Contract from a Breeder - What to Look For...

specific health guarentees;  first right of refusal;  any future breeding options.

All I have seen have requirements for food, housing, and vet care; most also require training and verification in the form of copies of certificates.

Notification to breeder of health concerns, death,  failed health checks.

Some have rebates based on titles earned.

Some discount price if a disqualifying fault develops in a show puppy (or a replacement)

 Breeders, I try to verify that they are a 'reputable breeder' rather than a back yard breeder or puppymill breeder, first and foremost.  The main way to tell is if they interview you.  A reputable breeder will have at least as many questions for you as you do for them.  ... if not more!  BYB and puppymills will just have you come and take a puppy home, period. Pick one, pay and go.  Rep breeders will have a contract, require a right of first refusal (and all the stuff MRV mentions).  I make sure that they do specific testing on the parents. Know the breed and verify they test the parents for common problems in the breed, such as hip dysplasia and eye disease (to name a few).

 They will verify you are a good home, maybe even come and check your home out.  They will probably have titles on the sire and dam. ... and they DON'T HAVE to have both parents on site, in fact they usually will only have the mother.

 Be really familiar with the breed you are looking into, and go to the breed club in your area, and they should have a link to reputable breeders.

 Good luck!! :)

 

Thanks!  There is a contract, with stipulations on vet care (including neutering, since the puppy is pet quality), breeding, food (although this is a weird one where they say no home cooking, raw diet etc. and my friend is not comfortable with that right now - since he is looking into raw feeding and/or homecooking right now), right of first refusal, general stipulations about how the puppy may not be tied out or mis-treated...  seemed fairly thorough to me, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something glaring. 

He has done a lot of research, but this is a first for him and he admits that there is a lot he doesn't know.  He is very open to all suggestions and wants to make sure he does everything right, so since I have never had a puppy and I have never bought from a breeder (we adopted our dog at 9 months from a rescue) I thought it best to make sure I have good information before I tell him what to look for...  Anyway - thanks again!

schleide

food (although this is a weird one where they say no home cooking, raw diet etc. and my friend is not comfortable with that right now -

Oy! I dunno why breeders do this. THEY should keep the dog if they want that much control lol. I am pretty sure this is totally unenforceable and they'd be laughed out of court too...esp if the dog is healthy and a vet second's that. I mean "good quality diet" is a good thing to recommend/require but specifics....well I dunno.

Not a huge red flag just a bit of something to think about if this breeder is one that likes to have a say in everything done with the pup...it can grate after a few years time. But if he is owning the pup outright on the paperwork that's comforting.

Heh. Check the name thing, too.

I've never had a breeder who was super-picky about names- the kennel name had to go on there and usually a litter theme, but no big.

Lizzie's breeder insisted on picking the name herself and i'm really annoyed about it because I *hate* what she picked. I wouldn't care if I wasn't planning to show or breed this pup- but it sounds like a BYB-type name.