Today's Washington Post has a good article about buying a puppy on-line and some of the difficulties and risks in doing so.

Washington Post Article Re Puppy Ad Scams

In response to that article, I E-mailed the author:

"Ms. Brulliard,

I
enjoyed your article about Puppy Ad Schemes. As a highly successful
and respected former exhibitor and breeder of (English) Bulldogs, I was
aware of such goings on.

One
point that could have been added to your article, or included in a
future article, is that no breeder should sell to any would-be buyer
without face to face contact. Equally important, no buyer should seek
to purcahse a puppy without visitiong the breeder and pup and evaluating
their situation.

Finally,
no one should breed and offer puppys for sale unless they are byproduct
of breeding to improve the breed - conformation wise, health wise, and
disposition wise.

The
breeder you cite as being the good one owns 14 adult dogs. It is clear
that she is breeding dogs for the money - not to improve the breed.

BTW, I now own only one dog. A Greyhound that I adopted from the Dog Track in Tampa, FL, after she stopped winning!"