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Posted by Pat B! on September 22, 2008, 10:51 am, in reply to "maybe I didn't word this right"
174.152.7.5
I start with show breeders because - although not all show breeders are automatically "Responsible". a breeder who does NOT show is suspect in my book.
I spend time on the Internet to sort of acquaint myself with who's doing what in the breed. In addition to a preference for a breeder who is capable of finishing dogs of their own breeding, I also like to see dogs out of the breeder's program who are getting Performance titles of some kind (I feel this bodes well for temperament, intelligence, and health). Sadly, this isn't always as easy to do with Toy Breeds since not everyone who owns Toy breeds feels they need to be trained. However, I guess that means that if you CAN identify lines that are producing Performance-titled dogs, then you've probably identified a line that's worth additional invetstigation.
Hopefully there will be shows in your area where some of the lines you've identified are being exhibited. That will probably have some influence on whether you go to the shows to see who's there and then follow up by studying those lines, or identify lines that interest you, and then go to the shows to find breeders and owners - at both the Breed ring and in the Performance rings - who have dogs in those lines.
Also - of course - you will have researched which health issues are a problem in Maltese (I think there's something with the liver) and what tests for these conditions are currently available. If these appear on the OFA database, you'll be able to see if the breeders you're looking at are registering dogs there. If not, you will still want to question breeders you're considering to see what they're doing to identify occurrences of these conditions in their lines and make wise breeding decisions in that regard. And you'll want to see specifically how the Health guarantee deals with these known defects in the breed.
Does the pedigree have to be all Champions? That's probably not realistic. However, a knowledgeable breeder should be able to tell you something about the dogs in the pedigree that are not finished and why not (for example, theoretically, let's say a dog of a Hunting breed had an accident in the Field that left them permanently lame which would not affect their genetic fitness but would keep them from being able to compete in the Breed ring). MOST importantly, if the dogs the breeder plans to use - or has used - to produce your puppy are not both finished, the breeder should have a pretty good explanation. Be realistic, but don't check your common sense at the door. There are no hard and fast rules, but if something doesn't quite "feel" right, then you should probably keep looking.
Remember - you want this breeder to be a person you can feel comfortable going to with questions throughout the life of your dog. So if you don't feel like you can have an open and honest dialogue even before you get your puppy, then how well will things work out afterwards?
I know this sounds like a lot of work -and it is. But this is a significant purchase for your - not just because of the money involved, but because of the years to come that you will be sharing your life with this dog. So putting the work in upfront is well worth the effort.
I hope this helps!
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