Choosing a Breeder

Personally, I have two favorite places to get a dog. One is a humane society and the other is a responsible CKC registered breeder with a small kennel. I am prejudice towards purebred dogs as I appreciate knowing the line and what to expect from the adults. As the daughter of a breeder who had exceptionally high standards, I come by my prejudice honestly.


(The picture is of my late Magic and her niece, Reason who is now 12 years old)

Recently, I’ve had a client ask for advice in picking a breeder. He already had the breed chosen, a Bull Mastiff. I sent him to the Canadian Kennel Club’s website where he could find the “8 Golden Rules”. http://www.ckc.ca/en/portals/0/pdf/other/CKC.Rules.find.breeder.pdf This handout gives you excellent questions to ask the breeder.

He contacted a couple breeders and one of them brought about this blog. They have CKC registered dogs but didn’t want to register the litter to keep the price down. Are you kidding me? I don’t think that $43 per puppy is going to have a large impact on the price. This cost covers both registration with the CKC plus transfer of ownership. Plus, if the puppies are not registered, then they CANNOT be called purebred so you shouldn’t pay purebred prices!!!!

Neither of the parents had their championships – apparently they wanted to save money there too. How can you make absolute sure you are producing dogs that are as close to the breed standard as possible without evaluations by a variety of judges? Being in the show ring can be a great eye opener.

Oh yeah, the grandparents had their hips certified but the parents were never tested. If you don’t look, you won’t find it! They also bypassed the questions about eye and elbow certifications. Here’s another good one, there is absolutely no health guarantee.

Right before I get off my podium, I want to share why I have such high standards. Before getting on my Mom’s waiting list, you had to have an interview. I think the Spanish inquisition could have gotten inspiration from her! References were also required. All of our dogs were carefully chosen for temperament and conformation. Our breeding dogs all had their championships and many had their CD obedience titles. Eye certifications as well as elbow and hip OFA certifications were required. Now here is the icing on the cake, the health guarantee was for the lifetime of the dog. So, although Mom has not had a litter in 12 years, if a genetic issue were to develop she would still honor the health guarantee.