We’ve all been there, looking for that special new puppy to add to the family. Sometimes though, we are not sure of what we should be looking for and what questions to ask the breeder. To that affect we have some tips to help you out. Do not be afraid to ask the breeder the HARD questions, and do not forget to ask the “silly” questions either. An honest and ethical breeder will be eager to answer both types of questions to the best of his/ her ability. Also be prepared for the breeder to want to know all about you. It may seem a little bit like The Inquisition, but an honest and ethical breeder truly cares about each and every puppy he/ she breeds and wants to do the very best possible to put those puppies only with responsible and loving dog owners. Good breeders really cringe at one or two sentence inquiries that ask if you have puppies available because they want one, or if one of the first questions (sometimes only question) is how much they cost. Not a good way to get off on the right foot with a breeder, and a very common mistake. This is one of the reasons we use applications, to get the buyer to tell us about themselves. Some still do not take the hint though and think they can request a puppy from us without answering any of our questions.

So here are some tips to get you started……..

1. How many dogs do you have that are in your breeding program, and can I see all of them? Be wary of the breeder that hesitates with this question. Stay away from the breeder that tells you that you can not see ALL of his / her dogs and how they are taken care of and treated. Pay attention to see if the breeder treats the dogs like a valued friend or not, and if the dogs cower when near to the breeder. That is a huge red flag.

2. Ask the breeder how many litters a year he/ she produces, and why? Is this a commercial operation where the dogs are treated like commodities? Does this breeder just breed dogs for profit? Does this breeder only breed because he/ she thought it would be fun? Does this breeder do this because everyone else in the dog club is doing it and wants to be popular too, and wants it for his/ her ego? Does this breeder do it because he/ she truly cares about the breed and maintaining it to the Breed Standard?

3. Ask the breeder why this particular breeding was done? Why this stud and dam? I can not stress to you how important this is. This is a BIG ONE! The breeder’s answer will go a long way to tell you what kind of a breeder you are dealing with. If the breeder is honest and ethical you should get an answer that explains what specific traits the breeder is trying to maintain or improve upon to produce health, temperament, and quality. If you receive a generic answer, be wary.

4. Ask the breeder what the specific inbreeding coefficient is for this breeding? This question will surprise most breeders, and they will have no idea of what the answer is. Some breeders will not even understand what you are talking about. However, educated and well trained breeders who genuinely care about what kind of dogs they are producing will immediately know the answer to this question. This is an important question because it goes to the health and quality of the puppies being produced. The higher the inbreeding coefficient, the higher the risk of severe health problems. Most breedings should produce a fairly low coefficient because we do use line-breeding in dogs to maintain a certain trait or traits while we improve on others. Other breedings produce a coefficient of 0%, which is because of breedings called out-crossing. The breeding of two dogs totally unrelated, which purifies the bloodline. When you look at a pedigree you want to see a maximum of three line-breedings and then an out-cross. When you see a coefficient approaching 20% and higher, be leery, for health reasons.

5. You always want to ask the breeder about contracts and health guarantees before you ever pay any money to the breeder. In this day and age there is NO EXCUSE for a breeder not to already have some type of contract with a health guarantee written. A breeder without one just shows a lack of planning ahead and makes you wonder how much actual forethought was used when doing the breeding. Without any kind of a health guarantee the breeder seems to be saying he/ she will not stand behind the quality of his/ her dogs. Be aware that almost every breeder has a different contract, and just be sure to go over it to make sure it is a contract you can agree with and abide by. Many breeders do not just use the contract to protect and lay out the financial portion of the deal, but to also protect the well being of the dog. Honest and ethical breeders are always concerned for the well being of the puppies/ dogs they sell into other homes. Be leery of the breeder that cares more about making the sale than he/ she cares about the dogs.

6. What is the breeder’s education and training in breeding dogs? Was the breeder mentored by others? Who specifically, and what type of person/ persons are the mentors? Walk away from the “breeder” that says his/ her veterinarian taught him/ her everything needed to know. Training responsible breeders is not the function of a veterinarian. Sometimes a good veterinarian helps a breeder learn a few things here and there though about various health concerns. Most good breeders are trained by other long time good breeders who have proven the quality of their dogs over and over again. Many of these mentors are breeder/ judges. Some of us breeders have even had formal education in animal husbandry and genetics. The person that just thought it would be fun to start breeding and selling dogs is not the kind of person you should ever consider buying a dog from.

7. What is the temperament of the breeder’s dogs? Since most Bulldog breeders do not own the sire of the puppies, it is important to do your best to find out about the sire as well as the dam. Temperament is in fact inherited from the parents. Do not let anyone fool you on this. A dog with a nasty disposition should never be bred, no matter how pretty or physically correct an animal is. Some breeders seem to conveniently be forgetting this. It is very, very important, and do not allow anyone try to make you believe otherwise. If you believe the breeder to actually be honest and ethical, ask if he/ she has ever seen the stud dog in person and what his temperament was like. If you do not fully trust the breeder to be an honest individual you may want to find other sources to ask this question if you are still determined to buy a puppy from this breeder. The best advise though is that if you do not fully trust the breeder, do not buy a puppy from this person.

8. How concerned is the breeder about the puppy getting proper training and socialization? Many breeders start working on this with the pups before they ever get sent to their new homes. Not just human socialization, but dog socialization. Many breeders also do not have children at their disposal to help with the pups, but those that do have children should be allowing the children to help with the socialization. Dogs that are afraid of children are a major liability and you should do your very best to avoid that. A good breeder will also talk to you at length to give you ideas about how to continue with the socialization so the puppy will become a mentally and emotionally stable mature dog. I doubt many people are looking to bring home a dog that is going to be a problem animal, and if the buyer does the breeder should be able to sense that and not sell a puppy to that person.

9. Has the breeder taken the time to educate you on the breed, and how to properly care for the puppy? You may be surprised just how many breeders do NOT do this, and there is no excuse for it. Many so-called breeders do not even know themselves. A bulldog is not the same as a Golden Retriever and has its own unique issues and requirements. A responsible breeder will do everything possible to insure you get started on the right path and that you stay there by continuing to be a resource for you as the dog matures. I meet so many people that have run into problems, and when I ask them what their breeder advised them to do they tell me the breeder will not return their calls or even answer the door. Does anybody really want to get a dog from a breeder like this? They must, because I keep meeting these people and get asked question after question because they have nobody else to turn to.

10. Ask the breeder to go over the Breed Standard and how well his/ her dogs compare to the Standard? What faults and how severe are those faults? Okay, for you pet buyers out there who think this does not pertain to you, it does. This is very important because it all comes down to health, health, health. I’ll say it again, HEALTH. The Breed Standard is representative of what the healthiest specimen of that particular breed SHOULD be. No, there is not a dog on the planet that matches the Standard perfectly. The perfect dog does not exist. You also usually will NOT be able to talk the breeder into selling the best pup to you for a pet, or even a show dog either. If you ask for that one, the breeder may even get a pretty good chuckle out of it. The majority of the breeders out there will always keep the best of the best for his/ her breeding program. That being said, avoid the puppy that looks nothing like the Breed Standard, especially in regards to the prominent breed traits. For Bulldogs the most distinguishing feature is the head. If the head does not look anything like the head in the Standard, you should not get that puppy for health reasons, and will likely have respiratory problems with the dog if you do. A good breeder will be honest with you about what faults his/ her dogs have and then go on to explain how he/ she is planning on improving those traits.

11. Has this breeder ever had any dogs returned for health reasons, and what were those reasons? This is pretty self explanatory. An Honest breeder will tell you. A dishonest breeder will automatically say no. Occasionally even a good breeder will get a dog returned for health, so this is not necessarily a red flag. But if a lot of dogs get returned to the breeder, that certainly is.

12. Does the breeder have any referrals from happy and satisfied puppy buyers? Again, self explanatory. However, if the breeder does have these it can show also that the breeder is willing, and does stay in contact with his/ her puppy buyers.

13. Has the breeder ever had to repossess any of his/ her puppies from buyers, and why? This occasionally happens even to the good breeders. Sometimes a buyer is very good at lying and making the breeder think it would be a good placement for the dog. Then the breeder finds out that he/ she was lied to, or even that the dog is being abused and mistreated. Good breeders will often go the distance to get the dog removed from that buyer for the well being of the dog. Its important to distinguish if the breeder does this for actual cause or from pettiness though. Just because the buyer stops being friends with the breeder is not a good enough reason, and I have known various people that have had this happen to them.

14. Ask the breeder about micro chipping, vaccinations, and de-worming. The micro chipping should be done by the breeder prior to you being able to take your new puppy home. The breeder should also have a way for you to get that micro chip number registered in your name. Don’t let the breeder tell you that he/ she does not want the expense of micro chipping and that you need to cover that expense yourself. The breeder can easily order the micro chips directly from the chip company for minimal cost. The breeder should also have the number documented on the contract as well as the shot record. If the breeder did not write down the location of the micro chip under the dog’s skin, be sure to have him/ her do that before you leave. The puppy should have also been de-wormed at least twice and given current vaccinations. The breeder should provide you with the pup’s actual shot record upon taking your new puppy home with you. Some breeders refuse to micro chip and vaccinate, touting the extra expense of doing so. Just not so. We do it with ours and have to pay out very little to do so. If the breeder can not afford these small cost outputs, the breeder could not afford to do a quality breeding to begin with. If this is the case, ask yourself if this is a “back-yard-breeder” breeding his/ her pets just to try and make a profit?

15. Does this breeder randomly sell and ship puppies to buyers he or she has never met? This is all too common. Does this breeder really care about what happens to the puppy? Is this breeder willing to stay in contact with the buyer and be a resource to the buyer when there is a problem? No. These are examples of breeders that have buyers all over who do not know who to turn to. These are the breeders that do not return phone calls or answer the door. These are the types of breeders that are more interested in making the sale than where the dog ends up. The buyers that get dogs from the breeders are the ones that I always run into that want to tell me their problems and tragedies, and think I can fix them for them. I can not. Sometimes I can offer advice, but nothing more.

16. Has this breeder ever sold any puppies to a dog broker or pet store? Honest and ethical breeders that truly care for their dogs, the breed, and the industry would never do this. No matter what.

There are always more questions that can be asked, but these should give you a very good start. Maybe for some of you these questions, or even their answers, will help you to think of more that you should be asking the breeder. These questions should be proof to you that it IS NOT as simple as just finding anybody with a cute puppy to sell. I know, puppies are ALL adorable and hard to resist, but that is one of the major problems. You need to have the resolve and fortitude to ask the questions of the breeder anyway's, even with a puppy licking you in the face with eyes that say, “I love you and you want to love me just as much and take me home.” If you can interview breeders before the puppies are born it greatly helps. It also tells the breeder you are serious about finding the right breeder and dog, are serious about providing the best possible home, and you are not into impulsively buying the random puppy. The shelters and rescues are full of unloved and unwanted dogs that were bought as adorable pups on impulse. This goes a very long ways into letting the breeder know if he/ she wants to even sell you a puppy. Many good breeders turn away a lot of people that want a puppy. Just because you may have the money to buy one of these dogs, it does not mean you are capable or even willing to give it a good home.