If a breeder has one available this week, ask why.
Good litters are planned around a bitch's health and are spoken for long before they are born. This page is a waiting list, a set of health results you can check for yourself, and an honest list of the questions you ought to be putting to us.
Ask for the health results — By name, with the certificates. "Vet checked" is not a health test
Ask how many litters a year — And how many breeds. More than one breed is a business rather than a programme
Ask what happens if it goes wrong — The answer should be that they take the dog back, and it should be in writing
Ask when the deposit is due — Money before a litter exists is somebody's cashflow, not your puppy
Ask what they want to ask you — A breeder who doesn't interview you isn't choosing homes for anything
"Rare" colours — Usually a fault with a premium attached. Ours are priced the same as any other
Size at either extreme — Neither the tiny version nor the enormous one. Both arrive with the same vet bills
Coats that need a groomer to survive — A dog should manage a fortnight of being a dog without matting
A temperament we haven't met — We use dogs we know, and we have turned down a stud after one car-park meeting
The health results
Tested before mating, not after
Both parents, to the breed club's published scheme, with certificates dated before the litter was ever planned.
You can look them up
The results sit wherever that scheme publishes them, and we give you both dogs' registered names so you can check without having to ask us for anything.
What a test doesn't do
Testing lowers a risk. It does not remove one, and no breeder can promise you a healthy dog for fourteen years. Anybody who does is guessing with your money.
Joining costs nothing — No deposit, no fee, and no priority for paying. It's a conversation rather than a queue
A deposit only once they're born — And after the first health check. Never before a mating
We may still say no — And we'll say why. Usually it's the puppy being wrong for you rather than you being wrong
Waiting is normal — A year is not unusual. If that's too long, a rescue can often help sooner and we'll say so
“They told us to wait for the next litter because this one's temperament wasn't right for a house with a toddler. It cost them a sale and we waited nine months.”
The Barretts
Waited, then a puppy
“Every certificate was in the folder before I thought to ask, with both registered names written out so I could go and check them myself.”
Hugh N.
Joined the list first
Join the waiting list
Live preview — every color, word and block is editable after you pick it.