Here at the Animal Health Centre we are seeing lots of puppies as the school holidays provide more time to train the new addition. Some puppies arrive with all the boxes ticked and a pile of paperwork, however some arrive without any advice or paperwork for their new owner. Some are not treated correctly for fleas or worms while others can become very poorly due to infectious diseases.
If you are looking for a pedigree puppy, the Kennel Club Assured breeder scheme is the best place to start as these breeders have been visited and assessed to ensure the puppies have the best start. Just because a puppy has Kennel Club registration as a pedigree, it does not mean that they are from an assured breeder!
• The mother with the rest of the litter – ask whether they were bred in the place you are visiting. Is mum confident and sociable or is she shy and withdrawn?
• Certificates – for vaccinations, kennel club registration and any breed specific health tests that have been performed. With crossbreed puppies, you still want the parent dogs to have been DNA tested or screened for inherited conditions.
Puppy dealers are becoming more careful, sometimes inviting people to a home environment to sell puppies, be suspicious if they are selling multiple breeds at the same time. Never buy a puppy from the back of a van or without seeing the mother. Check the vaccine card, the veterinary practice should be local to where you are buying the puppy. Sadly, some puppies are reared in poor conditions, making them susceptible to dangerous infectious diseases such as parvovirus.
To avoid heartache and the cost of treating a poorly puppy, check out the Kennel Club and RSPCA websites for more information. The best advice is to be patient; it is better to wait for a puppy to be ready from an assured breeder than to rush and buy a poorly puppy.
Finally, do bring your new puppy in to see us as soon as you can for cuddles, a health check and some advice.