The Next Level of “Finding a Reputable Breeder”

If you’ve spent any time on the internet in Dog World, you’ve been inundated with lectures about finding a “reputable breeder”. You’ve probably been told the best way to find a reputable breeder is to look for people who show their dog and do health tests on their dog. And while these are great first steps, do not take this at face value. Since I’ve become personally involved in showing and dog sports, I’m here to tell you the show world is FULL of disreputable people and people with questionable practices. There are people who will do anything to put a title on a dog including surgical alterations, dying coats, altering ear sets, etc. There are people willing to breed beautiful dogs with horrible temperaments. There are people with highly successful show dogs who get no human interaction because they live their lives in tiny concrete runs. There are people who do all the health testing and none of the temperament testing. There are people with tons of titles who secretly offload their extra puppies to pet stores. There are breeders who love to brag about their conformation titles but can’t be bothered to put a single performance title on their dogs. I’ve known supposedly reputable breeders who sold their older puppies (show prospects they decided “didn’t work out” for their program) to friends of mine, and those puppies were fearful, unsocialized messes. There is more to being reputable than ribbons and OFA certifications. Do you research. Ask around. Talk to people who own dogs from these people. Talk to people in the community. Spend time in the breed specific Facebook groups that these breeders are in and watch how they talk to and treat people. You’d be surprised how rude and ugly some of them are to people who aren’t potential customers. Is that the kind of person you really want to do business with? Finding someone who titles and health tests is only the first level of finding a reputable breeder. Look deeper!