Finding a new dog can be overwhelming. There’s lots of different breeds out there to choose from with multiple selections that may be best for your family. Knowing what breed you want is only half the battle, the other half is finding an ethical, reputable breeder to support. Why does finding an ethical breeder matter? Isn’t the cheaper, better option to get the cute little $50 puppy off of your Facebook’s classifieds instead of dropping anywhere from $1,000-$3,000 for the breeder with a wait list down the road? When selecting a puppy to bring home cheaper isn’t going to better, for health, training, and shelter population reasons. Remember pure bred is not well bred!
An ethical breeder is going to have several distinct green flags, health testing will be one of them. A back yard breeder may boast of having their breeding dog checked by the vet but nine times out of ten it won’t be the necessary genetic testing, hip, eyes, and elbow scoring required to be an ethical breeder. What’s the big deal about health in your puppy’s parents? Ensuring healthy lines of breeding keeps biologically passed down health issues from occurring. No one want to deal with hip dysplasia, thyroid issues, or an increased risk of cancer in a young dog. Ethical breeders will do whatever it takes to ensure that their lines are minimized of these risks, so their puppies live great, healthy lives with their new found families. Not everything can be caught on a full health panel, a responsible breeder will be in contact with you throughout your dog’s life. Should a rare genetic disorder occur, the breeder will find out this information from you so they can decide to pull their dogs who carry the gene from their breeding program.
Finding out what recommended health testing is needed, along with the appropriate scoring sounds like a daunting task. Resources are a few clicks away with google. Searching for your breed’s parent club will lead you to a wealth of knowledge on what tests they recommend, what accepted scores are for eyes, ears, and hips. Cross referencing these facts with what your breeder’s listed results are will ensure that you are fully aware of if your chosen breeder is in fact doing everything they can to ensure happy, healthy offspring.
Health testing is only one aspect to look out for in a breeder. Why is your breeder breeding? Knowing this, and what your personal goals are in respects to selecting the best dog for you is instrumental in being successful. Even if you’re only looking for a pet dog. Ethical, responsible breeder will never say “oh she’s so cute, and I really like her! I thought her puppies would be the same!”. This phrase is only ever said by irresponsible, back yard breeders. Run far and fast away from this red flag. Responsible breeders will want to carry on the reason they are breeding, which can range anywhere from great award-winning conformation (the way the dog looks), great hunting lines, to great nerves when it comes to biting in real life scenarios. Ethical breeders won’t give you a working line Belgium Malinois if you’re goal is to have a great household pet. A field Labrador retriever breeder will also refuse to sell you a puppy if you’re looking for a chill happy go lucky lab. However, a breeder who’s proven their dogs in confirmation, obedience shows, or any lower intensity sports will sell you a puppy if your goal is to have a happy house pet that doesn’t need an extreme amount of mental and physical stimulation (breed depending). Asking a breeder why they bred their dogs is also going to help both you and the breeder figure out if their program is the right one for you. If the breeding of a particular program isn’t the right fit for you, don’t be disheartened! Keep looking, a breeder may point your to a different breeder who best fits your needs.
Beware of “breeders” who boast of AKC registration without showing what their dogs are proven (done well in different types of competitions related to what your breed is known for) and no proof of health testing. The American Kennel Club is the social media of the dog world. It’s a great tool for gathering all relevant information about a dog, and the breeder themselves. Clicking on the links to alternate data bases will help clue you into if you should go with a breeder but it is not a sign of being a responsible breeder. Just as anyone can have a Facebook, so can anyone with a dog be registered with the AKC.
A common question when people reach out to us for training is when to start training their new puppy. Dogs bought from a reputable breeder will have already begun training from day one. Speak to your potential breeder, ask what they’ve been doing with the puppies. Breeders have the puppies for two to three months, not doing anything with the puppies in this time period can set you, the buyer, up for failure in crate training, socializing, potty training, and handling. Dedicated is a great descriptor for responsible, ethical breeders. Raising a litter of puppies is a full time job! While there are numerous puppy raising methods, a breeder who is dedicated to ensuring they do their part in creating great dogs once they are on the ground will have selected the best method for their breed in preparing the puppies for their future homes.
Don’t be sad or upset when a breeder won’t let you select your own puppy from the litter. A breeder has spent near 24 hours a day with the puppies. They know which ones fit the temperament you’re looking for in a puppy. Some breeders do allow buyers who are on the wait list for the current litter on the ground to hangout with the litter. This can be a great way for the breeder to gather even more in depth knowledge on what you are looking for in your dog. While they should already have a solid understand of what you’re looking for, some information can be hard to gather in a few over the phone/in person interviews. Overall you’re paying a breeder to select the best dog for you, let them do their job. Afterall they’re invested in the dog being successful just as much as you are!
Contracts are the make or break for selecting a reputable breeder. They should have a portion of their contract dedicated to what happens if you can’t keep the dog. This is key in keeping dogs out of shelters, and in the proper hands. Ethical breeders know that they are responsible for the lives that they create! Should the worse happen, and a dog needs to be rehomed the first call should be to the breeder.
Why the price tag? It takes lots of money to adequately ensure that you’re getting the best of the best! Vet visits for testing, pregnancy check ups, setting up the whelping areas all take money. Looking around at multiple ethical breeders to gage if the price tag for any one breeder in your chosen breed helps. If you find multiple reputable breeders, but one is exceptionally higher than most than that could potentially be a red flag. A $4,000 price tag for a puppy doesn’t mean much if there’s red flags in the breeding program. Backyard breeders and puppy mills don’t always have the cheaper price tag, especially in today’s world of doodles. In the long run a healthy, well raised puppy from a breeder is going to be cheaper in both vet costs, and training. A $100 dog sounds great until you’re spending $4,000 at the trainer’s when genetics compel the dog to eat the mail man, or dropping $3,000+ on diagnostics and corrective surgeries for hip dysplasia in a 6 month old dog.
Breeding out of standard dogs is a major red flag. Reading on the parent club of your chosen breed can help you see this red flag. For example, with golden retrievers avoid those breeding “Crème” golden retrievers. White coated appearing dogs in breeds absent of white coats are prone to behavioral issues and are not accepted by the parent club for good reason. Often these “breeders” will charge more for this coat of dog, and at best the white coat will turn yellow as the puppy enters adolescence. An ethical breeder won’t scam you out of your money like that. At worst you’ll be seeking behavioral help from a trainer to manage these genetic caused issues. For more information on genetic components like this please visit our other blog post “Genetics, Breeding, and Pet Dogs”. In general, avoid breeders breeding for colors, since breeding for colors too often skip over health and mental fortitude.
Lastly, one of the biggest red flags to avoid is over breeding or breeding young dogs. Just like with humans, moms need time to heal, raise their puppies for 2-3 months, then be a dog afterwards. An exhausted mom who isn’t allowed the proper time to recover isn’t going to teach her puppies how to read social cues, may not want to feed her puppies until the proper weaning time, and ultimately may develop poor behaviors in herself and her puppies. Ethical breeding should be taking place for the female about 1-4 times in her lifetime starting when the mom is close to 3 years old. Waiting for the mom to mature both mentally and physically before breeding allows time for the breeder to start proving her genetic line. Mom being fully grown also mitigate many risks to her physical wellbeing brought on by being prematurely pregnant.
Puppies are a lifetime commitment, starting their lives off right makes all the difference in the world. Avoiding breeders who breed out of standard dogs, have no proof of their dogs’ health, can sometimes feel like walking in a mine field. Reaching out and asking for assistance from knowledgeable professionals, using google to pull up sources on how your breed should responsibly be bred can help you navigate the journey to finding a perfect match for you and your family.
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