The Best Place to Source a Puppy

So you decide that you want a dog.  You have researched the breeds and made your decision on a breed that will suit your lifestyle, budget and experience but where do you find a good breeder and a good litter?

There are few places you definitely should NOT go and those are sites like preloved and similar, where people advertise puppies, dogs for re-homing and all manner of other things free of charge.  You should not go to a pet shop (yes there are still a few that sell puppies) nor should you go to a kennels advertising lots of different breeds.

There is the Kennel Club Puppy Finder site which tells you of litters available but you should also exercise caution here as there are Kennel Club Assured Breeders and those that can just pay to advertise a KC registered litter.  The Assured Breeder Scheme does give you a little more peace of mind but not masses.  The KC being the KC only enforce rules that benefit them and there are still puppy farmers and prolific breeders who have attained KCABS status.

In my opinion the safest place to go to choose a puppy is to the breed clubs themselves.  You can usually be assured that people that are members of the breed club and have registered their litters with them are really focused on producing the best of the breed.   They will only be able to register their litters on the breed clubs puppy list if they have followed the rules set out by the club and these are usually much stricter than those set out by the KC.

Once you have found a litter then go along and see them before you even think of bringing one home.  You need to feel like your breeder is assessing your worthiness to take one of their puppies and you should feel comfortable with the breeder.  Do you feel you could call them if you had a problem?  Do they seem knowledgeable about the breed?  Do the puppies look happy and playful? 

The breeder should have the KC registration documents there ready to go with your puppy and they should also have you sign an agreement that covers what to do if you can't look after your puppy amongst other things.  Many breeders now endorse the pups pedigrees so that you cannot breed from them without the breeder lifting the endorsement.  This is a safe guard to ensure that people aren't cashing in on the dogs that they buy by breeding them for nothing more than the money aspect but be sure to ask about this.  Also your breeder should provide you with a information on feeding, worming and general routine of the pup and food to take home to tide you over until you can get the puppy more.

If you are looking for a crossbreed puppy then my advice here is much the same, stay away from the free ads and the ads in the local paper for some odd mix or another but instead of the KC you should contact local rescues first.  They have puppies and young dogs looking for homes as well as older dogs and by getting a crossbreed from a rescue you are helping to halt the supply and demand culture of over breeding.

Choosing a puppy is a mine field, you know the trouble that I have had with our KC registered puppy and it's easy to say listen to your head not your heart but when you get there and see the puppies your head can shout all it likes, your heart will be the one that makes the final decision, just try and be sure that it is the right one.

Ehren Update - dealing with the playbiting

Morning all,
I know you have been waiting for the next instalment but I had a brain freeze and couldn't log in to my blog account.  Hopefully that has now been resolved and I won't have problems in the future.  I am dog trainer not a tech wizard and find many things technical beyond my understanding.

I have changed the spelling of our pups name for those who missed it - Ehren means Enlightened, mountain of strength and she really is.  She has been symptom free since last Sunday and has gained a kilo this week so we are hopeful that recovery is on the cards.  She finished her medication Friday and will go back to the vets next week for more blood tests to see if her counts have levelled out and she can be vaccinated.  We still have no diagnosis of what was wrong which is concerning but at least she is better.

One of my team expressed their disappointment in me buying a sick puppy but until Ehren had something to eat there was nothing to cause any concern.  Jim and I went on the Sunday to check out the litter and I went back on the Monday to see her again with a friend who has more knowledge of 'shape' than I do, none of us saw anything concerning until Ehren was fed.  I would say to you all that I did make a mistake as I purchased a puppy without insurance and from a breeder who had no idea about anything.  My knowledge has helped in a lot of ways because as soon as we saw something was wrong I was at the vets and because of my relationship with my vet they didn't mess around, we saw a specialist the same day.  Without that knowledge it is quite feasible that Ehren and her 2 affected litter sisters would have died but it never helped us avert the upset we have been through the past couple of weeks and the battle I now have to get recompense from the breeder. 

Anyone who is thinking of buying a puppy should be sure that they come with free insurance that the breeder should activate when you collect them, they should also come with clear information sheets about feeding and worming routine to date and from a breeder that has a care for the pups and not the cash.  I have perpetuated the cashing in on the sale of pups which I am ashamed of and though not puppy farming its not really much better when all they were concerned about was making money. 

If you are looking for a pedigree puppy then go through the breed clubs, not the KC Puppy Finder site as I did and if in any doubt walk away because once that puppy is in your arms and out the door then they are yours and though good sense says you should return them, your heart won't allow it.

In herself for the most part Ehren is a normal, naughty puppy who plays and runs around and falls over and generally loves life.  Not knowing what was happening has been traumatic all round and because of this Ehren has turned into a bit of a brat.  She has been spoilt already with time and attention not only because we were watching her constantly for signs of pain or collapse or even to see if she was still breathing but we were working on her housetraining and looking for signs that she needed to 'go'. 

Ehren is a very bitey puppy.  She has the eyes of an angel but the lock of a pitbull and when she is in one of her moods it has been difficult to manage.  Some of it I have put down to the fact that she has been in pain with whatever has been going on with her (I am a new puppy mummy after all and have to make excuses for her behaviour) but some of it I put down to the fact that she is a puppy with no idea about bite inhibition. 

Now, I tell all you new puppy owners to find a noise and a pitch that interrupts the behaviour and to praise the puppy when they let go.  Ehren has had other ideas about this even though I keep reminding her that this is how Mummy makes her living and it would be helpful if she would comply!  We have resorted to giving her a toy and leaving the room or putting her in her crate for a little down time when she gets really over the top.  Her biting is getting better very slowly and there are just a few times a day when it is really bad such as when we first get up in the morning (she hasn't seen us all night) and when she has been left for a while, which of course to any puppy feels like days even though she has the other dogs with her.  I am going with a bit of ignoring at these times and just walk with her into the garden so she can do her business and this seems to temper it a bit and lets the initial over-excitement die down a little.

 

Whilst I am battling with the biting and my arms currently look like I have taken to self-harming, she is clean as a whistle and asks to go in the garden and has done since day 2 of being with us.  I have no accidents in the house and I know in a way I am luckier than most as I have time to spend with her and a very small house but it is vigilance and persistence that has also ensured I am not mopping up puppy pee every 5 minutes.

We have adhered to my mantra of taking her in the garden as soon as she wakes up, when she has been fed and when she has been playing and any time in between that we think there is a chance she will pee or poop and we have waited with her to see if she will go.  I am covered in gnat bites from the night time garden visits but I have a puppy that is clean indoors.  As soon as she squats down to do her business we give a verbal command of 'wee wee's and lots of verbal praise when she has finished and she is well on her way to squeezing out the littlest pee on command.  At least she read the part of my booklet about housetraining and I don't need to re-write that!

Our new addition

So after sitting down and deciding that we wouldn't take on another pup in the near future I promptly went out and got a longhaired Weimaraner puppy. 
It seemed like fate when I saw the pictures of her on a friends time line and then our fun day was cancelled because of the flooding and I actually managed to convince Jim that it was the right decision as well!
Ehren joined out little family on Monday 26th August 2013 and I was totally smitten.  She is a lovely, balanced and brave little girl and seemed to wander in here like she owned the place.  The others have taken to her really well but we have had a bit of a journey so far.
On Tuesday morning I noticed that after Ehren had eaten, she went up on her tip toes and lost all co-ordination, I thought it was the shock of wading through one of Colin's monster morning pee's.  Gave her a cuddle and popped her in her bed for a little while and she seemed fine.
Jim took her to work as I had a job to go out to and he fed her mid morning and the same thing happened, only worse, she was totally unable to stand and then began to limp afterwards.  We thought that I had over fed her and she had wind or something.
This went on after every feed so she was due for a vet check and her first jab so on Wednesday so got the earliest appointment I could and took her food with me so the vet could see exactly what happens after she has eaten.  They were quite shocked and concerned and suggested that we see a specialist immediately.  Our vet called the specialist and as she was only in Corringham she said she would pop over and have a look.  She ruled out a shunt but felt there was definitely something serious wrong and referred us to another specialist the next day.
Me being me had to ask questions and the answers I got were really worrying and heart breaking.  She had only been with us a couple of days but she had already stolen our hearts and I know in these sort of scenarios the best course of action is to return a sickly pup to the breeder but I could no more return her than give one of the others away.
When I spoke to the breeder she had noticed similar behaviour in one of the other bitch pups in the litter and took her off to the vet, she didn't feed her pup at the vet and it was the little runt of the litter and her vet suggested a change of food would solve the problem.  When I explained what our vet had said she was very concerned. 
Ehren's fourth day with us was spent at another specialists being poked, prodded and pulled about.  Having more bloods done and still no answers.  A few things were categorically ruled out but no firm diagnosis so we still didn't know if Ehren would survive, if she would die in her sleep or what was going to happen.
The other bitch puppy that the breeder still had came down with the same symptoms so now all 3 of the bitches were affected but still none of the dogs.
We had medication for Ehren and started feeding her every 2-3 hours so try and alleviate the symptoms a bit.
Saturday night we ended up at the emergency vets as the poor little one hadn't poo'd in 24 hours and was in some real distress.  She had to suffer the indignity and discomfort of a finger up her bum to help her.
Sunday was our fun day and Ehren seemed brighter and the symptoms after feeding were definitely getting shorter.  By Sunday night we had a normal puppy, no signs of the co-ordination problems, no falling over and happy and playful but she still wasn't pooing.
Normal puppies eat, pee, poo, play and sleep.  It should be like clockwork, what goes in must come out in waste products and energy but that wasn't happening so Monday afternoon I had another chat with the vet and she is now on a laxative as well as her meds.

The blood results for her are very concerning as she has incredibly low white cell and globulin counts which means she has no immune system.  The vets and the specialists are baffled as to why and it is now a waiting game to see if anything else comes up from other blood tests and if after the medications the symptoms return and the blood counts level out.  They do not think it is an infection because none of the dog puppies have been affected so they still think it is something that they have developed in vetro (in the womb).  Time will tell but at the moment she is a normal, happy and very naughty puppy.
As someone who earns a living telling new puppy owners how to behave around their puppies my friend has suggested that I fill you in with the problems that I have with Ehren and how I get over them.  It has been 9 years since I had a pup as young as Ehren and I truly had forgotten how time consuming and how much hard work it was.
So now that I have filled you in on the Ehren's background I will share my puppy raising problems and tips.
More tomorrow on how we are dealing with her biting and her tantrums at bed time.

What a lovely day

Today was beautiful, a reminder that summer hasn't totally left us yet.  Warm and bright the only down side was that the grass at our field still hasn't been cut but that didn't deter many.
The groups were full of fun and play and lots happening as always.  The pups were learning their recalls and field commands plus lots more.  The owners were learning when to break it up and when to leave it alone, what their pups were saying to each other and how to cope best living with a puppy.  We all know how hard that can be at times.
Our later class saw Treacle the DDB actually joining a group.  She is a strong girl and a lot to handle but she coped well today and so did Terry & Lesley.  Well done.
Reuben & Tilly spent the class with me working on their reactionary behaviour.  It went really well and the owners went away with lots of new things to practice.
The classes, be they for puppy or problem dog are about us educating the owner on how to connect and correct their dogs behaviours.  It is a long road for some but we offer support every step of the way.
Well done to everyone.

What are we to do???

I have just read about yet another dog biting a child in Southend. A terrible event where a young lad was playing in the sea when a rotweiller attacked him leaving him with over 20 puncture wounds and the report says that the boy is still in hospital. The irresponsible owner, a man with 2 rotweillers off lead on the beach, where he shouldn't even have been, ran away!!
Last month a child was bitten whilst just standing there on Southchurch Road and again the owners just carried on walking even though the Mother of the child shouted that their dog had just bitten her child.
The amount of responsible dog owners that I speak to who have had their dogs attacked and again the owners just walk or run away leaving them with large vet bills to pay seems to be more and more common place.
Such cowardice from the owners never mind their irresponsible attitude to dog ownership leaves me incensed.
I am a dog lover, as a trainer I promote responsible dog ownership yet how can I stand up and be counted when this sort of thing continues in our town?  I was one of the people who campaigned against the introduction of dog control orders which made so many areas no-go for dogs, I have been approached by a local councillor to join a committee to help make Southend more dog friendly, I see so many responsible dog owners who want their dogs to be a part of their day to day lives and fit into their lives as members of the family yet it is the irresponsible few that are spoiling it for everyone.
I was at an event with the dog warden last week and we were discussing the difficulties of over coming 'the thug dog' mentality that the whole country is facing. The Dangerous Dogs Act is being repealed but how effective that will be remains to be seen, the last one and its amendments have been a waste of time. No one seems to know what to do and no one enforces it.

As the owner of a rotweiller I am concerned that yet again this loving and gentle breed has been brought into the headlines for the wrong reasons.  As a behaviourist & trainer I am appaled at the total lack of responsibility that the owner of the rotti showed and of the owners of dogs that have attacked other dogs.

What is to be done to resolve this? 

In Singapore there are strict rules to obtain a dog, firstly you have to be deemed fit to obtain a license, you must prove that you have suitable accomodation, income and commitment and it is the same in other countries yet in the UK we allow the over-breeding of our dogs, we have online sites where any fool can buy a cheap dog, our rescue centres are over run with staffie types that they are so desparate to rehome that they send them to anyone who wants one and has a garden.  There is no license, nothing to prove an ongoing commitment to the dog, they are a status symbol, a designer accessory, a thing to be passed off when they have become to difficult or you just can't be bothered.

A sad state of affairs for a 'nation of animal lovers'.

A few new ones in the puupy groups today:-

Cookie, a lovely little chi x JRT, a playful lad and at a year old just little bit over-confident in how far he ranges.

Judy, the 25 week old Border Terrior puppy has been causing her owners a bit of embarressment creating a scen on lead when she sees other dogs.   A normal behaviour for the growing, excitable and overly social pup.

Buster the rescue beagle made his voice heard, nothing like the lovely bay of a beagle.

There was some great progress in the groups as well:-

Amy the Bichon done so well today, playing and getting involved. It was testament to how far she has progressed as her Mum, Ann was actually on the field today & confident in her handling. Ann has been very nervous for Amy since she got spooked by a dog at Christmas and went missing for 4 hours, crossing lots of busy roads in all the snow.  

Rasmus, the Podenco x done well today as well, a Spanish rescue dog, he is very playful but could be a little overwhelmed when they all wanted to play back. He is with us to work on his recall & he is doing well.  

The second class was great as well, Tetley the boxer coped really well when confronted with a young entire male & a crazy EBT (no offence Boycie, you know we love you)

Marley, the JRT was ranging out today as well and playfully interacting with the other dogs & it was a mixed sized group out there with him today.

A couple of the owners have asked if anyone wants to meet up in the week for a walk at another location.  Let me have your details if you want me to pass them on.
 

Tips of the day.  
If your dog or puppy is 'shouting' at other dogs when they are on lead, just turn and head in the opposite direction until they calm down and then try again. It doesn't matter if they are barking through excitement or nerves, remove them and try again. 
 
If your dog doesn't always come back when they are called then use a running line. Our instructors are always happy to show you how to use one and just think, every time your dog ignores you when you call them you make your recall command less effective. This is one of the most important things you will ever teach your dog, it's a life saver so don't mess it up.

The sun has got its hat on....

We are all enjoying the warmer weather and although I nag you all at the classes about keeping your dogs cool and being aware when travelling, I can't help but nag you again.  Check out the website and FB page for our information on 'Keeping your dog cool this summer'.
We have had some great new dogs join the groups over the past couple of weeks:- A Podenco,  a chihuahua, a chihuahua x JRT, a JRT, an Irish setter, a border collie,  and the list goes on and on.  I will post some photos and keep you updated on their progress.
Chilli has been trying the waters in the puppy class now and is doing so well, she has really turned a corner, meeting and greeting really well, just the lead issue to settle down now.  Basil is growing well and providing a lovely foil for Chilli's exuberance.
Rubens, the Jack-a-bea is improving, he had some quiet fun today which is always a blessing as he does like to be heard.
Miss Olive has had us worried with a womb infection (pyometra), these are serious things, luckily hers was an open pyo and as I got her to the vets before she became poorly the antibiotics seem to have done the trick.  She will be spayed in 6 weeks unless the infection kicks in again.
I would urge all of you who have entire bitches to monitor them closely during and after their seasons, pyometras can be fatal if the infection takes hold. Have a read of the Wikipedia info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyometra.  I am all for spaying bitches but as a behaviourist I prefer them to have one season first, Miss Olive was on her second as I simply forgot to get her booked in.  Luckily I noticed the signs before she was too ill.