Choosing a Puppy
When making the exciting decision of taking on a new puppy there are lots of things to be considered both for yours and the puppy’s benefit.
It is important to consider the following points:
- Why do you want a dog?
- What do you expect from a dog?
- What amount of walking will you want to do with your dog?
- What space do you have at home and in the garden?
- Do you want a working dog with high energy levels that will want exercise, training and work all the time?
- Is it important for children to be involved in the handling of the dog?
- Do you want a dog that requires lots of coat maintenance and grooming?
- What breeds of dogs are you drawn to, and are they right for you?
- Does the dog need to live with other animals?
- Are colour, look, shape and size important?
From considering all the points and thinking about dogs varying needs a shortlist can be formed of maybe 3 different breeds of dog. Once you have your choices the next thing to do would be to start researching them using the library and internet for information on characters, temperament, breed purpose and colours.
It is always very valuable to meet the breeds, talk to owners and breeders of your choices, attend dog shows, talk to people about what its like to own the breed.
Something Little Orchard offers is coming along to classes to meet various breeds and speaking to owners before you make the final decision. Trainers are on hand at the end of the lesson if you have any questions.
So once you have picked the breed its time to source the best place to buy a dog from:
You must consider that there are many people making money out of breeding dogs and that the dog’s health and temperament have to be the most important things to be achieved from breeding!
A good place to start is asking the kennel club for a list of registered breeders in your area and then researching them. You should be able to phone and speak with them, look at their websites or research some of their dogs on the internet.
I advise that you select 2 options and visit them both, ideally they should be very flexible about when you want to go, showing they have nothing to hide and are happy to show off their dogs!
So once you are heading to see the puppies or meet the breeder you should stay focused and remember that you should not come away with a puppy today, head must rule emotion! Its useful to have a list of questions to ask the breeder and a checklist to carry out an assessment of the puppies
Initial Puppy Assessment
Can you greet and handle the mother – She should be happy to see you without being nervous so you should see no lowered body language, growling or backing away from your approach as this will tell you what she may have taught the puppies.
She should also not be so overexcited that she knocks you over as this may lead to puppies learning to be very boisterous.
When looking at where the puppies are kept:
- They should be clean and free from any urine or faeces
- They should be kept fairly warm but they should not feel hot to touch. Its not good if they are all cuddled up tightly to keep warm, neither is it good if they are all spread out to cool down.
- An ideal puppy greeting would be in they trot up to see you but are polite when they interact, they should not push everyone out of the way and insist on all the attention as you don’t want the pushiest puppy in the gang. You also don’t want the puppy that hides at the back and is scared of people and has not learnt that they are good things.
- You should take to the puppy and smooth it, see if you can handle its body and pick it up. The puppy should enjoy the attention, it may wriggle and play but you should not have undue avoidance or any aggression or nervousness.
- Watch the puppies interact with each other and their mum, they should be happy, playful and exploring their environment and you. They should not be so overexcited to the point of growling and biting. The mother should be firm but kind and fair during the interaction if she needs to keep control its important she does so but only with as much force as needed.
- A healthy puppy will have bright eyes with a clean, shiny coat with no scurf or parasites. It should not have a pot belly as this can indicate worms. A puppy should not smell or have any discharges from eyes, ears or genital areas and should walk freely and comfortably.
Questions to ask the breeder:
- Is it best to have 2 together? If the answer is yes then RUN as it’s the worst advice anyone can ever give you and is usually just so they make double the money. Respectable breeders would always advise you that one puppy needs to be raised with boundaries, socialisation under your guidance and training before you should add another dog for company or because you want two dogs. The best time to do this is after maturity around 2 years of age.
- Ask the breeder to tell you about the breed, where does the breed originate from and what was it bred for, what characters do they have, do they get any illnesses and why do they love the breed.
- How often do you have a litter of puppies should be answered with every few years from the same female and numbers they have will tell you whether its fun and for the good of the breed or whether it is mainly for financial gain.
- What health tests have the parents had, the answer to this should be gained by you before hand as testing various for different breeds and the kennel club can supply this information. Some of the more common tests required are hips, elbows and eyes.
- How many dogs do you own and where do they all live. This will give you an idea of what the set up and reason for breeding is and how well the dogs behave is something to also consider.
- What vaccinations, flea and worm treatment has been given/do you advise. Veterinary advice is that vaccinations are given at 8 and 10 weeks, flea treatment is as needed by your vet and breeder until the age of 7/8 weeks when treatment from your vet can be purchased and administered each month. Wormer should be every 2-3 weeks until the age of 8 weeks and then once a month until at least 6 months of age. Its important that you have all the information to give to your vet so they know what medications have been given and there is no chance of overdose or using conflicting treatments.
- What do you recommend I feed the puppy? This should be a balanced, premium complete puppy food appropriate for its size to ensure that the calcium and protein levels are correct for bone development. Many years ago we would feed our dog’s scraps and raw food and we are now lucky enough to have many food companies researching and making food with exact nutrient requirements in saving us the hassle of weighing out vitamins and supplements to add to meals.
- If I have any queries about my puppy can you advise me? Of course they should be pleased to offer you ongoing advice and support and some breeders ask for a contract to be signed which is a responsible thing to do and will also offer to have the puppy back if you can no longer cope at any point in the future. They should also admit they don’t know everything about dogs and refer you to your veterinary surgeon for any medical advice.
