Good breeder or not?

[thatgirlcalledkyle]

I'm buying a Dachshund. The puppies live in the house with the breeder. I've met both the bitch and the dog. This litter is her only this year. I've been on a waiting list for the last two years because she only has one litter a year. All puppies have been health tested. The breeder has visited my house and met my family. She has insisted that I sign papers saying she can have the puppy back if I ever want to give her up. The only reason I'm nervous is that the puppy is cream, a colour that's unusual in Dachshunds. Should I be worried that she's bred a cream Dachshund on purpose? They're longhaired. Btw, we have a Boxer, Tiger.

What colour are the parents?

Have you asked her? I don't know much about genetics but I would have thought it's more than possible it just happened.

She sounds a great breeder from everything else you say. Have parents been health checked though?

Mum is cream but dad is tan. They had 8 puppies and 2 are cream but the rest are tan.

Yes, I've seen papers for parents and results of their health check.

Is cream a desirable colour if it's rare? Are you worried the bitch may not be the best example of breed but was bred with anyway?

Hi. If you're on Facebook there's a really good group called DACHSHUND UK ❤❤❤ (the hearts are part of the name). Lots of information and really helpful members including breeders etc. I'm sure they'll be able to help you out.

I'm a little bit worried yes, but I don't know whether cream Dachshunds are rare!

All puppies have been health tested.

As far as I'm aware there are no conditions requiring litter screening in Dachshunds, do you mean both parents were health tested?

Ideally both parents should have been x-rayed to check for signs of IVDD (information about the scheme here) plus have had DNA tests for PRA (if minis) and Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (both minis and standards).

The coefficient of inbreeding should at least be less than the breed average (14.6% for standards, 7.5% for minis) but preferably as close to 0% as possible.

The breed council considers cream (which is just a lighter version of the much more common red) to be an acceptable colour in both sizes, even though it's only listed as an acceptable colour for minis by the KC.

Generally speaking good breeders don't own and keep both parents. If they're breeding for the right reasons (to better the breed) they're very unlikely to own the right pairing and will usually have sought out a stud that matches their breeding plans. There would also be no reason to repeat breedings between a pair. If they're just breeding to produce pups to sell then they're a backyard breeder and should be avoided.

Yes, that's what I meant. Thanks for the stats information. If cream is considered an acceptable colour, then I'll be much happier.

They don't own the stud. I've met him because his owner was asked to bring him round to show me.

Cream is acceptable in long haired sausages - is your boxer calm as that would be my concern that the pup may get damaged .

He's very calm throughout the day and can be chilled out but when walked/runs with me is excitable and playful but still well behaved. When DD plays with him, he can get pretty playful but he's still fairly cautious. He's great with little dogs as my parents have a Pom (and an Akita) so he's very gentle but curious. He's an amazing dog. The best I've ever met, in my incredibly biased opinion.

Is it one litter a year from the same bitch or just one litter a year?

And what has she bred the puppies for?

Just one litter a year

All sounds perfectly sensible to me, am not seeing the issue? Breeder sounds excellent from your description above. Cream is certainly a perfectly acceptable colour in LHD.

Just to confirm, these are the KC recognised colours: www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/breed/colours.aspx?id=1010