When You have done all the necessary research,
and have finally decided that a Bull Terrier puppy is right for you and your
family, You must begin the long journey of finding a special breeder.
All to often people get hung up on finding a
“Puppy” When what they should really be doing is
“Finding a breeder”
The breeder you choose is extremely important
for several different reasons:
-The breeder your puppy comes from should be
your #1. support system for the life of your puppy, and a good breeder would
expect no less.
A good breeder will always be on call to help you with
training concerns, behavior concerns, health and nutrition concerns etc. A good
breeder will walk you thru your new puppy's toughest teenage years (puberty) and
be able to tell you what is normal, what training will work best and what to
expect.
If your buying a pup for the show ring
or for breeding- The breeder he or she comes from can tell you how the dog should
fill out and grow and how well they will do in the show ring. They can also help
you be aware of any health concerns in the dogs lines genetically.If your
dogs parents or grandparents have had heart concerns, or deafness
etc.
-You need to have some of the same views as far as training and care goes as the breeder, you want to “mesh: well personally with the breeder, If you don’t agree with the breeders methods of training, then you will never want to talk to or get advice from them-and that can be very bad for your new puppy.
Look for
a breeder who reflects your own values and is someone you enjoy.
-Bull Terriers can be difficult dogs to handle and train, they often suffer
from neurological disorders that can be troubling to anyone, having that support
system is essential in raising and bringing up a happy, well adjusted Bull
Terrier.
A good breeder can help you pick the best tempered puppy for your family or
life style! A Back yard breeder(BYB) would let you choose your own puppy from the
litter, and a novice puppy buyer or dog owner could pick simply by the nicest
looking. Which often is devastating to the puppy. A busy family of 4 with pocket
pets and cats would be in serious trouble should they choose the most high
energy prey driven puppy from the litter. A loud rambunctious family used to
having lots of house guests would be an awful home for a timid or shy bully who
cannot deal with the stress. An extremely active single person would be a poor
fit for the laid back mellow couch potato bully pup.
going to a good breeder will give you the BEST chance of bringing home a
healthy, stable tempered pup who will not need extensive medical care starting
in its young adult life, as good breeders do extensive health testing to make
sure each of the puppies parents are clear from genetic health conditions that
could be passed on, back yard breeders however do not test and there fore you
would be more likely of having your new family member getting sick early on in
life costing a lot of money for medications. Good breeders also make sure the
dogs in their breeding program have stable temperaments and wait to breed them
till they are fully mature.
Meaning your chances of getting a genetically ill
tempered puppy or dog is extremely slim to none.
When people focus on finding a “puppy” instead of a breeder-often times they
are ready to take the first puppy they can find, which is often times that cute
puppy they found for cheap on the internet or from craigslist. They look for a
specific color, instead of temperament.
When you focus on finding a breeder over finding a puppy-your prepared to NOT
take the first puppy that comes along, you will be able to see that newspaper ad
for cheap puppies looking for a new home, because your goal is not to find
puppies-but to find a breeder.
A good breeder knows that, their job is not to simply create puppies to sell
to anyone-their job is to create puppies that will be staying in one forever
loving home.
So, they put forth the best efforts possible to make sure that
the puppies they produce are
-Healthy-
-temperamentally sound-
-Socialized to new situations so they will not give the new owners problems-
A good breeder does not ever want one of their puppies to end up in a rescue
or a shelter, or euthinized. They love them, so they put in a lot of time,
money,effort, sweat and tears into those puppies to give them the best chance
at a forever home possible.
And that is why all good breeders have contracts
stipulating that if you can never keep the puppy to give it back to them no
matter what.
Be prepared to
-Wait upwards of a year or more before actually
bringing your new puppy home, as good breeders never over produce puppies and
often times only have one maybe 2 litters per year, some breeders only have a
litter every couple years.-
-NOT choose your puppy yourself, or get the exact color you want, a good
breeder cares more about matching temperaments with your lifestyle then favorite
color so both you and the puppy are happy.
-travel to pick up your puppy and meet the breeder before hand, a good
breeder will want to meet you, now days, with so many people trying to get there
hands on nice dogs to breed and sell and make a buck, is it any surprise that
good breeders have to ask a lot of a new owner?
They want to make absolutely
sure their puppies are not going to be going to some puppy miller or some animal
abuser or someone who simply is buying this puppy on a whim and will simply
discard it once it is not convenient anymore.
So be prepared to be asked a
lot of questions such as:
“what is it that attracted you to Bull Terriers?”
if you say the looks-be
prepared to be turned down-as no breeder wants to sell a puppy to someone who
only knows how the breed looks.
“what kind of lifestyle do you live?”
“What are you looking for in a dog”
“do you own your own home?”
“ do you have children or other pets?”
“do you have vet references?”
While they may seem personal to you-these things are very informative to a
breeder when deciding the personality of your new puppy and deciding weather the
breed (or even there breeding lines) are right fit for you.
Sometimes a breeder does not have what your looking for, different breeders
strive for different things in their breeding program, some breed a specific
personality trait for working or doing agility, other breeders breed more for
looks and have a wide array of personality's
But most good breeders have a
few friends of their own who could better help you get the puppy your looking
for and if that is the case, don’t be offended if they send you off to someone
else, it simply means they are trying to help you get what your looking for or
needing when they are unable to give it to you.
Breeders really appreciate it when new prospective owners ask lots of
questions-asking questions means your eager to learn and do whats best for a new
puppy or dog.
Don t try to act like a know-it-all, even if you’ve done
extensive research into the breed-you don’t know THAT BREEDERS lines, you don’t
know that breeders dogs, you don’t know there temperament’s you don’t know their
genetics, so don’t pretend that you do.
TAKE THE BREEDERS ADVICE FIRST!
Just because your aunt, best friend,
pet shop clerk, vet has told you differently. take the breeders advice FIRST.
(considering you have purchased a puppy from a good breeder)
While those others mean well, they don’t know the personality’s and health quite as well
as the breeder does.
And good breeders put in a lot of time and effort into researching health, nutrition, training,etc.
If your having a behavioral issue, if your puppy is nipping a lot, first
contact the breeder, then consider contacting a behaviorlist.
Before bringing your new puppy home, here are some things you should do,
or should have been doing while you were waiting for your new puppy.
-Visiting with the breeder to meet their adult dogs and get a feel for the
dogs over-all personality’s-
-doing your own research into training, health and nutrition of Bull Terriers
specifically.-
-Making plans with other family members on how your going to work with
everyone’s schedules, house rules for the puppy, who is going to feed the puppy,
etc.
you want to make sure this is all in place beforehand, so when your new
puppy comes you wont even miss a beat and confuse them, making training a lot
easier on everyone-
-buy a few things for the new puppy-obviously if you have several months or
weeks wait, don’t purchase perishables like food or treats, you can buy toys,
leashes, collars, bed, crate, etc-
-Finding a vet that you like, that is knowledgible, and has a lot of good reviews, you would be shocked to find out the amount of veternarians who have extremely poor reviews on the way they treat their clients, and the clients pets, for some (like myself) price is also important, so meet with or talk to a few vets if you don't have a regular one already-
and have finally decided that a Bull Terrier puppy is right for you and your
family, You must begin the long journey of finding a special breeder.
All to often people get hung up on finding a
“Puppy” When what they should really be doing is
“Finding a breeder”
The breeder you choose is extremely important
for several different reasons:
-The breeder your puppy comes from should be
your #1. support system for the life of your puppy, and a good breeder would
expect no less.
A good breeder will always be on call to help you with
training concerns, behavior concerns, health and nutrition concerns etc. A good
breeder will walk you thru your new puppy's toughest teenage years (puberty) and
be able to tell you what is normal, what training will work best and what to
expect.
If your buying a pup for the show ring
or for breeding- The breeder he or she comes from can tell you how the dog should
fill out and grow and how well they will do in the show ring. They can also help
you be aware of any health concerns in the dogs lines genetically.If your
dogs parents or grandparents have had heart concerns, or deafness
etc.
-You need to have some of the same views as far as training and care goes as the breeder, you want to “mesh: well personally with the breeder, If you don’t agree with the breeders methods of training, then you will never want to talk to or get advice from them-and that can be very bad for your new puppy.
Look for
a breeder who reflects your own values and is someone you enjoy.
-Bull Terriers can be difficult dogs to handle and train, they often suffer
from neurological disorders that can be troubling to anyone, having that support
system is essential in raising and bringing up a happy, well adjusted Bull
Terrier.
A good breeder can help you pick the best tempered puppy for your family or
life style! A Back yard breeder(BYB) would let you choose your own puppy from the
litter, and a novice puppy buyer or dog owner could pick simply by the nicest
looking. Which often is devastating to the puppy. A busy family of 4 with pocket
pets and cats would be in serious trouble should they choose the most high
energy prey driven puppy from the litter. A loud rambunctious family used to
having lots of house guests would be an awful home for a timid or shy bully who
cannot deal with the stress. An extremely active single person would be a poor
fit for the laid back mellow couch potato bully pup.
going to a good breeder will give you the BEST chance of bringing home a
healthy, stable tempered pup who will not need extensive medical care starting
in its young adult life, as good breeders do extensive health testing to make
sure each of the puppies parents are clear from genetic health conditions that
could be passed on, back yard breeders however do not test and there fore you
would be more likely of having your new family member getting sick early on in
life costing a lot of money for medications. Good breeders also make sure the
dogs in their breeding program have stable temperaments and wait to breed them
till they are fully mature.
Meaning your chances of getting a genetically ill
tempered puppy or dog is extremely slim to none.
When people focus on finding a “puppy” instead of a breeder-often times they
are ready to take the first puppy they can find, which is often times that cute
puppy they found for cheap on the internet or from craigslist. They look for a
specific color, instead of temperament.
When you focus on finding a breeder over finding a puppy-your prepared to NOT
take the first puppy that comes along, you will be able to see that newspaper ad
for cheap puppies looking for a new home, because your goal is not to find
puppies-but to find a breeder.
A good breeder knows that, their job is not to simply create puppies to sell
to anyone-their job is to create puppies that will be staying in one forever
loving home.
So, they put forth the best efforts possible to make sure that
the puppies they produce are
-Healthy-
-temperamentally sound-
-Socialized to new situations so they will not give the new owners problems-
A good breeder does not ever want one of their puppies to end up in a rescue
or a shelter, or euthinized. They love them, so they put in a lot of time,
money,effort, sweat and tears into those puppies to give them the best chance
at a forever home possible.
And that is why all good breeders have contracts
stipulating that if you can never keep the puppy to give it back to them no
matter what.
Be prepared to
-Wait upwards of a year or more before actually
bringing your new puppy home, as good breeders never over produce puppies and
often times only have one maybe 2 litters per year, some breeders only have a
litter every couple years.-
-NOT choose your puppy yourself, or get the exact color you want, a good
breeder cares more about matching temperaments with your lifestyle then favorite
color so both you and the puppy are happy.
-travel to pick up your puppy and meet the breeder before hand, a good
breeder will want to meet you, now days, with so many people trying to get there
hands on nice dogs to breed and sell and make a buck, is it any surprise that
good breeders have to ask a lot of a new owner?
They want to make absolutely
sure their puppies are not going to be going to some puppy miller or some animal
abuser or someone who simply is buying this puppy on a whim and will simply
discard it once it is not convenient anymore.
So be prepared to be asked a
lot of questions such as:
“what is it that attracted you to Bull Terriers?”
if you say the looks-be
prepared to be turned down-as no breeder wants to sell a puppy to someone who
only knows how the breed looks.
“what kind of lifestyle do you live?”
“What are you looking for in a dog”
“do you own your own home?”
“ do you have children or other pets?”
“do you have vet references?”
While they may seem personal to you-these things are very informative to a
breeder when deciding the personality of your new puppy and deciding weather the
breed (or even there breeding lines) are right fit for you.
Sometimes a breeder does not have what your looking for, different breeders
strive for different things in their breeding program, some breed a specific
personality trait for working or doing agility, other breeders breed more for
looks and have a wide array of personality's
But most good breeders have a
few friends of their own who could better help you get the puppy your looking
for and if that is the case, don’t be offended if they send you off to someone
else, it simply means they are trying to help you get what your looking for or
needing when they are unable to give it to you.
Breeders really appreciate it when new prospective owners ask lots of
questions-asking questions means your eager to learn and do whats best for a new
puppy or dog.
Don t try to act like a know-it-all, even if you’ve done
extensive research into the breed-you don’t know THAT BREEDERS lines, you don’t
know that breeders dogs, you don’t know there temperament’s you don’t know their
genetics, so don’t pretend that you do.
TAKE THE BREEDERS ADVICE FIRST!
Just because your aunt, best friend,
pet shop clerk, vet has told you differently. take the breeders advice FIRST.
(considering you have purchased a puppy from a good breeder)
While those others mean well, they don’t know the personality’s and health quite as well
as the breeder does.
And good breeders put in a lot of time and effort into researching health, nutrition, training,etc.
If your having a behavioral issue, if your puppy is nipping a lot, first
contact the breeder, then consider contacting a behaviorlist.
Before bringing your new puppy home, here are some things you should do,
or should have been doing while you were waiting for your new puppy.
-Visiting with the breeder to meet their adult dogs and get a feel for the
dogs over-all personality’s-
-doing your own research into training, health and nutrition of Bull Terriers
specifically.-
-Making plans with other family members on how your going to work with
everyone’s schedules, house rules for the puppy, who is going to feed the puppy,
etc.
you want to make sure this is all in place beforehand, so when your new
puppy comes you wont even miss a beat and confuse them, making training a lot
easier on everyone-
-buy a few things for the new puppy-obviously if you have several months or
weeks wait, don’t purchase perishables like food or treats, you can buy toys,
leashes, collars, bed, crate, etc-
-Finding a vet that you like, that is knowledgible, and has a lot of good reviews, you would be shocked to find out the amount of veternarians who have extremely poor reviews on the way they treat their clients, and the clients pets, for some (like myself) price is also important, so meet with or talk to a few vets if you don't have a regular one already-
How to go about finding a good breeder:
Google your nearest Bull Terrier club (try by state) contact them and maybe attend some meetings or simply ask for some guidance.
attend local or nearby dog shows, Bull Terriers can be few in smaller dogs shows in some areas, but see if any are their and talk to the handler/owner if possible.
Check out the BTCA breeder referral list (check our links page!)
Any local kennel clubs? contact them and ask!
Facebook! Facebook can help out a lot when looking around for a good breeder, you can start by joining a few Bull Terrier groups or pages and ask around other breeders. But please know, that if a breeder says "well I sell puppies what do you want?" mention your area, if they say "ill ship" be leery of them as it sounds like they are ready to ship out a puppy to you right away before asking questions.
WHERE NOT TO LOOK:
Sites like "puppyfind" or "Kijiji"
Google- googling "Bull Terrier breeder" is a bad idea-a lot of BYB's have websites because it makes them look more professional.
Craigslist-its VERY rare you will find a good breeder posting a craigslist ad for puppies, however it DOES happen sometimes, so just use common sense and read between the lines.
Google your nearest Bull Terrier club (try by state) contact them and maybe attend some meetings or simply ask for some guidance.
attend local or nearby dog shows, Bull Terriers can be few in smaller dogs shows in some areas, but see if any are their and talk to the handler/owner if possible.
Check out the BTCA breeder referral list (check our links page!)
Any local kennel clubs? contact them and ask!
Facebook! Facebook can help out a lot when looking around for a good breeder, you can start by joining a few Bull Terrier groups or pages and ask around other breeders. But please know, that if a breeder says "well I sell puppies what do you want?" mention your area, if they say "ill ship" be leery of them as it sounds like they are ready to ship out a puppy to you right away before asking questions.
WHERE NOT TO LOOK:
Sites like "puppyfind" or "Kijiji"
Google- googling "Bull Terrier breeder" is a bad idea-a lot of BYB's have websites because it makes them look more professional.
Craigslist-its VERY rare you will find a good breeder posting a craigslist ad for puppies, however it DOES happen sometimes, so just use common sense and read between the lines.
Please realize that-not all good breeders have websites, or are members of clubs or have a well known kennel names, and not all breeders who show or participate in clubs or have websites with well known dogs, are good breeders. please use common sense, and NEVER be afraid to ask for paperwork and proof of health tests. Bull Terriers are expensive! and they have quite a list of problems, do the best you can when seeking a good breeder. A good breeder is someone who cares not only about THEIR Dogs, but the humans who Owns those dogs.
They care about You the new owners family and wallet. The good breeder never wants your family to have to deal with the early death of a family member, or the high cost of treating a skin condition or the stress of dealing with an aggressive dog.
To make sure this does not have to happen to you- they do their absolute best to be very careful about the dogs they breed and produce pups from to give you, the owner the very best chance it will not.
They care about You the new owners family and wallet. The good breeder never wants your family to have to deal with the early death of a family member, or the high cost of treating a skin condition or the stress of dealing with an aggressive dog.
To make sure this does not have to happen to you- they do their absolute best to be very careful about the dogs they breed and produce pups from to give you, the owner the very best chance it will not.