How to tell the difference between good dog breeders and clueless dog breeders.

How To Buy a Good Dog
by Michele Welton
Read this book BEFORE you get a dog. You'll learn how to choose the right dog and the right place to get your dog -- while avoiding all the wrong dogs and the wrong sources.

My dog buying book

Purebred puppies are not churned out of a mold. The puppies from one breeder are not the same as the puppies from another breeder. The knowledge and skill of the breeder has a tremendous bearing on how your puppy turns out.

Cara Takahashi:
"I wanted to express how much I am enjoying your web site. Everything I have read so far is right on the money! I am a trainer by profession, a rescuer and a purebred exhibitor. I will be picking up your book as soon as I can and sending people to your web site, for what I can honestly say is the best advice I have seen on buying a dog - period."

Responsible, knowledgeable dog breeders breed dogs together only after BOTH dogs have been medically tested for health problems. Health problems are epidemic in many breeds because so many ignorant people are breeding their dogs without doing the required health tests.

Bill Ford:
"You are a wonderful writer -- your dialogue is so down to earth, so compelling. I have by no means read everything...yet. But it is certain I will. Your style of writing is not only a compelling read, it is certainly informative and on an educational level that anyone can readily understand. Bravo! I have bookmarked your web site as a place to go for some serious down-to-earth, logical, realistic and up to date canine information. I am very impressed not only with the wealth of information you provide but in how it is so well presented."

Dog Breeders: How To Find a Good Breeder

By Michele Welton, Copyright © 2008. May not be reprinted without permission.

Puppies puppies are not churned out of a mold. The puppies from one breeder are NOT the same as those from another breeder -- even of the same breed. The knowledge and skill of the breeder -- first, when he selected the parents, and second, when he raised the puppies to the age where you get to see them -- has a tremendous bearing on how your puppy turns out.

Every puppy has a breeder

Some people will insist that they got their puppy from a private seller rather than a breeder.

They think that if they got their puppy from someone who had one litter and placed an ad in the newspaper, they're not buying from a breeder.

Or they think that if they got their puppy from a neighbor who says, "Our Molly recently had pups. Would you like one?"...They're not buying from a breeder.

They're wrong.

A breeder is any person
who owns a female dog
who has a litter.

Even if that person simply owned two pets who were bred together and the puppies advertised in the newspaper.
Even if the breeding was accidental.
Even if the father was a mutt down the street, so the puppies aren't even purebred.

Whoever owns the female
is the BREEDER of her litter.

So unless a puppy is actually born on the street to a homeless female who truly has no owner, every puppy (whether purebred, crossbred, or mixed breed) has a breeder.

In other words, SOMEBODY is the breeder of every puppy you're considering acquiring.

Knowing now that every puppy has a breeder, the important question becomes:

Was the breeder responsible....or irresponsible?

Because there are really only TWO types of breeders:

1) responsible and knowledgeable
OR
2) irresponsible and unknowledgeable

So how do you tell the difference between the two types?

Use the 15 FAMILY COMPANION GUIDELINES in my book,
How To Buy a Good Dog.

The first requirement for a family companion is a STABLE, GOOD-NATURED TEMPERAMENT. There are 7 things a breeder should do to produce puppies who will grow up to have a stable, good-natured temperament.
The second requirement for a family companion is GOOD HEALTH. There are 8 things a breeder should do to produce puppies who will grow up to have good health.

7 plus 8 equals 15 things a breeder should do to produce puppies who will grow up to be stable, good-natured, healthy family companions. I explain each of those 15 things in my book!

How To Buy a Good Dog!

Home