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Please
read this information, and we also suggest you go to:
http://www.dfwgoldenbreeders.com for more
information and a list of reputable breeders in the
Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas area. Also, please read the
information on the
Golden
Retriever Club of America's web site about acquiring a
Golden puppy.
You can also check with:
Austin Golden Retriever Club (Puppy Referral) OR
Greater Houston
Golden Retriever Club (Puppy Referral)
The
Dallas-Ft. Worth Metro Golden Retriever Club, of which we
are
current members in good standing, does not have a puppy
referral service.
http://www.dfwgoldenbreeders.com
has a ton of very valuable information about health issues,
temperament, owning a golden, etc. I won't repeat all
that here. Please go to that site to read that
information, then come back
here and read this.
A lot of people have
asked me "How do we know if someone is a "reputable"
breeder, a puppy mill, or a "backyard" breeder?" Below
are my thoughts on how I think you can determine what a reputable
breeder is and what I would look for if I were looking for a
"pet" puppy. Go to this link:
http://grca.org/acquiring.htm#choosingbreeder
to read about the different types of breeders.
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Get to know
the breeders -- talk to them, email them, ask questions.
What's your "gut"
feeling about them? Would you want to be friends with
them? Remember -- a reputable breeder will be very
interested in your dog for the life of your dog, so you will
be developing a long-time relationship with your breeder. If
the breeder is someone you feel comfortable with, that will
tell you a whole lot about what you think about their
breeding program and whether or not you want a puppy from
them.
Ask the breeder why
he/she did this breeding. In my opinion, breeding
should not be done strictly for profit. Reputable
breeders normally breed to obtain a show prospect, or
agility prospect, or hunting prospect (whatever their field
of interest is) for themselves or for someone who is
interested in the breeding for that purpose. Ask the
breeder if they are keeping a puppy. If not, why not?
I do not believe breeding to make a profit is a valid reason
to breed. There are plenty of dogs in shelters and in
breed rescue organizations and bringing dogs into the world
without a purpose is, to me, unnecessary. That is why
reputable breeders will ALWAYS sell their
puppies to "pet" homes on a spay/neuter contract.
If they don't have that requirement, then I would not
purchase a puppy from them.
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What message is
conveyed through a breeder's web site?
With the popularity of the internet and the ease of creating
a web page, a lot of people have their own "dog" web pages.
This is a great way to learn more about a breeder and their
dogs. However, anyone can create a web page, even if
they aren't breeding the right dogs for the right reasons.
You can, however, look for certain "flags" to get an idea if
the web site you found is one that you want to consider
following up on or not. Remember: It is very
easy to say anything on a web site -- it doesn't necessarily
have to be the truth.
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Reputable breeders are very proud of their personal Goldens
and like to showcase them on their web pages. If you
find a web page for a breeder that doesn't have individual
pages for their dogs, but is mainly about the
puppies they breed, when their next breeding is scheduled,
etc., then perhaps breeding Goldens is a business instead of
a hobby. In my opinion, breeding should be secondary
to actively working with and training your dogs and having
them live as a member of your family. In my opinion,
breeding dogs that are not proven in some type of activity
-- conformation showing, hunting, agility, obedience, etc.,
to pass those abilities on to their offspring, is probably being done only for the profit, and not for the
betterment of the breed.
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If a breeder's website
professes that they are active with their dogs in
conformation, agility, hunt, obedience, etc., but there
are no pages for their individual dogs with pictures
bragging about their accomplishments, you should ask the
breeders to show you certificates of these
accomplishments. Are these titles current?
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If the web page
professes that the breeders are members of dog clubs,
you might want to check with the dog club to see if they
are members, and if the dog club actually exists.
Most dog clubs have web pages, and a quick Google search
for the dog club will give you the club's website and
contact information.
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Is the web page about
their dogs, or about other issues that have nothing to
do with their dogs? Does the web page brag about
their dogs, or does it take off on tangents about other
people or incidents? Is this the type of person
you want to be associated with? Do you want to buy
a puppy from someone who attacks other people or
breeders? Breeders should be proud of their dogs,
not focus on negativities.
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If you visit a breeder
after seeing their web page, ask if you can see the dogs
that are showcased on their pages. If those dogs
don't live with them, that should be a red flag.
If the dogs that are showcased on their web page are
noted as being owned by others, then ask the breeders if
they have any dogs living with them. If they
don't, that should be a huge red flag as well!
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What about health
issues?
A
reputable breeder will only breed Goldens with the soundest
temperaments, health, intelligence, and physical
conformation - with
temperament and health
being the top two
priorities. In dept information about this can
be found on the links above.
All I
will add is that
first and foremost, a
breeder should be up front and honest about any and all
issues involving the the puppy and the pedigree of a puppy.
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Does the breeder
want to co-own your female puppy and breed her later?
Reputable breeders actually own the girls they breed, and
the girls live with them as a member of their family.
Ask your breeder who the dam lives with on a regular basis.
If they are honest and tell you that she actually lives with
her "co-owner," please ask the breeder about this. Has
she ever lived with the breeder? Why are they breeding
her instead of the co-owner breeding her? Why are they doing this
breeding? Are they keeping a puppy? Has the dam
ever been active in showing, agility, obedience, hunt
training, etc.? If not, why are they breeding her?
Some breeders sell female puppies to pet homes on a
co-ownership and then get breedings back from her.
When she turns 2, they take the girl to their home, breed
her, and sell the puppies for their own profit.
Most of the time, they will actually have a clause for this
in the contract you sign when you buy a female puppy.
READ YOUR CONTRACT CAREFULLY! If you are looking for a
female puppy, and the breeder suggests this arrangement, you
might want to stop and think about it -- are you willing to
give your girl up for 16 weeks while she's pregnant, and
after whelping until the puppies are weaned? What are
you going to do if something horrible happens to your girl?
Breeding can be quite dangerous and bad things can happen.
Sometimes the mom is lost during whelp. Sometimes she
can develop a horrible infection and be very sick. Are
you willing to risk your precious dog's health and/or life
for this? Just something to think about.
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Is the Breeder a
current member of a local Golden Retriever
Club or an all-breed dog club?
You may ask -- why is that important? I think it's very important because 1) most breed clubs have a Code of
Ethics that members are required to follow for breeding; and
2) people who are active in their breed, who are truly
interested in the betterment of their breed, and are
concerned with health and temperament issues, want to be
involved with a local club to network with other people who
are interested in their breed to keep current on issues
concerning their breed. I believe that reputable
breeders are "birds of a feather," and they flock together.
I
have seen some Golden Retriever Breeder web sites that use
convoluted wording that could lead someone to believe that
they are current members of a local Golden Retriever
Club, when in reality, they aren't. Please ask
breeders what club they are currently members of.
If you have questions about it, please look up the club on
the internet and contact someone to verify.
Also ask around about the club -- how long have they been an
organized club? What type of events have they held?
In the case of a Golden Retriever Club, see if it's a member
club of the
Golden Retriever Club of America (click for the list). See if the club is listed on the AKC website as a valid
club. Here's a link to all clubs sanctioned or
licensed by AKC:
http://www.akc.org/clubs/search/index.cfm . Getting a
group of people together and calling it a club is very easy.
Actually doing what needs to be done to to fulfill the
requirements to have a club sanctioned by AKC and GRCA is
not easy. It takes a lot of work and doing things for
the right reason.
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How does a breeder
decide who gets what puppy?
No
one knows a puppy as well as the breeder does. There
are different personality types in each litter. Once a
breeder has inquired about your lifestyle, personal
preferences, etc., the breeder is the best person to
determine which puppy is right for you. A reputable
breeder will pick your puppy for you based on what your
needs and expectations are. To me, a breeder that lets
you pick out which puppy you want is doing you a disservice
and that might be an indication of a breeder who is not
concerned about the puppy's welfare. Puppies placed in
the wrong homes oftentimes end up in shelters or rescue.
The puppy you pick may be cute and seem perfect for you on
the day you look at the puppies, but, in reality, that puppy
may not be what you want at all.
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Ask for Personal References and Follow Up!
As
stated before, you should buy a puppy from someone you will
feel comfortable having a long-term relationship with.
If you have questions about your puppy's behavior, training,
etc., your breeder should be your first line of information
and communication for the life of your dog. You, of
course, will have your veterinarian that you trust for
important health issues, but for everyday common questions,
you should feel comfortable knowing you can call your
breeder and get an informed, truthful response. You
need to LIKE your breeder. You need to choose a
breeder that you can communicate with and feel comfortable
talking to, someone you trust and someone you believe will
treat you the way you would like to be treated.
I cannot stress to you how important that is!
One way to find out about how a breeder will treat you is by
finding out how that breeder treats previous puppy buyers,
and just in general how they treat others.
BEFORE YOU BUY A PUPPY, you should ask for references and
follow up -- call them, but keep in mind that the breeder
might refer you to their best friend! So, ask
that person questions to see if the breeder was honest and
referred you to random puppy buyers, or if it was a set-up
and they referred you to their best friend. You don't
want to talk to someone who says they've been friends with
the breeder for years... you want to talk to a puppy buyer
that has no other relationship with them that simply as an
owner of one of their puppies. If the breeder referred
you to their best friend instead of a true puppy buyer, that
will tell you a lot about them as well.
Also keep in mind that
some people may be leery of talking to you about someone
else, especially if that breeder could possibly sue them for
saying something they aren't happy about. You should
be able to get a good feel for how the puppy buyer feels
about the breeder just in general conversation.
There is a list of good questions on the
dfwgoldenbreeders.com web site. Reputable breeders
will welcome your questions and will have plenty of their
own for you! Please answer the breeder's questions
honestly and openly. If they have a Puppy
Questionnaire, please fill it out honestly and completely.
Reputable breeders care about the homes their puppies go to
and being honest in your questions will help insure you get
the puppy that's right for you and your situation.
Asking questions is how they find out valuable information.
If they don't ask you questions about your home situation,
your work schedule, who all lives in the house, how old your
family members are, if you have a fenced yard, etc., etc,
that should be a red flag that they are simply trying to
sell puppies -- they aren't really concerned about where the
puppies are going. Could that also mean that
they aren't concerned about the breeding either? Could
that mean that they don't care if the puppies end up in a
shelter or rescue?
Please don't be shy -- ask questions! After all, you
are taking on a huge responsibility -- one that will be with
you for (hopefully) the next 10-15 years! If a breeder
is reluctant to answer your questions, please, please,
please let this be a red flag for you. As
a puppy buyer, you have the right to know every issue
concerning the puppy, including the health, temperament, and
background of his/her pedigree.
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