Where will your next puppy come from?

As someone looking to acquire a puppy, you have a many options before you. How do you decide who to get your pup from or who you can trust to provide you with a pup that meets your wants and needs?

The answer lies in what you want and expect. Before you choose where to get your pup, you must first ask yourself these critical questions:

Will this pup be a hunting companion, a show prospect, a therapy/assistance dog, just a family pet, a combination of these things, or something else altogether?

Is the health and temperament of the pup important to you? Are you willing to take your chances that the pup will turn out ok, or would you like to know about its family history and be provided with a worthwhile guarantee to back it up should anything develop down the road?

If at some point during the pup's life you decide that for whatever reason, you are no longer able to keep it, how would you handle what happens to the pup? Do you plan to keep it as long as necessary to find it anther loving home with people you trust, will you drop it off at a shelter and hope it finds a happy ending, will you try to push it onto a friend or family member, or would you prefer that the person you purchased it from was willing to either take it back or help you find it another suitable home?

Do you want to know what the pup might look like when he/she grows up in terms of shape, size, height, weight, etc? Do you want to know if he/she will be calm, active, or somewhere in between? Do you want to know if he/she will be good with children and relatively easy to train or stubborn and hard to manage?

Many people make the mistake of thinking that any pup of a certain breed will be exactly what they are looking for, and that if it has papers, it means it is a good quality dog and worth more money--even that it's breeding quality. The truth is, among all the dogs of a certain breed, there are many different personalities, sizes, and types. For example some Labs (even those with papers) weigh over 120 lbs, while others only weigh 55 lbs or so, and yet others still weight anywhere in between. We're talking about a possible 50-60 lb size difference within the same breed of dog!!! Another good example regards personality. Some Labs can be territorial, hyper, not great with kids, food aggressive, etc, while others are sweet, calm, a joy to train, etc. When you look at all the different possibilities out there, you really need to be clear on what YOU want in a dog, and then find the right person who has that to offer.

To help you decide where to buy your next puppy, it would certainly help to understand the different options you have to choose from. The following is a list, with brief descriptions, of the various types of places/people that offer pups for sale or adoption:

Rescue or Shelter:

For a few special people, adopting a homeless pet is noble option. They feel a need to save a helpless animal from an unknown fate, and give it the good life it's always deserved. Adoption is very admirable cause and requires a big heart and lots of time and patience.

While we are big supporters of adoption, we also understand that it's just not for most people. The upside to adoption is obvious--saving a homeless dog and giving it a good home, not to mention a small adoption fee as opposed to a large price tag. The down side to adoption is many of these dogs come with baggage, meaning they often have behavior and training issues that can take a great deal of time, patience, and training to correct, many times requiring the assistance of a professional trainer. Many of them, come from puppy mills where health and socialization is not a top priority- to say the least. This means, even if the dog doesn't have a known health issue when you take it home, it may very well down the road, which can cost lots of money for corrective surgery or daily medication and regular monitoring by a vet. The lack of early socialization that occurs in puppy mills, means most of the dogs are not great with children or other animals. Not to say that they're aren't some really great dogs that come from rescue or shelters, but more often than not unfortunately, you get a shy, timid, poorly socialized dog with minimal training. You may be under the impression that if you get a 2 or 3 month old pup from rescue that it is still young enough that it won't have any temperament or socialization issues. While your chances are much better if you get a young pup, there can still be poor socialization issues in pups as young as 8 weeks if they came from a puppy mill or another bad situation. Pups need to be handled daily at a very young age, and they need to be socialized with their mother and littermates as well. If pups are taken away from their siblings or mother too soon, the pups can have a very poor ability to interact with people and other dogs for the rest of their life. The first few weeks are critical to a pup's emotional development and how it will behave as an adult. When you adopt from a shelter, you really don't know the circumstances of which the dogs were born and raised, or what issues might arise from there past experiences.

Deciding to add a new pet to your family is a very important and personal choice. If you are considering adoption, please give it lots of thought, and be sure you can commit to giving this dog everything it might need to overcome it's past and become a part of your family--especially if you have children or other pets in your home. Again, while it is a wonderful cause to save a dog from a puppy mill, it's also quite admirable to support responsible breeders as well. You must evalualte your unique situation, and do what's best for your family--no one else can tell you what's right for you.

A Pet Store:

Some pet stores offer live animals for sale in addition to pet supplies. When a pet store offers pups for sale, you must understand that they often know little to nothing about these pups. They did not breed them, they did not meet the parents, and do not know how big the pup may grow to be, although they'll probably tell you they do, and they don't have any way of knowing if the pup will grow up to be easy to train or stubborn, hyper or calm, if it will have any hereditary health problems or not. They will not offer you a long-term, money-back health guarantee--only the minimum guarantee required by their state law--no extras. If you choose a pet store as the source from which to acquire your next pup, you must understand that you know little about what kind of dog it will become in terms of health, size, or temperament. Remember, just because you know the breed it is, or because it has AKC papers, DOES NOT mean much at all. In fact, many of these pups come from the same place as rescue and shelter dogs--back yard breeders and puppy mills. To purchase a dog from a pet store is really only supporting these types of breeders, you're just paying more for their pups at the pet store than you would buying directly from them.

Local Paper/Flyer with ads for "pups for sale:"

You have to be very careful when looking for pups in a newspaper or classified ad. While responsible breeders sometimes use these venues to showcase their pups, most of these advertisements are placed by "Puppy Mills" and "Back Yard Breeders." How can you tell which ones are which? Read carefully, and ask lots of questions when you contact these people about their pups.

I think most people today understand that puppy mills are not the best places to buy a pup, but do you know what a puppy mill really is or how to recognize one? A puppy mill, simply put, is a place where pups are bred for profit AND in large numbers, with little to no consideration for quality (health, beauty, temperament, etc) or what happens to them after they're sold. They WILL NOT give you a guarantee for genetic health defects or offer money back if your pup develops crippling hip dysplasia. They WILL NOT be happy to answer your questions or concerns once the pup is out of their hands, and they WILL NOT be willing to take the pup back ever unless they are forced to by law, which could only happen within the first 30 days (in some states) if it was sick, but not down the road. And they most likely WILL NOT do any pre-breeding health certifications to check the parent dogs for hereditary health defects. Many of the pups produced by puppy mills either suffer from some type of preventable health issue during their life, or have less than desirable temperaments or personality traits. How do they stay in business if they sell such poor quality pups? For one thing, their pups may be cheaper, and they usually have pups "in stock" when you can't find one anywhere else, and they know there's a sucker born every minuet and uneducated buyers will find them.

So what exactly is a back yard breeder? The term applies to those people/breeders who breed for additional income, the experience, or even by accident when they fail to spay/neuter their pets, but not first and foremost to produce sound, healthy dogs. They usually mean no harm and generally love their dogs and care for them well. They may have 2 or more dogs as family pets. Most of them do not do any health clearances on their dogs or may just do one or two, but not all clearances available, and usually don't provide a good guarantee to back them up either. Many good family pets have come from such places. The real drawback to buying a puppy from them is you are not provided with a lot, if any, genetic health history of the parents and grandparents and you don't get a good guarantee to back them up. You might get to meet one or both parents, but that's about it. If your pup develops a health or temperament problem, you're pretty much on your own and out of luck.

A Hobby Breeder:

While some hobby breeders breed primarily for show, and others for field, they all breed with very specific goals in mind which always include breeding for quality. These breeders are not breeding primarily for profit and will NOT refer to themselves as a business. They breed because they love their breed and want to make sure new generations of that breed will carry on all the qualities that make them what the dog was intended to be. Many show breeders do this by competing in conformation to prove their dogs' correct physical structure as laid out by the breed standard. Field breeders do this by competing and earning field titles that prove their dogs' ease of trainability and ability to work retrieving birds from the water. Some hobby breeders compete in multiple events such as field and show, or even obedience or agility, etc. They hope to prove their dogs' versatility and ability to meet the breed standard in all aspects, rather than concentrating in just one area. Other hobby breeders yet may choose not to compete in many, if any, events or competitions, but still understand the breed standard, and breed to maintain it through the generations. Even though they many not earn titles with their dogs, they still know what they are capable of, and if their physical structure meets the standard or not. While proving a dog's good conformation and hunting abilities by earning titles is a worthwhile and just cause, not everything has to be a competition.

Another thing all responsible hobby breeders have in common is they WILL do pre-breeding health clearances, they WILL be very selective in the type of dogs they are producing as well as where they place their pups. (Only loving, responsible homes will be considered.) And they WILL back their pups up with a good long-term, money-back, health guarantee, lifetime breeder support (to answer any of the buyers questions or concerns), AND the willingness to take back or rehome any pup at any time during its life, if needed. Hobby breeders are so concerned with the well-being of their pups they will have any potential customers will out an application before being considered for a pup. They will not just sell to anyone who has the money.

Now that you can list exactly what qualities you're looking for in a pup, and since you've had a chance to read about the various options available to you, you have all the tools you need to start looking. Of course, if you're reading this from our website you probably knew some of this information already, however maybe now you have a clearer understanding of it all, and can pass on this info at any time to others who may be struggling with some of these issues.

Regardless of labels such as reputable breeder, hobby breeder, show breeder, field breeder, pet breeder, back yard breeder, or even puppy mill or pet store, a responsible breeder who produces quality dogs for whatever purpose (pet, field, show, etc) will abide by the following guidelines:

1) Goals will include producing better dogs that meet the standard in structure, health, & temperament.

2) Doing pre-breeding health clearances.

3) Placing all pups in loving homes where they will be happy, healthy, and well taken care of as a "member of the family," and never regarded as "just a dog."

4) Standing behind all pups/litters with a money back health guarantee, lifetime support to answer questions or concerns, and willingness to take a pup back at any age for any reason, if needed.

If a breeder does all that, no matter how many titles or not, no matter how many dogs/litters they have, than they are being responsible.

That is my personal breeding philosophy, which I take to heart every day in everything that I do with regard to my dogs.

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