Finding a reputable breeder

[custardbear]

Hi
Can I have sone advice from you please about finding reputable breeders. I've decided to get a Samoyed, there are puppies on the Kennel Club website, can these be trusted?
Any experienced dog owners can offer any help I'd appreciate it
Thanks
🐩 🐶

There’s no such thing. Well obviously there are, but reality is that regardless of where you get the puppy you’re taking a risk.

Poster on AIBU yesterday, spent loads of time looking for breeders, found one with good reviews on the breed specific website, then has started getting messages offering to deliver the dog, and would the OP like to take two puppies etc. blatantly a puppy farm, and yet this breeder has been recommended on the kind of sites which people would advise you go to here.

Oh dear that's a bit worrying!

Go and visit, ask lots of questions, ask for references or if you can speak with other puppy owners. Make sure you have necessary health checks and then you kind of have to go with your gut.
if you see mum, can speak with dads owner, check them both out on the kennel club (you can search for both dogs on the site) you can start to eliminate red flags.
the things that would make me worry would be pushing for a deposit before seeing the pup, offers to take the pup before 8 weeks, being offered more than one puppy, the breeder not asking me lots of questions (and bring interested in where the puppy was ending up)
a decent breeder will charge a fair price, not a high price-farmers and greeders charge high prices, a decent breeder will also give you a contract stating that if you ever can’t keep the dog it will go back to the breeder in the first instance, and will have endorsements on the pup meaning you can’t remove them from the country and breed from them without permission.
it’s not an exact science, but it all builds up.
you can also contact the breed club and ask them if they know the breeder

Thank you
These seem to have genealogy and pedigrees but I guess that's easy to fake

The advice is usually to contact the breed club and contact breeders from there.

The things I would look for:
Any health tests I thought were important after checking out what is recommended; be sure you understand these, as you don't necessarily need both parents to have had all the tests (a recessive genetic illness won't cause a problem if a dog is a carrier, as a copy is needed from each parent for the disease to develop).
Are the dogs in the house or kennelled? If kennelled, why and is that all the time or part of it? I'm not anti-kennels, but I want any puppy I buy to spend most of its time in the house before it comes to me.
What does the breeder do with their dogs? At a minimum, I'd want to know that the dogs are properly exercised and are safe and sensible off-lead. I'd want at least one parent to have been shown and convinced a judge or two that it was a good example of the breed (or, if a working breed, I'd want evidence of that both parents are solid workers).
What are the breeder's breeding goals and priorities? For me, temperament, health and conformation are all vying for top spot, followed by working ability if relevant, and the breed standard lags somewhere behind.
Has the breeder considered the coefficient of inbreeding? This is related to health and a COI much above 5% should ring a few alarm bells. A high COI increases the chances of ill-health (including cancer and allergies).
Does the breeder ask you lots of questions? About why you chose the breed, what your plans are for training and exercise, who is in the household and how they all feel about getting a puppy, and so on.
Is the breeder happy for you to visit? How does the breeder interact with the dogs and how are the dogs around the breeder?

There are probably things I have forgotten...

We went through the breed club, our breeder is a very high up a member on various breed club committees etc, she highly respected judge, she judges her own breed and other breeds, she writes books about the breed, she shows very successfully she breeds a a litter every two years, she sent my a 6 page form to complete before puppies were born then said we could visit when they were four weeks old no earlier and be interviewed if she liked us we could have one of the puppies at 8 weeks but no deposit was required we could both pull out. At the interview she carefully and proudly showed me the necessary health screens etc and explained the results and exactly why she’d used the particular sire. 10 years down the road my happy healthy well adjusted dog has never had a days illness, I sometimes think he wrote the book about the breed or at least read it as he is exactly what the book says. We are contemplating getting another puppy we will go back to the same breeder. If she has no plans for a litter in the next 18 months I’m pretty sure she can recommend me another equally dedicated breeder.

Is there any reason why you can't rescue a dog from the kennels ? There are so many needing a family so sad they loose out to people who like the look of a certain dog and are prepared to pay £££ then the poor doggies loose out on a chance of a home. Also I dont think breeders need any encouragement it's a cruel business most of the time.

Have you considered an older dog from the samoyed rescue site, for breeders maybe look at Champdogs.

Thanks everyone!
We've house all of our cats through rescue over the last 15 years. The dog were planning is a puppy we're going to train to be a service dog for my daughter who has complex needs. The dog will also be a family pet. We felt it was easier ti get a puppy as our rescue cats needed our support to help them, now we need our dog to do the opposite really. I'd always consider rescue in other situations

No advice sorry, but I used to be an 'Aunty' to two samoyeds (&3kids) & the dogs were brilliant!! But a fuckton of work. Not a breed I'd choose to own myself, but loved the pair of them!!

I hope your puppy turns out to be good for your family & especially your daughter xx

“The dog were planning is a puppy we're going to train to be a service dog for my daughter who has complex needs.”

Samoyeds aren’t exactly the first breed I’d think of for that tbh.

The dog were planning is a puppy we're going to train to be a service dog for my daughter who has complex needs. The dog will also be a family pet.

There's a reason you don't see any Samoyeds working as service dogs 😬

Why do you want that particular breed? They're not very easy to train and are known for being pretty independent and free-thinking.

I mean this in the nicest way, but what's wrong with a lab or a retriever?

I think if you were honest with a breeder, a good breeder would be very reticent selling you a saymeod pup for training as an assistance dog. I’d be wary of any breeder of this breed who if you said you wanted to train the dog as an assistance dog for a child said their pups would be suitable.
id go to an assistance dog trainer and ask them for a list of breeders they recommend. They’ll see lots of pups coming into training and will know the ones that get it and be able to direct you to the best breeders

They are a totally unsuitable breed for service dogs. If you want a big fluffy dog, a Bernese mountain dog would be a much better fit in terms of temperament

Definitely contact the breed club, they can put you in touch with reputable breeders who must stand by the breed club code of ethics.

I agree with comments regarding the suitability of Samoyed’s as assistance dogs however. Although that may depend on what exactly you mean by assistance dog