Why finding a responsible dog breeder impacts you. Adding a new dog to your family is a big decision. Since your pup will live up to 15+ years it is in your best interest to take the time to make sure your dog is coming from a responsible dog breeder.
You want to get your puppy from a responsible dog breeder who treats his breeding dogs well and provides proper vet care.
Responsible dog breeders focus on breeding healthy puppies, taking into consideration health and temperament. They breed to produce the healthiest puppies possible.
You absolutely don’t want to support cruelty, nor do you want your puppy to come from a puppy mill and here is why.
Puppy mill puppies are poorly bred. Puppy mills produce litter after litter of dogs with hereditary, genetic and health issues.
They are often delivered with illnesses and parasites. It is common for puppies bred in puppy mills to have poor genetics, health issues and anxiety. Many of these issues may not show up for weeks months or years and can cost the family thousands of dollars and even heartache.
No one likes puppy mills, but no one thinks their breeder is a puppy mill. Most breeders selling online are puppy mills.
It is important to see firsthand where your new puppy was born, know what red flags to look for, go to the breeder’s home and pick your puppy up in person.
Responsible dog breeders:
• Don’t sell their precious puppies to people they have not met. They want to know who is buying their puppies to ensure they are going to a good home.
• Want to meet you and your family.
• Are proud to show you how they raise their dogs. Will let you meet the mother dog and see firsthand her mental and physical condition and where she lives.
• Will ask you questions about your life and family and likely pick the puppy out for you.
• Provide their dogs with exercise and positive mental and physical activities.
• Give their dogs proper vet care and yearly and pre breeding checkups.
• Kept their dogs and puppies in a clean-living environment. They should be happy well-groomed and well adjusted.
• Treat their dogs as pets.
• Do not breed their females every heat cycle, allow them to rest between litters and retire the females after 3 litters.
• Have the breeding parents’ health checked by a vet to ensure they are healthy before breeding.
• Do not have a constant supply of puppies for sale. Usually have waiting lists if they do not have a current litter.
• Responsible breeders usually focus on one or two types of dog breeds.
Learn about breeder red flags.
But the puppy comes with papers?
Just because the breeder’s puppies are registered with the AKC, CKC or APRI etc. does not mean the puppy will be healthy or well-bred nor does it mean the breeder is responsible. Registration papers are no guarantee of health or quality and they do not mean the puppy is a show dog.
While you are visiting the breeder, listen to your gut. Would you let the breeder take care of your dog if you went on vacation? Don’t buy the puppy because you feel badly for it.
That is not rescuing. That will only keep the breeder in business and the suffering of the breeding dogs will continue.
Meet the mother dog before you buy a puppy. Avoid puppy mills.
When buying a puppy, you want to make sure it was born in a loving and clean environment. To be sure, meet your new puppy and meet the mother dog in person before you buy it. The puppy should have an overall healthy look to him and should be a happy well adjusted puppy.
Make sure his eyes are bright and he is clean and happy. Look at his body language make sure his tail is up and wagging. Is his posture good? Does he hold his head up, is he curious? Does he run up to you or does he cower and avoid you? Is the kennel where he lives clean? Is the breeders house and property clean. Listen to your gut. Here are photos of legal USDA dog breeders, the ones who sell and ship puppies online.
There are so many risks to buying a puppy online. Since your puppy will live for 12-15 years, it is important to see firsthand where it was born. Just because two purebred dogs are crossed does not mean they best traits of both breeds are seen in the offspring. Make sure the breeder is not a puppy mill.
Pick your puppy up in person, meet the mother dog, see her mental and physical condition. She should be clean, happy and well adjusted. If you don’t see the kennel in person and meet the mother dog you are taking a very big risk and could get an unhealthy and poorly bred puppy that may have poor genetics, hereditary defects, parasites and anxiety.
It is not safe to buy puppies online. Never have a puppy shipped to you by airplane, truck or driver service, nanny and meeting the breeder halfway or in a parking lot is also out of the question. These deliver methods are tactics to keep you from seeing the property. If you are not able to pick up the puppy in person, see the mother dog and where she and all of the breeder’s dogs live, you are likely supporting a puppy mill. Here are photos of legal USDA dog breeders, the ones who sell and ship puppies online.
Over 1 million puppy mill puppies are sold online each year and it is in your best interest to make sure your new puppy is not coming from one of these breeders. There is no excuse for a breeder that won’t let you see where the dogs live.
It takes time to find a new puppy. Your puppy will be a part of your family for 12-15 years so it’s important to find a healthy well-bred puppy. Do your research online but never take a breeder’s word for it even if they send you photos and videos.
It’s important to go to the breeders home in person and see where the dogs live and how he treats them. Responsible breeders should have no problem with that. Know what red flags to look for.
Always meet the mother dog, see her mental and physical condition and where she lives before you buy a puppy. See where and how she and all of the breeding dogs live.
A puppy mill is any dog breeder that puts profit over the health and well-being of the breeding dogs and puppies produced. These breeders vary in size from small breeders — ten to twenty dogs — to very large breeders that have hundreds of breeding dogs. Puppy mills are legal. Here are photos of legal USDA dog breeders, the ones that sell and ship online.
Puppy mills keep the mother and father dogs pregnant and sell the puppies. The breeding dogs are forced to breed twice a year or at every heat cycle and they are usually kept in wire cages, many times stacked.
The breeding dogs are not groomed, they are not given opportunity to exercise nor do they know the touch of a loving hand. They are denied veterinary care and most are living and breeding with painful conditions such as urinary tract infections, ear infections, rotten teeth, infected eyes, tumors, infected mammary glands and sore feet from standing on wire cage floors.
The puppies they sell are poorly bred. Many are delivered with parasites and health issues. Puppies from puppy mills have genetic and hereditary issues that may not show up for weeks, months or years.
It is important to know that any breeder can be a puppy mill. It’s hard to imagine the breeder you are talking or texting with could be a puppy mill. If the breeder has excuses why they won’t let you see where they keep the breeding dogs or you are not able to meet the mother dog in person, we suggest you find another breeder.