Going to see a dog - what to ask?

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Possum

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OH and I are traveling halfway across the country tomorrow to meet a Newfie that is looking for a private rehome. I have spoken to his current owner at length, asked loads of questions and he seems promising so we are going to meet him and take our current dog to see if they get on.

I've never done this before, does anyone have any tips for the types of things I might want to look for/ask?
 
Thanks - yes, he's healthy, vacced, not neutered (but this is more a breed thing, a lot of newfs aren't because it can mess their coat up and our girl is so not a huge cause for concern).

We know why he's being rehomed (owner offered work abroad), he is KC registered so once I see his papers might be able to see a bit more from digging.

I'm so excited - it sounds like he could be perfect but hope he's worth getting stuck with all the holidaymakers going down to Cornwall tomorrow :)
 
Not yet, I forgot to ask his registered name so I don't know who bred him. If he ticks all the boxes temperament-wise tomorrow and we think we might want him I'll look them up and give them a ring, we won't be picking him up immediately and bringing him back with us.
 
Ok, so now I'm torn.

He was gorgeous. Absolutely everything she said he was and more. She seemed legit and is definitely not just trying to sell him off to the highest bidder. BUT. His dam isn't health tested, and although his sire's results are fine (0 elbows, 11 hips, cyst clear), some of his progeny have had bad hip test results (73 anyone?!). On the other hand, they bred his litter because they wanted a pup, and they still own mum, dad (I know - not ideal) and his full brother. I've got his 5 generation pedigree, but his dam's IKC registered and I can't see that I can search results on that website.

BUT (again)...I know far more about his history than any dog I'm likely to get from the breed club, adult newfs for rehome for genuine reasons are like hens teeth and if I wait for a 'perfect' breeder to get an adult dog returned I could be waiting forever as they tend to get snapped up by current Newfie owners who will always be preferred to a Newfie newbie like myself (judging from the behavior of the breed club thus far).

He is due his vaccs this week so will be visiting the vets. It's too far for me to attend the appointment, but would it be cheeky of me to ask her to get the vet to look at his gait when he's there and permission to have a quick telephone call afterwards? I know it wouldn't say anything definitive, but for the sake of a bit of peace of mind? I would obviously bring him to my vet once we've got him, but he'd then be ours regardless.

I'm in a bit of an awkward position that she hasnt told the breeder she's rehoming him (apparently she'd be furious and so she bottled it) so I can't really just give them a ring to discuss...
 
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Is he a rehome or a dog you want to show/ breed from?

if he is the former and he gets along with your own dog then I'd just take him as he is ,love him and hope he's going to be healthy .How old is he?
If on the other hand you are buying this dog and hope to show and breed from him, the priorities change...the hip scores,the health record etc will have much more bearing.
In the last scenario ,I would definitely phone the breeder and ask for mor details,you would at the very least expect to know this dogs pedigree and his antecedent's health records. If these are not forthcoming,walk away.
 
Thanks for your opinions :)

Bellasophia - he's just turned 2, and yes will just be a family pet.

Haydn/Twiggy - why the definite no? Is it any worse than getting a dog with no history from the breed rescue? Although on one level I agree with you, another part of me thinks that I will be waiting years for a dog that has a perfect history, and even then we could discover something wrong the following week...

We spent about 2 hrs with him, there's no gait abnormality or issues getting up or lying down.
 
you know that in his breeding there are dogs with horrendous hip score results, the owners answers about the breeder are ringing alarm bells-surely the breeder should have first refusal-a good breeder would take him back in order to be able to have a say in any future home he goes to. Are they rehoming all of their dogs?
Is he free?
 
So are you just taking their word that the breeder still owns both parents and a litter brother. The fact they aren't telling the breeder they are rehoming (I would imagine breeder would be far more furious at not being told) makes me think they could be telling porkies about other things.
If you are prepared to spend the money, you could always take him to a vet who is experienced at x raying and have his hips done, but that could cost you over £200. I really do think you have to contact the breeder and ask for more information.
 
Thank you, I completely take your point. She only has 1 dog so no others to rehome, her parents currently look after him a lot of the time but don't want him full time when she goes abroad permanently.
No, not free - Newfs tend to come with a fairly hefty price tag and I'd be super-suspicious if she was trying to give him away.

I think I'm going to give his breeder a call, pretend to be enquiring about puppies and see if I can find out more about the dam, how many newfs she has, how often she breeds and why she imported a bitch from Ireland and bred with no health tests.

ETA - cross posted MM, I'd come to the same conclusion, thanks.
 
Ok, sorry, something else - do you think it would be out of order for me to tell the breeder I've been offered a dog from his particular litter for rehoming if I didn't say which dog it was rather than lying about wanting a pup?
 
Ok,it's clearer now..a two year old male for sale,due to owners emigating.What will happen to the other dogs,are they also for sale?
I thought this was a simple rehome...
If the facts are as you say,a two year old male ,resale,no health tests,no testing done on parents,the original breeder not in the loop,and they want you to pay.....walk away.Spend your money on a tested dog or go to a rescue and help a newfie in need.
Plus I wouldn't lie to the breeder...the breeding community is a very closed world...it will come back to bite you in the behind....be honest and give the breeder the respect you'd want to be treated with.Who knows ,they may be able to help you find the dog of your dreams?
 
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Bellasophia said:
Ok,it's clearer now..a two year old male for sale,due to owners emigating.What will happen to the other dogs,are they also for sale?
I thought this was a simple rehome...
If the facts are as you say,a two year old male ,resale,no health tests,no testing done on parents,the original breeder not in the loop,and they want you to pay.....walk away.Spend your money on a tested dog or go to a rescue and help a newfie in need.
Plus I wouldn't lie to the breeder...the breeding community is a very closed world...it will come back to bite you in the behind....be honest and give the breeder the respect you'd want to be treated with.Who knows ,they may be able to help you find the dog of your dreams?
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Thanks again. I'll call the breeder and give as much detail as I can without saying exactly which dog it is. The reason I'm dithering is because dogs such as you describe just don't come up very often. We've been looking 6 months and this is the first viable option we've seen. We've been on the waiting lists for both the UK's breed rescues for months and heard nothing.

The sire has had tests done and his results are absolutely fine, just for some reason some of his progeny have been shocking and I think I need to find out why.

I am sorely tempted to see if his owner will book him in to be hip tested, I think it might be worth the money to find out one way or the other for sure because in all other respects he's perfect.
 
some good breeders will rehome their ex breeding stock if you pay the neuter costs ..you could get a nice quality dog,from good lines, if you are prepared to wait for the right time.I would suggest phoning good breeders ,in your breed and telling them what you are looking for. You may find a dog who didn't quite make it in the show ring,or there is an older pup to be re homed and so on..l wouldn't burn your boats just yet.
Why not ring the breeder and ask her more about the dog ,telling her the truth abot the situation. you would get a clearer picture about the sellers perhaps and maybe just decide to let this one go of you don't like what they tell you. you could establish a rapport with the breeder and hopefully she could point you at an older pup for sale at a later date.
 
Bellasophia said:
some good breeders will rehome their ex breeding stock if you pay the neuter costs ..you could get a nice quality dog,from good lines, if you are prepared to wait for the right time.I would suggest phoning good breeders ,in your breed and telling them what you are looking for. You may find a dog who didn't quite make it in the show ring,or there is an older pup to be re homed and so on..l wouldn't burn your boats just yet.
Why not ring the breeder and ask her more about the dog ,telling her the truth abot the situation. you would get a clearer picture about the sellers perhaps and maybe just decide to let this one go of you don't like what they tell you. you could establish a rapport with the breeder and hopefully she could point you at an older pup for sale at a later date.
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Breeder's not answering the phone :( I'm hopeless at this, won't be able to concentrate on anything until I come to some sort of conclusion. Thanks for the suggestion, we are already on the contact lists for most of the KC assured breeders - surprisingly few (I think maybe one) person has said they rehome their retired breeding dogs, and although they all said that they'd keep my contact details in case they have a dog returned, the majority also said that they prefer to rehome to people who already have at least one newf - it's been hugely frustrating!

Dobermonkey said:
Is there any reason you can't just put your name down on a health tested litter?
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I know - would be so much easier! Unfortunately we're not set up for a puppy at the moment - we're out of the house for 4-5 hours 2-3 times a week, also our other dog is a tiny terrier and there's just too much risk of a clumsy Newf pup injuring her - we're only looking for adult dogs who have learnt to keep their feet on the floor!
 
I'd tell her that you weren't happy going through with the rehome unless you could either speak to the breeder or he has his hips scored (to come off her asking price :p.)
 
If he was free I would take him, if he is expensive I think ester's idea is a good one. Such a hard decision for you.
I am toying with getting an adult rehome lab but the hip thing really worries me with them too. (If breeding unknown)
 
One possibility is to call the IKC for info on the bitch but I think I would take him - Newfies are relatively rare and as you discovered it's not easy to find an adult rehome. At 2 years old he is effectively a quarter of the way through his life sadly as their lifespan isn't very long...

What I would do is insure him to the hilt with the best lifetime insurer you can find so you at least have the option to treat any issues without having to consider the cost.

If they were a more prolific breed I too would advise walking away but you seem set on having a Newfoundland so you need to work with what's available.
 
Are you wanting to breed? If not then any dog is pot luck with hips and if father at least has good hips that's a start, I can't see her wanting to hip score him when shes' wanting rid..
 
cbmcts said:
One possibility is to call the IKC for info on the bitch but I think I would take him - Newfies are relatively rare and as you discovered it's not easy to find an adult rehome. At 2 years old he is effectively a quarter of the way through his life sadly as their lifespan isn't very long...

What I would do is insure him to the hilt with the best lifetime insurer you can find so you at least have the option to treat any issues without having to consider the cost.

If they were a more prolific breed I too would advise walking away but you seem set on having a Newfoundland so you need to work with what's available.
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Good post,especially re the insurance.We had a dogue de Bordeaux mastiff who snapped her cruciate ligament at age one,and we repaired this...then it went again at age three and we repaired again.Spaying the dog cost us way more than a smaller breed .This was twenty years ago and those three ops were over 3000 pounds.
Also just feeding a dog like this a good quality diet will be a shock compared to a small terrier for example...mine ate a 15 kg sack of kibble every three weeks ,plus raw meat etc.
So be prepared to enter a new world of big dogs with equally big costs..even a leather collar will be triple ..and on it goes.They don't live long,they are " old" by seven ,but the joy of living with such a large breed will be something that has its own reward that you can't buy.
good luck,if you get him do post pics!
 
You asked me why I suggested you walk away. Having read the posts since I posted I am even more convinced you should walk away. OK I'm going to look at the dark side here, are you sure the pedigree papers are even for this dog- its easy to create them from stuff on the web. Is the dog chipped or tattooed, are you sure the animal isn't stolen. Have you asked to see any photos of the dog as a pup (I took tons of my dog as it grew up). I would be asking why the current owner doesn't want you to talk to the breeder. Just out of interest is the owner pressurising you to make a decision, are there 'lots of other people' who want the dog type stuff.
 
Thank you all so much for your opinions - they are all really appreciated.

Haydn - thanks for the clarification. I don't disagree with you, and certainly I can't say for sure that she hasn't faked his papers but I don't really see the motivation - non-KC registered newfs are advertised and sold regularly through preloved etc for not significantly less than she is asking for him. There's no pressure, she hasn't advertised him (I put up a 'wanted' advert and she contacted me) and is in absolutely no rush - she doesn't go abroad for some months but wasn't sure how long it would take.

I agree that full insurance is going to be the only way forward - we looked into quotes before we went to see him and it's going to be more than double what we pay for the dog and the cat together for an entire newf!

So I spoke to her earlier, she was absolutely horrified when I mentioned some of the hip test results that the sire had been associated with and suggested herself that I call the breeder to discuss. Unfortunately they still aren't answering the phone, but I'll keep trying.

I know that I could be absolutely off the mark, but all my instincts are telling me she is genuine. I'm definitely leaning towards getting him, I agree that if it was another breed I'd not need to take the chance, but I think I'd really regret passing over him if it was then another year or so before we heard of another and I don't think that's too unlikely.
 
Possum said:
The sire has had tests done and his results are absolutely fine, just for some reason some of his progeny have been shocking and I think I need to find out why.
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You already have the answer to this - he is being used on unscored bitches! The breeder isn't going ot be reputable if they bred from an untested bitch are they?

As well as the breed rescues have you asked the breed clubs? Not unknown for a male to not quite make the grade & be available but not via rescue.
 
Just a small comment, we re homed our elder Spinone from someone we know, we got her for free, they would not tell us the breeder, but we were told the breeder had offered to take her back. Some years later we bought a pup and it sparked my interest in the first dogs breeding, the Internet is a wonderful thing and with the details I had I traced the breeder who was not at all happy I had the dog as the first owners had signed a contract to say they would return her if they couldn't keep her, I'm guessing these people have done the same thing.
 
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