Keelypso Keeshonden

"Puppies For Sale!" We have all seen the sign scribbled
on a piece of cardboard and taped to the bed of a pickup,
or crudely painted on a square of plywood and staked near
the driveway of a house, or perhaps professionally printed
on a sign in the front window of a pet store, but many
people have never taken into consideration the quality
that lies behind the sign. I was pondering lately why it was
that so many people were perfectly willing to pay
$800-$1000 for a puppy purchased in a pet store that
was more than likely bred, whelped and raised in a puppy
mill, but they would balk at paying anything near that
amount to individual breeders such as myself. Somehow, I
had become convinced that the knowledge I had gained
over the years about puppy mill establishments and
"backyard breeders" had also been acquired by the
average "man on the street", as well. Evidently, this is not
the case, for I have encountered a number of people
shopping for a Keeshond puppy that seem reluctant to
pay that kind of money to us, but will more than likely feel
quite willing to spend a similar amount to purchase a
puppy from a "reliable source" such as a pet store, for
they obviously have not learned what I have about the
source of the puppies that are sold in the average pet
store. So, here is my advice to all of you out there who
have not purchased one of these puppies in the past or
heard the litany of horror stories from acquaintances that
have done so. Before you ever pay one dollar of your hard
earned cash to anyone for any puppy, ask the following
questions:

1) May you come to the breeder's home/kennel and meet
the mother (dam)and possibly the father (sire)? The sire
may not be owned by the breeder, since it is very common
for a breeder to pay a stud fee to use the services of a
dog owned by another breeder. If not allowed to meet the
dam, run to the nearest exit. There should be no reason
why you should not be welcomed to the breeder's home or
kennel facility. If you are asked to meet the breeder at
some other location to pick up the pup, this is a HUGE
red flag and indicates the breeding animals and pups are
probably kept in unclean and often inhumane conditions.
Never even entertain the idea of purchasing a puppy from
someone who makes this request. If they are not willing to
have you see their home/facility, there is a very good
reason! If you are purchasing from any pet store, request
the address of the facility from which they purchase their
pups. I can almost guarantee they will not give it to you.
2) Are the puppies American Kennel Club registered?
Commercial breeders (puppy mills) are getting away from
regsitering their pups with the AKC and have started
their own registration club, in order to not have to abide
by the AKC regulations. Don't be fooled by this. The
AKC remains the standard registration entity in the
U.S. that reputable breeders use.
3) What health tests have been performed on the
parents? There are minimum tests that should be
performed on the parents to reduce the likelihood of
passing on genetic defects to the offspring. In the
Keeshond breed, poorly bred individuals are notorious for
having problems such as luxating patellae (slipping
kneecaps), and hip dysplasia. There is a particular
genetic disease, which can cost the owner in excess of
$3000 to treat, called Primary Hyperparathyroidism
(PHPT for short) and there is a genetic test available to
rule out the use of affected animals in a breeding
program. If a dog with this disease is used for breeding,
the pups should be tested for the gene before being sold
or the buyer should be made aware of the possibility that
the pup they are purchasing may have the gene and
develop the disease. The breeder should provide you
with documentation of any tests that have been
performed and have a good reason for not doing them.
Things like "my dog has never come up lame, so they must
not have bad hips" is not sufficient, since dogs by nature
will do their best to hide any kind of physical weakness.
There is no way to know the true soundness of a dog
without performing the proper tests. Some breeders do
not register the test results with the Orthopedic
Foundation for Animals (OFA), but they should be able
to supply you with an analysis from a qualified
veterinarian, at the very least. If they claim the dogs have
been registered with OFA, you may go to www.offa.org
and input the dog's AKC registered name and find a list
of all tests that have been registered and the results. We
actually list the OFA certificate numbers on all of our
breeding dogs on this website. Let me be clear, there is
no way that a breeder can be absolutely sure their dogs
are free of any genetic diseases and they are lying if they
say they are, but the tests are a way to rule out as much
as possible and make the most informed decisions on
which dogs to breed. The tests we perform on our
breeding dogs are as follows: PHPT genetic test, Hip
x-rays, Elbow x-rays, Patellae/Stifle check, Heart
certification, Thyroid certification, Eye certification
(CERF exam). We register all of the test results with
OFA.
4) Have the puppies been vaccinated appropriately for
their age and does the breeder have documentation of
such? Vaccination protocols can differ from one vet to the
next, but most usually recommend beginning the
vaccinations at between 7 and 9 weeks of age and every 2
to 3 weeks thereafter, until they have completed 3
courses of vaccines and then a booster at one year of
age, except for the rabies vaccination, which is given at
around 16 weeks of age with a booster at one year of age.
What vaccines are suggested will vary from one part of
the country to the next, depending on what diseases are
prevalent, so speak to the veterinarian you plan to use
and make sure the breeder is using a similar protocol.
5) Have the puppies been wormed in accordance with
their age? We worm the dam with fenbendazole during her
pregnancy and we worm the pups at around 6 weeks of
age and again at around 9 weeks of age, just before they
go to their homes. Fenbendazole, otherwise known as
Panacur or Safeguard, is a very safe and broad spectrum
wormer that is the only wormer that I am aware of that is
safe for use in both pregnant females and young pups. It
is highly effective against giardia, which is a pervasive
parasite in the mountains of Colorado. No puppy should
ever go to its new home infested with worms, period, end
of statement! However, worms and other parasites are
extremely common in puppies that hail from puppy mill
establishments.
6) Where were the puppies whelped and reared? Ideally,
the answer will be somewhere within the home of the
breeder, even if it is in a basement area. Kennel whelping
and rearing is less desirable, because of the reduction in
socialization that occurs, but it is not uncommon with
breeders who maintain a large number of breeding animals.
In cases such as this, you should be allowed to see the
kennel and where the pups are kept. Filthy conditions
should be a huge red flag! Our pups are born in a
whelping box in our bedroom and raised in a puppy pen in
our living room and an outdoor enclosure, in good weather,
until they go to their homes. This insures our pups are
socialized and exposed to a variety of sights and sounds.
7) How many litters does the breeder produce in an
average year and how many different breeds do they
have? Be leary of any breeder that houses and breeds in
excess of 3-4 breeds. A reputable breeder that gives the
proper attention to their adult dogs and the pups they
produce will not be breeding a litter of pups for every
month of the year. It's not practical unless they have paid
staff to look after their dogs and I would, personally,
consider that type of establishment to be a commercial
facility. We average around one litter every 1 to 2 years,
but there are breeders who breed multiple litters in a year
and produce sound, healthy, well socialized pups.
8) Can the breeder provide you with references from
previous buyers that you are welcome to contact? A good
breeder will be more than happy to do so, because they
take pride in the pups they have bred and are confident
the owners are happy with their purchases. Run really
fast from anyone who answers no to this question or
comes up with reasons why they cannot do so.
9) One of the most important questions is, is the breeder
willing to take the dog back at any age for any reason,
should you not be able to keep it. A good breeder is
concerned about the welfare of the pups they produce
and will be more than willing to take them back, if need be.
Many breeders, including ourselves, actually place
stipulations in their contracts regarding the return of the
dog. We specify that the dog must be returned to us
rather than being relinquished to a shelter or rescue club.

In conclusion, the pups raised by breeders such as
ourselves, with love and excellent care in a home
environment, are healthier, happier puppies with a
considerably lower chance of developing crippling
diseases during their lives. The time and attention that
we pay to the pups during their first weeks of life cannot
be offset by any monetary savings you might realize by
purchasing from a commercial establishment, where profit
is the bottom line. We have never made a "profit" off a
litter of pups. When you add up the cost of completing
an AKC championship, the feeding and vet care of a
breeding dog, the cost of all of the health tests we have
done, the cost of breeding a bitch and caring for her
needs during her gestation and whelping and the cost of
feeding and vet care for the pups, as well as their AKC
registration and microchipping, we are very much "in the
red" with every litter. This is something we do for the
pride we feel when we produce a beautiful example of the
Keeshond breed and the challenge of breeding an even
better example of the breed with the next litter. Money
is never a motivator for us. It is merely a way of recouping
a portion of our expenses and insuring the pups are
going to homes that will care for them now and for the
remainder of their lives. Be sure and ask the pet store
owner or commercial breeder why they breed
Keeshonden and compare their answer with ours and ask
yourself if it is worth the monetary savings to take your
chances with them. Look into the future and try to weigh
the immediate savings you might realize from that
purchase against the vet bills a few years later when you
find out that adorable puppy mill purchase has hip
dysplasia or PHPT or knee caps that are luxating and
causing arthritis. I wonder if that pup will seem like such a
bargain then!