Buying a puppy

[sandgate]

Hi,

I'm new to the site but not new to Rottweilers - my parents had a Rottweiler - Bertha - they bought her as a puppy. She was 12 years old when she died and is still missed. A very fine, highly intelligent dog, a wonderful companion and of course I would never wish to own any other breed.

I'm in the process of buying a puppy (a bitch) - have paid a deposit and am waiting until the puppies are 8 weeks before going to see them and their mother and hopefully making a choice.

At the time when my parents brought Bertha - now nearly 15 years ago - one took things on trust - or at least we did and had no regrets.

I know about the importance of low hip scores (I understand the acceptable range is under 10, is that correct?)

What else should I be asking about when I go to see the puppies/mother and speak with the owners?

I'd be very grateful for any advice

Many thanks.

Robert

[sophie's-mom]

Robert, welcome!

I don't have a LOT of information for you, I hope your decision in a breeder was a good one.

But honestly, the questions you need to be asking about hips and such REALLY should have been asked BEFORE you decided on the breeder. That should be PART of the basis for your choice.

Asking now, after you've placed a deposit, is a little late. What if the hips are LESS than excellent, what are you willing to accept as "good" and if that's not what the breeder has, what can you do about it now?

I hope the best for you, but the questions for the breeder really should have been asked before now.

[LavenderRott]

First off, welcome to the forum.

You don't want to take the breeder's word on anything as far as health clearances. Both parents should have had the following tested before being bred:
hips
elbows
heart
eyes
thyroid

If I am not mistaken, hips, elbows and heart need OFA certification and eyes are CERF certified. Make sure you see the certifications and get copies of them. (If I am wrong someone here will correct me, I am sure.)

Both parents should be shown and titled. This shows that the dogs conform to the standard for the breed. They should also have some kind of working title ie., obedience, herding, tracking or schutzhund. These are working dogs after all and you don't want a dog that is all looks and no brains.

The breeder should be able to answer any and all questions you have with no hesitation what-so-ever. They should be asking you lots of questions too. A good breeder wants to know what kind of family his pups are going to. He wants to know that you are going to take good care of this dog, properly train it and take it to the vet.

I am sure that more people will chime in here with other things that I have missed.

[sophie's-mom]

Ditto, what Sandi wrote!

[LavenderRott]

BTW, if you are not happy with the breeders answers as far as health certifications go, I would walk away. Any money you lose on the deposit is peanuts compared to hip replacement surgery or the pain of having your dog suddenly drop dead from SAS.

[Bucky's Mom]

Here is a link to to more information

http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/general-info/23279-rottweiler-education-packet.html

There is LOTS here to learn - welcome - and I hope you stick around.

Lisa (Bucky's Mom)

[Carina43]

Hi Robert....you might want to go to the Breeding forum too, and check out the "sticky" at the top, and look for relevant threads. You'll probably find all sorts of info there to help you in figuring out what to look for and what to avoid.
And what Sandi said. :)
And...what sort of questions have the breeders asked you? Do they know just what your plans for the dog are, and what sort of home & activities you'll provide? Seems that most serious breeders do the puppy-picking for the potential owners. I've only bought one pup from a very good breeder; she pretty much picked Cooper out for me by the time the litter was 5 weeks old. I don't think I had a choice, actually.

And thanks for doing some research before buying! :)

[sandgate]

Many thanks to all who responded.

Your advice,which I'm following up, is much appreciated.

best wishes

Robert :)

[Dante's Dad]

I would agree with everyone else, and like to add a few.

Does the breeder have any rotties in his/her house as pets?
Does the breeder have and rottie items in the house, ie mugs, statue, floor mat, calendar, anything that shows they love the breed or is there breeding just a side project!

We made sure that our breeder loved the breed just as much as we do!

Just a thought. Hope all goes well!

[Carina43]

Heh...I'll tell this little story here. The woman who owned Cooper's sire was local, but the dam & litter were down in New Mexico. So a friend & I went to the local breeder's house to meet her, the sire, & get info on the dam.
Anyhow we got to the door & the lady had the door open; just the screen door closed. Three lovely big Rotties were chuffing and huffing at the door, and when she invited us in she made no effort to move them away. She later said it was a sort of test...if someone was nervous about her dogs, she'd suggest an easier breed. :D She really watched how people interacted with her dogs; she invited Mick over to meet hers once I'd decided I wanted a pup from that litter and I wondered if she was checking him out too!

[Dante's Dad]

That is a good story! A quick way of telling if the buyers really know what they are getting into.

[spidey]

When my sister was considering a Shepherd, a breeder we visited said that she never swept or vacuumed for a few days before a potential owner visited, that way they'd have some idea of what kind of shedding they were letting themselves in for. I liked that a lot. This same breeder asked us to stay for a few hours, so she could go through most of her daily routine with her dogs with us, which gave you a good idea of the time involved in keeping that breed looking good and being healthy.

Other things I can think of: the breeder should have LOTS of questions for you, what dogs have you owned before, what are your living arrangements, what are your training plans, what's your lifestyle, what are your plans for the dog (someone who wants an obedience or agility prospect wants a different personality than someone who wants a house pet to take for walks) etc. And I like to see the breeder suggest a specific puppy or a couple of puppies, the breeder's the one who knows them best, and a breeder who lets you pick your own without discussing personalities would make me nervous, unless the breeder knows you and your knowledge level well. Rakki's litter had been tested by a professional (I was there as the assistant, since her usual assistant was sick), and his breeder gave copies of the puppy's test to the new owners, after discussing the test scores with them during the selection process (puppy tests aren't the be all and end all of picking a puppy, they're not an exact science by any means, but they can certainly be useful in narrowing down your choices).

[SABELLESMOM]

My breeder was very conscientious in asking ME questions. This particular turn about is quite fair. After all I investigated various breeders for 6 months before I settled on her. She did all she could to find out what kind of home her pup would have. Did we have a fenced yard? What were our plans for training? What kind of jobs did we have? (for example)

[Dante's Dad]

Our breeder was the same, I think that she went a little easier on us knowing that my wife is a vet tech, but still she asked us lots of questions.

We also did some puppy personality test on our own. Lots of fun, Dante just kept coming over to us no matter how many times we put him down and played with other pups, so the choice was easy, he wanted our attention and now he has it all.