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Puppy Visitation Checklist
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1. Do you see AKC registration papers for the sire and the
dam? |
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2. Do you see AKC litter registration papers for the
puppies? |
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3. Are the surroundings clean? |
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4. Are the puppies clean? |
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5. Are the puppies in the house? (on a nice day, they can be
outside) |
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6. Do the puppies have clear eyes? |
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7. Are the puppies plump, not fat, but well covered? |
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8. Do the puppies want to be petted? |
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9. Is the breeder a member of GDCA or an affiliate Great
Dane club?
WARNING! Unethical breeders have slipped
through the net. |
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10. Do you see OFA or PennHip certificates on the sire and
dam? |
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11. Does a Certified Pedigree have OFA numbers in the second
and
third generations and back further? |
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12. Do you see some sort of cardiac screening on sire and
dam? |
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13. Do you see thyroid test results (full panel done by MSU,
Cornell,
University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic
Lab, UC Davis,
Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab and/or
Oxford Labs
TgAA Negative)? |
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14. Are there CERF numbers? |
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15. Any other health screening like VwD or other OFA
numbers? |
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16. Is the sire a champion of record? |
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17. Is the dam a champion of record? |
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18. Do you see championship certificates? |
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19. Are the sire and dam being shown in the conformation
ring? |
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20. Do you see any show pictures with the word “Winners”,
“Best
of Winners”, “Best of Breed”, or “Best of
Opposite Sex”? |
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21. Do you see any obedience title certificates? |
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22. Do you see any agility title certificates? |
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23. Do you see any Canine Good Citizen certificates? |
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24. Do you see any Therapy Dogs, Inc. tags? |
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25. Does the breeder ask you if you have a fenced in yard? |
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26. Does the breeder want to see your home? |
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27. Does the breeder have a sales agreement? |
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28. Will the breeder take back dogs he/she has bred? |
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29. Does the breeder have any warranties against health
problems? |
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30. Do these warranties last longer than two years? |
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31. Does the breeder require limited registration on
strictly companion
puppies with a spay/neuter clause in the sales
agreement? |
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32. Was the dam bred when she was at least two years old or
older?
It is preferable if the dam is at least
three years old. They have
more physical and mental maturity |
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33. Have the puppies been checked for worms, proven in
writing? |
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34. Have the puppies been wormed? |
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35. Have the puppies received age appropriate shots? |
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36. Does the breeder have a schedule of vaccinations? |
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37. Do you see the dam in person? |
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38. Can the breeder point out conformation faults of the
sire and dam? |
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39. Can the breeder point out conformation faults of the
puppies? |
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40. Does the breeder have on hand a copy of the AKC
standard? |
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41. Does the breeder supply you with at least two
references? |
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42. Does the breeder ask you for references? |
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43. Does the breeder ask you for the name of your vet? |
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44. Have you screened this vet for emergency bloat procedure
capabilities? |
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45. Does the breeder breed two litters or less (preferable)
a year? |
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46. Are you supplied with a color coded pedigree of at least
3
generations (champion names are written in red,
non champion
names are written in black)? |
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47. Do you see an AKC Certified Pedigree on both the sire
and dam? |
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48. Are there at least three champions on each side of the
pedigree
in the first three generations? (a minimum of six
total) |
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49. Are colors, i.e. fawn, brindle, black, blue, harlequin,
mantle marked
on the pedigree beside each dog’s name? |
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50. For a fawn and/or brindle litter, do you see only fawns
and brindles
marked on the pedigree? |
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51. For a black and/or blue litter, do you see only blues
and blacks
marked on the pedigree? |
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52. For a black, mantle and harlequin litter, do you see
only blacks,
harlequins, mantles or black and white dogs
marked on the pedigree? |
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53. Does the breeder offer you a health history of longevity
and
illnesses of the sire and dam, going back at
least three
generations and preferably five generations? |
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54. Is the breeder willing to disclose health problems in
the line?
Be sure to focus on hip dysplasia, Wobblers, SAS,
bloat,
Cardiomyopathy and other heart problems,
cataracts,
glaucoma, autoimmune deficiencies (hair loss and
food
allergies are signs), etc.
There are problems in EVERY line. |
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55. |
Does the breeder have pictures of the relatives of the
litter as far back as five generations? |
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56. Is the dam of the litter permanently identified either
with a microchip
or with a tattoo? A DNA number alone is not
sufficient. |
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57. Do you see proof of either microchip or tattoo? |
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58. Do you see DNA certificate for the sire and dam? |
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59. Are you able to see the WHOLE litter? If not, why not? |
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60. Has the breeder been participating in showing and
training Great
Danes for over fifteen years? |
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61. Do you see proof of past achievements of the breeder? |
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62. Do the names on the registration papers match names on
all paper work? |
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63. Has the breeder resided at this address less than a
year? |
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64. Has the breeder resided at this address less than five
years? |
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65. Has the breeder resided at this address less than ten
years? |
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66. Does the breeder have a mentor(s)? |
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67. Can you talk to the breeder’s mentor(s)? |
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68. Does the breeder listen and answer questions more than
talk? |
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69. There is NOT an emphasis on one particular dog in the
pedigree. |
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70. Has the breeder ever owner-handled a dog to an AKC
championship? |
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71. Does the breeder tell you NOT to breed this puppy? |
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| 72. |
Do you see dogs older than five years old residing with
the breeder?
If not, ask where the older dogs are? Maybe the
breeder hasn’t been breeding for as long as claimed or there is no
longevity or there is a pattern of disposing of “useless” (no
longer breedable) dogs. |
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| 73. |
Are the puppy instructions authored by the breeder with
procedures taken from the breeder’s experiences and not a collection of
readings copied off the internet? |
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74.The breeder is not willing to ship the puppy. |
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If there are a number of checks (more than 25) in the NO
column, reconsider buying a puppy from this breeder. Health screenings are
VERY important. Be wary of excuses. There is absolutely NO excuse for not
performing health tests. Ask to see proof. Health tests are NOT the same as
vet checks. Know the difference.
The dam and
sire should be participating in some sort of activity. These activities are
ultimately temperament tests and will assure you that the dam and sire are
stable in their temperament.
Ask questions and feel comfortable with your purchase. Don’t
let the breeder belittle you and make you feel ignorant. You are spending
your hard earned money for a companion for many years to come. You want the
best.
The longer a breeder resides at one address, the better
proof of stability. You may not have a “disappearing” breeder.
Also, remember that conscientious breeders have spent their
time and money to raise their litters. Think of it in these terms. If
everything has been done correctly, a litter of six puppies has probably
cost a conscientious breeder $4,800 or more. They are not getting rich by
having these puppies. Conscientious breeders breed for the love of the Great
Dane so respect their questions and don’t take them personally.
Conscientious breeders want to be assured that their precious babies will
have the best of everything.
As a test, ask the breeder why this litter was bred in the
first place. The CORRECT answer is that the breeder wanted something to keep
for himself/herself, to show, to train, to improve the conformation of the
dam, not because it was money in the bank or the kids wanted to see the
miracle of birth or the dam needed to have a litter of puppies before she
was spayed or since they had the two dogs, they thought it was a good idea
to let them mate. These are the people who have no business breeding dogs.
Good Luck!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me:
Jo Kurtz
P.O. Box 63
Princeton, ID 83857
208-875-0311
Fax 208-875-8921
hofkurz@potlatch.com
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