If you have already chosen an animal of a certain breed, the best place to get a complete picture of it is a dog show. You need to go to it and discuss all the issues of concern with the owners. Usually these people talk about both positive and negative aspects of the breed in a very sincere way. Many years of communication with dogs of a certain breed and affection for them make such owners quite objective.
The next step is to find a good breeder. It doesn’t matter if the best is the breeder of the breed (who is likely to charge a hefty price for the puppy) or just a well-established specialist in the field. There are times when the best breeders are very loyal to the dog buyer and offer reasonable prices.
It is strongly discouraged to look for puppies in public places, because in the same pet stores or in the markets they will not give a guarantee that the dog is healthy, and indeed, whether it is a representative of the declared breed.
In this case, the main thing is not to rush. You need to be patient and wait for the allotted time if you are really determined to get exactly the dog you dreamed of. It will be useful to go to the nursery to see the mother or even the father with the puppies and assess the conditions in which they live.
There are several opinions on the optimal age for puppies. Eight weeks of age is often considered the most appropriate, and this opinion is probably the most correct. Before this age, it is still too early to take the puppy away from the mother, but if you stay in the nursery longer, there is a possibility of difficulties with subsequent adaptation, training, and communication. The first 6-8 weeks of a dog’s life is a major developmental period. But if suddenly the dog that you decide to take from the kennel is significantly older than 8 weeks, you need to make sure that it was not left there to itself, but received a sufficient amount of attention and care.
You must honestly tell the breeder why you need this particular dog. There is no need to try to knock down the price and deceive, saying that the puppy is needed just for the family and at home, if you see the goal of his further exhibitions. It is necessary to describe the surrounding home conditions in which the dog will live, to outline what the puppy will face after you acquire it. The breeder will always explain the reasons why you should not buy a dog of this breed yet, or, at best, may even lower the price.
However, no one will ever give full guarantees that the acquired puppy will become the winner of various exhibitions and competitions. He may have the most noble roots and a huge pedigree of dozens of pages, but even the most experienced breeder will not give a guarantee for a puppy at the age of 8 weeks.
After purchase, the breeder gives the dog’s pedigree and purchase document. Often the puppies have all vaccinations at the time of sale, and these costs are included either in the price of the dog or separately. It is necessary to inquire about this.
It is the responsibility of the breeder to provide the buyer with recommendations for feeding the puppy at a later stage in his life. Also, this issue needs to be discussed during the first (and subsequent) trip to the veterinarian. There is a chance that the breeder will provide you with the necessary puppy food in the near future.
It is very important to be sure that the acquired puppy is completely healthy, that it has already been worm out and that it does not have parasites like lice and fleas.
You should not buy a puppy, for example, just out of pity that he was left alone in the litter, but at the same time he is in poor condition or behaves suspiciously.
There is a well-known expression that the dog will choose its own owner, and this is not unreasonable. Because a very uncommunicative puppy in the future may have a problem in adaptation and socialization in the human world, therefore the most correct choice is exactly the puppy that crawls out of the nest to you and runs towards you.
Some tips for visual inspection of your puppy:
- Make sure there is no discharge from the eyes. A few scratches on the face are not significant because the puppies may or may not get along with each other.
- The nose must be clean, and there can be no discharge or traces of it on it.
- The inside of the ears should be clean and pink, without dark wax or inflammation, and not look sick.
- Signs of the disease are often inflammation of the eyelids, not clean eyes or sores.
- A puppy’s coat is usually soft and pliable, with the exception of some dog breeds. The puppy’s body should also be free of sores and inflammation.
- Puppies of all breeds (except, perhaps, only the Greyhound) should have strong and strong paws.
- It is necessary to carefully examine the area under the tail, it must be clean and without traces of suspicious discharge.
