How To Buy A Dog From A Breeder
Responsible dog breeders don't sell their puppies to the first person who shows up with cash in hand. Too often, unsuspecting people buy puppies from puppy mills. Too often, this results in purchasing puppies in poor health or with temperament problems that may not be discovered right away.
how to buy a dog from a breeder
Download our "How to Identify Responsible Dog Breeders" [PDF] checklist and take it with you as you visit different breeders. If the breeder you're working with doesn't meet all of the minimum criteria listed, The Humane Society of the United States advises you to walk away. Remember, your dog will likely live 10 to 20 years, so it's well worth investing some time now to be sure you're working with a responsible breeder who breeds healthy, happy dogs and keeps them in clean and humane conditions.
You can find responsible dog breeders by asking for referrals from your veterinarian or trusted friends, by contacting local breed clubs or visiting professional dog shows. Remember, a responsible breeder will never sell her dogs through a pet store or in any other way that does not allow her to meet with and thoroughly interview you to ensure that the puppy is a good match for your family and that you will provide a responsible, lifelong home.
Always personally visit a dog breeder's facility before buying a puppy. Find out where your puppy was born and raised. Take the time now to find the right dog breeder and you'll thank yourself for the rest of your dog's life.
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The American Kennel Club (AKC) website provides a wealth of information on how to select and interview a breeder. It is a great resource, especially if you are planning on adopting a pure-breed dog or puppy. The AKC website provides a list of registered kennels. This should be the best first place to start the process of finding a registered breeder with a solid reputation. If the parents are registered with AKC and/or breed clubs, this is a key indicator of a reputable breeder.
A reputable breeder will answer your questions and will be willing to help you through the process of adopting and raising your dog. Even if this is not your first dog, remember, you are evaluating the person who will give your new baby the care it needs for the first 2 to 3 months of its life. You want to be sure that person cares about their well-being.
Will you be Asked to Sign a Contract? If so, good! Responsible breeders understand that bad things can happen to good people, they still want to make sure that the dog will continue to receive care for its lifetime. Read the contract carefully, and make sure that you are comfortable with the language.
Whatever your opinion on pure-bred dogs, on breeders, or on rescues and shelters, one thing is true: reputable breeders elevate the breed they love. If we all remain vigilant, perhaps one day cruel, inhumane, and purely profit-driven breeders will be forced to seek alternative methods of employment for themselves.
First things first, breeders are not puppy mills. People often conflate breeders with these far more infamous (and often illegal) places, where dogs are bred and kept in horrific conditions with the bare minimum of necessary care. Good breeders, however, are usually certified by the American Kennel Club and take special care to breed their dogs for good health and temperament. The dogs and their pups are kept in a household environment, have plenty of outdoor space, and are well-groomed by their owners.
If you want a purebred dog because you're obsessed with a certain breed or have allergies, breeders are the way to go, as they generally focus on raising one type of dog. Breeders are also your best shot if you want a puppy, as while you can adopt puppies in shelters, they're less common, and unlike breeders, the shelters might not know their exact ages.
While there are many legitimate reasons to buy from breeders, there are millions of dogs already out there in need of good homes. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), 3.3 million dogs enter shelters each year in the United States. Due to overcrowding, health issues, or even simply their age, nearly 1.5 million of those dogs are euthanized each year.
Both shelters and breeders should care deeply about the animals they keep, and make sure they go to good homes. Wherever you go, be sure to ask the staff plenty of questions; if they are unwilling to answer you, that may be a red flag. Similarly, staff members should ask you questions about your ability to be a responsible dog owner, and not be willing to give a pet away to just anyone who walks in the door. Expect to be interviewed about your home environment, ability to raise the puppy, etc., and you might even have to sign paperwork promising to get your pet vaccinated and spayed or neutered within your first year of ownership.
If a breeder is unwilling to let you meet them and their dogs at their home or care facility, that is a giant red flag, and it might mean they're working for a puppy mill and are not actually a reputable breeder. If you come across a suspicious or abusive breeder or shelter, try your best to document the situation and contact your local law enforcement or animal control.
Simple: Breeding animals is killing them. Every time a breeder brings another puppy into the world, a dog waiting in an animal shelter or struggling to survive on the streets loses a chance at finding a loving home.
Puppy-mill breeders force dogs to reproduce repeatedly until their bodies wear out from the strain of being continually pregnant in such impoverished, harsh conditions. At that point, female dogs are worthless to a breeder and are often dumped at an animal shelter, auctioned off, or cruelly killed.
Is dog breeding ethical? Dog breeding is a business practice that profits from the reproductive systems of dogs. Our personal preferences for specific breeds cause health problems to the dogs as a result.
While a third of the dog population in shelters gets overlooked (including 20% that are put down), 34% of dogs are purchased from breeders each year, which is the most popular method for acquiring a dog.
After adopting from a shelter, the next best option is to buy or adopt a dog privately. For various reasons, pet owners decide to re-home their dogs and usually post their pooches online either for a price or free.
Despite these efforts, supporting responsible dog breeders over the options listed previously still contributes to the overpopulation issue. This begs the question, can we really call any form of dog breeding responsible when lives of abandoned dogs are being lost as a result?
If we need to use labels, then sure, there are particular dog breeding practices that are responsible when compared to the atrocities of dog farming. And if you were going to buy a dog from a breeder, be sure to source responsible operators.
Backyard breeders are not breeders who do health checks to assure the dogs are healthy before breeding and will not pass on serious health issues. Backyard breeders breed only due to cash. A reputable breeder spends so much money on their dogs that whatever is made from sales goes right back into the quality of life for the dogs.
The problem is not responsible breeders. The overpopulation problem is solely from not spaying and neutering puppies! Very few pre breds are in shelters. Only 10% of dogs in shelters are spayed or neutered! All puppy mills must be shut down and the owners put in Federal prison for lifetime sentence.
You must be joking. The only reliable place to buy pets from IS,A Registered Breeder ,this applies to anything. Purchasers can view perants grandparents & sibblings to what they are buying.Also most registered breeders give garentee on their stock
There is a huge issue with people obtaining intact females and then breeding them with any available look alike male dog with the idea of making money. These are not back yard breeders, these are criminals that need to be arrested. The puppies that result from this type of breeding end up sold to other unsavory characters, dead or dropped off (the lucky ones) at the SPCA. That is a huge issue that no one, including yourself, seem to want to address. Puppy Mills will eventually die out if stores refuse to buy their puppies, meanwhile these criminal breeders are free to pick up their slack and continue this horrendous behavior.When will this be addressed?
Another thing I would like to mention is that you also, probably intentionally, neglected to mention something extremely important with all of your shelter facts. That being the majority of dogs in shelters are actually returns from other shelters. These are facts you should, and everyone who reads should, look up for yourselves. The truth is most people like to blame breeders because thats the easiest scapegoat. The truth is much more depressing: that a very small minority of dogs in shelters (12% when I checked last) actually come from breeders to begin with and in most cases they are the result of people who adopted from a different shelter, or people who had accident puppies because they could not properly manage their unfixed dog, or people who got their dog cuz Joe down the road thinks his dog is the best and wants another just like him.
For anyone who truly wants to reduce the pet population what needs to be done is much more complex than simply refusing to purchase dogs from ethical breeders (those who do not see dogs as a business, who spend hours and hours of time researching genetics pedigrees health and wellness, and providing their dogs with the ultimate Foundation of a good long life.) What it involves is rigorously scrutinizing people who want to own dogs and in many cases excluding unfit owners from having them. In all honesty anyone who wishes to own a dog should go through the exact same type of preparation it takes to own a car. You should have to go to classes involving basic understanding of canine body language and behaviors and training. you should have to pass a basic test of your knowledge, and only then can you get a license to own a dog. 041b061a72