How would you interview a breeder's dogs?

[GermanShepherd<3]

I have been surprised to see how many people do not actually visit the kennel in person and ship a dog based off a website. While this may have worked in some instances, wouldn't it be better to visit the place and breeder and see for yourself if it's the first time purchasing from this kennel?

I'm also curious as to how YOU evaluated the dam and sire, along with the temperaments of other breeding stocks.

When I plan to get my future puppy, I would ask the breeder to take the dogs, especially the future dam and sire, to a place they have never been before, as their temperaments can be so very different outside of their home environment. I would also like to see their obedience in a place they have not been before to see the breeder's dedication to training their dogs. Along with that I woud like to see their interactions with other dogs and people. I think it's important to also look at the place the dogs are living and staying most of the time, along with the schedules they have..
As for the breeder, there will be a lot of questions Like all the important things of the dogs' health, tests, titles, etc.

How else would you "interview" the furrry, future parents? I've never bought a puppy but the parents would be what I would look at after the breeder passed my questions with flying colors as a reputable breeder.

[cassadee7]

I visited several kennels and met prospective parents in person. Frankly it was obvious upon one visit which ones had a temperament I'd want for my own dog and which did not. A 20 minute visit can tell you a lot.

I also talked on the phone and by email to several breeders, looked up dogs and pedigrees online, went to shows and sporting events to see dogs from different lines and kennels I was considering, and contacted people on this board who had dogs from kennels I was considering.

After talking to breeders and doing all this travel, research, etc for a year and a half, I ended up going with a breeder halfway across the country whose dogs I never saw. In the end you have to go with who you trust, what lines you have met and liked (I knew after meeting many dogs that I wanted WGWL) and also go with the experiences of others who have dogs from the breeder.

[onyx'girl]

You may have to travel to different places to see the sire and dam work. Sire very seldom is on a breeders property. And if they use one stud for several dams, that tends to raise a flag for me(generally speaking). I'd rather know the breeder is looking at pedigrees to properly match all their dams, not just out of convenience of having a stud in their kennel.

Or if there is a great male you like, visit the kennel and find out who they are breeding to.
If you want to see them work, travel to where they train and watch them trial.

Look at what they've bred in the past and see if the dogs are showing the type that you want for your next dog.
I think by knowing what a breeder has already produced, either you trust their judgement or you don't as far as the matches they make within their program to produce quality litters.

[doggiedad]

i put a deposit on my pup before he was born.
i never saw the parents except for on line.
i never met the breeder in person. i wanted pick of the litter
so my breeder didn't pick my pup for me. i picked my dog
on color and gender. i know this is suppose to be a big
no no but i wanted a blk&red, male pup. when you buy
from a reputable i don't think you have to worry
about your pups health, temperment and nerves. i always say
the breeder has the hard part of the deal. the breeder
has to produce an all around sound dog. i have the easy
part of the deal. all i have to do is train and socialize.

[Holmeshx2]

Agree with Jane and Shawn we picked our breeder out whie we were still over seas in Korea and after almost 2 years of researching we contacted our breeder and instantly clicked. It just so happened when we came back stateside we were gonna be visiting near them and went out to meet them and their dogs. Had we not of came back to that area first I would have still gotten one of their pups site unseen as I had 100% trust with them from the beginning of contacting them.

[4TheDawgies]

After meeting dogs of different lines from Schutzhund clubs in my area. I decided on the line of dog that I liked the best. I was told that I would have a very hard time finding what I was looking for. So my search and evaluation was pretty intense.

I met the breeder, visited her home and trained with her at a local club. I got to observe her home, how her dogs are kept, how she handles them day to day, and how she trains them. I got to observe the dogs on two helpers, one they usually work with, and one they hadn't worked with.

Then my breeder traveled near my place. She trialed her dog at my schutzhund club, so I got to see first hand not only training, but the title earning of the dog itself on a strange new field on a strange new helper. My breeder also entered her dogs in the conformation show at my club so I got to hear the critiques of the dogs from the judge's very mouth.

I got to hear what my schutzhund club members among a few locals opinions of the dogs from that breeder. I also got to hear the opinions of the dogs from other clubs we attended.

I went to another Schutzhund club and watched my dogs sire receive his kkl1a and got to first hand hear the critique from the judges mouth.

I got to watch the dog "on" and "off". I got to watch him shown, challenged, and in new environments.

I feel pretty comfortable in my evaluation of the dogs over these events. I know some won't do this much homework on the dogs they are getting. But getting just the right dog is important to me.

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by GermanShepherd<3

When I plan to get my future puppy, I would ask the breeder to take the dogs, especially the future dam and sire, to a place they have never been before, as their temperaments can be so very different outside of their home environment. I would also like to see their obedience in a place they have not been before to see the breeder's dedication to training their dogs.

Good luck getting a breeder who doesn't know you very well to load up their dogs (one of which they might not even own) and take them to an unfamiliar location because you're thinking you might buy a puppy.

[GermanShepherd<3]

Glad to hear your responses they were all very nice to read. In my experience from talking and seeing breeders in my area who are indeed reputable and have had high success, they can not wait to show you their dogs, and can not wait to show you them how they react in stores like Petsmart Home Depot, along with different outdoor places.


4thedawgies: I myself love show lines. They are what I would be looking for. I also believe that in a way it is harder to find good showline breeders rather than working as some of them cut a lot of corners, and easily try to trick people with fancy pedigrees when they actual sire and dam don't even have wait it takes to to produce new puppies. Some people ask who cares if the dogs are titled or not? When you show them all that the SV requires then they usually get the hint of how hard it is for a dog to prove itself worthy of the breed even if the dad or mom was a sieger/an..

[Danielle609]

I had an "interview" a few weekends ago....I went on a 5.5 hour drive was thinking of all these questions I was going to ask and was even actually nervous. It was not interview like at all. It was amazing! I got to see her dogs work (Showlines) and her husband work with a group that trains. It was amazing, I knew right away that she knew exactly what she was doing and wouldn't even think of breeding a dog that shouldn't be bred. On top of that you should have seen one of her full grown studs around my 1.5 year old...he was amazing!! (well they all were actually, but he was the biggest and to see him so gentle was amazing...well until he did bitework )

Because of that I would have no problem getting a dog from her even if I never knew who the parents were let alone meeting them. I think an important part about picking a breeder isn't necessarily liking their dogs, but trusting them enough to know that they know what they are doing.

[martemchik]

I would expect any dog that a breeder is using to be perfectly well mannered and trained in a store like petsmart and home depot. Its the working out for you part that probably won't happen unless you go to them and watch them at a trial. A store isn't really a strange place for those dogs since they go there all the time and will of course be well behaved, if they weren't, the breeder would never take you there to "show them off." Plus like you said, its your local breeders, a 10 minute drive isn't that bad for them.

Rarely will a breeder drive a ways to meet you at a field to show off their dogs working ability. You have to think of it this way, if they really are reputable, they have 10 other people lined up behind you to buy a pup, so why go through all this extra work to impress a would be buyer when you can get another one. Sadly, good puppies are hard to find, but perspective owners, are a dime a dozen.

I of course went down to see the dam and sire of my pup, and loved their personalities, the pup turned out to be a perfect mix of the two, and I could never be happier. After being on the forum for a while I understand why people are willing to ship pups from good breeders, but I would still never do it. There's enough in a 6 hour radius that I won't feel limited when it comes to getting the next one. Robin is only like an hour away...