Questions

Questions to Ask

Questions to ask the breeder

When you decide the time is right for a puppy, spend at least as much time looking as you would for any other significant investment. A puppy is a life-time investment: hopefully he'll be with you for 15 - 20 years or more. Here are some questions to ask breeders:

· Will you help us pick the right puppy for our needs?

· Are your breeding animals certified free of PRA and other eye diseases?

· Do you guarantee the hips, elbows and heart of the puppies?

· What are your terms if the puppy does develop genetic problems?

· Can we visit the parents of the litter?

· Will you give us the names of other puppy buyers?

· Do you require that all puppies be spayed or neutered?

· Will the puppies have their first shots?

· At what age do you place puppies?
(Puppies should stay with Mom and siblings for at least eight weeks.)

Responsible breeders are forthcoming with this information. Make sure you have the answers before you look at the puppies — it is hard to walk away from a wriggling bundle of fur that's licking your face or tugging on your ankle!

A truly responsible and professional breeder cares where her puppies will grow up. She will keep any puppies she cannot place in suitable homes and will question prospective buyers closely to determine if this buyer really needs one of her precious puppies.

A Breeder's Creed

A breeder has great care for the public image of her breed.

She tries to ingrain these values in the people to whom she sells her dogs, and in everyone with whom she comes in contact. She is reluctant to criticize what she considers the shortcomings of other breeders, or to fault the products of their handiwork. She scorns high pressure salesmanship and the advertising techniques of the markets. Giving straightforward answers to the people who have bought, or are about to buy, her own stock, she neither glosses over the faults nor makes exaggerated claims or predictions. She is forthright in her thinking, her talking, her actions. People instinctively trust her, not because she asks for their trust, (which she does not) but because of what she is.

The real Breeders are the heart and soul of the dog world. They stand proud and often alone, resisting commercialism, unswerving in their search for perfection and idealistic in their code of ethics.