Questions to ask your breeder
Your puppy will be your constant companion for the next 10-15 years! One of the most important decisions you will make is which breeder to choose.
As a small kennel, we know that we will only get to work with a small number of families looking to bring a Cobberdog into their lives. Since we are dedicated to ethical breeding, we want to advise families on the right questions to ask to find an ethical breeder. It can be difficult to know where to start, especially if it is your first ever dog!
1. Do you do any health testing on your breeding dogs? If so, which tests?
This is perhaps the most important question you can ask! You will love your dog as a member of your family - you want him to be healthy. Plus, a dog with health problems can quickly become a financial burden. You’re investing a lot in your puppy - your breeder should be invested too. Breeders should always do the following tests on their breeding dogs: x-rays of the hips and elbows, an ECVO eye examination, a DNA test, and regular vet checks including a cardiac examination.
2. How many litters do your breeding dogs have in their lifetime?
As an example, our girls have a maximum of 3 litters in their lifetime. You can evaluate your breeder’s answer yourself, and decide what you think is acceptable.
3. How many dogs do you have at home? Where do your breeding dogs live? Who cares for them?
We are big believers in the “guardian family” system. This is where breeders trust local families to raise and care for their breeding dogs. Under this system, a breeder would not have retired breeding dogs available for sale, as they would always stay with their “guardian family”, where they have been since they were puppies. This system ensures that each dog gets a normal and happy dog life, with plenty of individual love and attention. It allows breeders to keep fewer dogs on their property full-time while having more dogs in their breeding programme, which also means that each girl can have fewer litters.
You can decide for yourself how many dogs you think is reasonable for a breeder to have at home - this can also depend on the size of the property/space and the number of people around to care for the dogs. The best way to evaluate this aspect is to visit the breeder.
4. Can I visit you?
This brings us to the question of visits. An ethical breeder should allow you to visit their property and see for yourself where the puppies are raised.
Most good breeders will require you to make an appointment before visiting, as they are raising their puppies in their own family home. It also might be necessary to wait a while before you can visit. If a breeder has a litter of young puppies at home, they should limit visitors to avoid stressing the mother or bringing diseases into the fragile puppies’ environment.
You should ALWAYS meet the mother of the puppies as a bare minimum. The father might not be available since breeders often use males owned by other breeders, who might even live in another country.
5. What level of inbreeding do you find acceptable?
This is a question I have never been asked! I would be beyond impressed if a family asked me this. To make it simple, you could ask if a breeder would ever do a father-daughter or brother-sister mating, for example. Inbreeding risks producing a dog with very serious health issues, even if the parents don’t have any health issues themselves. It would be easy to assume that no breeder would purposefully mate a brother and sister, but it does happen. You deserve to know if your puppy’s parents are related, and if so, how closely.
6. How old is my puppy’s mother?
It is common knowledge that a dog should not be mated on her first heat. When you are buying a puppy, you should know how old the mother is. It is also important that she is not too old. Our opinion is that the ideal age for breeding is between 2-6 years old.
7. How do you raise your puppies?
You’ve likely chosen to work with a breeder because you want your puppy to have a very positive upbringing and the best possible start in life. It is therefore worth considering how you want your puppy to be raised in the weeks before he joins your family! You can ask your breeder where the puppies are raised (you hopefully see this for yourself during the visit), but also how they are socialised and what they are exposed to. We follow Puppy Culture, which is worth looking into. This is a socialisation and training method designed for puppies. It involves, among other things, exposing them to people, toys and objects, sounds, and other dogs at a time appropriate for their age and in a way that gives them the best possible experience. Your breeder should be willing to discuss her programme and plans for preparing your pup to join your family.
By choosing a breeder who is part of an organisation that upholds high standards, you can feel confident that many of these criteria have been met. We work with the Australian Cobberdog Society (ACS), which has set standards for minimum health testing, maximum amount of inbreeding, minimum age for a girl to have puppies, and maximum number of litters a girl can have. If you are looking for an Australian Cobberdog, working with an ACS breeder is already a great place to start!