Buying Your First Puppy

Assuming you have already decided on a particular breed of puppy there are some factors to consider before you even go and look. It is very important to have these ideas firmly in your head because many many puppies are bought under impulse conditions and even the most hardened soul can fall under the influence of an adorable pup.

The first and foremost of importance is temperament, this new family member may be with you for up to 16years and a difficult temperament can mean lots of hard work. If you seek out a reputable breeder you can look for many things that will give you little clues to how well socialized and outgoing her particular breed is.

When I chose my first toy poodle I was invited to the owners home to look at a litter of pups. On entering the house I was greeted by a rush of overjoyed poodles of varying ages. It was obvious that they all got along famously and were used to interacting with people. They were all presented very cleanly and I also asked about any inherent problems associated with that breed of which she assured me were not present in her dogs. I also took a good hard look at the mother of my pup, who although a little shy at first was still a sweet natured dog with an excellent coat. Her eyes were bright and clean, I see many dogs in my salon with weeping tear stained eyes and it is one of the most difficult of stains to completely remove. Eight years on I went back to the same breeder and purchased my second toy poodle, this time I had had the luxury of seeing many poodles that she had bred that went on to become my customers and I am happy to say very few had problems such as knee joint problems (a big problem for poodles), bad mouths or bad temperaments.

Another important factor and most important to consider even if you have already decided on your breed, is the type of coat you may be looking to maintain. Firstly lets look at the single coated breeds such as Poodles, Maltese, Shitzu, Bichon Frise and associated Cross breeds. All of these breeds have one thing in common they tend not to shed hair. Now this is a very desirable thing to have in so much as you wont get dog hair all over your furniture but the dog still must be groomed to strip out the dead hair which builds up quite fast hence the need to brush on a very regular basis. (Please read all about coat maintenance.) On average a dog with coats such as these breeds need to visit a salon every 6 weeks and under depending on your needs and your ability to groom at home. You of course also have the choice of sending your dog less often, but if the coat is not maintained it can become mattered and in some cases end up a fairly costly exercise to be groom if left unchecked.

Puppy will benefit mostly in visiting the salon at around 14 weeks, you may feel this is very young but in our experience this is such a fantastic adaptable age and from many years of dog handling have found that older puppies far more stressed than the little ones who as yet have no reason to mistrust the experience and adapt to the hydro-bath, dryer, clippers, scissors, nail trimming and every other experience they will need to undergo for all of their lives.