I understand about finding a reputable breeder when buying a pup but what about crossbreeds?

[mumbomama]

Hi

we have decided now that my youngest is out of nappies and I'm working at home to get a puppy.

I don't want to get a rescue dog because I have 3 children and want to be sure of it's upbringing but I don't specifically want a pedigree either.

I appreciate that it is important to find a reputable breeder but does that rule out crossbreeds? Obviously a proper breeder wouldn't want to crossbreed their dogs but it seems a shame to discount them. I would be quite happy with a heinz 57 variety.

Any crossbreed owners who can advise??

Many thanks

Crossbreeds are more than likely an accident (except Labradoodles).
Your best bet is probably to get home-checked by local Wood Green/RSPCA/Dogs Trust who will then put you on a list for suitable puppies.They may be recued but at such an early age unlikely to come with the baggage of an older dog.

You need to think about size of dog you have room for,how much time youhave to exercise it etc and then when a suitable cross (as far as they can tell) comes in they will contact you.

You can get puppies from RSPCA shelters, which I would think is a good option.

Often these are born in the shelter, or handed over as new-borns, they haven't got a history of ill-treatment to give them temper problems.

Otherwise, just keep checking local paper, and of course look at notices in petshops etc.

Visit the house where the puppies live. oes the mother look healthy? Are the pups in clean bedding? Does the house stink (even a house full of puppies should only smell of clean milky puppy, not of dog poo)?

you can also try the loot, they have loads of dogs advertised, or even look in your local pet shop window

You point out that a young puppy would not hsve had time to be ill treated, though I would like to point out that if you can see the parents you do get a better idea of what the temperament will be like. Nervous parents can eqaute to nervous puppies. That is the only problem in buying through animal shelters, although they will offer good support for you.

yeah i agree with speccy, one of the barmaids at my mums pub bought a puppy last week for £55o the puppy was 6 weeks..... she took it to the vet to find it had major heart disease and sadly had to get her put down so plz be careful

You might find that alot of rescue centres won't let you home dogs with young children, we found this, dd is 2, despite having a rescued 15yr old collie cross(we had her long before dd came along). We got a pedigree pup in the end, he's great. But I would reiterate about visiting the family, seeing both parents if possible and checking they are brought up in a good environment and ask about any health checks. We were able to meet the puppies at 2 1/2 weeks and i visited them weekly, chose our pup when he was 6 weeks and his character had developed and collected him at 8 weeks. This gave me a good opportuinity to meet the parents and get to know the puppies and see that they were well socialised. Also make sure that the puppies are wormed and fleaed and look healthy. There are some lovely crossbreed puppies oout there, might be worth asking around friends with dogs, and you could ask your vet as they will know about local pregnant bitches.
Good luck!

Message withdrawn

ask around - maybe someone knows someone who's dog has a litter. That way you may get feedback on the parents and you know they are "family dogs" rather than working dogs.

i dont think most charities will rehome a puppy to a household with children under 5 years

Oh, yes, when I said pet-shops I didn't mean buy a puppy from a pet-shop. Our local pet-food store doesn't sell animals at all, but does have a notice board where people can offer puppies/kittens/bunnies etc for sale.

Again, insist on visiting the home where the puppy comes from, seeing the mother, making sure the family of dogs is clean and healthy. A caring owner (and those who have cross-breed litters aren't usually breeders out for money) should feel happy that you want to take the puppy to be checked by a vet (I'd always do this asap after acquiring any puppy), and maybe take the pup back if there is anything wrong.

Like anything, there are rogues in the puppy business, but lots of people just love there dogs, and want to make sure the pups go to loving good homes.