Questions to Ask Breeders Before Buying a Small Puppy

Are you looking to buy small puppies from breeders that appear trustworthy? The truth is that when you find puppies for sale online, the breeder may appear like a reliable person, but reality may be different. You need to be very careful when choosing the breeder that will provide your puppy.

Why is the breeder so important? The breeder you choose to collaborate with can represent the difference between having a healthy dog or a dog with severe health problems. If you want to avoid expensive vet bills and have a companion that will enjoy a long and beautiful life, you need to find a reliable breeder.

The following set of questions will help you determine whether the breeder is worth your trust or not.  Try to resist the enthusiasm of getting a new puppy and do everything you can to know the breeder. Puppy mills should be discouraged and for the sake of your family and puppy, you should only get your dog from reliable sources.

When did you start your activity as a dog breeder?

It is a good idea to check whether the breeder has any experience with breeding dogs. Of course, a breeder with an extended activity is not necessarily a good breeder. Also, you can find breeders that may have just a few years of activity, but they take very good care of their dogs.

So, while a lot of experience is desired, you should pay more attention to the quality of the breeder’s experience. In other words, a breeder that has just one or two, at most, litters of puppies per year is definitely the kind of breeder that respects his dogs.

More than one little of puppies per year should mean that the breeder has several pairs of adult dogs suitable for breeding, not just one pair.

Do you have any puppies available at the moment?

It is not a good sign to find a breeder that has puppies available all year round. Although this will mean that you can have your puppy very soon, it also points out toward the fact that you’re dealing with a puppy mill. Reliable dog breeders usually have a waiting line for their puppies, precisely because they don’t breed their dogs repeatedly during a year.

A breeding pair should have the chance to rest after a litter of puppies, instead of being exploited every time it is possible from an anatomical point of view. So, you should be ready to wait for your puppy. It is not a good sign for a breeder to tell you that he has puppies available all the time.  You should avoid this kind of breeders, as they are far from responsible.

Is it possible to come down and visit the pups and their parents?

A reliable dog breeder will allow you to see the puppies and the parents or, at least, the mother of the puppies. Of course, you may have to look at them from a distance, especially if they are very young. But, being allowed to see the dogs is a good sign. This way you can check the conditions in which they are breed and how they are cared for.

If a breeder will not allow you to see the puppies before you actually take one home, it should act as an alarm for you. Most certainly the breeder has something to hide. Maybe the conditions are poor, the area is dirty, or the parents are not actually pure-breeds.

Still, don’t panic if you don’t see the father, just the mother. A high number of dog breeders will only have the male for the breeding period, after which the dog returns to its rightful owner.

At what age is appropriate to get a puppy home?

Asking this question is another way to see if the breeder is responsible. A dog breeder should not give his puppies away if they are not at least 8 weeks old. Also, bear in mind that in the case of small dog breeds, the recommended age for placing them in a new home could be 12 weeks old. This is due to the fact that small breeds are more sensitive and require more time to develop.

A breeder that will say that it’s okay to have your puppy before the age of 8 weeks is not a responsible one. Besides this, you will face a great risk to take a puppy this young at home, as their immune system is still fragile.

Did the puppy receive any form of vet care? If yes, what kind?

At the age of 6 weeks old, the puppies will receive their first vaccine and treatments, like de-worming. Also, a responsible breeder will have his puppies checked periodically and will even register them. So, make sure to ask about these aspects as well.

You should be wary when finding puppies for sale online and do some detective work to find out as much as possible about the breeder. Or you can opt for the services of reliable puppy providers, like Charlotte Dog Club.