Tips and advice for getting a new puppy

[Flowerydems]

We're going to view the puppies tonight and they're ready next week so we'll be taking them home then.
Dh has had a dog before but I haven't from a puppy as we rehomed an adult lab when I was a teen.

Just trying to work out what I'll need. It's a collie cross golden retriever which we'll be cage training for sleeping but aside from being aware how much exercise I'll need to give it (know collies tend to need a lot) I don't know what else I should be doing.

Thanks in advance

But they won't show you the true conditions! The pups will have been brought into the house, as will 'mum' (because how will you know whether it is or not, just a healthy looking bitch)

Flowery please don't go. Shitty breeders are very clever indeed at making everything appear nice and above board for people visiting puppies.

They are not decent breeders, nobody reputable would be producing such a mixture of breeds and crosses so frequently.

No it's fine I've cancelled. I've gone onto the kennel club and got names of reputable breeders.

I got in touch with the vets where the puppies are registered in the end but they're not able to give out any info. Thanks for your help, like you say better not to line their pockets

Well done OP. I think the collie aspect would have been hard work too tbh.

I've booked in for a health check at the vets in case I go and am happy with conditions etc.

A vet check can only tell you if the puppy is outwardly healthy at that moment in time, it can't tell you if there are any inherited conditions which may become apparent at a later date.

This is a cross which could produce puppies with some pretty dubious temperaments and potentially devastating health conditions if not done properly.

DDog2 got a clean bill of health as a puppy, there was no way for that vet check to flag the fact that she was genetically affected by hereditary cataracts. We only discovered that when she was about a year old and started walking into things. She was almost completely blind by the time she was eighteen months old. She needed major (and, if I'm honest, pretty brutal) surgery followed by a very long and not terribly enjoyable recovery period. At best I'd call her sight adequate, she can (mostly) get around without crashing into things but struggles in low light or where there's a high contrast between light and shade. All because whoever bred her (she came to us having been dumped on a rescue) didn't bother with a £50 DNA test on either of her parents.

Glad to hear you've cancelled (sorry for the cross post, had to go answer the door!) and that you're trying to find reputable breeders.

Bear in mind that KC registration (or even membership of the Assured Breeder Scheme) is not a guarantee of quality, even puppy farms can get their pups registered by the KC.

If you're looking at GRs I'd highly recommend going through either the national breed club or the relevant regional one. Breed clubs usually have good codes of ethics which hold their members to a much higher standard than the KC does. There's a list of GR breed clubs here.

The Champdogs site can also be a good starting point to look for breeders as you can filter search results by breeders who health test. Health testing isn't the be all and end all of breeding but a decent breeder will never scrimp on it so it's a good indicator of whether it's worth researching that particular breeder further.

I've just been on the phone to a reputable breeder locally. We're going out to hers to see a litter of lhasas which was what I wanted in the first place before I was taken in by the pics. My friend had her parents dogs bred out there so after speaking to folk I know it's reputable.
Be a while before we get next month but least we will be getting a decent dog.

Thanks so much for your help and talking me down from the love hearts for those puppies in my eyes. Makes me sad they are being farmed though but can't line someone's pockets to rescue them I guess

I'll not go on gumtree again now I know

In glad you have decided not to go. How do you know this new litter is from a decent breeder? I would worry about anyone who instantly (pretty much) had a pup available.
That's exactly what the puppy farmers hope. You won't realise or you will pay to "rescue" the pup and they breed more and the cycle continues.
KC reg means bugger all. There was a case recently of a woman who let related dogs mate. When the pups were born she demanded the vet pts. Vet refused. She murdered pups in the most bloody awful way. KC wouldn't dereg. It means nothing.

IMO reputable breeders have a long waiting list. A pup who is ready to home next month rings alarm bells too. You seem to have decided you want a pup and it has to be almost immediately. Just the kind of desperate punter that puppy farms rely on.

Ok sorry I didn't realise. It was just from word of mouth that she was a good breeder. I'll speak to dh to put it off til we can do more research.

Thanks for all the input, feel a bit foolish now but there we go

Getting a puppy is hard, nearly as hard as raising one!

Have a quick google to see what health tests should be done on the parents, usually there are a few. All that you really need to know is the pass score, or if it's just clear, and that the parents have passed these tests.
Then look at why the breeder is breeding, and what they aim to get from these pups. I'm on a waiting list for a pup. Will be next year before she is bred from (again, already had one litter) and I might not be able to get one (waiting list isn't a definite). They already have someone on the list from the last litter as the breeder didn't think the pups personality matched the home, and now he's a little older she is 100% right.
Anyway, aims might be to show, or a certain training or 'pets'. The pup I waiting for is being bred for agility and obedience, with a possibility for showing (which I won't be doing), but I will be matched with a lower drive pup, as my first one in the breed. So this breeder really knows her stuff. Oh and if something happens to me or I can no longer care for the pup then it's in the contract (good breeders have good contracts) that the pup is returned to her.

There is another breeder, who's well liked by the owners of her pups, but she has a litter all the time! Seriously, there is no way that having so many dogs and puppies around leaves enough time to care properly for them all, and have the job and family she does. So the pups are lacking.

If you know what breed you want, the best place to look at is the breed club, they'll have information on what health tests should be done and they usually have information about breeders and sometimes a register of breeders that have signed up to meet their ethical standards.

Don't feel stupid. I admire you for doing your research before you get a dog. If everyone did this there wouldn't be any puppy farms. Well done OP and good luck on your search.

Being stupid would still be going once people have warned you about the problem.

Take you time (hard as it is), do your research and you'll end up with a perfect family pet from a reputable breeder and not a puppy farm.

We got our girl from Pets4Homes which is seen as very similar to Gumtree - we had no idea of the pitfalls of that site, but we were very lucky and ended up with a family bred pet and not some puppy farm pup.