Breeder Box

Today I plan to help guide you in some of the resources we have available today to help you find that responsible breeder. First you need to settle on what breed will fit into your lifestyle and then finding that healthy puppy is sometimes a difficult task.

First off you should contact the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation of America) website at http://www.offa.org/index.html . Here you can visit the CHIC (Canine Health Information Center) to see if your new breed is listed. Then if you click on the individual breed you will get a list of genetic problems that need to be tested for. If a dog has had the required testing then the Canine Health Information Center will give the dog a CHIC number. Inherited health issues will be different for every breed so when you are purchasing a puppy from a responsible breeder you will want to know if the parents have been tested with all appropriate tests. This is key to finding a healthy puppy.

OFA provides a reliable source of family information allowing you to check parents, grandparents, siblings, offspring, ect. on any particular dog listed in the database. Lets use hips as an example. If your new breed is a dog that hips can be an issue the OFA allows you to check on the hip status of the sire and dam of your new puppy and then you can navigate the website checking on all the relatives for many generations if the appropriate testing has been done. A responsible breeder will provide you with the name of the sire and dam of their litter along with AKC numbers so that you can look up and see if in fact their hips have been done. The breeder that says .there is nothing wrong with my dogs hips and has done no testing is the kind of breeder you should walk away from.

The parent clubs work with the CHIC program and set down the guidelines for what health issues are of concern for their breed. If you go to the AKC web site at www.akc.org then you will be able to find a list of all the parent clubs. Each parent club should provide accurate information on health concerns for their breed. Then go to the CHIC list and find out exactly what those issues are and you will be prepared to ask the appropriate questions when you start contacting breeders for a puppy.

The OFA website is the keeper of the genetic testing records. It's the best resource we have at this time to help us make the right choice. If you can make an informed choice then you will have a better chance of purchasing a puppy free of genetic inherited defects.

here is where you can go to find is a list of the current CHIC breeds. http://www.caninehealthinfo.org/breeds.html