1. Health.
When you buy a puppy from a pet shop, you're spending a lot
of money for a dog whose parents you know nothing about.
Have both parents had their hips and elbows x-rayed for
dysplasia? Have the parents been tested for PRA, which
causes blindness? Tests are expensive, but responsible
breeders do them because their goal is to produce healthy
pups. What's the pet shop's goal? If they say "healthy
pups," ask them for proof. |
2. That
guarantee isn't worth what you think it is.
Pet shops make a big deal about their "lifetime guarantees".
A guarantee from them is worse than no guarantee at all.
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3. The AKC
myth.
Pet shops want you to think "AKC papers" equals healthy
puppies. It doesn't. The only thing AKC registration means
is that both parents are purebred and AKC registered. The
mother (dam) could be a truly awful example of the breed --
or worse, suffering from disease or illness -- and the
puppies can still be registered. Don't believe it? Call the
AKC at 919-233-9767 and ask them. A responsible
breeder will of course register their puppies if the breed
is one of the 150 or so recognized by the AKC, but that's
only the beginning. |
4. Good luck
with housebreaking.
The puppies you see in the pet-shop window have spent their
lives in cages. They've never seen grass, or dirt, and
they've certainly never seen carpeting. They've been forced
to eliminate in the same place where they sleep and eat. A
responsible breeder keeps the puppies very clean, and makes
sure they have separate elimination areas. By the time
they're ready to go home, well-bred puppies are often well
on the way to being housebroken. |
5. How about
socialization?
Imagine buying a puppy that has never been inside a house
before! The doorbell, the vacuum cleaner, the dishwasher --
those things can be terrifying to a puppy who has never seen
them. What about neighborhood kids, riding in the car, or
just walking on a leash? A responsible breeder exposes her
puppies to all kinds of new situations, and makes sure they
are confident, happy puppies when they go off to their new
homes.
Plus, when you go to a breeder you generally have more than
one puppy from which to choose. A responsible breeder
temperament-tests their puppies to find out which ones are
outgoing or shy or dominant. Then they matches up owners to
make sure that active puppies go to active homes, and that a
shy puppy ends up in a home that's just right for it. If
you're going to spend all that money, it makes sense to look
at several examples of the breed and then pick a dog that's
right for you. |
6. What will
that puppy look like when it grows up?
When you buy a puppy from a responsible breeder, you can
usually meet the mother and see pictures or video of the
father (sire). You can discuss with the breeder the faults
each parent possesses (maybe the mother has an over bite, or
the father is a little taller than the standard). You can't
predict exactly what the puppy will turn out like, but
you'll know what to expect, and you'll know that your
purebred puppy will resemble his breed. Why spend so much
money on a pet shop puppy without even knowing what the
parents look like? |
7. Price.
For the money that pet shops want you to spend, you'd expect
a lot more. Think about all the things responsible breeders
do that pet stores don't: They choose the parents based on
health and temperament issues; they pay for expensive tests
to make sure both sire and dam are free from disease or
illness; they raise the puppies with an eye toward getting
them housebroken and socialized; and they help make sure the
right puppies go to the right homes. A responsible breeder
never breeds just to make money, and their prices are
usually lower than in pet shops. Save some money and get a
better quality puppy at the same time. |
8. What do you
know about the breed?
Pet shops can tell you a little about the breeds they sell.
And they can point you to a rack of generic breed books.
That's it. A responsible breeder will be a wealth of
information about the breed you're interested in. they'll be
able to tell you about unique breed characteristics, ways to
get involved in activities your dog might be suited for, and
most importantly, she knows what specific health issues to
watch out for. |
9. Do you want
to support the puppy mills?
How do you know most pet shop pups come from puppy mills?
Because no responsible breeder would ever sell their puppies
to a pet store, for two reasons:
1) Responsible breeders care about the puppies they produce,
and want them to go to very carefully selected homes.
2) Keeping track of litters is an essential part of
responsible breeding. If two puppies from a certain litter
die from liver failure at a young age, the breeder knows
there's a problem in the line and will not breed the parents
again. What does that say about the breeders of pet shop
pups? |
10. What's that
pedigree worth?
Pet shops make a big deal out of their pedigrees, which is
interesting because they just contain a bunch of names. Can
the pet shop tell you how long the puppy's grandparents
lived, and what they died of? How many of the parents
littermates are still alive? How long do dogs in this
pedigree usually live? A responsible breeder can answer all
of those questions. You get not just a pedigree, but all of
the important information behind the pedigree. |
