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Monday, June 25, 2007
When choosing a puppy, look beyond AKC
"Wow, I just bought an AKC- registered dog," exclaimed this excitable young lady as she was speaking on her cell phone. "It has papers, and everything. And, he cost over $300."
For most puppy buyers, having an American Kennel Club-registered dog signifies ownership of a quality animal. But does it?
I hate to be a bubble-burster, but just because you buy an AKC-registered dog doesn't guarantee you are buying a quality animal. All it guarantees is that the sire and dam and litter are registered in the American Kennel Club.
In my lifetime, I have owned a number of hunting retrievers and hounds. All were AKC-registered. My first golden retriever, Kay, was from a registered litter. She cost me a whopping $50 since I didn't want to register her because I wasn't interested in breeding or trialing her. Even though the sire and dam were registered, I really didn't care about lineage or any other background information with respect to the sire and dam.
Kay was the sweetest animal you could ever meet. She had the temperament of a saint and lived until the decent age of 14. For three-quarters of her life, however, she had experienced a number of health problems, including serious allergies. And, having a duck dog allergic to duck feathers — well, you get the point. In addition, she tolerated hunting but wasn't a big fan of late-season diver hunting.
My next golden, Elle, was like night and day when compared to Kay. When I realized I wanted a second golden, I researched the Internet for golden retrievers with field-trial and hunt-test backgrounds. I also looked for strong health certificates on both parents and called the owners of both sire and dam.
Nowadays, Elle will be 10-years old in January. When it comes to waterfowling or upland game hunting, Elle will hold her own with any hunting retriever I've had the pleasure to hunt with. Take her out of the house and into the duck blind or pheasant field, and she goes from a calm, cool house pet to a well-oiled, very serious, hunting machine. Her half sister, Emme, now 6 years old, is also part of our family. Emme is incredibly athletic, healthy and extremely birdy. She would rather hunt than eat.
The initial cost of both dogs was somewhat high, however, to date both have experienced very good health, which has kept the vet bills to a minimum.
If you are looking for a decent hunting dog, don't get lulled into believing that any AKC-registered dog will do. Instead, spend time researching the breed, the sire and dam's pedigree and both parent's health history.
Here are a few things I concentrate on when buying a puppy:
Deal with professional breeders only: Serious breeders mate dogs of known backgrounds in order to reduce the chances of congenital defects and predict with greater accuracy the positive outcome of a litter of puppies. Serious breeders will ask potential owners of their puppies many lifestyle questions with respect to where the pup will be placed. I've seen and heard of many breeders turning down sales because they did not believe their pups would be a good fit. And, I've seen professional breeders turn down sales to top-notch dog trainers and handlers.
Sire and dam health certificates: As you search for a puppy, you must ask the breeder for the health certificates of both sire and dam. A responsible breeder will gladly share with you these documents. Those breeders who pass on these documents should be quickly ignored. As a minimum, you should ask for health certificates on eyes, hips, and elbows. Look for documents that signify clear eyes (CERF certified) and good to excellent hips and elbows (OFA, PennHIPP certified). There are also cardiac and thyroid clearance certificates available.
Confirmation/standard of sire and dam: How do the parents compare against the standard of the breed? I've seen countless 120-pound dogs where the standard tops 70 pounds. The product stems from poor breeding. I've seen slight-boned bassets, pointers with poor confirmation and little drive, and retrievers sporting weak hips and horrendous water courage.
Athleticism: If you are looking for a hunting dog that exhibits get-up-and-go, the last thing you want to see is a sires and dams that are lazy slugs. You want to see both parents of the litter active, alert, fit and trim.
Birdiness: Sporting dogs, like bird dogs, need to be birdy. "Birdy" is a term describing the innate ability of a sporting dog to seek out game. A birdy dog trusts its nose, has extra drive and is so focused while pursing game, the owner has a difficult time on recalls.
The bottom line — do your homework prior to purchasing a puppy. If you deal with a professional breeder, chances are you will be dealing with an individual who deeply cares about his or her particular breed of dogs. Still, it is very important for you to ask educated questions, be able to match a certain dog to your needs and, just as importantly, be able to afford and properly feed and care for a quality canine for years to come.
