Found another litter, but....

[kid]

I'm not sure.
Firstly, they are not health checked and they are a million miles from me, but not undriveable.
Breeder owns mum and dad, plus another female dog that had pups from same dad.

Right colour and sex but a bit expensive (I think) for digs that have not been health tested.

So MN jury, should I walk away from this litter?

wow, thanks Midori, even though it shouldn't, that list does impress me. If I can buy a pup from someone that covers all those steps, I will be much more relaxed.

The people I bought Moby from did NONE of those things. They were clearly in it just for the money and couldn't care less about the pups they bred. The only thing they did was give us a blanket that he had been using at their house. He had also been wormed once by the time we took him at 7 1/2 weeks.

I promise that whatever pup I find, I will seek advice on here. I will join champdogs now and advertise.

I just spotted the stars that you were talking about, what a dope to have not spotted them before!

kid, honestly, there are an awful lot of people who, while not breeding for the right reasons or with the right knowhow, aren't in it for the money. IME most "casual" breeders are well-intentioned but clueless. And I don't think his breeder's practices had any effect on what happened to Moby.

While educating people to breed for the right reasons is vital (and goodness knows I have had enough conversations with people who want to breed from their mongrel bitch because they "think she'd make a great mum" / "think her puppies would be lovely" / "think it would be good for her" - that one always mystifies me), it is also important to make a distinction between puppy farmers who really are in it for cash, and ill-informed but well-meaning amateurs.

I've been looking for rescues recently and this one has really caught my eye. It isn't the right time for us at the moment but what a lovely dog Marvel is

Ooh, Joni, she's lovely, as are the folk at Many Tears.

There are heaps of dogs looking for homes at Many Tears, who rehome across England, Wales and Scotland, and they are well worth speaking to if anyone is considering adopting or fostering a dog.

Looking at that site jonicomelately, I am glad to see that Tolly has been reserved for someone.
I really do wish I could just adopt all of the dogs in need of a home. I'm not convinced DH would agree and neither would my HA!

I don't blame Moby's breeders for what happened to him. Moby had been checked by our own vet on 3 occassions. Even on the morning of his operation the vet said his heart was fine. Just before they gave him the GA, they checked his heart again which is routine practice and again it was fine. But I was told that he was dead within 15 minutes. I'm still devastated that it happened to him and still cry for him. But I am working at blocking what happened to him out of my mind and concentrating on how wonderful he was.

We were so lucky to have the time we had with him. I am hoping we get lucky with the next dog too. I am not sure if he would have been such a lovely dog or if he was lovely because of the way we trained him.

I agree, Tolly is gorgeous. I think that Marvel looks like a little girl whose personality really stands out. Then again, perhaps it's the photo of her running through a meadow with her ears flapping

yeah, I have a photo of Moby a bit like that. He was running through some water and was throwing his head back, its a great photo of a wonderful day out together. Not sure if its on my profile

Marvel is a real cutie, surely she will get her forever home soon?

You would think so. I hope you find the right dog kid. You sound like you're still heartbroken about Moby. I hope you find another good 'un

Completely agree with midori, the list really is the minimum you would expect, don't settle for anything less.

You may have done this already, but have you contacted the breed club secretary for your area? They are normally a wealth of knowledge, and may know of someone with puppies.

To further the point the puppy I am waiting on is currently 22 days old, I contacted the breeder just before the bitch was mated.

Since then we have exchanged 41 e-mails and numerous phone calls, she sends me pictures of the puppies several times a week and I know she would be very upset if I didn't stay in touch with her after I take him home.

It's also worth noting that they turned down something like 200 people who were interested in this litter as they didn't deem them suitable, if a breeder doesn't give you a fairly good grilling and instead just tells you the price of a pup then I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole, you want a breeder who really cares where their puppies will be going to live.

A breeder contacted me today but the parents haven't been health checked according to the site so I guess that litter will be disregarded.

Back to the drawing board I think.
I'd love to receive emails and photos of the pup between birth and coming to lice with me!

Midori list is the least I would expect.
The breeder of our new pup sent us weekly emails and a diary entry of puppy's births+ DVD. Demanded to know how we were going to train, who with, what our experience was with dogs and also asked to meet our present dogs to give them the once over. Insisted she met all the kids and DH.

She has phoned me twice since I have had the puppy and demanded weekly emails to check on his progress.

Before we had the puppy she introduced them to scary noise cd to acclimatise them to fireworks etc. She took each puppy out every day and separated them for a short time each day from the litter to get used to being on their own. - If we knew their name she used it and all the puppies could sit and do down when we got them. She took them for short daily car rides so the journey to their new home was not traumatic.

So keep looking Kid you will find the right pup and breeder combination very soon - how exciting.

When did you get your pup eatsshoots ?

We went to Verstone initially but ended up looking elsewhere infact we got our cocker from seggamyerspaniels and I would thoroughly recommend them as they exceeded all my expectations as breeders (midoris list above was standard)

Unfortunately they are not planning any more litters till late in the year according to the site.
I've not posted before Kid but I have read your posts and hope you find that pup soon.

my pup isn't really a pup any more. I got him Oct 2008