Buying a puppy
There are many things to consider when you think about getting a puppy. First you should think about what type of dog would be suitable for your household and lifestyle. How much exercise can you give your dog, do you have children, are you out at work, do you have a small house, do you have a garden? Different breeds cost different amounts of money, as a rule, mongrels or cross breeds are cheaper, have less health issues and live longer. Think about what your goal in a dog is, if it is just about getting a loving, faithful dog to share your life with, get one from a rescue centre, to help with the huge influx of beautiful dogs getting a home.
Talk to people who have dogs about how they find their breed of dog. When you have found a dog of suitable size and nature, you need to find a reputable breeder if you are getting a pure bred, for a great cross breed, try the rescue centres, they have young puppies too, they also have many purebreds, but these do not tend to be puppies.
Once you have found a breeder, check they have experience in breeding puppies, are they good specimens of their breed? Pedigrees less than five generations deep are not good for establishing breed qualities such as predictability of type. What diseases or failings are your chosen breed prone to and what does your chosen breeder do to avoid these and test for them?
Some questions you should ask and they should answer yes
· Can you see the sire and dam and are they both at least two years old?
· Does the breeder offer information on health testing relevant to the breed and can show proof?
· Have both the dam and sire been tested for genetic health problems before breeding?
· Is there available health testing for immediate relatives of the sire and dam and other litters?
· Are the puppies born on the premises?
· Does the breeder insist that the puppies are at least 8 weeks before placed?
· Is the breeder a member of a breed club?
· Is the guarantee at least one year?
· Will the breeder commit to help, if necessary, in re-homing the dog for whatever reason throughout its lifetime?
· Does the breeder ask you a lot of questions, why do you want a puppy etc?
· Is the breeder happy to answer your questions?
· Does the breeder work with a rescue organisation?
Some questions that the answer should be no:-
· Did the breeder claim that the puppies lines were completely free of genetic health problems?
· Does the health guarantee require that you return the puppy?
Do not ever buy a puppy from a puppy farm, they are often sold as purebred and may not be, bred and kept in unsatisfactory conditions and are bred with the sole intention of making money so are often kept in the health and welfare of their puppies and dams, and the dams are not given time to recuperate from one litter before forced to have another, therefore unable to give enough nutrients to the puppies. As a result a number of farmed puppies grow up with chronic health problems and temperament issues.