What Should You Look for in a Reputable Dog Breeder?
What Kind of Breeder Are You Dealing With?
Animal Husbandry Practices and the Reputable Dog Breeder
My wife and I run a professional kennel that focuses on producing the best in Quality puppies of the Welsh Terrier and Cockapoo dog breeds. Although we’ve bred other types of dogs, five years ago we decided to concentrate on our favorites and there is good reason to do this. Some breeders will breed whatever is most in demand, however the longer a dog breeder focuses on their target breeds, the more intimate their knowledge and experience, and the better their pups will be as a result. Size (whether large or small) does not equal professional. I tend to define a professional or reputable dog breeder as someone who has adopted a mindset or philosophy that includes a passion for their breed and devotion to the science of animal husbandry - there is no other standard worth considering!
For this reason I’ve created a list of areas to focus on with my own personal responses for you to use as a guide on what to look for to determine whether or not you are working with a reputable dog breeder (someone who operates in a way that creates healthy and happy puppies).
So with that in mind, you really need to know how your prospective breeder invests in animal care.
A kennel is a business, thus all facets of the kennel operation have to be maintained with the most up to date methods of sanitation, preventative medication, nutrition, housing and time. A reputable dog breeder should have a health plan for their puppies and a structure in place for the best care of their adult dogs.
1. Does your breeder offer a health guarantee?
You are looking for a breeder who can guarantee the health of their puppies. The guarantee at Parker Kennel is based on the premise that we provide “A Happy, Healthy Puppy for You”.
To be able to say this and stand behind our pups we MUST care for adults and puppies in the best way.
Your puppy is not a hobby or something we do just for fun. It is serious to us and is serious to you also because the health of your puppy impacts your family.
A happy, healthy puppy makes an excellent companion for you and your family, an unhealthy and unstable puppy can lead to a lot of heartache for everyone involved. So look for a written health guarantee to get an idea of just how much your breeder is going to stand behind their pups.
2. How much time does your breeder have to spend with their pups?
I’m self employed part time as a machinist, with my shop on our property. My wife Natalie is a homemaker. We have the time to spend raising our dogs and puppies the correct way.
One of the most important parts of the equation is time, thus our Pups and adults really Love People and Our Puppies transition from us to their new families very easily.
If Natalie and I both worked outside the home, we would not have the proper time to spend with our Puppies to ensure this. Your next household member will not be a Hobby to a reputable dog breeder. Raising loving, well socialized pups requires devotion and a large investment of time.
3. Does your breeder take steps toward continuing their understanding of the ever-changing field of animal science?
You want to know that your breeder keeps up with the best methods available to care for their animals. Natalie and I often travel to breeder seminars from clubs and hear lectures from visiting Vets etc. on new and improved methods of animal husbandry. Education is a very important part of our program.
4. Does your breeder own their adult breeders (the parents of the puppies)?
A reputable dog breeder can guarantee the health and temperament of their puppies because they have raised and live with their parents - a breeder who buys adult dogs without having raised them from puppies or uses breeding dogs housed outside of their home can not fully control the health of the puppies they are producing.
Our adults were all raised up from puppies that we have selected.
They were acquired by us from other reputable dog breeders from the ages of eight weeks of age to 16 weeks of age and live with us on our property.
We feel that the best way to ensure that our breeding dogs have the best in the characteristics that we are looking for is to raise them up from pups and we have invested much time, effort, and money into the living arrangements for our adults.
We have known them almost all of their lives. They are very used to us and the surroundings that they live in. Reproduction goes very smooth with this method.
We do not purchase adult dogs from dog auctions, breeders, or adult dogs at all.
We believe the only way we can be truthful to you about the parents is to have raised them up from puppies.
5. Where does your breeder sell their puppies?
Natalie and I believe that the best place for you to purchase your puppy is directly from a reputable dog breeder. We do not sell to Pet Shops, Brokers or any re-seller. We care about our pups and want to know where they are going.
6. Will your breeder be available for you after you buy your puppy?
Natalie and I are here to help our families with the raising of their new puppies. In fact many of them come back for another pup shortly after they buy the first. It is important to us to build a relationship with our buyers and we want what is best for our pups, so we make ourselves available to answer questions and help in whatever way we can.
7. What do the people who’ve purchased puppies from your breeder have to say?
Reputable dog breeders should be able to provide you with some customer feedback about their dogs and their customer’s experiences. Parker Kennel has an entire page on our website devoted to our families and their puppy purchasing experience.
8. How do I make sure I’m not buying from a Puppy Mill?
The “Puppy Mills”, that you may read and hear about are not successful businesses. These places do exist, as do sub-standard operations in most industries.
However, they are not producing quality puppies and so can not self-sustain the way that a reputable dog breeder can. Thus low or no budget kennels will not invest in any of the above mentioned necessities to produce a Quality Puppy for you and you can get a good idea of what kind of breeder you are dealing with, simply by asking questions based on the animal husbandry practices highlighted in this article.
Still have questions?
Have a look a our Signature Standards for raising puppies to see our health program, what we offer as Welsh Terrier and Cockapoo breeders and our guarantee. This will provide a lot of great information that you can use to assess any dog breeder you are considering and of course, we’d love to hear from you!
All our best,
Will & Natalie
This Article was Featured in:
Puppyintraining.com
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Comments
Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Chris Moran
I wish I had this article when I was looking for my first puppy five years ago. I asked all my friends about different breeds of dogs, read a number of sites on the internet, and finally ended up rescuing a dog from the shelter.
Thank you! These are valuable questions that everyone should be able to ask ‘up-front’ when looking to adopt!
Carl, CK Morita and Chris,
Thank you for your complements! Our goal is to teach people about our industry so that they can make the right decision for them. This will lead people if they choose to buy - to responsible breeders - and will improve conditions for dogs and dog-lovers all the way around!
All the best,
Will
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