Is the Cocker Spaniel a prefect family dog?

This week I heard a podcast regarding puppy mills and they shared this fact that surprised me so much! In the podcast, it was said that in Europe, the third largest business on the black market is dogs and puppies. Only “beaten” by narcotics and weapons. I know this is big business, but honestly I had no idea it was that big!

It surprises me, because I thought we as humans were smarter than this. I understand it can be difficult to find the right puppy/dog, and therefore I would like to share some information on how I would approach the puppy buying process.

So, here you have my best advice for you, who are in the process of finding your next family member:

Have patience! Finding your new family member for the coming many years is a big deal. Normal/good breeders don’t necessarily have a puppy ready for you in the same second you got the idea that now you would like a dog. The exception, though, is the puppy mills. The puppy mills normally find some popular breeds and then they grow their business based on sales, not on knowledge or passion for the breed or dogs in general.
Be realistic. Think about what you are asking for, when you (impatiently like mentioned above) call a breeder and say “hey, do you have female in a specific color, ready to leave in just that specific week, where I have taken some days off from work”. Most breeders don’t.. the breeding process is long. Most females are in heat around twice a year, then you have to find the right male, perhaps travel to another country to find that specific dog you would like to use, and then if you are lucky you will get a nice litter, with nice and healthy male and female puppies. If you are unlucky your female didn’t get pregnant or the puppies have ‘malfunctions’ they won’t survive. But one thing is for sure, you cannot ask for neither the gender, the colours nor the amount of puppies your female gives birth to. As one of our dear friends says, when people ask if she has a puppy of a specific gender in a specific colour, ready to leave NOW: “let me just go and check my freezer”. So keep calm, be realistic and be patient.
So now for a more easy to use advise. Never buy from a place where you cannot see the mother dog. This could be a typical sign, that the puppies are from a puppy mill in another country or it could be because the the mother is in such bad condition, the “breeder” won’t let you see her. This can actually be difficult, as it is easy to manipulate people. So, if you just have a female dog, you could just tell people, that this is mother, and how do you as a puppy buyer tell the difference between just a random female or the actual mother? It’s not easy and here you have to go with you intuition as well. If there is a mother, look and see if she actually looks like she just gave birth and fed a litter of puppies. Is the size of the litter realistic? A small breed probably won’t have 15 puppies in one litter, and maybe the puppies are very uneven in size and development.
Most breeders (at least in Denmark) have a dedicated house for the dogs or have the dogs in their own house.. They don’t breed dogs from the back of a truck. Pick up your new puppy from their home, don’t pick them up at a gas station near the high way. This is a BIG warning sign, and don’t ever let anyone say that it is normal.
When you are visiting the breeder to see the puppies, it would be very usual just to see the mother and the puppies alone, so you won’t be disturbed by the other grown up dogs. But ask the breeder if you can see the other grown up dogs as well! Usually the breeder is happy to show your their “pack” and the grown up dogs will most likely reflect the puppy you are about the buy in their antonymy and temperament. If you have the feeling, that some dogs are kept away, I would also start being suspicious. It not nessecaliry a bad sign, the breeder has many dogs, as long as they look healthy and happy, but if you have the gut feeling that some more dogs are kept in other buildings, that you are not allowed to see, this would be a warning as well.
Don’t feel guilty for not buying or not “saving” the puppy. People selling puppies from puppy mills are in it for the money – if you give them the money to save this one puppy, you will give the reason to keep up their work.
Don’t buy the same day you see the puppies – go home and think about it. In a normal process of finding the right breed and the right puppy, you will have the chance to see the puppies before they are ready to leave their mother at 8 weeks of age (in Denmark). Give your self the time to actually reflect on: is this the right puppy for us? Do we feel good about the place we are buying from? A good breeder are never interested in selling a puppy to someone who are reacting on the spur of the moment.
Consider the price of the puppy. I know I might be a bit biased here, but to me you have 3 different paths to chose from when considering to get a new family member:
- If you would like a specific breed, find a puppy with a pedigree
- If you don’t care about the size, type of dog, knowledge about temperament etc. find someone who just have one or two dogs, and who got a litter of puppies just because they thought it would be fun
- Take a chance on what you get and give a better life to a dog from a shelter. Could also be an older dog from a breeder, hunter, etc. who needs to find a new place for their beloved friend.
  
  The reason I have these 3 paths, is that when you are looking for a specific breed, and you don’t find a puppy with a pedigree, you risk ending up in a place, where they are just in it for the money. And trust me on this: dog breeders in Denmark, who breed pedigree dogs are NOT in it for the money. It is nearly impossible to make a living out of that, in if so it is not a life in wealth. So I’m mentioning the price here, as you should expect the price of a pedigree dog to be higher, than a dog without a pedigree. There is a lot reasons for this, which I think needs a post for it self. If you are buying a puppy from your next door neighbor who just got a litter “for the fun of it” I would expect the price of the puppy to be quite low and lastly if you are saving a dog from a shelter, you have other reasons to do so than the prices of the dog, and most likely the prices will be quite low as well. My alarms would start ringing if the price is just as high, as if you would buy one with a pedigree. I know there are plenty of good people out there selling happy, healthy, good puppies without a pedigree, so this is of course at the extremes. But to me the important message here is that you are trying to find a new best friend for the coming maybe 15 years – so do your research!
In Denmark you have some legislation the breeder has to follow, pedigree or not. for instance all dogs have a chip and needs to be registered in “Dansk hunde register”. I will save this for another post as well.

Naturally there are exceptions for the above. If you are an experienced breeder, you could actually pick up your new puppy at a gas station in the middle of another country, but that is because you know the breeder on the other side. But this is general rules to follow, to set you off in the right direction. The rest is up to your own ethics and common sense.

This is some of my thoughts on the topic – the list could be much longer. Do you think I have forgotten something? Send me a message and let me know! I will do some more posts on the topic in the near future.

You have the link here for the episode on Narkobetjenten – Hvalpefabrikkerne: Hundehvalpe er det nye narko

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