Good Breeder? Need Help

[crswinne]

We are currently looking for our 2nd boxer to bring into our home. Our first boxer Nala passed away from a congenital heart failure at 7 months. After spending a lot of money trying to correct this issue or at least slow it down it finally got the best of her. Now we are ready to bring another boxer into our home because after Nala we know that it is the only breed for us.

However, we are hesitant on the breeder that we are going to use this time because it is obvious that our last breeder was less than reputable. Here is the current information I have from a possible breeder we are looking at and I would like any possible tips:

This Female should be one for the keeping, multiple champions on both Mom and Dad. This puppy comes with Full AKC Registration, Health Guarantee, Health certificate, Vet Checked, First Shots, and lots of Love. This puppy has been raised with children and with lots of TLC. All of our puppies are Family Raised, 16 years of experince. We love our dogs and feed them the only the best, and lots of TLC. AKC registered, Health guarantee, parents on site, vet checked.

By simply looking at this preliminary information does this breeder seem reputable? I have emailed the breeder additional questions that I found on the boxerworld site in order to ensure how reputable they are.

 

[LILYLARUE]

Anyone can make any claims on their breeding practices. BUT doesn't mean they actually follow their own rules! Definitely wait to hear the answers. And then ask more questions! A reputible breeder will respect a potential owner who does research and makes sure they are contributing to a good line, not a bad breeder. AND a reputible breeder sure will respect that the potential owner is pro-active in choosing their pup - what better home than one that is willing to go the full gammot?!

You can always post their replies here and get opinions if any red flags or worrisome answers!

 

[entelekia]

You want to ask for actual PROOF of the health testing of the sire and dam of the litter. This means either copies or have them give you the full registered name of the dogs and you can look them up on the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals - Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) if they have submitted the results.

You should be looking for at least Hips, Cardiac and CERF test results.

Hips test results should be Xrays reviewed by an orthopedic vet, Cardiac test results should be a 24 holter monitor test reviewed by a board certified cardiologist and CERF is testing to prevent heritable eye diseases.

If they can't/won't provide you with proof of any or all of these tests - walk away. Some breeders don't do CERF on boxers, and that's a call you can make, but you should be absolutely sure that the parents both have been tested for hips and hearts. You've already learned the lesson the hard way (I'm sorry about your puppy).

Hope that helps.

 

[Caney Creek]

This Female should be one for the keeping, multiple champions on both Mom and Dad. This puppy comes with Full AKC Registration, Health Guarantee, Health certificate, Vet Checked, First Shots, and lots of Love. This puppy has been raised with children and with lots of TLC. All of our puppies are Family Raised, 16 years of experince. We love our dogs and feed them the only the best, and lots of TLC. AKC registered, Health guarantee, parents on site, vet checked.

These are the things that raise an eyebrow for me:

multiple champions on both Mom and Dad. That's great, but it would be better if Mom, or Dad, or both dogs, were champions as well. This doesn't necessarily mean the breeder is a BYB, however advertising "champion bloodlines" is something that BYB's commonly do. I would want to see the pup's 5-generation pedigree to see how closely related those champions are.

Full AKC Registration. Does this mean that they have evaluated the puppy and determined it to be show quality? Reputable breeders usually only give full registration to pups who are going to be shown in conformation; puppies going to pet homes come with limited registration.

Health Guarantee. That's pretty vague... the health guarantee should be for at least 2 years against congenital defects.

Parents on site. Kind of the same scenario as "champion bloodlines"... it doesn't necessarily mean this is a BYB, however it is rare for a reputable breeder to own both parents. Most often when two dogs living under the same roof are bred together it is out of convenience, not because they were the best possible match for one another.

There is no mention of any health testing done on the parents.

Overall I think this advertisement is pretty vague and generic, there are NO "buzzwords" that indicate to me that they are knowledgeable about the boxer breed standard, health testing, or ethical breeding practices. My guess would be that this is a BYB... I'm interested to find out what answer you get from them.