I got bored this afternoon with all the rain keeping me from doing much. So I go and look around on the forums and I've hear horror stories about breeders and puppy problems and early illness coupled with genetic defects. I think I did a pretty good job looking for weeks upon weeks which turned into a few months until I found a good breeder but after a simple afternoon of research I think I might have scared myself a little bit with all the possibilities for things to go bad

Both his parents are AKC registered and I got to see his family history, I got a lot of other helpful info from the breeder such as health history and temperament. I've got a 10 day window after I pick him up to have him checked out by a vet after I take him home.


I'm not a big worrier normally but when it comes to this I've been nothing but a growing ball of it. His breeder has 2 males and three females with only 1 to 2 litters a year so I'm confident it isn't a puppy mill, the puppies have all been dewormed and started on their puppy shots and they all seemed happy and healthy on my visit. They were born in the house and raised there since birth. I don't feel like I have much to fear but I think I might be looking at this from one point of view and I'd like a few others input. If you have any other questions I'll be more than happy to answer as best I can.

Kennel name? Website if applicable?

Do they do hip and eye tests? My first was from what I thought was a respectable show breeder but she didn't do the health tests. At the time, I didn't know I needed to ask for that. I never had health problems with Dakota until he turned 10 years old and that's when I found out he had Hip Dysplasia and he started having seizures. He died from the seizures a month before his 11th birthday. Sometimes the health issues don't show up right away but when they do, it's devastating. It killed me to watch him suffer that last year of his life.

26nikita wrote:

Do they do hip and eye tests? My first was from what I thought was a respectable show breeder but she didn't do the health tests. At the time, I didn't know I needed to ask for that. I never had health problems with Dakota until he turned 10 years old and that's when I found out he had Hip Dysplasia and he started having seizures. He died from the seizures a month before his 11th birthday. Sometimes the health issues don't show up right away but when they do, it's devastating. It killed me to watch him suffer that last year of his life.

To answer both questions at once, they aren't a named kennel but they do the health tests on the parents. No website yet. Everything else tho is what I would would want from a reputable breeder they gave me records and up to date tests on both parents and all the knowledge on the family line from the akc going back at least 2 generations or more. I was originally going to go with a breeder here with a website and seemingly approvable kennel but after seeing that they bred merles I was quickly put off and looked elsewhere.

What does that mean? Not a named kennel?

As in they don't have a name for themselves.


I honestly worried I would for the most part be taking a leap of faith,but I had all my questions answered that were suggested by huskies for dummies and then some. They were very interested in my living arrangements and my yard and my time I could devote to the puppy and if I knew all the time and energy went into raising a husky. In total I've spent about 2 days just going over puppy care and health.

Is the puppy registered? I think up here they need to have the kennel name to be registered with the Cdn Kennel Club...

He is, They registered the litter with the akc and I just have to file his paperwork when I go to pick him up.

You don't -need- a kennel name. Like bella's name is just made up and has no kennel name in front of it - but she's also not really from a kennel - and as such she has a heart problem.

Without more information on the people, dogs and pedigrees I can't say with any certainty that these people/person are anyone that I would deal with. But my standards for breeders are extremely high. So.

But also just because dogs are registered does not guarantee health. Bella is a shining example of that

If possible, I would contact the breeder and ask them what his full registered AKC name would be. My pup will be coming from a kennel called "Sierra's Hope" so her full registered CKC name would be "Sierra's Hope's Phoenix".

Might be worth looking into... The breeder shouldn't have any reason to hide what the name would be. If needed, just say you want to know what would have a good ring to it (since I see you haven't picked a name yet )

I do remember them mentioning a kennel name to go along with the one I picked. Whenever I manage to pick one that is. This whole thing feels like I'm in the waiting room of a hospital waiting to hear the baby is healthy with ten fingers and toes.

Many health problems common to the breed won't be caught within the first 24,48, 72 hours, 4,6 or 8 months or even usually within the first 2 years.

The one that WILL be caught would be Juvenile/Hereditary Cataracts and even then only in absolute worst case scenarios will you catch it extremely early.

I hope your dog is healthy though

I am somewhat confident in my choice I wanted to hear the angles I wasn't thinking about and I'm glad I have. I'm just going to hope he is healthy at this point and treat him with all the love and care I can muster. Maybe find a name I can actually stick with and trust that his family line is as healthy as they appeared to be. I'm going to trust that I made a good choice and brace myself to deal with it.

I think bella went nameless for like the first 3 days we had her. Just went with the first name she responded to.

lol only somewhat confident? :o IMO (and this really is only my opinion BUT I have spent the better part of 2 years talking to and researching breeders) if you choose a breeder you should be 150% confident in your choice to support that person. If you are not anywhere near fully confident - you probably shouldn't be supporting them.

I can only speak of my experiences and also of my knowledge about breeders - but I hold any breeder to a very high standard. Especially the one I am going to get a puppy from. If I can't near fully support the that person I won't even consider a puppy from them.

It will be near a year in spring that I've been in communication with the breeder I'm going to for my puppy. I also am planning a visit with her. I'm also about a year and a half out from getting my puppy. I want to ensure that I can support everything she does from talking with her to seeing her dogs in person well before my planned puppy.

I'm a naturally cautious person. Its a fault of mine that I'm not the most trust individual of anything or anyone usually with the exception of mans best friend hence the 6month puppy hunt lol. I will say that I trust the breeder as much as humanly possible for me. And oh the naming process has been a royal pain. I like short sharp two syllable names. Something easy to use in training and simple for most people to say.

I am the same way - I don't trust easily and after we got Bella - who has a heart condition that will kill her eventually (hopefully later rather than sooner) I pick breeders apart with a fine-toothed comb. But I am lucky enough to have found a breeder who has the type of dogs I am interested in who also holds herself and the care of her dogs to a higher standard than even I do. We've spent months talking every day about the health of her dogs and their conformation and temperaments and why she has done certain breedings and what her goals are with each breeding. We've gone over Inbreeding coefficients and health certs and pedigrees. MONTHS of research on my part of digging through hundreds of pedigrees back into the 1950s and earlier.

My next dog's health is not something I take lightly.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only cautious person out there. I can't say that I blame you, dogs become part of the family for most people and their health means a lot to most of us. I recently lost my weim do to dog thieves. So its been lonely around the house since most of the time I live alone. Besides breeders I'm also in the market for a new vet seeing as I'm not 100% happy with my current one.

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your weim .

I went through the vet thing - my old vet was really only in it for the money and since Bella has to see a cardiologist that my vet didn't have access to - I switched vets to where she goes to her cardiologist and I really like them.

I'm sorry to hear about Bella I hope she gets many years and its lucky for her she has a devoted owner.

Thanks She's a pretty special girl. She's inspired a lot of people and helped me to really push for education concerning breeders of all kinds and the concerning breed education also.

She's the reason why I've spend so much time talking with all kinds of different breeders.

I made a mistake with my weim that made me very cautious with my next dog. I do plan on having a second dog after About 6 months or so. I was hoping this guy would be my second but it didn't work out that way.

I planned for a second from the day we got Bella but I wasn't allowing myself to get another dog until Bella was 2 years of age minimum. I wanted her to be fully mature physically and mentally and I want her training to be in a decent place but it is important for her to be mature first.

Looks like Bella will be 3 before I bring the puppy home, though.

I'm not new to raising dogs but I know a husky is going to be a challenge to say the least.

I'm not new, either . I had a LGD (Great Pyrenees) before my Siberian. but I'm all for stacking the odds in my favor.

If I just took away someones treat, pm me so I can negate it. I was trying to get to page 1 of the thread on my mobile, and accidentally hit some other link, and then it told me my vote had been cast..