Find A Good Breeder!
How to find a good breeder…
Unfortunately, all too often people will come to our home and tell us how hard it is to find a breeder that cares. Or we are told horror stories about how some “breeders” are treating their pups and adults. To us, this is just so sad. Breeding should be about the LOVE OF THE BREED, not just the money. We believe that puppies should be brought into this world out of love. So we decided to put together a few important things to look for in a good breeder. Even if you don't find your perfect puppy with us, we hope that you find someone reputable to buy from. If you contact a breeder and they do not possess at least most of the qualities, run!!
1. A good breeder will ask many questions about yourself and your lifestyle, they care about their puppies and want to ensure that they go to good homes.
2. A good breeder will allow you to come directly to their home. It should be nice and clean and the dogs should be cared and looked after as pets, not “breeders”. The dogs should also be happy, healthy, and friendly. Shih Tzu's are very social dogs. If you go to a breeder's home and their dogs are aggressive or shy, that might be a reason for concern. Our dogs are always social and love to meet new people.
3. A good breeder breeds in order to improve the breed and produce the best puppies they possibly can. In most cases, when you go to a breeder's home you will be able to meet a few of the past puppies that they have kept for themselves.
4. A good breeder WILL NOT meet you on the side of the road to deliver the puppy to you for cash. **We have made a few exceptions to this rule, if we feel the person is a good match for the puppy and they are a far distance away, under certain circumstances we will meet. However, if the breeder doesn't ask anything about you and is pushing to just meet somewhere, they are likely hiding something and dont want you to see how the pups are raised for whatever reason
5. A good breeder WILL take the puppy back if, for any reason whatsoever, you cannot keep the puppy
6. A good breeder breeds dogs because they admire their breed and want to contribute to its betterment.
7. The breeder should be willing to talk to you on the phone about their pups and have true compassion for their pups. They should be able to tell you about the different personalities in each one of their pups.
8. Good breeders always have their dog's best interest in mind (their males and females too, not just the pups).
9. Most importantly, a good breeder considers the puppies they produce to be their responsibility for the life of that puppy, so they follow up frequently to see what's going on. They call a few days after you bought the pup and continue to be in contact with you throughout your dog’s life. Just think of it this way, if they are not there for you in the beginning and don’t take the time to answer your questions or call about the pup, what makes you think they will care 3 years or even 3 months down the road when you just need some general help (i.e. grooming, housetraining etc)?
When we go out and plan on buying a puppy from someone, we always ask if we can talk to a few people that have bought from them in the past. If they can’t provide a reference from a person who has already bought a pup from them, we won’t buy one of their pups. We insist on buying from someone who genuinely cares about their pups (and their males and females), even after the pup has left their home. We ALWAYS contact everyone who buys one of our pups the next day to make sure he/she has adjusted. We have also kept in contact with most of the people who have bought our puppies over the years.
So please browse around our website and if a certain puppy jumps out at you, give us a call or email us (emails are checked daily), or you can always contact us about future litters. Sometimes we have litters planned or one of our girls is pregnant and we don't always necessarily post on our upcoming litters page until right before the little ones are born.
Page Updated: Sunday October 22nd, 2022
