Going to a breeder for a puppy - any tips on questions to ask?

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abb123

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Right. I'm looking for a Golden Retriever bitch puppy. I already have a very healthy and active 11 year old boy so I know the breed very well.

I'd like to find a nice family pet. I'm not looking for the next Crufts winner!

I'd like to find a pup from a breeder that has done all the necessary health checks and isn't a puppy farmer.

I'm hopefully going to visit a breeder this weekend that has a girl available.

The advert says that they will be KC reg, shows pics of mum and dad and pups in a home environment. Hip/elbows tested with good scores and clear eye certificate. The pups will come with feed/diet sheet and 1 months free insurance.

This seems pretty standard and what we got with my other dog.

They have a nice facebook site with plenty of pics of dogs from previous litters.

The things I want to make sure I do/ask so far are:

1. Make sure I meet the mum.
2. Ask what the hip/elbow scores are.
3. Get a feel for the environment they are in.
4. How much advice they are willing to give after we take pup on (ad does say they will!)
5. Vaccinations as doesn't mention in ad if they have 1st vac

Any thing else?

Too exciting!
 
In addition to your list, I'd pay very careful attention to the dam, and I'd watch her move and I'd check on her length of stride.

I would check on the puppy's bight, and check that the jaw is level, and then when you've chosen the puppy, I would ask for a spare 'chip-strip', there are generally several spare. I'm quite sure that your breeders are straight forward, but you can never be too safe!

Otherwise, I think that you've just about got it covered. Good luck and let us know how the puppy progresses.

Alec.

Ets, irritating though it is, when ever I've bought in a puppy which has had its first jab, my Vet always wants to start again. Irritating and costly! a.
 
As ct says, if you have sire and dams KC name you can check their scores, and scores behind them on the website.
With regard to checking the bite, I don't know about Goldies but GSDs have a scissor bite so you would not be looking for a level bite, so you need to know what the breed requirement is. A very slightly overshot bite at 8 weeks would not worry me, but an undershot one would. As Alec says sometimes if a pup has had its first vacc your own vet won't have the same vaccine for the second, its worth checking first, but for this reason breeders often don't vaccinate if a pup is leaving at 8 weeks.
One more important thing in my view, is not so much questions you should ask, but you should be prepared for a thorough grilling from the breeder. If they are happy to let you have a pup without knowing anything about you I would look elsewhere.
Good luck with your puppy viewing, we will of course need pictures when you get your pup.
 
Ask about what the puppies have been eating, hopefully breeder will give you some food to take home. When wormed and which wormer was used. If puppies are advertised as KC registered check the paperwork, some of the "alternative" registration bodies have paperwork that looks v similar.
Generally make sure puppies and mum look happy and healthy and you are happy with the way they are being raised.
Good luck and I hope the pups are all you want
 
Ets, irritating though it is, when ever I've bought in a puppy which has had its first jab, my Vet always wants to start again. Irritating and costly! a.[/QUOTE]

I was going to post about the 1st vaccs, I work in a vets and we see a lot of puppies who have had 1st vacc with breeder, but it's a different brand of vaccine to what we use so therefore have to start course again.

Hip scores, may be worth familiarising yourself with BEVA website and looking at their hipscore info, so that when asking about hipscores, you will know what a good one is!

Hope your trip is successful and you get to choose a little bundle of fun!
 
.......

I was going to post about the 1st vaccs, I work in a vets and we see a lot of puppies who have had 1st vacc with breeder, but it's a different brand of vaccine to what we use so therefore have to start course again.

.......![/QUOTE]

Whilst the vaccines may well be from different manufacturers, would the effect be compromised by mixing them, or are they in effect, the same thing?

Alec.
 
Thanks all, some great advice.

I've had a bit of a grilling already on the phone from them about working and who will be with them in the day. A good sign I thought!

I'm going today to have a look. Fingers crossed!
 
I like the questions you're planning to ask, but if you're worried about the breeder being a backyard breeder who pretends to be a good breeder, here is what I wrote on another thread partly on that subject;

Things that I associate with backyard breeders :
Doesn't believe that registration and/or health tests is necessary, especially if the puppy is sold as a pet dog.

Not that knowledgeable about their breed/breeds, health testing or the rest of the dog world (including anything from dog training, agility, working dog competitions etc.), and doesn't believe that such things is relevant if you only want a pet dog.

Can't offer any help or advice about which puppy you should choose, they can't evaluate the puppies temperament and thereby not tell you which puppy/puppies that is most suitable for you. Without leaves it all up to you, so you can pick the puppy that you think is cutest, the one that you feel have picked you out, the one that you feel sorry for etc.

As long as they get your money, they don't really care about who you are or if you're a suitable owner for this type of dog.

Believes that their responsibility ends when you've walked out through their front door with your new puppy. They doesn't offer any support and would never ever consider taking back a puppy once it is sold.

Makes easy, convenient, cheap decisions when deciding upon stud dog.

If the puppies are purebred, they don't know the inbreeding percentage of the mating. For example if I want to breed one of my bitches, then I would know that if I choose stud dog A, the litter gets an inbreeding percentage of 1,4 %, but if I choose stud dog B, the litter gets an inbreeding percentage of 0,4 %, a lower percentage is good from a genetic point, but then maybe stud dog A have better health test scores, better temperament... If I was the breeder, I would be able to explain my stud dog choice to you.

Breeds from broodbitches with unsuitable/undesirable temperament.

Doesn't truly care if the stud dog or broodbitch is healthy, all that matters is if they can reproduce themselves and that it results in as many puppies as possible.

Uses a broodbitch that is not up to date on vaccinations or deworming, sells puppies without their first vaccination, that isn't dewormed, that haven't passed the simple puppy health test check that veterinarians can do.

Either sells the puppies without contracts or with some homemade contract that might not even be worth the paper it is written on.

Sells puppies without guarantees and the puppies are not insured (for example a typical good Swedish breeder will have the puppies fully insured up to 12 weeks of age and after that they are insured regarding hidden faults up to 3 years of age).

Allows you to take home your new puppy before 8 weeks of age, regardless of that it is important for puppies to get those weeks of training their socialisation skills together with their siblings.

Doesn't provide the puppies with a stimulating environment, giving them things to investigate, giving them a chance to get used to normal household sounds and haven't handled them on a regular basis.

Tells you what you want to hear, so hypothetically if you say that you want a couch potato, that you can take out on short strolls around the block and that doesn't need much activation, the breeder will tell you that it makes you a perfect owner of a Border Collie!
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But sadly some backyard breeders knows these things, and does their very best to portray themselves as good breeders, so use the internet to try and find out how many litters they sell per year, and check if the stud dog and broodbitch have any official health test results (for example the Kennel Club have this http://www.the-kennel-club.org.uk/se...t/Default.aspx ).

Also for example :
Ask to see where the puppies are kept, when the breeder can't supervise them.
If you can't go near the broodbitch even if you meet her away from the puppies, don't expect the puppies to have a better temperament.
Ask for advice about which puppy to choose.
Ask how and why they choose the stud dog that they used (Edited to add, and ask about inbreeding percentage).
Get suspicious if the breeder doesn't have any questions for you or about you.
Don't buy a puppy that haven't had its first vaccination (Edited to add, maybe try and check if their's and your's veterinarians use the same brand of vaccines), isn't dewormed or veterinarian checked.
Don't buy a puppy without a proper contract.


A clarification:
A hobby breeder can be a good/responsible breeder. If they breed responsible, tried to learn as much as possible before breeding, have done the required health tests, have questions for a potential puppy buyer, they vaccinate, deworm and let a veterinarian check the puppies before they're going to their new homes etc.
Nobody knows everything, no one is perfect, but there is a big difference between a responsible breeder who do their best, and have tried to educate themselves as much as possible before breeding, and backyard breeders who simply seem to think things like "But she would be such a good mother", "She's so cute (even though she tries to bite off the neighbours arm)" and "Selling x number of puppies = I could make money out of this".


Quote from MurphysMinder's reply on the same thread:
Ask the breeder why they are breeding the litter. If they aren't breeding to keep for themselves then they should perhaps have had several people waiting for pups for a while. If they have no good reason for breeding, and more to the point have several pups unsold at say 6 weeks then I would suggest they are just in it to try and make money. /Quote.




About health tests, as an example, optigen in USA offers genetic health tests for several breeds and different problems/diseases. For Golden Retrievers, they have 4 different tests available (please note that gene testing only tests for specific genes, the result reveals nothing about if the rest of the genes the dog carries are healthy or not):
http://www.optigen.com/opt9_pra_goldenrtvr.html
http://www.optigen.com/opt9_gr_pra1.html
http://www.optigen.com/opt9_gr_pra2.html
http://www.optigen.com/opt9_ichthyosis_gr.html

Maybe the breed club in UK or the Kennel Club doesn't have any requirements for doing the health tests mentioned above, maybe other laboratories offers other gene health tests for Golden Retrievers, I don't know, because I don't own Golden Retrievers, but a responsible breeder of Golden Retrievers should know about the above mentioned health tests, they should know which regulations/recommendations the breed club and the KC have, and for example if the tests are voluntary, and they haven't tested the stud dog and broodbitch, they should be able to explain why they haven't done it.

For example, if all 4 grandparents have been tested with a normal/clear result, depending on which disease/problem the test is about, maybe there is no need to test the stud dog and broodbitch, if they can not have inherited the "bad" gene. On the other hand, maybe the breeder have done all the tests mentioned above, and some other tests. Either way, they should be able to explain, what and why they've done/not done this or that health test, and how it potentially can affect the puppies they've bred.


Good luck, and fingers crossed it all goes well today.
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