GOOD OPTIONS

Reputable Breeders

Reputable breeders are the ones who get the most flack from the misinformed people of the dog world. Because all of the other types of breeders that create problems in the dog world, they are all lumped into one group. What most people do not realize is that without the reputable breeders, dogs will eventually cease to exist due to health and temperment issues. In the wild, natural selection prevents this from happening (survival of the fittest), but in the case of pets, people prevent nature from taking its course, due to compassion and medical advances).  Since natural selection cannot be practiced here, that is a breeder's job - to make sure the healthiest dogs are the ones that continue lines, while the ones with bad traits (which can still be great pets) are spayed/neutered and taken out of the breeding program by means of selling to a pet only home.

There are a few differing opinions on what makes a reputable breeder, though everyone can agree there are a few main defining traits. The breeder will always have extensive knowledge of the breed, the history, the training requirements, the grooming requirements, and the common problems associated with the breed. If a couch potato wants to adopt a Husky, the breeder will likely turn them away. If someone is looking for a jogging partner, a Bulldog breeder will likely turn them away. A reputable breeder will gladly offer any advice during the life of the puppy, as they care about the puppy past the purchase date. Health tests are a big one (here is an in depth study showing the short and long term benefits of supporting breeders who health test), and personally what i find to be the most important. There should always be health tests, as you cannot determine if the sire and dam will produce puppies with long healthy lives without them, despite the sire and dam appearing perfectly healthy.

The other aspect everyone can agree on is how the breeder raises and places the puppies. The breeder will not let the puppies leave until a minimum of 8 weeks old, many preferring up to 16 weeks to be in control of the vaccine schedules and fear periods to assure a healthy, well adjusted puppy. While puppies stop needing milk around 4 weeks old, they need the interaction from their littermates still. Without it, the dogs tend to be harder to train in many aspects (ex: they may have a biting problems, because they didn't learn bite inhibition from their littermates or they may not "speak dog" as well and have issues communicating with others because of it). In that 8+ weeks, the breeder will work to socialize the puppies to accept human touch, the grooming process and everyday things the puppies may be uncomfortable with. This makes training the puppy easier for the buyer. The breeder will always screen the buyers to make sure the puppies only go to good, lifelong homes. They will carry a guarantee to take the puppy back at any stage in its life to avoid them being sent to the pound or an undesirable home. It is common to microchip the dogs with themselves as the secondary contact, so if the dog does end up in a pound, they are notified, and take immediate action. This is why reputable breeders do not contribute to the overpopulation problem. Their puppies always have an above-standard home and are never in a shelter for longer than it takes for them to take action.

​If you do go this route, the best method to select a puppy is by following this guideline. A reputable breeder will always have the results of this (or something similar, like Avidog) available.  

Shelters & Rescue Groups

The dogs that end up in the care of shelters or rescue groups are usually the result of puppy mills or backyard breeders. Like I mentioned earlier, ALL dogs are deserving of love, even the ones that are irresponsibly bred. The thing is you just have to wait until you can support the right program. The difference is your money is not encouraging the bad breeders to continue, but going towards an organization that will just use the money to help more animals. 

Shelters take in strays, seized, and surrendered dogs. It is estimated that 25% of their dogs are purebred even. The common misconception is that shelter dogs all have baggage. While some may be surrendered because of behavior issues, very likely it was because its owner didn't know how to handle it. Making the dog a suitable pet may just require an owner who is more experienced. The most common reason for surrender is the owner moving and not being able to take the dog. Maybe the owners got a new dog and it didn't get along with their existing dog - it may get along with other dogs perfect. Maybe an owner surrendered a dog for being child aggressive - maybe the child was actually harassing the dog.

Rescue groups may or may not be breed specific. They go into shelters and adopt out their type of dog. They bring the dog to their shelter where all dogs are the same type. This is a great option for people who want a purebred but don't want to pay the expensive prices of a purebred. Adopting from a rescue group allows you to have your dream dog for a small fee, but not having to support irresponsible breeders in the process.

If you do go this route, the best method to select a puppy is by following this guideline for adults. This guideline is best for puppies, but unfortunately, it may not be as accessible with this choice.

BAD OPTIONS

Puppy Mills & Pet Stores

Dogs confined to a dirty cage, breeding until they are barren, never feeling the love of a human, but only the love of their endless litters of puppies. What a life, eh? Puppy mills are the big breeders that animal rights activists make everyone hate. Rightfully so, but too many people assume every breeder is a puppy mill. That is far from the truth, and where many misconceptions on dog breeding come in. Puppy mills can, without a doubt, fit that description. On the other hand, many of the puppy mills can be clean, friendly places. That does not make them better by much though. 

Puppy mills breed dogs, pedigreed or not. Know that papers do NOT mean quality breeding, just simply, that the sire and dam were the same breed of dog. Dogs are known to have a myriad of genetic health problems (bone problems, vision and hearing problems, neurological problems, heart problems, etc). Two seemingly healthy dogs can be bred together, but when two carriers of the problem are bred together, their puppies are very likely to develop those issues, meaning a shorter life span, drained wallet, and a broken heart. There are health tests available so breeders know if the sire and dam are carriers, so they can avoid bad pairings. Puppy mills will not pay for these tests. They take away from their profits, and many inexperienced puppy buyers do not realize the importance of health tests, and will pay the hefty price of a purebred puppy anyways. 

Even if you aren't buying directly from a puppy mill, there are other ways you could be unknowingly supporting them. Pet stores get their puppies from puppy mills (in some circumstances, they may hold adoptions from a rescue or shelter - that is a different story and completely acceptable). Online websites where you just pay for a puppy and they send it over is essentially the same thing. No reputable breeder would send their precious puppies to a store where they will never be able to meet the buyers to determine if they are a good home for it. Puppy mills do not care. Good homes and bad homes have equally spendable money. If you see a website that offers a direct way to buy a puppy online, they are a puppy mill. Again, they have no way to meet you first. If they don't care about the life of the puppy, they only care about the money. Don't mix this up with reputable breeders displaying their program on a website - publicity is fine, but a good breeder will not have a Paypal button on their website.

Typical red flags to identify a puppy mill include selling puppies younger than 8 weeks old, and not being able to show proof of health tests on the sire and dam. Many will not let you see their facilities meet the dam (it is common for breeders advancing their program to use an outside stud, so don't always expect the stud to be on site). They may specialize in multiple breeds, though not a rule (a reputable breeder rarely specializes in more than one breed). They always have puppies available or only have short wait times because of overbreeding their bitches or having so many that there are always puppies. They will sell a puppy to anyone who has money. That includes a payment option on their website, or handing you a puppy with little to no questions asked.

If you do go this route, the best method to select a puppy is by following this guideline. Unfortunately, it may not be as accessible with this choice.

Backyard Breeders

Backyard breeders (BYB) are the most common type of breeder. Note that the term backyard breeder does not refer to the location a breeding takes place, but refers to an inexperienced person breeding dogs for the wrong reason. A quick search of "puppies" on Craigslist will show you how common they are. BYB can have purebreds or mixed breeds, papers or no papers, free or full-priced. There are many varieties of BYB, but all have a few things in common. They generally care about their dog, they usually are not educated on breeding and don't realize they are in the wrong, and they have limited knowledge of their breed of choice. They will have a box of puppies outside of Wal-Mart, list their dogs in newspapers, list them on "Online Yard Sale" type Facebook groups or Craigslist - if poor placement of an ad is the only red flag of a breeder though, keep in mind some reputable breeders are now more commonly  posting ads in such places as an attempt to educate potential buyers on the difference.

A BYB may be your friend who had an "oops litter", or your neighbor who wants just one litter, your co-worker who wants to show her kids the miracle of life, or your parents who just want their dog to experience motherhood before she gets spayed. While they are better than a puppy mill by a long shot, these people should still NOT get your money. Their lack of education is what contributes to the overpopulation of dogs. By either spaying/neutering their pets, being responsible while they are in heat, or educating themselves on how to breed responsibly, they could have prevented the litter. If you don't want to pay reputable breeder prices, go to a breed specific rescue. Make sure your money supports the right programs and doesn't encourage the wrong programs to continue.

In the case of mixed breeds, they are just creating more dogs with questionable backgrounds and not enough homes to accommodate them. In the case of purebreds, they are encouraging faults in the breed. Good breeders work hard to avoid health issues, temperament issues, and bad conformation. Unfortunately, bad breeders are more common than good breeders, produce more puppies, charge less money, are less discriminative of who adopts their puppies, and have shorter waiting periods. That makes them appealing to many who do not understand the problems they cause.  In short, while their intentions may be good, they are extremely detrimental to the entire species of dogs. If you buy a puppy from a BYB, they will realize it is easy money (because without research and health tests, or course it is - but at what price?), and continue to do it.

​If you do go this route, the best method to select a puppy is by following this guideline. Unfortunately, it may not be as accessible with this choice.