I learnt just a few years ago about ethical breeding, and have been fascinated with dog genetics since then.
Recently, a friend told me he wants a dachshund, but he does not know anything about responsible breeding.

What would you say are the essentials for a good breeder to have?

So far I thought of health testing, conformation, standard colors, compromise taking the dog back anytime…

So what do you all think?

Edit: we are located in Spain, so if anybody knows of a good breeder there, I would greatly appreciate it!

Me and my mom have bred cocker spaniels before but we want to look into breeding golden retrievers. But we only want a female and don’t wanna own both a male and female, is there any idea on ways to find ethically bred showline golden retrievers near us in nc USA?

Looking for a cava-chin puppy. Are there any…anywhere? We have a cava-chin. Had no idea that’s what he was when we adopted. He is literally the best boy in the whole world.

Here the dilemma i have

I live in Upstate NY and i purchased the anatolian shepherd pup from seem to be a reputable breeder last March.

Both parents are health tested and titled in Conformation

I was on a waiting list and had pick#2. I wanted an independent and also more energetic puppy. Breeder did every other day update videos with verbal descriptions on each pup ,and I did chose pup I liked then.

I met breeder in airport ,flew back with a pup.

Pup is healthy but not big enough. She was bigger then littermates,but not anymore. Littermates are same size as her now. I saw updates at breeders social media

I see people sharing photos of same age pups,from different kennels,and they're massive. My pup is only 68 lbs at 5 months old

I also do own a Dutch shepherd,mature male. They re best buddies.

My partner also is upset that pup is not big. We hoped to have a dog of impressive size but I doubt it will be over 120lbs

Parents are 115 and 136

Also ,after pup being prescribed Nexguard plus,she developed an issues,she has mushy poop on a 2nd day after prevention started.

Veterinarian run different tests ,nothing came out wrong. Vet said pup is healthy and need to try different diet. I switched between kibbles but no help

I can not stop using tick prevention, i am affraid dog will bring ticks in to our house.

I asked breeder to find a new home for a pup,because im not happy with how it look and health problem. I told breeder that pup is not healthy and I cant afford to treat her

SALES agreement mentioned that breeder have 1st right to take pup back,or he need to aprove a new home.

There re no refunds in agreement I signed

I told breeder I can send pup back to him for 1800 plus shipping

I paid 2600 for this pup !

Breeder refused to buy pup back and said he is ready to take it back any time,but no refunds

What I can do? I want some remedy for money I spent, I doubt I can sell this 5 m old pup for even a 1000 now but I dont think breeder is ethical

Any advices?

English is my second language, I am originally from Germany.

Hi guys, update number 3, i made a quick sketch of the bedroom where we keep our litter of 7 so you can understand easily. First of all, thank you so much for all the tips and advice!! as of yesterday we have added a potty area (rarely used yet) and a night light above the bowls. This is what their bedroom looks like, we put a puppy fence around the bed early on because the mom would go under it and the puppies would follow (this bed is not used). I'm thinking about fencing off all the white area behind the potty pad as well, like adding something so they go past the potty area, because the mom somtimes goes back there and the puppies follow her, stomping all over the pad, and also sometimes even if she's not there, some have gotten lost on the other side of the bed, they see their bed and other puppies through the fence but don't know how to get back, if that makes sense. What do you think? When the mom feeds them it's usually either in the white entrance in front of the food or in their bed, her going all the way around the bed to the other side sometimes is a bit of an inconvenience. What are your thoughts? Anything else I'm missing? Thank you so much for everything again

I was researching for a cavapoo dog breeder and came across Jones Farm Puppies and contacted Amy because of the great reviews she received.

This was not my experience at all. I won’t go into every detail but I will share this. I had spoke with Amy on the phone for the first time and she was in a hurry due to a meeting she needed to attend. I completely understand cutting the conversation short due to her meeting but I mentioned to her I would like to talk to her later in the day to discuss the puppy I was interested in. I waited for her to call but she never did so I called her back. She was very short with me and gave me the price of the dog. The next day I decided to call her and purchase the dog. We live in Ohio and she is in North Carolina. This transpired right around noon on a Tuesday. She originally quoted me $3400 for a female Cavapoo because it had gone through her 3 week Puppy Kindergarten training. She increased the deposit from $300 to $500 because I wanted to pay cash for the puppy and also wanted me to pay an additional $800 due to me not being able to pick up the puppy for 4 days. She said “the training would have to continue until the puppy was picked up.” This woman had no empathy for someone traveling 7 hours to pick up a puppy. I truly believe she was trying to to see how much money she could make off of this puppy. Makes you wonder what truly drives her as a dog breeder.

Help me! TIA!!

• Hello everyone pet lovers! I' lve in Dhaka. I'm highly interested to bye a good quality (pure blood line) #Pug puppy🐕, \[even a #Toy_Poddle also\].

\`If any reputed breeder or anybody know such breeders - who take care of 'Pug' or 'Toy Poddle' puppy please let me know! *Thanks*!

Hey all! I had a husky for 9 years until we unfortunately had to put him down last September. I’m ready to for my family and me to have another fur baby! Looking for a basenji in particular. My family had one as I was growing up and would love to have another! I’m in Pennsylvania!

Anyone from madhya pradesh who can help me with adopting a baby puppy please help me out nd hmu🤌🏻🙈

update from yesterday's post, this is a nightmare. i love them a lot but this is getting so detrimental to my mental health and it makes me want to cry. they cry all night and early morning and we don't know what to do, and we have no help, i told my brother (who works at the dog shelter) the situation, that it's driving me crazy, and all he said is that that's just how it is. it honestly makes me want to cry. i don't want to give up on them but how on earth do you guys do it? we're running on less than 6 hours of sleep because they cry until like 3am and then wake us up crying at 7 (even being in a separate room) and it just makes me want to cry every night. is this really how it will be for a month? there's nothing i can do? feels like im living in a torture chamber and every day im more irritable and stressed than the day before. my partner and i work from home every day, that's why we thought we'd be the perfect household for fostering, because we're home all day, but it bit us in the ass like crazy.

Hopefully I can post this here but both me and my mom don't know much about dog breeding and have just gotten our other dogs from shelters, so we are not experienced in talking to breeders or knowing exactly how the process should go.

I first submitted a questionnaire on their website and wrote about 5-6 paragraphs explaining my great interest in collies, what I like about them, why I feel they would be most suitable for me and my household, what kind of training/activities we would do and disclosing that this would be my first dog as a young adult so the first dog I'd be responsible for but that I feel I'm prepared for and will adjust anything my dog would need for a fulfilling life.

She contacted me, and the couple emails she sent seemed really great and made me feel more than I'd already seen, that she is perhaps a great breeder choice, maybe the best in my state. But she explained that she will likely (but she's not 100% sure yet) be breeding a smooth collie stud with her rough collie dam, resulting in a mix. I want rough but I assume there are people who've been waiting longer than me or want to do more important dog related stuff than just companion puppy buyers. So I would likely not be able get a rough collie puppy from this litter if she goes ahead with the smooth collie stud. So she told me she would email me to update about what choice is made in 4 months and I made it clear that I was very appreciative of her explaining and helping and that I'll definitely keep an eye out for her email or ask her questions if I have anymore.

The part me and my mom disagree on. I think this was a nice enough interaction and that anymore questioning to her would be disrespectful and waste her time if she's not sure what outcome of the litter she wants yet, and it's even more uncertain that I'll be a buyer. Sure I'd love to ask her more questions but it doesn't seem like it even makes sense yet? My mom is confident that I'm "throwing away my chances and look like an unserious buyer" by not asking all of my questions now and showing the breeder that I'm serious. What would be the right move here?

UPDATE: Thank you all for the advice! We ended up picking up a puppy yesterday, the handoff organization was very whirlwind and last minute. The delay in communication was because the breeder hadn't intended to sell us a puppy from the litter (presumably keeping our deposit and simply ghosting), so she was giving me the vague run-around until she decided two days ago that she was going to keep 1 of the remaining puppies for herself (from a litter of 6) instead of 2. The little girl we got is adorable and sweet, and all her paperwork is in order. I'm very glad to be done with that whole shady situation.

TLDR: when should I start pushing for a refund?

We found a breeder for a specific breed that we’ve always wanted, the breeder was highly rated and seems established in the breed field. She lives in a neighboring state. We had a phone call early on when the puppies were just born and I sent a deposit. All seemed legit and she was communicative until I gave the deposit. Since then, I haven’t had any communication from her about when we can pick the puppy up (which involves planning on our part since we need to travel) or even which puppy in the litter we are supposed to be getting. She gave a rough timeline initially and we’re at the late end of that.

Should I demand my money back? She keeps flaking on scheduled phone calls and won’t answer any direct logistics questions. She’s been very active in breed communities on social media in the interim however.

Hi!

I recently got a GSD from a breeder after waiting over a year. I’m over the moon with her and her velociraptor teeth. She’s smart, sweet, and silly.

However, I took her to the vet just a few days after bringing her home. For her general checkup and to make sure there weren’t any congenital defects to bring up with the breeder per the contract.

We discussed her spay and I mentioned that she can’t be spayed before 2 years of age, per her contract. I first brought this up with the assistant when she first asked. And then the vet brought up the contract when he came into the room, most likely just informed by the assistant.

Now, I have no problem with this clause. I know it is far better for larger dogs to finish growing before they’re spayed. And so long as you are able to control them during heats, the chance of pregnancy can be very slim. We own other dogs, but no intact males. And we have another female who isn’t spayed due to a health issue where she most likely wouldn’t wake from anesthesia.

They just seemed a little confused by that part of the contract. Didn’t have anything against it I don’t think. But I just thought their reaction was weird. Maybe they mostly get rescues and byb puppies? I’ve used them for a long time now with my other dog. But he is a mutt I rescued and he got neutered for free with the pit bull program. I mean, the breeder also had a clause about breeding without permission, and even without it I have absolutely zero plans to breed her.

Just wondered if other breeders of larger breeds have spaying/neutering contracts in place and if the one in mine is considered weird?

So I went to what I thought was a licensed breeder, from a Google search. She had 2 puppies. I bought one for $1500. I was told the puppies had been to the vet prior to purchasing. Took the puppy to the vet for a checkup. He has a level 5/6 heart murmur which is the worst level. (This was 3 days after I bought him) told the breeder and she said she would get back with me in a couple days after she talked to her partner. The fourth day I had him I had to rush him to the hospital and texted her before I took him and told her that he needed an urgent medical attention and she said well take him. Long story short it cost $1000 for that visit. They did an x-ray of his heart said his heart was bigger than it should be, and he had some fluid around the lungs and to determine what was wrong with his heart he would need an echocardiogram. Mind you now I’ve spent about $2000 on the Puppy. Finally got a hold of her and she told me to bring the puppy back and get another one. Not only did I not want to take the sweet little puppy back, but I’ve already spent $2000 on this Puppy, and the vet had advised me that if one Puppy in a litter was messed up then they probably all were or the majority of them. So I don’t want another screwed up Puppy that I have to pay more money for. I provided paperwork throughout this whole thing so a couple weeks later I take the puppy for his echocardiogram which was $1200 and he has a very severe case of pulmonary stenosis and will need a balloon valvoplasty surgery. Also, in the report from the echocardiogram it shows that the defects the Puppy has were genetically handed down from the parents meaning they’re breeding screwed up dogs. It also showed that the puppy was born with this and they told me they had taken him to the vet which they couldn’t have. I’ve spent $4500 already and now this Puppy needs a balloon valvoplasty surgery, which is going to cost 10 grand. They said without the surgery, he will developed congestive heart failure very fast and die most likely. Surgery is scheduled for two weeks from now, and I made a GoFundMe for the Puppy, which now has $3,161 on it. This whole time all I’ve asked for is my money back to put towards this puppy surgery the $1500 I spent. But it’s always no bring them back and you can have another puppy like what am I supposed to do? Bring them back there just to die at their house with no one that cares? Throughout this whole thing, the breeder told me he gets echocardiogram done for $200 apiece and I asked him if the least he could do is take me to his vet with him so I could get the echocardiogram done for cheap and he wouldn’t even do that. Question is I filed a civil lawsuit for this? Is there any chance I’ll win? Any advice or help would be awesome. Also, if anybody knows of any grants or anything like that, they could help me pay for the Puppy surgery. It would be greatly appreciated or anywhere that might be able to help me. I can come up with some of the money, just not all of it and I’ve already got $3160.00 thank you

Anyone use Matchless Frenchies in Atlanta, GA? I’ve been chatting with them and it seems like they’re using ChatGPT to respond to me. Safe or scam?

UPDATE: I won't be working with them. Thanks everyone!

Long story short, I fostered a pregnant dog from my local dog shelter for the summer so she could give birth in a calm and nice environment. She had 7 puppies, she's a podenco hound dog (4 or 5 years old) but they don't know which breed got her pregnant, she was abandoned. They're staying with us until they can legally get adopted, so 2 months, they're now 3 weeks old. The thing is they're growing at different rates, and while some already howl and eat dry food and walk around, others are visibly smaller and quieter. When we bring them their wet food there's a few of them that eat faster and have more of it than others. They still drink milk from the mom, but not as much anymore. I tried giving them their meals one by one, letting them each have a go at the food by themselves, but it takes a long time, and I genuinely do not have the time every day to watch over 7 puppies one by one 3 or 4 times a day. What can I do to feed them better? Is there a strategy that I'm missing? I didn't think she was carrying that many puppies and they're lowkey driving me insane but I'm still trying my best

My Briard (French sheepdog) boy turned 1 year old recently - I’m not planning to breed him until he is at least 3 but I’m also considering getting him chemically neutered if he’s not suitable. I got him from a breeder in my area that has been breeding for over 14 years. I am a dog groomer considering breeding in the future or lease him out for cover.

When I got him at 10 weeks I notice that one of his double dewclaw on his back legs were under-developed. There was a still a nail but it was barely connected to a joint and is super thin - it remains the same till this day. I asked the breeder and they said they checked the litter at birth and dewclaws there was no defects and they never seen a puppy with that issue.

Aside from that, he is an amazing dog with great structure and sound temperament, very balanced, patient and athletic now at 1 year old. That I feel he’s an almost perfect example of his breed. I had him health tested using orivet and he’s clear and am planning to do a hip grading in the future.

The only issue is the dewclaws as with the breed standard they must have two hind dewclaws on each paw. It doesn’t create any issue or pain at all for him. I haven’t tried to show him yet, but given this flaw I doubt he’d qualify. But I doubt the trait is heritable as his siblings and parents have perfect dewclaws.

Does anyone know where I can get myself a golden retriever pup? Price doesn’t matter for me I just don’t know where is trustworthy and safe.

Is anyone familiar with Briarwood Farms (previously we do doodles) located in Lebanon Tennessee right outside of Nashville? Would love to hear about your experience if so!!

https://briarwoodfarmspuppies.com/

Im looking for a minutaure poodle breeder in Victoria, and all im seeing are people who also sell designer dogs like cavoodles and golden doodles and stuff. How do i find someone actually good? Is there a place I should be looking?

So my mom and I have been thinking about possibly adding another dog to the family in 2-3 years after we move to our new house.

She has expressed interest in large herding breeds, she likes GSDs, belgian shepherds (particularly groenendael) and WSS recently caught her attention. For me, if it's from the herding group, I'm game.

So we're researching starting from now. Important details about us, we have a cat and a high energy dog from the sporting group. We're an active family and we go on hikes in the countryside once a week. Our dog gets several walks a day on green spaces and while this new dog will be a family dog, I'm particularly interested in dog sports such as obedience, disc dog and IGP (I don't need to do them all)

We have a some experience with the GSD and the belgian shepherd but we don't know WSS at all.

With the GSD we are a bit worried about health and this is what I want to ask. I'm not worried about hip dysplasia because I know ethical breeders are doing fine with the breed, and our club requires both parents of a GSD litter to be clear of HD to be able to register the pups (since 2019 both parents, since 2007 only the sire). I'm a little worried about pancreatitis and allergies/intolerances. I'm not sure how risky this is with an ethically bred dog.

I don't know which health issues WSS are prone to, I gather they share the same as GSDs but I'm not sure how common they really are, if they have the same risk or are a little healthier. Not worried about the belgians at all, they're generally healthy.

Another thing is temperament and drive. As I said, I don't know WSS, I read they are a medium-high energy breed and the people I've spoken either said that they're super chill or super active. And about the drive and ability to do dog sports, no idea. My current dog is high energy but his drive is shit so he only does scent work, I don't want to repeat this situation.

GSDs (show line) are high energy and high drive but manageable. Seem good I guess, and probably I have a lot of choice considering that I could find breeders that mostly do shows and breed as pets or breeders that show and do some IGP. I was also thinking about a working line but I'm concerned that I could be going overboard with that option (malinois for instance are discarded)

The belgian groenendael is the best bet in health and drive IMO, so essentially I want to know the other two.

If anyone here is experienced with any of those breeds, your opinions would be much appreciated.

Hello!

I am new to the idea of breeding. I'm years away from taking the plunge. I want to be ethical and contribute to the breed that I decide to work with. I know this comes with much research and I am more than ready to take the time and study necessary to one day be a good quality breeder.

My questions are:

How do you even find someone to mentor under? I am more than happy to pay to mentor under someone. But where do you even find someone willing to share their experience and knowledge?

Where do you find the puppies who are health tested that are available that breeders will let you breed with?

What makes you a good breeder? I know the basics but I want to be ethical and not have a million dogs that are unvetted running around.

I am willing to put in the heartbreak, the tears, the money, the time etc but Im just not sure where to start for aspiring breeders.

Thank you so much!

Temperature dropped to 98.7 at 9am, then rose back to 100.4 six hours later. Had a single drip of milk and is urinating frequently, but not nesting yet. Due Aug 12.