I’ve worked with dogs for a good long time. And over the years I have run across multiple breeders, as well as people just breeding dogs. I’ve come up with some key points to what I’ve respected about good dog breeders, as well as some points that have made for some terrible breeders.

A Good Breeder . . .

Breeds To Improve The Breed: This is the only reason any breeder should be breeding dogs is to improve the breed they are passionate about. Many dogs are bred for a purpose whether it’s for police work, drug sniffing, hunting, agility, herding, tracking, family dog . . . If you’re not breeding to improve temperament, stamina, drive, health . . . then what are you breeding for?

Checks For Genetic Defects: A good breeder is willing to pay for testing of their breeder dogs to make sure they are physically sound from any genetic defects that could be passed on to their offspring. This includes testing for hips, joints, eyes, nervous system, epilepsy, heart disease, degenerative myelopathy (DM), wobblers, brachycephalic syndrome . . . and several others. Different dog breeds have different defects to test for. Educate yourself to see what your breed is prone to.

Provides Their Dogs Quality Diets, Environment, & Exercise: When people have babies, we make sure we’re taking optimal care of ourselves right? So dogs should be getting the same care in order to have successful births with healthy puppies. An acquaintance of mine who breeds working dogs, puts the effort in to figuring out what the best thing is to feed her dogs, and makes sure that they are hiked or ran at least twice daily. If she is too busy with work to accomplish this, she has several people on hand that she pays well to make sure that it is done. These dogs should also be treated like family and are able to join and interact in a family setting.

Only Breeds Females For Roughly 5-6 Years: Birth is hard on any animals body. A good breeder knows this and only breeds their female dogs for an average of 5 years before retiring them. They also don’t start breeding them until they are physically mature enough to start having pups. Retired dogs are either adopted to a good home, or the breeder continues to own them and work them in sporting events if they are doing competition with them.

Welcomes Dogs Back and/or Fosters: Now I don’t think that this necessarily means someone is a bad breeder if they don’t do this. But I’ve respected breeders that will take back dogs that they’ve previously sold. It doesn’t necessarily mean they give you your money back, but they are willing to take on and re-home a dog in which its family is no longer able to care for them. Maybe they’re moving, or had a breakup, or had unforeseen financial stuff come up . . . the list goes on. I think this shows that the breeder truly cares about what happens to the dogs they’re putting out there and wants to make sure that they don’t end up in a shelter. I’ve also seen breeders that foster dogs in addition to breeding. Again, I think this shows awareness that there are a lot of dogs out there that need good homes. I ran into someone at the vet one day who breeds Boston Terriers. She had one of her breeding dogs with her, as well as a foster. I loved what she said . . . she said she figures if she’s putting dogs out there, then she should be willing to take them in as well. Loved it!

Is Inviting: A good breeder doesn’t hide their operation and is more than happy to have you come over, ask questions, and meet the parents to the puppies you’re interested in. Their dogs will be well cared for and have good temperaments.

Sells Puppies At 8 Week Of Age & Older: Puppies are ready to leave their mom at 8 weeks old. NO SOONER. There are instances in which a puppy may be able to go at 7 weeks old if they weaned a little sooner. But typically, 8 weeks is needed and is the butter zone for getting your puppy. This allows the puppy enough time to learn social skills from it’s mom and siblings. Beyond 8 weeks old puppies begin to pick on each other and figure out who’s most dominant verses who’s weaker. This can cause problems in extreme cases and sometimes the breeder has to step in the split puppies to ensure dominant puppies don’t get too confident/overbearing and weak puppies don’t begin to become nervous.

Paperwork/Health Guarantee: Most breeders stand by their quality of dogs and will give you some sort of paperwork and some sort of health guarantee. When I got my new German Shepherd, I got a whole stack of paperwork from my breeder including AKC registration, medical records, parents hip/elbow records, spay/neuter agreement, microchip info, health guarantee, breeders contact info to keep in touch, health info on how to prevent condition like bloat and hip dysplasia . . .

A Bad Breeder . . . 

Breeds Because They Like Their Current Dog: I’ve run into too many people that want to breed their dog, just because they like them whether it be for their looks or personality. I refer to them more as “Backyard Breeders”. “We just love him/her and want to keep one of their puppies.” is what many of them say. Having an entire litter, just to keep one, is a horrible thing to do, and ultimately adds to the many homeless dogs out there. There’s lots of adoptable dogs out there who are also cute and have great personalities. I loved my dog Keeneye to pieces, and he was a fantastic dog over the years. But I wasn’t about to breed him just to keep one of his offspring (even though he’s neutered). After he was gone and I mourned his loss, I looked forward to giving another dog a chance to shine and be a great companion.

Breeds Because They Found Someone Who Owns The Same Breed As Them: Another one that drives me crazy. My husband owned a heeler, and a neighbor that was tending to her goats in a field behind us caught sight of him and basically said, “Oh he’s beautiful, hey I have a heeler too, do you think we could breed them together?” My hubbies initial reaction was, “Sure” until I put up a fuss. It was never really brought up again as the ladies dog ended up getting an infection and had to be spayed. No offence to my husbands dog, but his heeler was also a horrible representation of the breed and should not be bred.

Breeds For Money: This is an obvious one that is most common. I remember back when a mutt was a mutt and cost less than $100. Now they’ve been labeled, “Designer Breeds”, and easily go for $1,000 or more. While I’m sure their are some people legitimately trying to put out quality dogs. I know others who are just in it for the money. Pomskies are a popular one of late and someone I know decided she was going to breed them (for the money). No effort was put into finding quality breeders, in fact the husky she selected had known hip displasia and she tried to breed her anyway. And the male pom she had access to, she didn’t even have permission from the owner to use the pom for breeding.

Breeds For Extreme Features: Now this doesn’t mean that a breeder doesn’t take care of their dogs. But in my opinion, breeding for extreme features that negatively impacts a dogs health makes for bad breeders. There are several dog breeds that 100+ years ago, did not have the health problems that they have now. German Shepherds now have slanted backs that cause hip and knee problems. Several breeds have extra smashed in faces which cause breathing problems like pugs. Dachshunds have weaker backs. Bull Dogs and Basset Hounds are a complete mess of problems . . .

Breeds Dogs With Or Without Knowing About Defects: So the opposite of above, a bad breeder won’t test for potential genetic health issues. Or worse, they do test or know that the dog is a carrier of a genetic defect, and breed the dog anyway. I have run into this as well. Someone I knew had a litter of puppies in which one of the male puppies only had one testicle, and a female from the same litter had megaesophagus (enlarged esophagus causing dog to not be able to keep food down). About a year or so later she wanted to contact the new owners of those pups and see about using them in her breeding program. She had to be reminded by those around her of the defects those dogs had and the potential to pass those on. That was only one of several instances of poor judgment by this breeder.

Over Breeds Their Females: This would be breeders that breed their dogs far too young and far too long, over the 5-6 year mark. This would border on a puppy mill which is a whole other discussion.

Vague: A bad breeder avoids questions and may not let you see the dam and sire. They may try to meet you somewhere to sell you the puppy. They won’t have an interest in keeping in touch to see how that puppy does with his/her new family. Honestly, when you do enough research and have an eye for it, you can generally tell quality over duds. Avoid these breeders!

Poor Conditions: This comes along with them being vague so you may not see the living conditions. Poor conditions would be much like a puppy mill in that their breeder animals are kept in small cages, filthy conditions, poor diets, no medical care for parents or new puppies, away from family life.

Pet Store: NO good breeder would EVER put one of their puppies in a pet store. Pet stores will lie about where their puppies come from which is . . . a puppy mill. Horrible places where dogs are kept in small cages, horrible conditions, and bred until they are no longer useful. Often times these dogs have genetic defects and no care has gone into their health.

Sells Puppies Too Young: If someone tries to sell you a puppy that is under 8 weeks old (7 weeks at the most) there is something wrong. Puppies that are too young still needs their mother’s milk. They may also be underdeveloped socially which can cause issues in certain individual as they grow up.

No Paperwork/Health Guarantee: A bad breeder sells you a puppy as is with no sort of guarantee or paperwork. If they are asking $1000+ for a puppy, I’d want some sort of paperwork behind them.

Conclusion

Breeding dogs isn’t for everyone. Some go into it with good intentions, but most fail, get lazy, or get greedy. If you’re going to breed, do your research and do it to better the breed. Also do your research if your a buyer and want a particular breed to make sure you’re picking out a good responsible breeder with a true passion for the breed. Otherwise, it’s best to adopt from a rescue which I think, for most people, is the way to go if your just looking for a simple companion. There’s both mixes and purebreds out there available for adoption, waiting for their forever homes.

Related Post: Puppy Mills And Pet Stores