Before you get too far down the road of adopting a puppy from a breeder, get comfortable with the price of a purebred dog. You don’t need to experience sticker shock after you’ve already fallen in love. Some wonderful dogs will be available at a relatively good price compared to the top champions. But a very low price may be a warning sign that you will get what you pay for.
Mom and Dad
Logan's litter (he's the bottom right pup!)
In choosing your breeder, you’ve already visited the facility—usually the breeder’s home—and have a sense of the dogs’ quality of life. Now you want to meet the doggie parents. The female probably lives with your breeder, while the male is likely to live somewhere else. Meeting them both will give you a sense of how your puppy’s temperament is likely to turn out. We met both parents of both Sage and Logan. It was not only reassuring but also great fun to look back on. Sage’s grandparents on her father’s side were madly in love, a true doggie love story. Logan is a lot like his daddy, which is a good thing for him and for us.
Ask the breeder why she/he decided to breed these two particular dogs. Good answers are:
- The last time these two were together, the puppies were wonderfully healthy and good-tempered.
- Putting these two together improves the breed in some way.
Learn everything you can about the puppy’s parents and pedigree. The mother should be at least two years old, so that her body is ready and her health status is well established.
Grands, Great-Grands, and Family History
You should be able to see a pedigree going back three or four generations at least. We have copies of Sage’s and Logan’s family trees. The first thing you look for is inbreeding, a bad sign.
You also want to find out whether there’s evidence of common genetic diseases such as:
- Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA), an eye problem
- Hip or elbow dysplasia, a common cause of lameness in larger breeds
- Von Willebrand disease, a bleeding disorder
- Wobbler’s syndrome, a spinal disorder
A reputable breeder will show you written proof of the dog’s genetic history, including at least certifications for the eyes from the Canine Eye Registry Foundation and for the hips from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. Ask to see original certificates.
Overwhelmed yet? Then just pay attention to the pedigree. As long as the dogs aren’t inbred, Mother Nature is pretty good at picking healthy genes. This is the same reason that many people will tell you that mixed-breed dogs are generally healthier (or nicer) than purebreds.
The Fine Print
The breeder should offer you a contract along with your dog. Make sure you understand what the breeder expects of you and what she/he is guaranteeing. If you don’t understand any part of the contract, consult a lawyer. Some breeders will expect stud or breeding rights, which will be a huge inconvenience for you. Some will require you to uphold a certain lifestyle for the benefit of the dog, perhaps including training. In our case, we were required to spay or neuter the dogs.
Breeders who really care about their dogs have a return policy. (So do rescue organizations.) They don’t want the dog back, but they’d rather start over than have the pooch be miserable because you are miserable with him. Do your homework and this shouldn’t happen to you. We’ve never wanted to give back any of our dogs even for a second.
