Sean and I became aunt and uncle again last weekend. His brother named the baby Spencer. This created a discussion about names. I should perhaps explain the name of my blog. Marmalade is the name of our hopefully future dog. Yes, we are like those people that pick out the colour of a new car before choosing the car. I thought of the name Marmalade (said with a british accent, of course), and "Lady" for short. We didn't come up with anything we liked better so that's where we're at.
I mentioned in my previous post that I would write the questions I asked breeders. I have read a total of 7 books which I used to compile the list (along with internet research). I saved certain questions to ask in person, in order to gauge the breeders body language. Here are the ones I emailed:
1) How many people handle the puppies daily? How many men, strangers and children? this questions is all about socialization. From my reading, early socialization, even before you get the puppy, is important, particularly with some breeds
2) Where do you keep the litter? What is the extent of the puppies exposure to domestic noise (specifically loud noises, people screaming, children crying, television, radio, etc)? Ideally, you want the puppies around people going about their daily routines, i.e. dishwashers, vacuums, pots and pans, kids playing, guys yelling at the tv
3) Do you have any other animals in the house? this questions was specific to us, because we have cats. We would prefer a dog that has at least been exposed to cats
4) Why do you breed cavaliers?
5) How do you determine which cavaliers to breed? With Cavaliers, I hoped most breeders were considering health. I didn't really care much about conformation.
6) What health testing is performed on the parents? Have you ever produced any litters of with health defects? according to my reading, most breeders that have been doing it awhile, will have produced a puppy with a health defect. I haven't found this to be entirely true in all cases
7) Do you guarantee your puppies? If so, for what and for how long? What is the guarantee? With cavaliers, a few breeders excluded SM and MVD from their guarantee. We were also concerned that we would get a puppy, and then it got sick, but it could be "cured". Would we really want to give up that puppy? trade it in? the minute we pick out a puppy, she will be part of our family. Find out (in writing) what the guarantee is and be sure you are okay with it
8) Do you have references from owners of your puppies? Do you keep in touch with owners of your puppies after the sale? okay so I wasn't going to actually get in touch with any references (unless I felt I needed to for some reason) but I wanted to know they had some. The books say you should contact them. I haven't. And we wanted our breeder to be available to us after the purchase, in case we needed advice on something
9) How long have you been breeding dogs/ how long have you been involved with the breed? Sometimes breeders were handlers before they started breeding. A blog I read, is written by someone who is actively involved in the health initiatives for cavaliers. She isn't a breeder yet, but would someday like to be. Because of that, I would line up to be one of the first to have a puppy of hers.
10) Do you temperament test the litter? not really specific to cavaliers, who generally have the same temperments, but Sarah Hodgson describes testing you can do yourself to determine which puppy is timid, outgoing, etc. A breeder I talked to (not sure if she would want me to mention her or not, she is fantastic though), did a "puppy puzzle" on her recent litter. It's the same thing. Be careful though, because there are some Dog professionals that advocate a very aggressive for of temperment testing, like jumping out to scare the puppy. My personal belief is that it is not necessary to scare the puppy.
11) How often do you breed? How many times do you breed each female? Most breeders have one or two litters a year and each female shouldn't be breed too many times (varies according to breed but if the breeder says 10 times, run away)
12) Is there a non-breeding contract?
13) Are the parents registered with the CKC? Will the puppies be registered? in Canada, it is against the law to sell a "purebred" dog without papers, but that doesn't mean people adhere to that. You make the choice of how important that is for you. In the case of cavaliers, given their health problems, it was very important to us.
14) Do you belong to any dog or breed specific clubs? Breed specific was a bit more important with Cavaliers for myself, but I also had breeders involved with therapy dog programs and other special needs clubs.
15) Do you pick the puppy or do I? This is just preference. I didn't really care. Some argue that the breeder should pick since they know the personalities better. I would like some input but I'm not stuck on this issue
16) At what age do the puppies go home? And why that age? 8 weeks should be the earliest, but I wanted the breeder to explain why. I got answers from 8 weeks to 12 weeks. Different books give you different theories. The (reputable) breeders know better than I do so I trust their judgement.
17) Do you require a deposit? Is it non-refundable? If so, why? Again, different theories. I tended to have more trust in the breeders that didn't require them because they said they couldn't make guarantees on the outcome of a litter. If they wanted a deposit AFTER we chose a puppy, than that's a different story
18) What are the waiting list procedures (if any)? Some people have waiting lists, others do not. Some required a deposit to be put on a list. This was not my preference. We put ourselves on several "interested" lists, because there is no guarantee for us that any litter will have the gender or colour we want
19) Do you have any particular books/websites you would recommend I read or places/things to do to help us prepare for a puppy? This was really about my own need to be ridiculously prepared for this dog
20) Finally, what is the cost for a puppy? What is included in the cost? Some of my reading suggests it is taboo to ask about the price, but I made it my last question because it is something to consider. Of the breeders I received answers from, only two were different. One was slightly higher and the other was CONSIDERABLY lower, so low that it made me suspicious.
Please note, I don't pretend to be an expert. I made my choices based on the research I did. Do your own, you decide for yourself.
Next post: some of my favourite answers (both for good and bad reasons) to the questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment