Decision made but how do I find a puppy the right way?

[m0therofdragons]

We’ve decided now is the idea time to bring a puppy into our home. We have rescue cats and bunnies (all now rather old and chilled, not fussed about dogs) but dh and I want the puppy experience as it’s likely to be our only chance.
We’ve decided a cocker spaniel is the right breed for us (a mix breed wouldn’t put us off if we could meet both parents) but where to start? The KC registered website makes it difficult so I completely understand why people go through pets 4 homes.

Can anyone advise us on how we can approach this and introduce a dog to our family before the end of the year?

@CayrolBaaaskin I’m really hoping to get one from ex colleague but she’s a hobby breeder and has very high quality cockers so there’s a lot of interest. She won’t do a waiting list so I’m hoping the fact she knows us will go in our favour. It is a bit of a minefield. I’m also not the most patient and he or she will probably need to go into kennels for 12 days in August 2021 so needs to be old enough and settled before doing that.

Getting a puppy from the right place requires a lot of work. We have a beagle and used the list of breeders on the Kennel Club website. It took months to find a breeder with a litter available and they were four hours away. We saw a lot of 'dodgy' ads on various websites. I recently learned that someone lifted pictures from my breeder's Facebook page and put them it in an ad on Pets4Homes. Unscrupulous people will go to a lot of effort to look legitimate. I would stay away from those websites.

We’re definitely asking around for recommendations and found a really promising breeder a couple of hours away but no idea when her next litter will be. I’d be happy to wait as she comes highly recommended. We will see. I’m so excited and so is dh. I love seeing him like this. I think having a family dog will help dh get through the teen years with our 3 girls!