Q: breeder or shelter?

Answered by Bordterr on 5/7/2005, 3:57 pm

A: breeder or shelter?

> i think that both are good and that breeders do treat their
> dogs very well and some people think of breeders as
> puppymills and truthfully they aren't all puppymills! i got
> my dog from a breeder, i am posting this to see if somebody
> could help me pick which one to get my dog from (purebred)
>
> i am not against shelters but i am just wondering if i
> should get my puppy from a breeder
>

...........................

This is almost the ideal time of year to get a puppy from a shelter... if you want a Labrador Retriever, a German Shepherd Dog, or any of many breeds, and an infinite number of mixes. I do purebred rescue for my breed, and so look at the dogs and puppies available from many pounds, shelters and other rescue groups on the web, and get notices about many more... and they're all running over at the brim with puppies and are begging for good homes.

Unless you are planning to have a show dog, you can find wonderful puppies and adolescent dogs.. and adults in the animal welfare system.
But in any one city or town, you can't find every breed every day, and some breeds simply don't show up in the welfare system in a given city very often. So if you are looking for a Chinese Crested, good luck, but if you want a Lab, a German Shepherd, Rottweiler, Pit Bull, or other common breed, you will find it simple. And there are mixed breeds by the carload.

There are no health guarantees in regard to hip dysplasia or eye problems, allergies, etc., when you get a puppy from the welfare system. Those only come from a responsible breeder who tests the breeding stock... not from those who advertise in newspapers and shoppers.

If you are looking for a specific breed, know what a good quality puppy should look like, and use that to help you pick out a puppy at the shelter or pound. A breed rescue group will be very knowledgeable about the breed and be able to help you more with selection. They get their dogs from shelters and pounds and then evaluated them for current health, do more in the way of health care and prevention than shelters and pounds can afford to do. Many pounds, shelters and rescues participate in Petfinders insurance, which covers the dog for basics for the first month in it's new home.

To find the shelters, pounds and purebred rescue groups in your area, you can go to www.petfinder.com and type in the breed you are interested in and your zip code, and you can not only find out who has what you might want, but you can usually see photos!

Finding responsible breeders takes more effort. If you are looking for a specific AKC breed, there is a breeder referal list at the AKC web site... but you still need to interview the breeder to assure that the puppies are house-raised, the parents are health tested (know the problems common to the breed and ask specific questions), and assure that the parents have earned championship titles, or even performance titles such as Field Trail Championships, if you are interested in one of the sporting breeds. Any parent who has a Championship PLUS a hunting/herding/lure coursing/earthdog title, obedience title, agility title, or tracking title is a definite winner. A responsible breeder is proud of health clearances for hip, elbows, patellas (depending on breed), eye clearances, and any disorder that we now have a genetic type test for, and will discuss these for as many generations back as they have records for... they won't say, "I don't have any/that problem in my line." These clearances are doubly important if you think you might like to do obedience and agility or any breed work, like hunting.

So, do your homework on what you want, start at your local animal welfare and animal control resources, and go on from there.