Tips on Buying a New Puppy

by: Diane Carter

Perhaps some of you are thinking about buying a new gun dog puppy.I would like to put forward some things to consider before making your purchase.

My opinion is that it’s a pretty good idea to get a pup out of a breeding where at least one of the parents is titled. Stop and think about what a title, whether it be an AKC Field Championship, American Field Champion, Master Hunter, or an NBHA Champion, implies.

A titled dog has had to impress a wide range of individuals. Someone has had to have felt that the dog possessed class, that it exhibited style, that it could retrieve game to hand and that it put it’s considerable training and natural abilities to good use for the gun.

Having a title on a dog lets everyone know that the dog is special, a cut above the rest. The dog has already proven that in competition. It stands to reason that if you are looking at a pup who has titled parents, you are getting an idea of what the pup may turn out to be.So when you’re considering buying that new pup, stop and think about what it takes to finish a Champion, and look to the breeder who produces pups out of those champions. This will more likely insure that the pups will have style, stamina, trainability, birdiness and compatibility with other in the field. Breeders who are conscientious enough to attempt to perpetuate what they already know is good and sound in their bird dogs, regardless of breed, would want the buying public to know that they are every bit as good.