Personal Pet Consultants
Making the right choice for your furry family member

Frequently Asked Questions

(click question to expand and collapse answer)

How do I locate a reputable breeder?

There are multiple online resources that list breeders and these are a good place to start. However, I have not found an online source that reliably evaluates all breeders for health, socialization, and breed quality. This can really only be determined by visiting the breeder, viewing living conditions, and asking the right questions. A pet consultant, who is familiar with breed standards and has knowledge of local breeders, can help eliminate a lot of the legwork required.

How much time is needed to devote to my new puppy?

A new puppy may need to go outside every few hours during the day. If you work, your puppy will need either to have someone let them out during the day, or access to a pad for elimination.

Getting a new puppy is a lot of work for the first few months, but with proper training you will have a well- mannered dog that will be a wonderful addition to your family.

You will need to watch a young puppy every minute he is running free around your house. Think about toddlers. They are curious, put everything in their mouths, and need to be either watched every moment or put in an area where they can’t get into trouble (like a playpen). A puppy is just a furry toddler. If your puppy is properly confined when not supervised, he will learn what to chew and not to chew. Controlling the environment is essential for the first few months.

What breed should I get?

There are great purebred dogs as well as mixed breeds. You can adopt a puppy from the Humane Society, Rescue dog clubs, or from a breeder. There are some dogs that have a lot of “baggage”, and others are a clean slate. Pets from non- profit organizations are much more reasonably priced for the price conscious individual.

There are 161 AKC registered breeds to choose from. It is hard to independently pinpoint the one that is right for you and your family. You will need to consider your family’s preferences for energy level, amount of time for exercising the dog, size of the dog, shed or non-shed, how much grooming is involved, location (city, suburb), yard size, possible ailments in the breed, stability around children and strangers, and what extra activities you want to do with your pet such as jogging, pet therapy, agility or travel.

After writing down all these considerations think about what your life might be like in 5-10 years. Will there be children or grandchildren added to the picture? Might you downsize your home? Now reconsider which breeds match your lifestyle.

Should I consider a “Designer Breed”?

I highly recommend not getting a dog that owners have purposely mixed with another breed to create a “Designer Breed”. If you get a purebred puppy, there is a standard recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) that reputable breeders attempt to breed to. If you put two breeds together, you do not know which positive or negative attributes the puppies will get from each of those breeds. So at the very least the dog would have an unknown disposition for your family. If you are open to a mixed breed, then I would suggest getting one from your local shelter.

Where should I buy my puppy?

If you are going to buy an AKC puppy, it is crucial to use a breeder who is knowledgeable about the breed, does health testing on breeding parents and socializes the puppy. A breeder who is not aware of health concerns for their breed should not be used. There are many breeders who do not focus on socialization, but on conformation and health. Of course health and structure are priorities, but a socialized pet is ready to join your household as a friendly, furry, family member. One that is not socialized may not be ready to be around children or high activity environments. Often these pups are not confident and may demand greater attention.

Buying a puppy from a pet store or online from out of state without meeting the puppy is a gamble. Realize that you will never have the opportunity to see first-hand the disposition of the pup’s mother, see the living conditions he was brought up in, know the experience level of the breeder, or know if he was socialized properly.

Puppies always look as sweet as can be, but you might want to read about others’ experiences with purchasing pups from these sites before buying one yourself. It is so hard to wait after you decide to get a puppy, but if you get a well-bred, healthy puppy you will enjoy him for many years. So it is worth waiting and making the best choice for the right breeder and puppy.

HINT: Talk to the breeder first. If they do not seem like a good fit DO NOT go see the puppies. It is too hard to resist cute puppies even from poor breeders.

How do you pick the best puppy in a litter?

Each family varies in makeup, activity level, and environment. Also, puppies within a litter differ in boldness, curiosity, cuddliness, and activity level. If your family already has other pets this will need to be taken into consideration, so the new puppy complements and doesn’t overwhelm the senior animal.

Seeing a pup for thirty minutes probably won’t give you a complete picture of the true personality. The rowdy pup may just have played for two hours and is resting when you come. You see this pup and believe it is going to be a quieter pup that will just sit on your lap. Wrong. Knowing the questions to ask, watching the interactions between pups in the litter and doing your best to be objective, is key to finding the best puppy for your family. If you purchase a very active puppy and your children are shy or not comfortable around dogs it will make life with your puppy a struggle.

It is essential to match the personality of your family to the right pup for the smoothest transition into your home.

Is the shy puppy a good choice?

A skittish puppy is just as darling as a confident one, but you will have to exert more effort to work through its anxiety and to prevent “fear biting”. This puppy is not ideal for a family with children. Patient adults with extra time to train may be a good fit for this type of puppy.