breeders and first time pup

[Tookey]

How do you know if it is a good breeder or not? I mean for those who aren't as educated on breeding, lines etc. For example I would look at the breeder mentioned on this thread and not see a problem (although it looks that not all dogs are elbow scored).
I have learnt some things the hard way, and if I were to look for a pup now I would do things differently, and much more carefully, but I think I could still get it wrong

[talknerdytome]

From my (very limited) experience of breeders, these are a few things I would look at:

- Health questions that have already been raised by those more knowledgeable than me!

- How many dogs they have: In my personal opinion a breeder that has 4+ dogs they breed from I would stay away from, as I know I would struggle to look after 4+ dogs and their puppies. Some (not all) who have a lot of dogs are just in it for the money.

- How many litters they have every year: Again, if a breeder has a lot of litters every year they may be doing it more for the money than to add the healthiest dogs possible to a wonderful breed.

- If they have pups left over from previous litters: My spidey senses start tingling when they say things like 'Litter due in 8wks, but have some pups left over from last litter' as that means they are probably breeding very close together/have lots of dogs they breed from. Also, as others have said, a good breeder will often have a waiting list so would be very strange for them to have any pups 'left over'. Also I think it's a good sign if they are looking for owners BEFORE the bitch is pregnant, that way it reduces the risk of being left with puppies.

- If they breed lots of different types of breeds, that tends to raise a red flag to me.

Like I said, I have very limited experience of breeders, but these tend to be things that I look out for.

[Poly]

I personally think its a mind field...but for me my requirements would be :-

- Bitches not bred from under 2yrs of age
- Bitches not to be over bred from
- No more then 4 litters per year (from all breeding bitches, not per bitch)
- Both parents hipscored under breed average and even scores, also history of hipscoring through generations
- Both parents elbow scored and within KC recommendations
- Males Haemo tested
- Litter pedigree results from being checked by pedigree researchers to show any hiereditary conditions inc Epilepsy, AF, dwarfism, EPI, HD etc
- That the breeder insists any dogs bred by them to be returned if owner no longer able to keep them, rather then being sold on or put into rescue
- ALL breeding stock being of sound temprement (sooooo important)

I also agree with the comment regarding left over puppies, to me if you are breeding you should be making sure there is enough interest in your planned litter prior to mating.

...thats all I can think of for now...lol