Puppy Love: How to Choose the Right Breeder
Congratulations! If you're reading this, you're probably thinking about adding a puppy to your family. I’m right there with you. We’re hoping to add another dog sometime this year.
In my 17+ years as a dog trainer, I’ve talked to a lot of breeders. I’ve also made huge mistakes. No breeder, no puppy, and no prospective puppy owner is perfect.
That being said, I hope that you can learn from my experience (and mistakes!), and better pick the best puppy for you and your family.
There are so many articles out there that tell you how to pick a good breeder and puppy.
The problem, in my experience, is that there are less “good breeders” out there than people who want puppies from good breeders. Most good breeders have long waitlists. These waitlists can be anywhere from a few months to a few years.
It is HARD to be a “good breeder.” Raising puppies well is very laborious work. I can imagine that prospective puppy owners are also very time consuming, ask a million questions, and some will need a lot of support.
I think good breeders earn every penny they make. Personally, I would be comfortable spending thousands of dollars on a dog if I feel it is a good dog from a good breeder. Because, when I divide that out over the lifetime of the dog, I come out way ahead. Dealing with medical and behavioral issues from a poor breeder costs so much more than a well-bred dog, not just money, but also time and stress.
The problem is, even if you’re willing to spend lots of money and do careful research, you still have to get the breeder to approve you. And, you will likely need to wait. Not everyone is going to want to go through all of that, and that’s okay.
If you don’t want to jump through all of those hoops, and you want a puppy sooner rather than later, you may have to sacrifice some things and just go with an okay breeder. If you need a puppy now, that is okay. Just focus on the questions below that are most important to you, probably medical/health and quality genetics.
In this post, I'll share some tips on how to choose a good dog breeder and the questions to ask before committing to your new dog. I’m going to include WHY the questions are important to ask, so that you can prioritize the questions that are most important to you.
An ideal breeder should be knowledgeable, transparent, and passionate about their dogs. They should also provide a healthy and safe environment for their dogs and puppies.
Breeders who have thorough and/or updated websites are great because you can get most of the information below before you even talk to them. However, there are probably lots of other people who have realized the same thing! These puppies will likely be priced at a premium and/or the breeder will have a very long waitlist.
So, don’t be afraid to call some breeders who don’t have websites and have a conversation with them, you might find a really great dog that way.
If something doesn’t feel right, try to wait. I know it’s so tempting to just get a puppy right now, trust me… I know. But, your puppy will be living with your family for 10-15+ years.
There is a HUGE difference between living with a socialized and temperamentally sound dog and living with an under-socialized dog or a dog with a poor temperament. Trust me, I’ve done it. And, I worked with clients all the time who have the latter. It’s a huge difference.
There will always be more puppies available. So, if one breeder doesn’t work out, try not to worry, there will be more. No one breeder has the only good dogs of that breed.
Alright, let’s jump right in! Here are some questions to ask a potential breeder:
How long have you been breeding dogs? This is helpful to get more information about the breeder’s experience. If they’ve been successfully breeding for 20+ years, then they probably know a thing or two about placing dogs. That being said, some newer breeders are really motivated and I’ve seen some newer breeders who do tons of early socialization - so experience is great, but not a dealbreaker either way, just good information.
What breeds do you specialize in? Any breeder who breeds more than two breeds would raise a red flag to me. I would want to know a lot more if a breeder was breeding more than two breeds - why are they breeding so many different breeds? Is it just for profit? That wouldn’t be a great answer for me. Is it for a purpose? Like are they breeding multiple breeds, but focusing on the ultimate therapy dog? That could be okay. So, just learn more here.
Ask the breeder to give you more detailed information about the breed you are interested in, specifically their health and temperament. Try to get the information from the breeder first before you tell them about your life. This will give you the most unbiased answer. If you tell them what you are looking for first, they may skew their answer to show how the breed could fit into your specific lifestyle. But, before you get there, I would be curious about the breeder’s general thoughts. This will give you an idea of what the breeder’s ideal dog is, and what they might be breeding for.
Are your dogs health-tested and cleared of genetic disorders? This question should be critical. You can find a good starting place for health tests on AKC’s website, here https://www.akc.org/breeder-programs/breed-health-testing-requirements/ Though, I would also be open to having an honest conversation with the breeder, as what they test for, or the specific tests they do may vary slightly, but could still have sound reasoning.
How long do the breeder’s dogs live on average? This can give you even more information about their general health. Healthy dogs should live to the breed standard average or longer. Dr. Ian Dunbar talks a lot about this https://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/dr-ian-dunbar/litter-longevity-index
Where are the puppies raised? The best answer is that the puppies will live in a the breeders’ home, until they go home. Ideally, in a high-traffic area, like a kitchen or family room. Many, many breeders, especially of large-breed dogs put the puppies outside for all, or a portion, of their lives. This is a serious consideration. Puppies who are kenneled outdoors are missing out on critical socialization during the sensitive period for socialization (3 to 16 weeks). Puppies who are kenneled outside are unable to hear household appliances, voices, and the regular household traffic. I am skeptical that the breeder is able to sufficiently monitor the puppies if they are in a kennel away from the house - how will they hear if a puppy is crying or know if a puppy has explosive poop that needs to be cleaned up before all of the other puppies step and play in it? The exception here are breeders who raise their puppies in kennels, but fully monitor them and prepare them for living in a home. This means they are actively and thoughtfully providing enrichment, socialization, and exposure to the world. The puppies are watched 24/7. This can definitely be done. What you want to avoid are breeders who use a kennel, but also don’t really have a socialization or training plan and are just focused on keeping the puppies healthy and relying on the puppies good genetics. This is okay, and a lot of breeders are like this, but there will be a deficit in the 3rd piece of the puzzle, which is behavior. If the puppy’s genetics are incredible, this might work out okay, but the puppy will be starting at a disadvantage from their potential.
How many litters do you have at a time? Many breeders have dogs who cycle together and they end up with multiple litters at the same time. If this is planned for, with appropriate supports in place, this can be okay. In my experience raising a single litter is a full-time job for one person. So, if there are two litters, I’d like to see at least two full-time people attending the litters. If there are more than two litters at a time, it’s likely a kennel situation or larger scale operation, and see above for my concerns.
What kind of socialization do you provide for your puppies? Get a little more detail here if you can - how many other dogs, people, kids, and other animals will they have met? Does this breeder have a system for socialization, or do they just socialize the puppies with themselves and their household (this could be sufficient if their household includes lots of children and other animals). The socialization window is only from 3 to 16 weeks, so your breeder is responsible for a large portion of your puppy’s socialization and therefore, adult temperament.
What type of enrichment do you provide your puppies? For example, does the litter have various and rotating toys, smells, surfaces, foods, objects, etc to explore? Many breeders seem to not put much in the way of toys with the puppies. The problem is, that leaves the puppies with one choice for entertainment - each other. I find this sometimes leads to puppies who are bitey and obsessive with other dogs. Or, this leads to puppies that are environmentally unsure - meaning different objects and surfaces can frighten them. If your breeder doesn’t do enrichment, you will need to play catch up, especially in those early weeks.
What age are the puppies allowed to go home? The critical socialization window is sometime between 3-16 weeks, conservatively some say 4-12 weeks. If you get your puppy right at 8 weeks, you get to affect half of that. You get to affect 50% of the foundation with which your puppy will view their relationships with people and other animals for the rest of their lives. If you get your puppy any later than that, you are placing a lot of trust in your breeder to do this work for you. Good socialization is extremely time consuming. It would be a Herculean effort to try to socialize more than one puppy at a time, unless you had lots of people available to help. I talk with a lot of small breed breeders, who don’t like to let their puppies go until 12 weeks or so. This means you will have next to no influence on your puppy’s socialization foundation, the benefits or challenges of which you will have to life with for the lifetime of your dog.
Do you provide any kind of guarantee or return policy? A good breeder should always take their dogs back.
Ask the breeder if they can provide references or testimonials from previous puppy buyers? If you’re uncomfortable asking for this, another way to ask might be asking about what previous puppies from them are doing. For example, if previous puppies from their kennel are working as active service dogs, this might let you know that the breeder produces very environmentally sound, attentive dogs. I also recommend doing a kennel search online. Check Google reviews, Yelp reviews, and any other mention of the kennel. Sometimes dogs from their breeding program will have the kennel name listed as part of their registered name, and you can search for dogs who are competing in sports that have the kennel name.
When would you be able to meet your puppy and the puppy’s parents? Ideally, you could meet the parents before pickup. It is REALLY hard (ask me how I know) to refuse a puppy after you’ve been waiting weeks or months for it to get here and you have the puppy in your arms.
Does the breeder choose the puppy or can you choose? This is mostly important if you are really set on a specific color and/or gender. Your breeder will have the best read on the individual personalities within a litter. That being said, the litter will likely carry very similar personality traits, and personalities can change quite a bit in the early weeks. So, if your really set on a specific look - I say go for it!
An ideal breeder would also show interest in you and your lifestyle to ensure a good match. This is sort of the last thing I want to talk about when researching a breeder. Before you tell them about you, try to find out all about them. Many breeders answer the above questions hundreds of times, so they might find them boring, but they will not be boring to you! Once you cover all of that, then they may have a lot of questions about you. They may also require that you do certain things like attend puppy classes or delay neutering/spaying until a specific age.
Whew! I get that the above is a lot of questions! But, this is an animal who will be a member of your family for the next decade+.
I don’t know about you, but it is definitely out of my comfort zone to ask all of these questions. It is worth it though.
Also, if your breeder has made it though all of the above questions, that’s huge bonus points in their favor! So just making it through all of those questions means a lot!
Once you've found a breeder that you feel comfortable with, and they have a litter on the way or ready. Here are some questions to ask:
Provide you with a thorough description of each one of the parent’s temperaments. Is there any shyness or anxiety? How are they in new environments - are they able to easily travel into new situations and places, or do they prefer to be at home? Are either of the parent dogs protective over food, people, or bones? What are they like with the other dogs in the household? Are they the boss or more submissive? How is the mom dog with puppies? Is this her first litter, or is she a seasoned veteran? When will the breeder separate the mom and the litter?
Tell you what they expect to see from the combination of the parents’ two lines, what the expected temperament of the litter will be. What type of puppies do they expect this litter to produce? Why did they breed this litter?
Once the litter is born, how many puppies are in the litter? Basically, you want to make sure your puppy has had plenty of opportunity to socialize with other puppies. Steer clear of singleton puppies. Also, if the litter was exceptionally large (9+ puppies), try to find out if there were any challenges with such a large litter.
On your visit, hopefully you will observe clean facilities and a healthy environment for the dogs. An ideal environment would be clean, but also provide plenty of environmental enrichment for the puppies. We don’t just want them chomping on each other, or living in a sterile environment where they are only exposed to a limited number of things/surfaces. Ideally, there will be lots of toys and things to explore.
Try to meet the parents FIRST before you lay eyes on the adorable puppies. This is the only way I know to have a tiny bit of objectivity when evaluating whether or not the parents’ temperaments meet your desires. I don’t know about you, but once I meet the puppies, I’m done. The parents could be raging lunatics and I would probably still take the puppy home. Hopefully, you’re more level-headed than me about dogs, but still, always a good idea to meet the parents first.
In addition to these factors, trust your instincts. If something doesn't feel right, it's important to listen to your gut.
Remember, buying a puppy is a long-term commitment. You want to make sure you're getting a healthy and happy companion that will bring you joy for years to come. By choosing a reputable breeder and asking the right questions, you're setting yourself up for success.
I hope these tips were helpful in your search for the perfect pup. Don't forget to do your research and take your time in making this important decision. Good luck and happy puppy hunting!
Looking to add a puppy to your family? We can provide different levels of support, from a quick Zoom consult to a full-service package, including breeder screenings and in-home support.
The first step is to contact us and let us know how we can help. We’d love to put together a customized package to take you from puppy dreams to a wonderful new family member!