non shedding!
Here is a list of questions that should be asked to dog breeders if you are looking to buy a puppy from them. I have placed them not necessarily in the order that you might naturally ask them but in the order of importance I have placed on them. This is just my opinion so take it as that! Depending on how breeders answer and how willing they are to explain and demonstrate the answers should give you an idea of the dog breeder. A good dog breeder should be happy that prospective parents of their puppies are asking these questions and should be more than happy to show you the answers not just tell you!
The breeder you buy a puppy from you are supporting a dog breeder, please make that count!
What do you do to socialize your puppies? Puppies need to be socialized way before 8 weeks old if they are to be able to face a world full of variabilities, other dogs and other people. Puppies need socializing to be started by 3-4 weeks in a developmentally appropriate way so that they learn that they can trust people and that new circumstances are not scary. If puppies don’t get that socialization then the owners they go to will have a long hard road to make up for that lost time. There didn’t used to be any tested socialization techniques that were available for public use but now there are several that are available if breeders want to use them. Some are ENS Early Neurological Stimulation, Puppy culture, Badass Breeder, rules of 7. Let the breeder show you, not just tell you how they get their puppies ready for life.
How do you pair puppies to prospective homes? Are puppies paired with new homes based only on sex and color or do they interview prospective homes about factors that will influence the decision. A high energy puppy being placed with an older couple, a timid dog being placed with a family with rambunctious toddlers? These are things that a good breeder would want to be careful about. Is the breeder interested in making a good pair or are they just wanting to trade you the puppy for the money? If so please rethink your decision.
What temperament testing do you do on your puppies prior to placement? There are several methods of temperament testing with varying amounts of accuracy based on the type of testing and the person performing the test and evaluations. A lot can be seen on a good temperament test that would not necessarily show up until after the puppy goes to their new home. How people focused is this puppy? What is this puppy’s energy level? How much prey drive does this puppy have? Do you see any resource guarding in this puppy? Do you see any resource guarding in this puppy’s parents? What is this puppy’s nerve strength?
What health testing do you do on your breeding dogs? Check with the OFA and AKC about the dog breed you are looking at to see what health tests they recommend before you ask. Here is a link to the OFA website to search for tests by breed. If you are buying a mixed breed dog ie doodles, the parents should be tested according to their breed.
https://www.ofa.org/browse-by-breed If you want a healthy puppy that grows up to be a healthy dog for a full lifetime those health tests go a long way! A heart defect, blindness, arthritis can really affect a dog. These tests don’t guarantee that every puppy they produce will be perfect but if the parent dogs have bad knees, bad hips etc the chances that they will have a puppy that also has bad knees hips, etc goes way up. If they aren’t doing the testing you don’t know! Do they do genetic testing on their breeding dogs? Don’t take their word for these things look them up yourself! Genetic testing results are not always available for the public but the breeder can always share the results with you if they have it. If they have done other health tests they should be submitted to the OFA and those results are public information searchable by dog registration number. Also breeders may say that health testing is done but what are the results. A breeder that has gone through the hard work of getting these results should be very proud to show them off!
What temperament testing do you do on your breeding dogs? It is great to do temperament testing on puppies before they go home but some temperament traits are genetically linked and cannot be trained out, they just have to be managed.
Where do your adult dogs live when they are not raising puppies? Do their dogs live with them in their home? Do they live in a guardian home, do they live in a kennel? You should be able to see pictures at the very least of the dogs living conditions. Ask to meet the parents if you can.
Do you offer a health guarantee for your puppies and what does it cover? A good breeder should be able to offer a 2 year guarantee that covers any life threatening or life altering disease. Rarely will a breeder offer to pay for expensive surgeries but they should agree to replace the puppy.
What do you do for parasite control/treatment? Puppies are prone to getting a variety of different parasites. It is expected and should be anticipated by any good dog breeder. There are a variety of different schools of thought as to parasite control and treatment. As a buyer, you should look for a stool analysis from a vet stating that there are no parasites present.
Are the puppies examined by a veterinarian before going home? All puppies should be examined by a licensed veterinarian before going to their new homes. If this is not done, you need to ask yourself why. When you get your new puppy you will probably be taken up with their cuteness and might not notice a problem until much later. A Vet will catch those things.
How are you preparing puppies for the transition to their new home? Leaving their home and littermates and mother is hard for new puppies. A good breeder will send the puppy home with items with their littermates and mother’s scent on it to ease that transition. Also they should send you home with the food they have been feeding them with instructions on how much to feed and the schedule they are on so that you can make as few big changes as possible right when they get home.
What is your vaccination policy? Dog breeders sending their puppies out into a world with many diseases should be protecting their puppies from those. This isn’t an area to scrimp on. Vaccines lose their reliability if they are not stored correctly. If your puppy got a vaccine that was purchased from a feed store and administered by a person with no training I would not rely on that. Also some breeders are into doing everything natural, feeding raw and not doing vaccines. If so did they do titer tests? You should think about it and make your own decision.
Can I see my puppy’s parent’s pedigree? Even if you are not buying a registered dog ie a doodle, you should somewhere back in the lineage be able to see some kind of a pedigree somewhere. If you are buying a purebred dog even if you aren’t getting registration papers, you should still be able to get a copy of their parent’s pedigrees.
A word on doodles.
Most doodles are a mix of a hypoallergenic dog (poodle) with a regular coated dog (lab or golden retriever) and doodling greatly reduces the shedding and the allergen load depending on the dogs. Our doodles are a cross between 2 hypoallergenic non shedding breeds so they are totally hypoallergenic and non shedding!