1.     Choosing a Breeder

Choosing the breeder is one of the most important elements of having a healthy, well behaved, well socialized, well-mannered dog.  Some basic questions to pose to a breeder that you are considering buying a puppy from;

A)    Do they offer a written guarantee for their puppies?

B)     Has a veterinarian checked every puppy?

C)    Have BOTH parents had their Eyes certified by the CERF?

D)    Have BOTH parents had their Hips certified by OFA or PENN Hip?

E)     Can they provide detailed health records for the parents?

F)     Do the Parents Hunt?  And are they well disciplined? 

G)    Have they had their dewclaws removed, been wormed and received puppy shots?

H)    Have they been introduced to pigeons or other live birds by at least 6 weeks old?

I)       Have they been introduced to water and taught to swim by at least 7 weeks old?

J)       Have they been introduced to gunshots by at least 6 weeks old?

K)    Is the Kennel/Facility Clean, and Sanitary?

L)     Do the breeders have a list of references from prior breedings?

M)   Have they maintained and provide health records for each puppy?

N)    Do they speak and act like experienced breeders?

O)    Do they provide a certified copy of a pedigree for the puppies?

An answer of “NO” to too many of these questions could mean that the breeder is not up to the standards that you might be looking for when choosing your Best Friend and Hunting Buddy for the next 12-14 years.  Reputable breeders will very likely command a significant amount more for their pups than the average “backyard breeding”.  Most of these backyard breeding greatest credentials are “parents hunt”, or “great nose”, or “AKC”.  Some even state “pedigree”.  Every breeder should provide you with a certified pedigree for that litter.  These type ads are found in every newspaper-classified section across the country.  Always be very cautious in choosing your breeder.  An extra couple hundred dollars up front is a very good insurance policy against several hundred dollars spent on bad health or products of bad breeding.  Not to mention the heartbreak of spending 2 years of time , money and effort into training and caring for a dog only to find him coming up lame at 3 years old because of the product of a bad breeding.  

 

2.     Evaluating A Pedigree

  A pedigree is merely a document showing the family tree of your dog.  Any purebred registered dog can have a pedigree.  The American Kennel Club (AKC) is one agency that maintains registration records and registers purebred dogs.  The United Kennel Club (UKC) and the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) are two other recognized registries. The most common registry in the United States is the AKC.  Pedigrees can be provided by any number of entities, some of which include all known titles regardless of which organization awarded them.  These are by far the best pedigrees to evaluate a puppy, as they are all inclusive rather than restricted to one entity.

When evaluating a pedigree, you want to look for a few basic elements.  One important element of a pedigree is the Field titles.  A pup with a large number of Field Titles in its pedigree is much more likely to exhibit better hunting traits than one without such proven lineage. It should be noted that a pedigree obtained from the AKC will only show field titles awarded by the AKC.  Therefore, Canadian Field Champion titles will not appear on an AKC pedigree, and vice-versa.  Some typical Field titles seen on pedigrees are:

• Field Champion (FC)
• Amateur Field Champion (AFC)
• Canadian Field Champion (CFC)
• Grand Master Hunting Retriever (GMHR)
• National Field Champion (NFC)
• Master Hunting Retriever (MHR)
• Master Hunter (MH)
• Senior Handler (SH)
• Working Retriever (WR)
•  Started Retriever (SR)

Another important element that can be evaluated by a pedigree is to see if line breeding or in-breeding has been performed.  Although there are a very small number of people who condone line breeding and in-breeding, it is generally a very-frowned upon practice.  Generally speaking, Line-bred or In-Bred pups should be avoided. 

3.     Picking Your Puppy

Now that you have chosen a breeder and a particular litter of puppies, its time to choose your pup.   The first questions that need to be answered are;  Do I want a male or a female? Do I want a larger or smaller conformation dog? Do I want a laid back temperament, or do I want a tightly wound dog?  Do I want a more dependent or independent dog.  Basically, you need to decide in your mind, based on the duties and lifestyle the dog will be assigned, just what kind of a dog you are seeking.

  If you have done your homework well, and are dealing with a reputable breeder, this is the time to ask their input.  In fact, many times it is more beneficial to convey your wants, needs and desires in a dog, and have the breeder make the choice for you.  If they are indeed good breeders, they have already been looking at the temperaments of the individual puppies.  Since they have seen them in action daily, they have a better idea of which puppies are becoming the more dominant and which are more submissive.  They can tell which ones are extremely birdy, and which ones are brave verses a little more timid.  By communicating with your breeder just what you are seeking in a puppy, you should be able to get adequate feedback to assist in making your decision.  The reason the breeder or caretakers input is so important is because they see them every day, and can detect their patterns.  The problems with a brief visit to pick a puppy are that you may be experiencing this puppy on any given period of his sleep-eat-playhard-lay around cycle.  Just because one is puppy acting very laid back at any given moment may not indicate that is his normal behavior pattern. He may just be getting wound down.  Hence, the importance of the breeders/caretakers input.  The next test for any hunting dog is to see how they respond to a taped winged pigeon.  Some puppies will jump right in and drag them around, where some might have an interest, but are not quite ready to jump in and grab it.  Another good test is to call the puppies from a distance and see which respond well in coming to you.  Bear in mind that when puppies are first let out of the cage, they come readily, but after a while of romping, they tend to not come to you so quickly.  The more time you can allocate to spending with the available puppies, the better chance you will have at evaluating their individual potential for your own purposes, whatever they might be.  Make as many site visits as your geography and time will allow and ask the breeder as many questions as possible.  Now that you have chosen "Super Pup", take him/her home and give them your patience, time, love and understanding.  The payback will be 100 fold.    Happy Training and may you and your new best friend have many happy days in the field enjoying life together.     

Rick Steenhoven

North Country Kennels