I am about to buy a pedigreed dog (very expensive!), for the first time in this country. Can someone please tell me what should I expect in the way of documentation? Should the pup be registered when I collect it and what paperwork do I get? What sort of documentation should I get that shows the hip scores of the parents? Should I expect that the parents have been eye-tested? What kind of protection do I have regarding the health and soundness of the pup, for example, if the pup turns out to have something wrong with it, can I expect the breeder to take some responsibility? When I collect the pup, what should I get with it in the way of paperwork? I would appreciate it if someone could tell me about these things, Thanks.

I would contact the breed club for the breed, and if they have a website you should be able to find their code of ethics. Also deatails of which health problems are tested for.

The pup should be registered, and it's parents hip and eye results will be printed next to their names.

The breeder sho7uld also give you a Pedigree, normally five geneartions, usually written by themselces, though some opt to purchese ready printed ones from the Kennel Club.

The pup should have been wormed at least twice, and not be under 7 to 8 weeks old, though in some Toy breeds breeders prefer to keep the pups until aroun 10 to 12 weeks.

If you contact the KC with the Dams name, they will be able to tell you when her previous litters if any were born. She should not normally have been bred from more than once a year, unless there was a single pup in last litter.

Brainless, thanks for this. I have just found the info on puppy contracts that is on this site and it also answers some of my questions. The breeder hasn't said anything about a puppy sales contract, is it normal to receive one of these? If there is one of these then some of my concerns will be covered. It just seemed to me that there should be some security when purchasing a pup and paying a high price for it. Thanks again.

Would someone please tell me what eye test results look like, is it a numerical scale, or descriptive, or what? And what is considered a "good" rating? Does it vary a lot from breed to breed? How recently should an eye test be done on parents when you are buying a pup? Do all/most breeders do this, ie. should I expect it? Many thanks.

Hi,
The tests done differ from breed to breed, depending on the relevant 'weaknesses'. For example, not all breeds are routinely hip-scored, not all are eye-tested, not all are heart-tested, and not all are hearing-tested. I'm sure there are other tests, too.

With eye tests, I understand they should be repeated every year, whereas hip-scoring and hearing testing are only done once, hips after 12 months, and hearing from 5 weeks.

Edit: PS, just being nosy, what breed are you getting?

:)

Eye test is a straight pass or fail. As some conditions can develope later in life the test is a yearly thing so check that it is up to date. Hip scoring is a once in a lifetime thing.

If you tell us the breed I can probably tell you the breed average hip score and also the eye conditions which affect the breed.

Regards, John