If You Have Not Yet Bought a Puppy

Selecting a Puppy

Rescue Checklist

If you would like to get your new puppy from a rescue, here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Try to get a dog from a litter that has been raised in a foster home. Being raised in shelter kennels can do a lot of damage to a young dog.

• Ideally get a dog from a breed specific rescue and be intentional with which breed you pick. A client of ours got a puppy from a shelter with a Springer Spaniel mum, and were told the puppy would be a spaniel sized dog. It grew up to become as close to a Doberman in looks and personality as you can get (turns out that was who the dad was). Not what they were expecting, and not the lifestyle they had in mind. It turned into a very challenging experience of dog ownership.

Breeder Checklist

• As appealing as it might seem, try to avoid getting a puppy from a regular family breeding their dog. Although it seems like a nice home to get a puppy from, the lay person does not have an in depth understanding of genetics to be able to predict what your puppy will develop into.

• When selecting a breeder, find someone who ideally has owned and bred from several generation of these breeding lines. They will be in a better position to be able to predict what the litter will be like as they mature.

• Unfortunately, it is easy for almost anyone to get a Kennel Club breeder registration. A few thing to look for are:

  • Where are they advertising the litter? Reputable breeders only breed when they have a waiting list, and do not need to uses pages like Gumtree or Pets4Homes to advertise.

  • You should expect to have to wait for your puppy (as in, the breeder might be taking reservations before the puppies are born).

  • Breeders who are intentional with their breeding are likely to use a stud from far away (not what is easiest accessible), because of this, you might not be able to meet your future puppy’s dad.

  • A reputable breeder will ask you a lot of questions, and will often make you sign a contract that the dog needs to be returned to them if you can no longer keep them.

• If the breeders have been breeding for a long time, advertise in an appropriate way, and are registered, here are a few things to check:

  • Health checks: What are common issues for the breed? You can look up health tests here.

  • Inbreeding coefficient: In the UK, unlike in most European countries, mother-son and father-daughter breedings is still legal and can be registered with the kennel club. Needless to say this can be accompanied with health issues. Such a close breeding would result in an inbreeding coefficient of 25%. The Swedish Kennel Club does not allow any dogs or litters to be registered with an inbreeding coefficient higher than 6.25%. We once had a British bred dog as a client who, when we looked it up, had an inbreeding coefficient of 37%, the results of close genetic breeding over several generations, and unfortunately a dog who had many health problems. Another dog with a coefficient of 34% struggled with coordination, ability to learn new tasks and generalise training. You can check the inbreeding coefficient of registered dogs, but more importantly of the mating, here.

  • Temperament test: This is a bit of a buzz word and can be thrown around by people looking to sell dogs. Unlike other European countries, the UK does not require, nor does it offer, temperament testing for dogs. In all Scandinavian countries, there is a standardised test which all dogs need to complete and get a certain score on in order to be registered with the kennel club. Here, breeders might use something like Puppy Culture to raise the dogs, or the Volhard’s Puppy Test to evaluate them. but there isn’t enough data to make a decision based on the results, especially depending on the breed. My best advice is to either get a dog from working lines (people who use their dog for a certain purpose have little time for dogs who are not temperamentally sound), or to have a dog trainer evaluate the puppies with you based on videos taken across several days when the puppies are exposed to novelty.

• Questions to ask your breeder:

  • How often do you breed? (If more than several times/year, I would question whether financial gain is their main motivation.)

  • What is the youngest and oldest you would breed a female? (No younger than 2, no older than 5-6 depending on size.)

  • How often would you breed the same female? (No more than every second heat cycle.)

  • What do you feed your dogs? (Do some research into this.)

  • What are you looking for when you select a dam and sire?

  • What are you hoping this pairing will produce?

  • Will you be keeping a puppy from this litter for yourself?

Getting Your Puppy

• Regardless of where you get your puppy from, make sure that you go and visit the place and see the mother well before it is time to pick up your dog (most breeders will allow visitors from 5-6 weeks). If something feels off - walk away.

• An experienced breeder or rescue coordinator should be able to help select a puppy for you based on what you are looking for and their experience reading and evaluating dogs.