Questions to ask a breeder at FIRST CONTACT

Diana · Last edited by Diana on Sat Sep 05, 2009 9:17 am; edited 2 times in total

...be that contact in the street, by email or telephone.... this will save so much heartache later when the answer is negative to any of them but you are staring at a bunch of cute pups which you REALLY want to buy. So many times we hear people saying they KNOW they shouldn't be buying, but they got there, and the pups looked basically healthy, and the breeder seemed nice....and so.... they went for it knowing they should be walking away...

Lets lay out the first contact BASIC Questions so you can save that heartache, possible wasted desposits and huge embarassment:

Absolutely essential:
1) Are BOTH parents hip scored? What are the scores for each?
2) Do they BOTH hold current (dated in the last 12 months) CLEAR eye certificates under the BVA/KC eye testing scheme?
3) Does the breeder own mum and can she be seen?
4) Have the puppies been Kennel Club registered?
5) Can you see copies of not just mum but dads hip score result sheet and eye certificate?
6) Were the puppies wormed at 2, 4 and 6 weeks of age (and 8 weeks if that is relevent age wise) or similar on a vet bought wormer (not pet shop bought)?
7) Does the breeder give you a diet sheet, copies of the documents for the sire and dam and a basic puppy pack when yu pick your puppy up?
8 ) Were the puppies born and raised in the house to a certain age OR well socialised if raised outside, with plenty of human contact and access to sounds and smells of a day to day household?

Desireable:
9) Have mum and dad been elbow scored? What is the result? can you see the certificates?
10) Have mum and dad been Optigen tested? can you see the certificate?
11) Are they fed on an easy to obtain food?
12) Do they fall between about £550 and £700 in price? (If not you have to ask yourself what is missing as they are too cheap or WHY they are overcharging - adjust that to where you live in the country - London may be MORE expensive, Scotland may be cheaper!).
13) Will the registration documents be ready to take when you leave with your puppy? Is that registry The Kennel Club and no other (there are a few shame registries around trying to fool buyers these days into thinking they are buying a KC registered puppy and aren't)

I can explain any questions if you like but if you ASK at least the first 8 questions, even in pleasant conversation, not necessarily firing them like a firing squad, you will save yourself a lot of trouble later. They are the basic essentials.... and will be found in many hundreds of litters a year!

The actual SCORE you would be looking for for a positive hip score result is between 0 and lets say, 20.... OR if one parents is slightly higher than a total of 20, then the other should be a fair bit lower.... even if they are hip scored, if BOTH parents are over or well over 20 walk away just as if they hadn't been scored.

Elbows, the only result you would really accept would be a total of zero or one for each parent IF scored.

Di

Diana · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:47 am Post subject:

Any chance of a sticky on this in this section and maybe the Puppy Stuff section? I know, I know, I'm bold as brass Wink

Di

Fay · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:58 am Post subject:

No problem, Di Very Happy

_Jules_ · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:59 am Post subject:

Great idea Di. Wink

It is all too easy to think you know what you are going to ask but as soon as the breeder starts chatting, you forget to ask something along the way.

This list will be a great help, as folk can copy it out or print it off and tick questions off as they go along. Wink

_Nikki_ · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:26 am Post subject:

Fantastic advice from Di - definitely make this a sticky!

Its very easy to go along and see a litter and fall all in love with a pup but you could be in for alot of heartache later on. Its so worth looking into the health checks and checking out mum and sire of pups and even the grandparents.

We're all here to give lots of advice, so do come back to us with any questions.

Diana · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:40 am Post subject:

Thank you! It just such a difficult thing when someone comes on asking AFTER (as so often happens) they have laid a deposit or fallen in love with a particular puppy or litter, rather than BEFORE....

Course, like recently, we all get so exasperated to give them the advice and they not take it and walk away but then the heart can be stronger than the head. Its catching them BEFORE they visit the litter which is the key - hence posting it in two places instead of just one for browsers...

Its not hard to say 'thank you' and put the phone down at FIRST contact or not reply to an email, its harder to ring a breeder you have laid a deposit with or sat with for hours saying how gorgeous their puppies are to say 'no thanks actually now i see what is relevent for happy healthy puppies!'

Di

Diana · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:47 am Post subject:

Any chance, fay of it being in the Breeding section where I wrote it too? As a sticky just incase some puppy buyers look in there - as WELL as here - I know I'm greedy.... just want to catch as many as poss....

Wink

Di

_Nikki_ · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:00 am Post subject:

Karen_theArtist · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:31 am Post subject:

Good post Di.

I remember writing down the essential questions when I first starting making phone enquiries (after an initial email) because I'm terrible at forgetting things I need to ask and knew I would miss out an essential something Laughing

I was lucky that the breeders I spoke to happily told me the information I needed to know, usually before I'd even had to ask the question.

babu · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 11:29 pm Post subject: ADVICE PLEASE

Hi - we have put our name down for a puppy and paid a deposit having asked about hip scores - both sire and dam's scores are reportedly good. The sire has had an eye check but not the dam apparently I have asked to see the paperwork before we pay the balance. If the dam hasn't been eye tested should we avoid buying from the breeder?