Never mind - just did a search on "breeder" and there is more than enough info/opinions there! Should have done that first - sorry.

freezetag - you can never get a guarantee, no matter how much work you put into research. Sometimes mutts are a better bet, sometimes rescues are fine, sometimes pure breds are the way to go. WOrds of caution, ALWAY demand to see where the puppy is being raised, those who dont want you to see where a puppy is being kept are in all probability back yard breeders....Good that you are researching, my best to you in your search for a new pup, no matter what you decide. PS - Im all for a rescue.

me too... A breeder gives you far less freedom as far as moving or life changes go they usealy demand the animal back. they are $$$ and don't always have the best intrest of the animal in mind. For instance some cat breeders don't give a hoot an a hollar about declawing a cat, a cruel, painful and downright nasty thing done to help the owner not the cat. . I speak from experence, I have gone the breeder route, plus purebreds can get all sorts of health issues. Your better off IMO rescuing a mutt from a shelter and using the money you would have spent on a purebred feeding a raw diet or high grate kibble/canned Innova EVO, Orijen Ziwi peak are some of the better ones.

If you are dealing with a reputable breeder over a backyard breeder or someone who thinks they are a quality breeder your chances of getting a healthier puppy are greatly improved. Still though it's a crap shoot when dealing with dogs and puppies. For my part I have been involved in Shiba Inu rescue for a number of years now. I presently have three. My first two are rescues... one a stray from Brooklyn and the other from a potential abusive situation... that I have absolutely no history on. My third Shiba is one I adopted when my rescue/breeder contact was misdiagnosed with bone cancer and her own dogs had to go into rescue. Her family asked me if I would adopt one of her dogs. With his genetic lines... he was shown at Westminster once... I thought this was the dog I would have the least amount of problems with. I have spent close to 10k to keep him sighted due to glaucoma. A friend of mine bought a Shiba pup from one of the premier breeders in the country and the pup turned out to have a hole in her heart. She kept the pup and the money was refunded. It's because of things like this that can come up that I have chosen to rescue and be involved in rescue. It does pay to do your research and not be afraid to ask questions no matter which avenue you choose to go down.

"A breeder gives you far less freedom as far as moving or life changes go they usealy demand the animal back."

I don't understand this. If you buy a dog from a breeder, why couldn't you move? This doesn't make any sense to me.

Sally

You can certainly move if you have bought a dog from a quality breeder. They want the dog back or input on placing any dog they bred if owner can no longer keep the dog. They want to know any dog they bred goes into a good home. While it is true that you can still have medical issues with purebred dogs a quality breeder offers money back, replacement and assistance in the event dogs have a genetic problem. Quality breeders do testing and will offer this results. I think rescue is a wonderful thing but it also okay to buy a puppy from a reputable breeder. Good luck to orig poster.

The term/word "breeder" is something that is subjective.
A breeder is anyone who has a litter of puppies/kittens.
This includes the reputable, knowledgeable people and also the back yard/puppy mill/commercial producers of animals.
My suggestion to you is once you decide the breed of dog you want, go to the AKC website and find the parent club for the breed and contact them for a breeder referral. 99% of the people listed through their parent clubs are the ones who care about the welfare of the breeds they are involved in, do the necessary health checks for their breeds and will be there for you if you need help.

Jan

Jan gives good advice. On the AKC web site once you click on the breed of choice on the left side of the screen is a list that has the specific breed parent club of America that will have breeders listed. Sometimes the breeder referral is right on the AKC site.

Most breeders realistically simply cannot afford to feed a biological diet to their animals. These breeders simply shouldn't IMO be breeding, If all breeders went by that or if it was made into law there would probably be no more puppy-kitten mills. It simply couldn't be afforded to legally breed by most people and it would become as easy as pie to sort good from bad. ( in cats this type of feeding would be thawed whole rodents or raw cornish hens with organs), If they are breeding for one singal trait say flat faces then those animals will without question have more medical issues then ( provided no breeding stock used has any diseases from wild living) cats allowed to breed freely with nature as the matchmaker( reason simply being nature doesn't allow faults- really long hair, flat faces, big eyes.) Raw feeding has numerious benefits, no teeth cleaning, increased life span, 20+ is normal longevity in raw fed felines and canines the worlds oldest dog was 29 fed a raw diet .Therefore it makes sense that cats and dogs fed biologically are going to be stronger and more robust.

I agree with restrictions like no de-clawing but its sad when they feed friskies/science diet over something like EVO or raw when the owner in question has done more diet research and has found possibly better homes. through all natural vets or GOOD pet stores like chuck and dons or dog days.

not that they are all bad of course i've met some very good ones but this IMO would be just one more way Good breeders could improve lines AND help stop over population by signifcantly reducing the number of purebreds born.

Thanks for the advice so far! My first instinct was to find a rescue. Our first dog (a lab/great dane mix) was 5 when we got her from a relative, and was extremely gentle and healthy for the 9 years we had her. I like that with a rescue, you know something about the dog's temperament and requirements up front, and often the dog is already house-trained and beyond the "chewing up every shoe in the house stage". You also know how big the dog will be :)

That said, we brought home a rescue last year that I thought would be the perfect dog for us. He was an 18 month chocolate lab/great dane mix, and his owner (a 78 year old man) was not able to walk him without fear of being pulled down and injured. We worked with him for 6 weeks (got the Gentle Leader, thanks to this forum), gave him LOTS of exercise, and he was making excellent progress...until the day he went a little crazy and bit the neighbor boy in the testicles. No significant injury, but he did break the skin and clamped on for several seconds. After that, we had him put down - I don't blame anyone for the first bite, but just didn't feel that I would be able to forgive myself if it ever happened again.

So I would be open to getting another rescue in the future, but for now while my kids are young (5 - 12), I want to "start fresh" with a puppy. I know it's always a crap shoot, but at least I'll know where it's been and who has been handling it for its whole life. Not really sure if it was a "ghost from the past" issue that set our second lab mix off, but am hoping to reduce the chance of it ever happening again.

Also, some dogs bother my husband's allergies, so I feel safer getting a dog from a breeder, so that dh can pet the parent dogs and get some idea of whether the puppy, once grown, will bother his allergies.

And Jan, I did get a list of breeders though a breed club - it's just that there are no breeders from the club in my area. I was trying to decide whether driving a couple hundred miles for a puppy was worth it, but after seeing some puppies from a local breeder, have decided that it probably is worth it. The local breeder's puppies were so cute!! but she brought them out to us, and was not able to answer some fairly basic questions about the genetic issues of this particular breed.

The "far away" breeder I spoke to looked in her records for one of her dogs in my area, then asked the owners if my husband could come over to play with her dog for a few minutes. The dog's owners were happy with their dog (now 2) and happy with the breeder, so I think I will just bite the bullet and make the drive.

Okay, Good luck. Have fun. ...... But be wary about things.