To think this dog breeder was rude?

[Shameus]

It’s becoming impossible to find an ethical dog breeder that is genuinely interested in preserving the breed and educating people about that breed.

Please don’t get on at me about rescue dogs, I’ve done my fair share with rescues and now I want a “blank canvas puppy” for various reasons.

So, messaged a breeder yesterday who’s website said to contact them for any info as they can talk about the breed 24/7. So I contacted them, told them a bit about myself and asked a few questions about breed traits - trying to work out if the breed is right for us. I received a reply saying “go to dog shows, you’ll get loads of info there”. And that was it!! So I replied again and told them what I was looking for in a dog and asked if they would recommend this breed to someone looking for these traits. They replied “You get what you put in, it’s common sense”. Wtf??

Surely someone with a genuine interest in preserving their breed would want to answer questions and “interview” potential customers? So I’ve given up on them.

Same thing happened with another breeder I contacted. I sent a long email telling them about myself and asking for info on the breed and received an email back saying “we have pups available now, ready in 4 weeks. When would you like to view them? Deposit guarantees pup”. So I replied and said I wasn’t ready to get a puppy yet, im researching whether this breed is right for us … they never replied.

Is it me or what?? Am I expecting too much?

Yep, the Facebook breed specific pages are the best place to ask about the good and bad of the breed. They're full of people who love their breed of choice and who want to make sure people make informed decisions.

They want to breed dogs for money. There’s nothing ethical about that so don’t know why you expect them to be interested in a conversation. They want to sell puppies quick and make profit.

You can get very comprehensive info about breed traits online. Use that to decide if a breed might be right for you.

While this is true, it will only be very general. For the breed I had, it nowhere mentioned their uncanny ability to open doors, including those with round handles. We had to childproof all the kitchen cupboards when my first was a youngster. It also didn't tell me that they can climb, and can jump really well. We had to move the table 2' across the kitchen, any nearer and the little sods would climb onto the table, and jump across to the worktop.

Not bad for a breed only 14.5" at the shoulder.

“Long email” is never the way to start.

Refreshing to see someone taking dog ownership responsibly though

My breed were terriers, and they would only dig if they smelt something very interesting (eg a long-dead fish buried by sand on a beach, not only dug up but then comprehensively rolled on - the smell was indescribably bad).

They never dug just for the hell of it, like some will.

Your wasting there time. They arent there to advise you on what breed. It's up to you to research. They can of course give you information about parents but that's as far as it should extend really not about what best breed you should get. You don't sound remotely ready to be a dog owner.

YABVU. It’s not up to the breeder to tell you whether it’s the right dog for you.

You do your own research and come to your own conclusions about what dog is best for you. Then you find a breeder.

I’ve been a “dog owner” all my life. I’m simply interested in a specific breed now.

I only have experience with cats but I expect people to have read up on the breed and not me having to explain there general characteristics. The amount of people wasting my time this year was frustrating.

If that's the case research the breed then.

You need to do your own research.
Not just ask the breeder about the breed! You are wasting their time. I wouldn’t reply back you either if you were just asking generic questions.

Breed specific Facebook groups for owners and fans are good for asking questions too.

Out of interest OP what specific breeds are you looking at and what have you had before? Maybe we can help?

Forgive me if I am wrong but did you mention a French Bulldog?

It's a very important factor in your search (as you well know ) if say you have owned Heinz 57's then want to get a pedigree.

It's interesting, considering what a poor view Mumsnet generally has of dog breeders, that so many posters consider it is not a good breeder's job to discuss the quirks and realities of living with their breed.

Every breeder I know would absolutely be happy - indeed expect - to have this conversation with buyers who are new to the breed. My breed would have a list of people on the main site (not actually a breed club) who are happy to talk their breed all day long and will deliver on that requirement to answer any questions.

Try the Champdogs forum. They are usually helpful.

I love how the progression here shows who bothers reading the thread and who just wants to vomit their opinion out without too much investment.

I also loved the ‘Im not a breeder but if I was i would be happy to answer your questions’
Like the breeder didn’t most likely start off that but then realised they were investing huge amounts of time in randoms who got their number from an add and think they also run a free breed specific info line.

It's OK to want to ask, but it really is a hassle to field research enquiries.

I work for a charity supporting a certain cause. My day is pretty chocka with doing the actual job that supports the work.

I get "research" queries like this all the time - students who are interested in potentially working in the sector, but are several YEARS of study away from it.

Whilst I'd love to have the time to answer properly, it is not my job, and not a productive use of the charity's time.

There are bad breeders, and at least as many bad potential customers. Good breeders try to weed out bad customers for the dogs sake. They deal with hundreds of enquiries including timewasters, attentionseekers seeking a status stage prop to boost their self esteem . There are certain triggers that slam the door shut.

(This is pretty much the same in any service industry. Successful businesses can pick and choose the best clients and avoid self-identified tossers. The new client is unaware their conduct/attitude in that first enquiry is THEIR job interview).

They want their pups to go to good owners who care enough to have done their own extensive research into the breed and its traits and history as a family pet.
You accidentally triggered red flags by sounding naive and ill-informed about the basics.

Expecting the breeder to spoonfeed that basic info, may indicate a lazy owner , unwilling to put in the years of work, focus and energy that a family pet takes. It may indicate an owner with a designer wish-list who expects the dog to conform to owner requirements; and as all dog owners know, some dogs are renegade nonconformists and all require training. Hence the comment about "what you get out of a dog is what you put in".

Next time, do the breed homework yourself. The good breeder will have a carefully honed list of questions to ask you; and is listening intently to your responses.

I agree with the other posters that Facebook groups are a good place to get this kind of information. Also ask owners of breeds you might be interested in when you see the dogs in the park or wherever. I find that owners are often very interested in talking about their dogs and you will get the benefit of their own research into the breed before they got their dog. Breeders often have too many enquiries and are too busy to give that kind of information in detail.

Tbh breeders probably expect you to have done your own research already, but agree the responses could have been phrased better op.

I was told to contact the local breed club before we got our dog, we've always had the same breed though so already knew it was right for us. A friend found the breed club v helpful for info though so may be worth a try. They also knew a member having a litter of pups and can recommend local breeders if you do decide that's the right breed for you.

I recommend joining Champdogs, it's full of info and you can ask questions on the forums generally and about specific breeds. We ended up paying the annual fee £10 I think for full access to everything on the site, including directory of breeders, their past and present litters and all the different health test results required for different pedigrees. You can view health test results for each sire and dam for a litter (I had to get used to the lingo!), info for any planned or impending litters of pups plus the lineage of the dogs are all required to be shown. The breeders on there have to meet certain criteria and many are serious breeders, most will want to vet you very thoroughly. The breeder we got our pup from was fantastic, she also did so much constant work on socialising pups and getting them used to the world before they went to their new homes. These breeders sometimes have a waiting list they're seen as so good! Just an aside I found it quite interesting how prices vary depending on where you are in the country, the cost being higher in the south east for the breed we wanted. I met someone at training classes who chose to drive up to Wales for their puppy because of the different costs. Anyway good luck op

You sound like hard work.

I would echo the poster who suggested going to a breed-specific dog show. We did that so talked to lots of owners and met their dogs which confirmed it was the right breed for us. They had time to chat and were happy to answer lots of questions, we did get varying answers but it gave us an idea of what the probable personality traits would be.

Some breed organisations have 'puppy lists' i.e. which breeders have upcoming litters and through the show we got in touch with the person who keeps that list and met our breeder.

I know had you contacted our breeder they would have been happy to answer questions, but they are quite old-school and breeding is a labour of love for them.

Good luck with your future pup!

Not necessarily. We went through a very rigorous interview with the breeder our dog came from. She made it very clear that if we hadn’t met her standards she wouldn’t have let us buy our pup.

Not true. I can think of a very reputable breeder of working dogs who if you approached like that would tell you to go away and research the breed throughly first, expecting that you would realise a working breed is not the dog for you.