Powerscourt Cocker Spaniels


	Has no interest in the breed;
	*Breeds puppies purely for financial gain as a business (or to fund a holiday/new conservatory etc.!);*
	Offers a level of care to their dogs/puppies well below acceptable standards. Skimps on quality of food, cleanliness, care & attention and fails to provide clean & comfortable living accommodation;
	Sells puppies under the age of 7/8 weeks of age;
	Sells to agents/dealers/pet shops or to buyers they have not met personally & screened for suitability;
	Asks purchasers little or no questions about themselves, their lifestyle & doesn't attempt to determine if puppy ownership is the right thing for them;
	Have lots of litters with puppies available all year round or advertise multiple litters from a wide variety of popular breeds (those who do are clearly commercial breeders or dealers);
	Charges buyers extra if they want a puppy with Kennel Club registration or insurance etc.;
	Engages in a "hard sell" approach. Convinces buyers that they must buy now or miss out. Hype up the quality of their dogs/puppies in order to persuade buyers that by not buying one of their pups the buyer would be making a mistake!
	*Registers their pups with the DLRC (or other registries)* as opposed to The Kennel Club;**
	Sells puppies without KC Registration unless this is clearly explained to the buyer at the time of sale;
	Offers to meet potential buyers in locations such as motorway service stations. Puppy farmers often use these tactics to prevent buyers from seeing the conditions in which puppies have been born;
	Claims the breed and/or their own dogs have no hereditary problems - every breed generally has at least two or more hereditary problems;
	Advertises puppies in local free-ad papers/publications like Exchange & Mart or Loot or on their equivalent websites. Puppy farmers/dealers frequently advertise in such papers whereas reputable breeders rely more on word of mouth & recommendations from other breeders or Breed Clubs;
	Undertakes little or no health screening of breeding partners. Good breeders will only breed from health screened parents;
	Offers no insurance with the puppy or charges extra for insurance;
	Provides no puppy packs with food & care instructions;
	Provides no "after-sales" service or shows any commitment to the future welfare of their puppies.

It is a big decision to add a dog/puppy into your life. This decision should not be taken lightly because once you make that commitment you should make it for the life of the puppy/dog. There are many breeds to choose from & many places to purchase your new baby. Please do your research on different breeds. Some breeds are very laid back, some have very high energy levels & need lots of exercise, some are known for their intelligence, some for their protective abilities & some for their friendliness. Not all dogs fit into everyone's lifestyle. You want to plan for your new arrival because you want that new arrival to be with you a long time. Do not buy on a whim & do not buy a puppy as a gift for someone. The people who want the dog need to do all their own research to decide what breed or type they want. You may think this is a great surprise but just because someone has always loved dogs & talked about getting one, doesn't mean they truly want the responsibility or have the time to have one. Let them decide themselves. There are better options to buying a puppy from a pet shop, puppy farmer or "backyard" breeder. We would highly recommend you look into these other options. Pet shops are supplied by puppy farms or "backyard" breeders (backyard breeders are the equivalent of small-scale puppy farmers), these places should be shut down; buying from a pet shop (or puppy farmer) just keeps them in business! 1. Health An adorable puppy is hard to resist, but you may be paying a lot of money for a dog that you know very little about. Pet shops generally rely on impulse buys to sell their "product". Puppy farmers usually advertise in "free ads" newspapers. There is a good chance that a pet shop (or puppy farm) puppy will develop a health problem or suffer from a poor temperament sometime in its life that may cost you a lot of money (not to mention heartache) to remedy. When you buy a puppy under these circumstances, it is very unlikely that the puppy's parents were screened for genetic diseases that can be passed to their offspring. Every breed of dog has genetic problems that are passed from generation to generation by breeding dogs that carry the flawed gene. Many of these genetic problems can be detected with today's technology, but these tests are expensive. People who are concerned about the welfare & future of their breed will have these tests conducted to preserve & improve the future quality of their breed. Most good breeders are more concerned about the health of the puppies that they are producing than the money that they will or won't make on the production of a litter. There is little or no money to be made from selling puppies if the job is done properly, raising puppies properly costs a lot of money! 2. The myth about KC papers Most pet shops & puppy farmers would like you to believe that if the Kennel Club registers a puppy, this guarantees the puppy will be healthy & a good example of the breed - this is not so! The only thing that KC papers certify is that the puppy is purebred & produced out of KC registered parents. However, this can be fictitious with many unscrupulous breeders registering pups with incorrect parentage. Unfortunately, some breeders register more puppies than are actually born in each litter in order to receive extra registration papers to pass out with "un-registerable" puppies. The parents of your puppy may be unhealthy or carriers of crippling or deadly health defects which they may have passed to their offspring - your puppy. They may also be poor representations of the breed that you are buying. Often the parentage of these puppies is also questionable due to inadequate record keeping by the breeder(s). In other words, your puppy may not even be purebred, even though it has KC papers. Responsible breeders do register their puppies with the KC, but that is only the beginning. 3. What will that puppy look like when it is full-grown? Hopefully you will have seen specimens of the breed that you are buying, but this does not guarantee that this puppy will fit the breed standard. You do not know if the parents fit the standard either & cannot see the faults that each parent has. There is no perfect dog, but a good breeder will be willing to discuss the faults & strengths that each of their dogs possess. You should also be able to see at least the mother of the puppy that you are buying if bought from a responsible breeder. Even then, you cannot tell exactly what the puppy will look like, but you will have a much better idea of what to expect. Why spend so much money without even knowing what the puppy's parents look like? 4. What do you know about the breed? Pet shops, backyard breeders & puppy farmers generally know very little about the dogs that they sell. If you are lucky, they can probably tell you a little bit about the breed & then point you in the direction of a generic dog book! What do you do after you bring the puppy home, only to find that this breed is not the right one for you & your family? Good breeders are full of information about the breed of puppy that you are considering. They should be able to tell you the general temperament aspects of the breed & help you predict whether this breed of dog will fit into your lifestyle. They will also be able to warn you about specific health problems that the breed is prone to & will be able to tell you what aspects the breed excels in. There is no breed of dog perfect for every person & a good breeder is concerned that their puppy goes to a home that they will fit into. 5. Housetraining & training problems A puppy bought from a pet shop (or puppy farmer) has most likely spent much of its life in a cage or shed. Many of these puppies have never seen carpet & may never have even seen grass or soil. Due to the conditions that puppies are kept in, they have been forced to eliminate in the same area that they sleep & eat. This goes against the dog's natural instinct, but your puppy has had no choice. This habit may make housebreaking your puppy much more difficult. A good breeder keeps the puppy area very clean & makes sure the puppy has a separate elimination area. By the time, the puppies are ready to go to their new homes they will be well on the way to being house trained. Good breeders will often also start teaching their puppies how to walk on a lead & to lie quietly for grooming. A pet shop (or puppy farm) puppy has most likely never walked on a lead or been brushed before. It can be much more difficult to teach a puppy these daily exercises than a puppy that has been brought up properly. Responsible breeders also base their breeding decisions in part on their dogs' temperament & personality, on not only looks or the fact that they are purebred. Most pet shop & puppy-farmed puppies' parents have not been selected for any reason other than they can produce puppies that sell as cute "purebreds" registered by the KC. 6. How about Socialisation? Your puppy may well have never been in a house before. If this is the case then everything will be new & scary for them. The doorbell, vacuum cleaner, & children playing are all new sensations that can be terrifying to an un-socialised puppy. Good breeders will expose their puppies to many situations so that the puppies are used to them by the time that they go to their new homes. Most responsible breeders have evaluated the temperament of each of their puppies before they are placed in a new home. A good breeder will know, due to hours of observation, which puppies are dominant & which are shy, which are energetic & which are easy going. Then the breeder will be able to match the puppy to the new owner & make sure that energetic pups go to active families & that shy puppies go to a home that can help them overcome their insecurity. This careful evaluation enables a breeder to choose which puppy will fit your household & much of the guesswork is taken out of the selection process. Good breeders can help you make an educated decision about all aspects of your puppy's feeding, training & overall maintenance & care based on your family situation. If you are going to spend so much money on a dog that you plan to keep for its lifetime, why not find one that will fit into your lifestyle well? 7. What is a pedigree worth? Some pet shops (& puppy farmers) make a big deal out of their puppies' pedigrees. This is interesting, as the pedigree is really just a piece of paper with names on it (a family tree). Unless you know the dogs behind those names, the pedigree is useless to the new owner. Can the seller tell you what your puppy’s grandparents died of, or how long they lived? Do any of the dogs in your pup's pedigree carry genetic diseases? Most pet shop employees & puppy farmers do not know any more about your puppy's background than you do! A reputable breeder can tell you all of this information about your pup's family tree & more. When you buy a puppy from a reputable breeder you are getting more than a piece of paper, you are getting the important information associated with the names too. Almost all responsible breeders will show (or participate in other dog related activities) their dogs, by showing them under unbiased judges they will be aware that the dog is a good representative of the breed. Some breeders also obtain obedience, or other titles that relate to the job that their breed of dog was originally bred to perform. Many also achieve Kennel Club "Canine Good Citizen" awards on their breeding dogs. 8. Do you want to support puppy farmers? Just about all puppies that are in pet shops come from puppy farmers. These operations are exactly what the name implies. Most mass produce puppies with money as the prime motive. Their breeding dogs are often kept in very poor conditions (i.e. dark overcrowded barns) & are often malnourished. The dogs are almost never tested for genetic diseases & are unlikely to be wormed or receive vaccinations. Puppy farms often obtain their breeding dogs from people who are in a hurry to get rid of their dogs for some reason, often through "free dog" ads in newspapers. Occasionally they are stolen from their owners. Females are generally bred every heat cycle until they are worn out & then they are often sentenced to death (not a kind death delivered by a vet, but drowned or shot!). The horror of puppy farms is encouraged every time a puppy is bought from a pet shop or puppy farmer. How do you know that your puppy comes from one of these places? The main reason is that no responsible breeders will sell puppies to pet shops. In the case of puppy farmers, they usually suggest that they deliver the puppy to you, or if you do go to their "home”, you will only be shown "your" puppy. You won't get to meet the family (canine or human!) The process will be very clinical, the puppy farmer doesn't want to give you any information & he/she doesn't want to find out any from you either! You should feel comfortable when you visit the breeder; good breeders will offer you a cup of tea & be prepared to chat for a considerable period. A puppy farmer just wants to conclude the transaction as quickly as possible & with the minimum of effort (on his/her part!) It's worth noting that not all puppy farmers live on farms (indeed some reputable breeders live on farms & would be horrified to think that buyers assume they are puppy farmers because of where they live!) Some "puppy farmers" buy in puppy farmed puppies & attempt to pass them off as "home bred" pups! By doing this they hope that you will be fooled into thinking you are not, buying a puppy farmed dog! Despite the "homely" surroundings, you should have a "gut feeling" that not all is well. Remember to ask all the "right" questions & you will soon get a feeling for the breeder. If you are not comfortable with any aspect of buying the puppy or the breeder then ask yourself why? Don't be afraid to make polite excuses to leave, you will be doing yourself & the puppy a favour in the long run. And finally ... Good breeders will offer you & your puppy/dog lifetime support. When you set out to purchase a puppy you may feel that support, help & advice are not necessary (or perhaps you may feel that you don't need breeders "interference"!) & therefore, these areas will not be a priority when searching for a puppy. However, please don't under estimate the value of choosing a breeder who will support you. It won't be until you have a dilemma that you will realise that lifelong support & commitment from your puppy’s breeder can be invaluable! Click here to find out more information about puppy farmers & the conditions their dogs & pups are kept in. Please remember that regardless of where you buy your puppy & regardless of who recommended the breeder, you must satisfy yourself that YOU are happy with the breeder & the puppy!

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