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DO YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO CHOOSE A PUPPY?
You have made up your mind about the breed you'd like to own.
Now, you need to decide what you plan to do with your future dog.
Whether you plan to breed your dog,
exhibit it, or just keep it as a pet, the process of choosing your puppy
will be the same.
The internet is full of advice,
articles on How to Choose a Puppy can be found on many websites:
The experts tell you to visit breeders, to look at litters,
to talk to the breeders, to look at dam and sire of the litter,
to judge a breeder with your newly acquired internet knowledge and pretend
that you know how to go about it, and ask the
questions you have learned from the internet.
Do you really believe that this process will give you the right puppy?
Let us start over again to do it the correct way:
You have made up your mind about the breed you'd like to own.
Now, you need to decide what you plan to do with your future dog.
Whether you plan to breed your dog,
exhibit it, or just keep it as a pet, the process of choosing your puppy
will be the same.
Your next step will be to find a puppy.
Stay put! The internet is providing you with information on breed lines. Pedigrees
are an important source of information when choosing a puppy. Find the pedigree
of the dam and work backwards. Then find the pedigree of the sire and work backwards.
Each five generation pedigree contains 62 dogs. If you cannot find the pedigree
because the breeder only posts pretty pictures forget about the breeder and/or the dog.
If a breeder advertises his male stud dog as a proven stud when he has only sired a couple
of litters, forget about this breeder. A proven stud must show a progeny record of all puppies
from at least five litters or he is not a proven stud. If a breeder tells you he/she only breeds
from health tested dam and sire, but the siblings of dam and sire have long ago disappeared
into neutered and spayed pet homes, and no health testing was ever performed on the siblings, then
the health tested dam and sire of a litter can never guarantie you a healthy puppy. All
siblings must be tested in order for a breeder to state that he/she is breeding healthy puppies.
A five generation pedigree shows the names of 62 dogs. Use the internet to find each
one of those 62 dogs. If you can locate the owners talk to them about the dog. Some of the
dogs in the back of the pedigrees will be dead, however, you still need the details on those dogs.
Do your home work! If you need to discard the breed line, and you may have to stop
for various reasons, start over again with another one. No dog is perfect, and no
breed line is without faults. Knowing the ingredients of a breed line will give you a
good picture of the puppy from a certain litter. Make sure you spent time on researching
the four grand parents of your puppy. When assessing a puppy or litter, the grand parents
are more important than dam and sire.
Temperament:
When you have completed your research and gathered all the information on one specific
breed line, find a breeder who breeds from this line. You may only find one or two breeders
and they will not be close to your location. Equipped with your knowledge contact your chosen
breeder and make a presentation to this breeder. Now, you can ask for a puppy. Be prepared
to wait, but try to get onto the reservation list. Anticipate waiting for a year or two.
From your research on the ancestors of your new puppy you will know how to live and work with
your puppy, and you will know what you can expect from your puppy and adult dog.
Too much to ask from a future puppy owner? If dog owners in other countries can make the effort, why
can future puppy owners on the American continent not do it?
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