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Striving for Health, Beauty & Versatility in a small package. |
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D’Folly Italian Greyhounds |
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Well it's my belief that a good responsible breeder is one who breeds for the best health and the best conformed puppy that as closely as possible lives up to the Breed Standard. WHY, you might ask do I care about the breeder....I only want a pet to keep, not a show dog? Because your goals are the same as a show breeder. A happy healthy and well socialized dog in your home who looks like the breed he/she is supposed to represent. Well a dog is a dog is a dog....many times you may very well end up with a show quality dog from a good breeder, but for whatever reason the breeder already has what they were looking for in this litter or only wishes to keep one dog or 2 dogs for showing. Many breeders do not sell SHOW puppies as they don't want their bloodlines out there being used without their control...Can you blame them? Good breeders spend years trying to achieve the best conformation and health in their animals and bloodlines. Why would they want their name out there being used for anyone else's next new litter without their direction and support and permission? Many good breeders neuter and sell their puppies as pets as the MOST important thing is to place a dog where it will live it's life in happiness and health. The price of a pet from most reputable breeders happens to be far less than a petstore or puppymill puppy who tout their dogs as Champion Sired puppy with only one Champion in the pedigree instead of the 40 Champions in a well bred litter. For more information on where to NEVER buy a dog, please visit the link: OR http://www.prisonersofgreed.org/
These will show you where dogs in petstores really come from and how they get there. Please know that there are NO PETSTORES doing anything different in this country and only in our country is the Puppymill industry allowed to proliferate LEGALLY.
A good breeder has nothing whatsoever to do with a website, and will always offer healthy well socialized puppies to the pet buyer at the appropriate age for achieving that. A GOOD breeder does NOT breed just for the reason of having puppies, or for showing little Johnny or Amy what the miracle of life is about, or MOST IMPORTANTLY, does not breed for money. In fact if you do this correctly, with proper health testing and pedigree matching, this is a very large money losing proposition I'm afraid, as any truly responsible breeder can show you. The only breeders who MAKE money are breeders who breed for strictly commercial breeding and breed a ton of litters per year, usually more than one breed, and do not care one hoot for health or pedigree on their dogs. These types of breeders offer a selection of puppies most of the year, take VISA/MC and ship to anyone with a credit card. They care not what happens to the pups after that. A good breeder usually shows their puppies, also sells what they are not going to keep from their litters usually as pets to great homes. They will REQUIRE that you spay or neuter the puppy if they have not already done so for you. They REQUIRE that for whatever reason you cannot keep your dog during it's life (health/money/divorce/change in life), that this dog is returned to them for a proper home, or to be properly re-homed to a new loving owner with their approval. In other words, a Responsible breeder takes responsibility for that puppy for it's entire life. It should be the new owner's responsibility to care for/provide good food and health care and a happy, warm and loving home. A good breeder has a duty to all souls they bring to this earth for their entire lives, meaning finding them the best happy and healthy home and family to live with and this is not such an easy task. To that end a good breeder health tests all their dogs for at least the most important breed appropriate heritable diseases and problems. And as many of these do not show up in the dogs early in life, this testing should begin by age 2 and continue on throughout their lives at least with some of the issues. A good breeder knows who/what/where in their bloodlines or any bloodlines that they breed to these problems exist and makes the best most informed determination whether or not to breed any litter. Not absolutely everything can be prevented and may not always be inherited, but many are and do pop up. In this breed health issues that can be but is not limited to: PRA (a disease of the eyes causing eventual blindness), Cataracts, Luxating patellas (a problem with the rear leg/knee of the dog causing popping out of the joint)... Hips in some cases can be a problem, but not in all lines Liver issues have shown up occasionally in the breed Canine Epilepsy Color Dilute Alopecia (a fur loss problem that doesn't cause any other effects and shows up in blue dogs), Auto immune related diseases such as Thyroid, IMHA, GME may or may not be hereditary, but are important to know of. This information is good to be equipped with so you can ask all the proper questions of a prospective breeder as to what they bred this litter for. What were the pros and possible cons they were hoping for or not for in this litter. Here are some thoughts on what is and what is NOT a good way to look for a good breeder: I think the internet is a wonderful place to learn and see a lot of information, some of it good, some of it bad, but all of it needs to be confirmed, preferably in person. While websites are fun and can be informative IMO this is no way to look for a breeder. It may be the way to find many breeders, but not to learn what and who they really are. Sometimes you can get a sense of a person by their website, and be severely handicapped by their lies and innuendo. Sometimes your first intuition is correct and they are in fact wonderful as they seem. Sometimes you find them out as fakes really fast. I guess what I'm really saying is, verify your feelings and information after you search the internet, and do it by not just calling their references, but talking to people who have a name in the breed, and yes if that means calling or e-mailing Lilian (sorry my friend), then do so to help verify who and what you are working with. I think the best way to find a strong breeder is to go to some shows, ask a whole lot of people about themselves and their dogs and listen to what they have to say....then talk to more people, and see what they have to say about who you've already talked to....soon it does usually become clearer who and what you are dealing with....then use that information and compare it to what you see on IGCA's site and if possible, compare it some more. Look for the hidden....ask about different breeds with each person.... Soon you will determine those who breed multiple breeds/multiple litters per year and have more questions to ask. Among the questions to ask should be: Are you a member of the National Breed Club or local Kennel Clubs? Have you ever been sanctioned/disciplined/suspended from a Breed Club or Kennel Club? Also you may very well determine a particular type of dog you prefer. I can think of nothing nicer for a breeder to hear and talk about with a potential puppy buyer (whether for pet or show), then what they've learned and what their own opinion is forming out to be. This shows a true interest, be it in a pet with specific personality traits, or a future show person. A true interest and care for the breed is what ALL good responsible breeders most love to see when vetting a new potential buyer...those are the buyers who will do their best to do it right, keep the dog safe and enjoy what dog they end up with. I think finding a website and available pups, and e-mailing the seller is about the worst way to get into trouble and also the least likely way to get yourself a good healthy puppy. Remember ALL puppies are adorable and there are always going to be puppies. But puppies grow up, and most health issues show up later on in their lives once they are your family member. These are my thoughts from a seller's perspective and from discussions with other breeders. Written by Vikki Landes, updated 2010
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How to locate a good breeder and what IS a good breeder? |
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ANY and ALL Photos or Content on this page and all subsequent pages is Copyrighted for my own use. ANYONE found to be using either will be prosecuted to the FULL extent of the Law. |
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A local playdate group |
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An online iggy forum |
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A ‘by invitation’ iggy forum |
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A wonderful article by Jan Elliott |
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Our National Breed Club |
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Northern CA IG Club |
