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Post by orpheous87 on Mar 31, 2013 20:27:20 GMT
When researching puppies, has anyone ever used the website www.breedersonline.co.uk to locate a breeder? Obviously I'm well aware of the dangers of buying puppies from sites such as gumtree (which I would never do), but this site seems more like a site for genuine breeders to advertise litters and most of the adverts I've looked at say that parents can be seen and have information about the various health tests etc. I'm not actually getting a puppy (yet), but I've been looking for cockapoo breeders and have wondered about this site a few times before. There's a local breeder who has a litter right now that would be ready to go to new homes at the end of April, but I'm taking price into consideration too and I believe there has been a discussion on the old forum about these 'designer dogs' and their ridiculous prices. Anyway, as I say, this is all pure curiosity. I'm not getting a puppy just yet, although I would love one and cockapoos are one of the breeds I'm considering.
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Post by puppypal on Mar 31, 2013 20:33:33 GMT
I have heard of this site as it got recommended to me by a toller breeder, it seems very genuine as they are putting all tests that have been done on the dogs on there.
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Post by gladys on Mar 31, 2013 22:10:54 GMT
Not heard about it and not clicked on the link yet but I'll take a look when I have more time. If I was you I would get in contact with some on there that are near to you and see if they are happy with answering questions and for you to visit? If they care about their dogs they will happy for you to visit whether they have puppies or not. That's what I did with people off champdogs and we are off to see some in April. Ooh the talk of puppies, Exciting!!!
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Post by gladys on Mar 31, 2013 22:57:00 GMT
Hey. Just taken a look at the site you posted about and as I know Boston breeders I went on the Boston part first. There are some well known Boston peeps on there but there is also one on there that breeds "coloured" Bostons and which (in my opinion) shouldn't be allowed to breed and sell them. I take from that, that may be the website is not monitored and anyone can list their dogs on there. So if you do use it as a way of finding puppies I would may be use with caution. My worry would be with the cross breeds that the people advertising them are definitely the ones that own the Dam and have had the puppies in a responsible way. SO not just taking puppies from pup mills or over breeding their dogs. I don't know if that has helped you or not??
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Post by smokeybear on Mar 31, 2013 23:56:14 GMT
The website is no better or worse than most others, not everyone on there is top notch...........
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Post by SarahHound on Apr 1, 2013 7:43:23 GMT
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Post by smokeybear on Apr 1, 2013 9:12:55 GMT
Champdogs is not restricted to top notch breeders either, if you are a potential purchaser the BEST place to start looking for information on breeders etc is the relevant breed club. They will give impartial advice and members must abide by codes of conduct higher than that of the KC
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Post by BorderTerrier on Apr 1, 2013 10:09:22 GMT
I have heard of the site - but I'm sure searching for a breeder has a different meaning than buying a puppy, off the Internet. As long as out meet the puppy in life, and the breeder, and most preferably the parents, plus make sure the me surroundings are clean and healthy for the puppy, all is well. Just don't buy the puppy via the Internet. It's all well and good to search for a breeder of your desired breed, as long as payment and information that the puppy you'd like to take home is healthy and brought up well, face to face with the breeder.
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Post by smokeybear on Apr 1, 2013 10:16:37 GMT
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Post by SarahHound on Apr 1, 2013 13:24:26 GMT
Champdogs is not restricted to top notch breeders either, if you are a potential purchaser the BEST place to start looking for information on breeders etc is the relevant breed club. They will give impartial advice and members must abide by codes of conduct higher than that of the KC I agree with you there, no site is 100% but I feel Champdogs is the best of the ones there are.
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Post by orpheous87 on Apr 1, 2013 13:36:59 GMT
Thanks Gladys, it helped a bit. I think that I'd use it as an idea but if I went to view any litters, I'd have to go with an open mind and if I saw anything that I didn't like, walk away. Thanks Smokeybear. I've looked at the cockapoo website before and the breeders listed on there. There are a few I liked the look of, but some may be too far for me to travel to - but as this is purely research at the moment, I need to look at everything. And cost is playing a big part in my research too - however much I'd love to have a cockapoo, I really don't think I could justify paying nearly £1000 for one. How do you tell the difference between quality breeders and those who just want to make some quick money? Some of the adverts for pups say that they're brought up in a family environment and both parents are available for viewing etc. but then the prices of the pups are ridiculously high.
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Post by gladys on Apr 1, 2013 13:37:09 GMT
Like Smokeybear said No info found on these sort of sites is going to come with 100% guarantee and the best thing to do is go to breed clubs but I guess if your looking for a cross breed this will not always be possible. As I said on the old forum I compared breeders on Champdogs with people who showed their Bostons and then not only contacted them but also went to shows too. Again like smokeybear said I didn't take what info I found on websites as true. I not only went and talked to people at shows but also went and visited people at their homes, where I could see the environment and the dogs. Of course wanting a cross breed dogs will make this harder to do but the link smokeybear has given you for the Cocker spaniel/poodle cross club (can't bring myself to type that designer name)is most useful and a good place to start. Just research, research, research. Visit lots of different people and ask lots of questions. Edit - Sorry took so long writting this that two people had wrote before me?!?! Blame Cooper throwing his new rope toy at me. I don't really know what to say about the price thing. Popular cross breeds with made up names seem to be selling for silly amounts on some websites and for lower amounts on others. I'm not to sure if that means better homes from higher priced people, you would maybe have to go to both and see for your self. The main issues I would have is that the environment was clean, the parents or at least the mum was there and the puppies were healthy. I not to sure if you would be able to tell if mum had been over bred or if the puppies where brought in from a pup mill and cleaned up unless there was no mum to see???
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Post by orpheous87 on Apr 1, 2013 14:03:11 GMT
Haha, no worries Gladys!! I couldn't blame Cooper, he's too adorable!
The price thing is so confusing.
The breeder of the litter I've been looking at seems decent. She calls herself a hobby breeder though, so I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign. When I've looked at her info on the breeders online website before, I'm sure it said that she only breeds once a year or something and this is the first litter I've seen her advertise, so that could be a good sign. I'd love to go and look at the puppies to see what the environment etc. is like, but I know that if I do that now and everything is alright, I'd want to buy one! One of the other things stopping me is that I don't want three dogs all of a very similar age really as, all being well, I'd likely lose them all at a similar time.
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Post by SarahHound on Apr 1, 2013 14:03:19 GMT
I'd quite like a 'Cockapoo', but I will not support a breeder of them. I'm waiting until one turns up in rescue
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Post by orpheous87 on Apr 1, 2013 14:05:27 GMT
Sarahhound - I'd love to get a rescue one, but I'd also love a puppy so I'm a bit torn. I think I'd like to do the whole socialisation thing myself.
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