I need everyone's wise advice about breeders..

[WaitrosePigeon]

Please!

We have recently lost our Yorkie and we can't be without another for long. We are looking into getting a puppy Yorkie in September time. How do I find a responsible and caring breeder? Where do I start? It's been 13yrs since we had to do this and I'm sure things have changed.

Thanks!

[WaitrosePigeon]

Ps we aren't looking at a rescue dog. We want to mould and train our own dog from the start and as we have young children we want to be sure of their history.

[PaintedDrivesAndPolishedGrass]

Look on the Kennel Club website at their list of accredited breeders.

[Slingcrump]

www.thekennelclub.org.uk/getting-a-dog-or-puppy/

www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/advice-for-owners/buying-a-dog/buying-a-dog

www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/dogs/puppy

[SeemsLegit]

Have a look on the champdogs website. Not all the breeders listed will be "good" ones but they'll be better than Gumtree or pets4homes. Do your homework about recognising puppy farms too

[Slingcrump]

Forgot to mention, one of my cousins bought her (springer spaniel) puppy by going to lots of local agricultural and horse shows and asking around.

[WaitrosePigeon]

Brilliant, thanks so much all. We want to be as responsible as possible!

[TrionicLettuce]

The breed club should be able to help point you towards some breeders planning litters as well. Like many breeds there's a national club and several regional ones as well, you can see a list of them all here. Dog shows are great for meeting breed enthusiasts as well as getting an idea of the type of dog it is you like. This is quite a good list that includes a lot of smaller shows and there's a list of championship shows (bigger, just about every KC recognised breed will be there and a great day out if you love dogs!!) here. Despite the name Yorkies are in the toy group so for shows across multiple days you need to check which day the toy group will be shown.

Also familiarise yourself with the necessary health tests for the breed. This page explains which tests should have been done on both parents. Unfortunately I don't think there are many Yorkie breeders who are doing MRIs so you may struggle to find a breeder using fully health tested dogs however the absolute minimum you should be looking for is the annual eye test plus the DNA tests for prcd-PRA and PLL. Ideally, although it's not a recognised scheme, I'd want their knees to have been checked as well. Ideally you want a COI (coefficient of inbreeding) of lower than the breed average, which for Yorkies is 9.6%. The lower the better though really. You can check the COI using this tool on the KC site providing you ave both parents' full names. You can also check health test results here.

Ideally you want to be looking for a breeder rather than looking for a puppy to buy immediately. The decent breeders will generally have full waiting lists of people who are seriously interested in the puppies before they're even born.

Expect to be thoroughly grilled by the breeder before you get anywhere near the puppies. If it's a case of the breeder handing over a puppy, no questions asked, as long as you've got the money then walk away. Expect to be asked about your house and garden, your lifestyle, your dog owning experience, what you feel you can offer a dog, why you picked that breed and why you picked that particular breeder.

They should also be happy to answer your questions and talk about why they chose to breed in the first place, why from that bitch, why they picked the stud they chose, what they were hoping for with the litter, etc.

The bitch and puppies should be kept inside and not shut away from the family. Check that they have some kind of set up like a whelping box in a pen in a well used room in the house. If there's no sign of that then the mum and pups could have just been brought in from elsewhere for you to view. Depending on the age of the litter there's all sorts the breeder should be doing to help set them up to be well adjusted adult dogs. This website gives you a breakdown of the developmental stages of puppies and gives you an idea of what the breeder should have been doing during each of them.

[BagelGoesWalking]

Ask local vets if you can put up an advert in their surgeries?

Lots of rescues have puppies or slightly older dogs if you don't mind not having a puppy. Don't discount rescues as they do get litters.

[BagelGoesWalking]

www.manytearsrescue.org/display_mtar_dog.php?id=16361

www.manytearsrescue.org/display_mtar_dog.php?id=16377

[WaitrosePigeon]

Thanks all so so much. I knew I could get some wise advice

[BagelGoesWalking]

Btw, I'd completely missed the bit where you said you didn't want a rescue! Didn't mean to ram it down your throat, just didn't see!

[Shriek]

i can really recommend speaking by phone/in person to as many breeders as you can in the area you want to buy as they will all know each other and some will point out the large commercial breeders.. work out for yourself whether you want a pup thats home born and raised and used to all house noises, or happy to have kennelled litter and do that bit yourself.

Also don't visit a litter till your homework done! all pups [pretty much] just 'look' gorgeous but that doesn't tell you anything. Meeting a few of the breed bitches and their breeders before pups arrive will definitely get you a feel for what you want, and especially what you don't want! Like houseviewing [only more important

happy hunting, it can take many many months (just to prepare you), but soo soo worth it giving your money to good breeding practices to get the healthy good natured pup you all deserve, with the support of the right breeder behind you.

[Shriek]

ask them about how the dam and pups are fed, and their rearing practices for health and socialising, how many weeks they are allowed to leave etc. (all specific to your particular breed)

Make sure you see originals of all 'current' breed health screenings, and these can be checked by entering the KC reg name into the 'look up a dog' option and going to the 'health' tab, you can also view all the heredity details

[Jeremysfavouriteaunt]

Gorgeous puppies bagel

[Madbengalmum]

Cross Reference, Champdogs and the breed club, together with looking at the breeders website. This should give you a start as to who has a good reputation. I talked to a few breeders and went from there, they generally know each other if they are hobby breeders,which i assume you would be looking for rather than those doing it for profit.

[WaitrosePigeon]

Thank you all so much, I really appreciate it. Gosh don't worry Bagel