Buying a dog.

[KayNineUnit]

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I have been looking at dogs, what things do I need to ask?

I'm not looking for a puppy due to recent events that have been happening with puppy farms etc. I'm looking for an older dog, 2 to 4 years old, I'd prefer to see if its possible to adopt a dog but if not I'll buy one. I know they have to be microchipped by law and have had there vaccines... what else do I need to know and what questions should I be asking? What paperwork do I need to see?

Things have changed since the 90s early 2000s I've not owned a dog since 2005 when my last one died from old age back in 2005. I'm ready for another dog.

I am UK based

Thanks.

 

[excuseme]

There are a lot of careless breeders these days who breed just for the money they make!

Once you have decided what breed, or cross breed you would like. Do check up on the individual breeds problems and inherited problems they may inherit, and be sure to see both of the parents health certificates, (both of mum and dad).
A cross breed is not immune to inherited problems, and certainly not any healthier.

A vet health certificate is worthless, it is only valued for the day of vet inspection.

Questions,Example;
Has your puppy been born and reared in the home, has it had plenty of human contact, has it met noisy children and met the hoover. Or was the puppy born outside in a kennel and not had much interaction with humans.
Any question is important, no matter how simple it may seem. How many litters has mum had ? What is mums temperament like and dads too. Are the parents Show type or Working type.
Will the breeder provide food that the puppy is used to to get you through the first week, (not an unreasonable question)
You can ask the breeder as many questions as you feel the need to without feeling rude.
You will have to rely on the breeder giving you honest answers. BEWARE, they are not all honest especially if they want your money

I am sure you will get plenty of good replies from this site and help.

And don't forget to consider what you yourself will have to offer for the breed or cross that you may decide to purchase or adopt.
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[JudyN]

When looking at rescues, expect to be interrogated about your lifestyle, your expectations, future plans, work arrangement, and so on and so forth. And expect to have a home check. If the rescue is happy to let you have whatever dog you fancy without too many questions, they are not a good rescue and may not be aware of - or tell you about - any issues the dog might have.

If you can find a rescue that fosters out the dogs rather than keeping them in kennels, that is a positive - the fosterer will have a much better idea of how the dog is in a home situation, whereas a dog kept in kennels may not be housetrained (or may have regressed).

Although dogs much be microchipped they don't have to be vaccinated by law. Some owners choose not to vaccinate, particularly for adult dogs, and it doesn't necessarily make them bad owners (this is a very thorny subject we probably shouldn't go into here...).

I don't know about the paperwork side of thing - hopefully someone else can advise there. When I bought my lurcher from his breeder, I just had a written receipt, so someone selling an adult dog might not have anything more than that (or might not have any paperwork depending on where they got the dog).

Things to ask from a behavioural point of view: Where they got the dog from, why they are selling him (be suspicious - they might not admit they are selling the dog because he bit someone), what is he like around food (evidence of guarding?), how long can he be left for without whining/howling, what's he like with other dogs, people coming to the house, people outside the house, what exercise he currently gets, what training has he had (recall is probably the most important here), what he is fed, is he crate trained... If I was ever forced to sell my dog I would have welcomed this inquisition and given full answers, so hopefully you'll get a feel for whether the person just wants to get rid of the dog and take your cash.

 

[KayNineUnit]

Thanks for the info... I would never hand over a large sum of cash, anything that didn't feel right I would walk away. Im going to concentrate more on adopting a dog.

The first thing I'd want to do once I get a dog is to register it with a vet and have it health checked and vaccinated, making sure all is well. Diet is another thing I would need to know about so that I can get it the same food. If there diet is changed suddenly they can become unwell or not eat and its going to be nerve wracking as it is with a new owner and environment. I'll also need to look into some dog training classes just encase I need them, I have seen a couple of listings on various dog rescue sites where they are well behaved and have had previous training but obviously a lot of people will be wanting to adopt the same dogs so I may need to broaden my horizons further. Separation anxiety could also be an issue as there will be times when I will have to leave the dog at home when I need to go to the grocery store etc but I guess these things can be worked on although I will have to be mindful of neighbors because if they complain its not going to be good for the dog. Most of my neighbors have dogs anyway. I'm looking for a small to medium dog, one that loves long walks.

 

[JudyN]

It's great that you are thinking through all this now

When researching training classes, ask if you can sit in on a session to judge their approach. You want a class that uses no form of correction, but only positive reward-based training. And be prepared to not ask your dog to do everything the trainer says regardless. Some dogs love the 'sit, down, stand, paw' stuff, others will be bored after the first repetition and decide it's pointless. My dog also found an hour of training class overstimulating, and in retrospect I should simply have left after the first half-hour or so before his brain fried. Obviously you also want a trainer who will respect your decision on this.

 

[JudyN]

Another thought - if you live near a busy road or need to walk along one, and if there are a lot of dogs in the area, you will need a dog who can cope with this. You can generally teach a dog to become more comfortable round traffic and less reactive to other dogs, but not if they're unavoidably out of their comfort zone on every walk.

 

[Hemlock]

Physical things to check especially with puppies:

Examine all paws to see that the right number of toes are present. Find out where hernias can occur (several places) and what they look like. Check jaw formation and (unless an over-or-undershot breed/mix) how the teeth lie. They will be milk teeth and there is a small degree of change when adult teeth come through, but not much. Check that bums and tails are clean and don't smell (if the latter, you'll smell this as soon as you pick pup up, so don't feel you have to embarrass yourself by holding bums right up to your face) make a small sound in pup's presence to see if he can hear, wave a finger in front of each eye in turn to make sure he can follow it with his eyes. Watch him toddle and see that his paws are taking weight equally. Responsible breeders will be fine with this.

 

[CoCo2014]

If you chose to buy an adult from a private owner rather than a rescue please be aware that the owners might not disclose behavioural or health issues, even rescues don't always do this unfortunately.
TBH unless you were lucky enough to find a youngish pedigree dog from someone like a late friend of mine who bred & showed fully health tested Labrador Retrievers for over 40 years & she often retired her show dogs(including Show Champions)that she wasn't going to breed from to private homes(usually previous puppy owners)to give them a quality individual pet home, rather than being one of several dogs. The new owners got a well mannered healthy pet & she knew they would be well looked after.

I would rethink about getting a puppy as they are a blank page for you to bond & live with & train to your lifestyle.

I'm not anti rescue my current two dogs are rescued mongrels