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Questions concerning a reputable breeder

5.7K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  Markie  
#1 ·
Hello! My name is April and I'm very happy that I found this forum! I haven't had a dog since I was a child and my family and I finally decided on adopting a Husky puppy. I did some research and found a breeder in my area. However... When I posted my excitement on Facebook a friend of mine went off the deep end about me purchasing from a breeder...she wanted to know who it was so I let her see the site. She continued to go on and on about the correct papers on the parents stating "She should have papers on the parent from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals and the Canine Eye Registry foundation (otherwise known as OFA and CERF)". Obviously I know nothing about all of this since I'm new to the whole puppy thing. I did work as a vet tech for 3 years but I'm not at all familiar with the breeding issues. Would someone be willing to look at this persons website and tell me if you see and "red flags". My friends swears this person is horrible. I'm so upset because we've already picked out our puppy and my 8yr old son is so excited about getting him! Darn Facebook! I should've kept my piehole shut! Thanks everyone! April. Here's the site tshuskies.com
 
#2 ·
Your friend is right. Please do not purchase from that breeder. Find a reputable breeder, or adopt a pup from a rescue.
 
#3 ·
Hi! Welcome to Dog Forum.

Good for you for doing some research before buying a puppy. I'm not familiar with huskies, but these are the Guidelines for Ethical Breeding from the Siberian Husky Club of America. The first few points under stud and brood bitch refer to specific testing and considerations for breeding:

The brood bitch should be OFA certified free of radiological evidence of hip dysplasia.
Eyes should be diagnosed as free from genetic disorders by a canine ophthalmologist once yearly.
There are additional considerations, too. This breeder comparison matrix is a nice overview of types of breeders. Here is a recent thread about finding a breeder, and stickies on Considerations Before Buying a Puppy, and Puppy Mills, Pet Stores and Back Yard Breeders (BYB's).

It might seem overwhelming, but it's worth the time to really look for a good breeder since you'll have your puppy for many, many years and you want them to be happy and healthy years.:)Looking at the site you shared, I don't see any evidence of health testing (the OFA and CERF tests your friend mentioned), titles or other means of proving* the dogs, and I'm not sure about a 1 year health guarantee (in poodles, a 1 year guarantee is fairly worthless as many issues don't appear until dogs are older). You'd certainly want to ask many questions of the breeder.

I'm sure there are folks here who can offer specific information about huskies. :)

Good luck in your search!

* By proving, I mean working and/or competing with their dogs. Things like conformation titles (you might see dogs identified as Champion [Kennel Name] [Dog Name]), performance / sports titles (like agility, obedience, rally, sled racing, hunt/retrieve) which appear at the end of a name ([Kennel Name] [Dog Name] UD / NAP / TDX), or actual real world work (like search and rescue, law enforcement).
 
#5 ·
Hi! Welcome to Dog Forum.

Good for you for doing some research before buying a puppy. I'm not familiar with huskies, but these are the Guidelines for Ethical Breeding from the Siberian Husky Club of America. The first few points under stud and brood bitch refer to specific testing and considerations for breeding:


There are additional considerations, too. This breeder comparison matrix is a nice overview of types of breeders. Here is a recent thread about finding a breeder, and stickies on Considerations Before Buying a Puppy, and Puppy Mills, Pet Stores and Back Yard Breeders (BYB's).

It might seem overwhelming, but it's worth the time to really look for a good breeder since you'll have your puppy for many, many years and you want them to be happy and healthy years.:)Looking at the site you shared, I don't see any evidence of health testing (the OFA and CERF tests your friend mentioned), titles or other means of proving* the dogs, and I'm not sure about a 1 year health guarantee (in poodles, a 1 year guarantee is fairly worthless as many issues don't appear until dogs are older). You'd certainly want to ask many questions of the breeder.

I'm sure there are folks here who can offer specific information about huskies. :)

Good luck in your search!

* By proving, I mean working and/or competing with their dogs. Things like conformation titles (you might see dogs identified as Champion [Kennel Name] [Dog Name]), performance / sports titles (like agility, obedience, rally, sled racing, hunt/retrieve) which appear at the end of a name ([Kennel Name] [Dog Name] UD / NAP / TDX), or actual real world work (like search and rescue, law enforcement).
WoW! Thank you so much for all of this great info! I had no idea about all of this. I'll look into it! Thanks! April
 
#6 ·
The health section on the breeders site is a joke, it tells nothing about the genetic health problems Siberian Huskies can have, or the testing she's done to make sure her dogs are free of it. The links on the health page link to a different site that is generic and not geared toward Huskies

If you do decide to go with that breeder, ask about OAF and CERF and ask if you can see the results. Ask to visit the dogs and spend time with them so that you know their temperaments. Ask if any of the dogs are titled.

What I don't like about the site is that it basically tells you nothing about the dogs, nothing on the dogs. Maybe she has done the test and is just not advertising it, that's why I said to ask. It doesn't say much about the dogs temperament.

She's charging $150 more for white pups, it's a rarer color not a super dog...

She's letting buyers choose the puppy, not getting to know the pups first and making sure the right pup goes to the right family. What a person with a super busy house chooses a very timid, shy, pup?

She's letting the pups go at 8 weeks of age, not horrid, but it's best to keep them till they are 10 to 12 weeks.

Check out #7 on her contract. She's not saying that she WILL take the dog back if the buyer cannot keep it. It's just saying that she'd like to have the first option to take it back or re-home it. A reputable breeder WILL ALWAYS take the dog back.
 
#9 ·
I must add that white is a recessive gene in the breed, and is not acceptable in the show ring.
Granted I have not read the site yet, but having been in that Breed years ago, I surely will.

Breeders back then would not consider a white Husky rare, that in itself bothers me.

I did show this breed, raced and even bred this breed, only after having all the tests required, and the parents had their CH titles.

Like I said, I will read the site later.
 
#7 ·
A few more helpful links for you (applicable to all breeds):

Golden Gate Labrador Retriever Club ::: Responsible Breeders
Labrador Puppy Checklist
Dog Breeders

When you buy from anyone other than a responsible/reputable/ethical breeder, aside from taking even higher chances on an unhealthy/poor-tempered dog, you are supporting someone who contributes to animals in shelters/being put to sleep. Even if you think it's "just one puppy," you're enabling them to keep breeding for the wrong reasons without caring enough to make sure their pups/dogs stay out of shelters.

I'm glad you have a friend who was knowledgeable/outspoken enough to point this out to you. :) Count yourself lucky and don't regret the announcement. She saved you from making a mistake. ;)
 
#8 ·
8 weeks old is fine for puppies to go to new homes. What's not good is from 6- 7 weeks.
Personally, their dogs look fine to me. They have nice coats(besides the woolly red they have), the correct build, and look to be pretty healthy.
But everyone is right, I would choose a breeder that does OFA and CERF testing. I've found show breedes are the best to purchase a puppy from. If you're looking for a really nice one and don't mind shipping, foxfire kennels have a few really amazing puppies available with champion parents that were all genetically tested prior to breeding. Their lineage goes way back, super sturdy and nice too!
 
#10 ·
Innisfree has a full white husky that has won many shows, and is a very nice quality pup. Typically all whites aren't show quality, but there are very few that are show quality and actually win.
Innisfree UR My Drifter Too is the name of the all white sibe on their webpage of "currently showing"
 
#11 ·
A "reputable" breeder will ALWAYS tell you about their health testing and the titles they pursue with their dogs. The site you linked to is very sketchy- firstly they have too many dogs and do not have a kennel name. They only mention that the pups are AKC registered in the contract, which strikes me as very odd. The biggest thing though: they sell these pups with full registration. Even the most lax of "responsible" breeders will sell pups on a spay/neuter contract with partial AKC registration. Selling pups who are not show quality from champion lines with full registration is absolutely irreparably IRRESPONSIBLE! The breeder I got my pup from isn't the very best- she does health test her dogs, but she doesn't compete with them or work to get them titled. She is a small hobby pet breeder. Tribble was on a neuter contract, and that woman called me EVERY MONTH until he was neutered to make sure I stuck to that bargain. I would NEVER consider a breeder who indiscriminately sold pups on a full AKC registration. It is absolutely inexcusable NEGLIGENCE.

I REALLY hope that you do not buy from these people. Please support reputable, responsible breeders or adopt from a shelter. "Breeders" like the site you showed us absolutely make the world a worse place for dogs and dog owners.
 
#12 ·
Nope, nada, nein, nyet, stay away from this so called breeder.
It is a back yard puppy mill, in other words back yard breeder. No talk of hips and eyes, no verifications mentioned.

Any good breeder will take back any of their pups at any age for any reason. I did. They were my responsibility because I had them brought into the world.

This person has done nothing by showing that they have good quality pups.
Sure testimonials, could have been written by themselves.

Plenty of Siberians in shelters, and I know there are Siberian rescue sites.
Please visit them first.
 
#13 ·
Nope, nada, nein, nyet, stay away from this so called breeder.
It is a back yard puppy mill, in other words back yard breeder. No talk of hips and eyes, no verifications mentioned.

Any good breeder will take back any of their pups at any age for any reason. I did. They were my responsibility because I had them brought into the world.

This person has done nothing by showing that they have good quality pups.
Sure testimonials, could have been written by themselves.

Plenty of Siberians in shelters, and I know there are Siberian rescue sites.
Please visit them first.
What I bolded is one of the things that really troubled me about that breeder. She never states that she'll take the dog back if the adopter cannot keep it. Just that she wants to be given the first option to do so, that she will not refund any of the purchase price, and that they shouldn't bring it to a shelter. To me it sounds like she'll take it back if she's got someone lined up to buy it, or if it's a good looking dog she might consider breeding. In other words it's all about the profit. I could be wrong but that's what I got from #7 on the contract.
 
#15 ·
I will stand corrected on the coat color, they have accepted white as a color, but when I was active in showing, white was not accepted.
But that being said, I would still not buy anything from this so called breeder.
 
#16 ·
Yea most breeders will say they will take the dog back if it ends up not working out, but none I know of will refund their money. But I do agree that the contract seems sketchy in terms of giving full registration to just ANYONE. great breeders don't want their dogs lines to be "contaminated," so to say, so they won't let just anyone have full rights. Full typically only goes to established show homes with co-ownership.
I actually just purchased a show puppy from a breeder and had her shipped to me from texas, I could try to upload the contract I was sent when I was inquiring about possibly getting full registration on her for showing purposes (I bought her as limited, but I'm still debating whether or not I want to show her).
 
#17 ·
Sorry, it's a lot to read! But these are the the very basic contracts in reguards to purchasing/breeding/showing/co-owning that typically will come with purchasing from a reputable breeder. Reputable breeders typically have very specific requirements.
I once read a breeders contract requiring the dogs to be fixed before 6 months of age, and only after they were fixed they would send the AKC papers. I would never have agreed to that, mostly because of the benefits of keeping females intact until their first heat, and males until they reach full maturity, but that's just me.
Some get downright ridiculous as far as telling the new owners what they can and can't feed their dogs (like no food higher than 26% protein-- downright stupid as I don't feed mine anything under 28%)
 

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#19 ·
tshuskies.com - Here you go House (or do you prefer Zoo for short?)

Also, like others have said, run away!

I'm seconding the shelter/rescue route. Huskies often show up since they are pretty dogs that need work. So people get them for their looks, realise they are in over their heads, and dump them.
 
#21 ·
You could go to Puppy finder.com and the breeders will tell you if the dogs are OF A and CERF certificated. The USDA( United States department of agriculture) does not make breeders get certified with this two things. Most of the time the vets around don't even have the paper work for it because it's so uncommon. You can have a dog that is ACA APRI or AKC and not have to worry about a blood line. Most of the time AKC breeders won't give full registration. APRI is the loophole for that it's how it started they have the same standards as AKC only full registration only. ACA is the same as APRI only it was never a short cut for AKC buyers to get out of their contract with the AKC they are all three the same thing for the most part. :):) Why do you want a Husky?? :):)