Take your time.

Put on your track shoes.

Leave the kids at home.

Research breed purposes.

Learn about temperament testing.

Understand any and all guarantees.

Take the puppy to your veterinarian before the sale is final.

TAKE YOUR TIME. If you choose wisely, your puppy will be a source of pleasure for nine to fifteen or more years. The initial price may sound like a lot, but you will spend much more than that over the years.

PUT ON YOUR TRACK SHOES! Some professional kennel owners are less than ethical and some hobby breeders do very conscientious jobs. Trust your intuition about people. Be prepared to run from puppies raised in dirty surroundings. Ignorance about canine development is widespread. Junk breeders tend to want to sell puppies too early, usually as soon as "mommy" as weaned them and is not cleaning up after them. Puppies must stay in the litter until they are at least 6-1/2 weeks old (7 weeks is ideal) to learn species identification. A high percentage of puppies taken from the litter too young will be hyperactive as adults and are rarely mentally sound. Learning about litter mates is so essential that we do not recommend single puppy litters raised alone for family dogs. They may become very neurotic adults.

Puppies older than 16 weeks of age that have not had individual socialization from a dedicated, informed breeder do not form the deep bond with humans that makes owning a pet so satisfying.

LEAVE THE KIDS AT HOME. That way you can avoid caving in to, "Oh, I want that one!". That one is usually the most dominant, aggressive pup in the litter who beat his litter mates for attention. Or sometimes "that one" is the weakest, most submissive pup that hangs back and seems to be so alone and so "needed".

RESEARCH BREED PURPOSES. Breeds that generally do well as pets are those whose original purpose had a close tie with humans. Examples: the herding or working and sporting groups of the American Kennel Club (AKC) as well as the herding breeds of the United Kennel Club (UKC). Within these groups is a wide variety of sizes, coat colors and temperament levels. Also within the individual breeds there is a wide spread of temperament levels.

TEMPERAMENT TESTING. Each litter also has some spread of temperament levels. Familiarize yourself with some form of temperament testing. A number of modern dog training books discuss temperament testing. Campbell and Paffenberger are two forms.

Once you have decided on a breed, find out what its hereditary problems are -- hip dysplasia, eye abnormalities, heart or intestinal abnormalities, etc. Then ask the breeders about occurrences of problems within their bloodlines. Hips should, at minimum, be X-rayed by a competent small animal veterinarian; at best, certified by OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals). Three or four generations of OFA-cleared dogs on a pedigree is your best guarantee of freedom from hip dysplasia.

See both sire and dam if you can, and observe their temperaments. The bitch has the most influence on the puppies. A bitch who is "spooky" or overly defensive around strangers by the time the litter is six to seven weeks old is a poor candidate for the family dog's mother or dam. (Remember your track shoes if any excuses are made about the bitch's temperament! ) Try to see more than one litter. The comparison is bound to be helpful.

UNDERSTAND YOUR GUARANTEES. When you have decided on a breed, a litter and a puppy, be sure you understand any guarantees or limitations of ownership involved. Written guarantees are certainly the safest. No one wants to have to go to court to enforce a verbal agreement of guarantee.

If the individual puppy registration papers are not supplied at the time of purchase, you will be dependent on the goodwill of the seller to supply them later. It might be better to make a deposit on the puppy of your choice and complete the sale when the papers are supplied.

Finally, arrange with the breeder to take the new puppy to your veterinarian for a health check before the sale is final. The veterinarian can check such things as general soundness, bad bite, external deformities, narrow hips, luxated patella, heart murmur, eye-ear-skin-lung infections, mange, umbilical hernia, anemia or heavy infestations of internal or external parasites.

LAST - BUT NOT LEAST - COME TO THE KALAMAZOO DOG TRAINING CLUB'S KINDERGARTEN PUPPY CLASSES. You can start training your puppy with us when s/he is nine weeks of age!

ENJOY! Dog ownership is fun and can be deeply satisfying -- if you select your puppy or dog carefully and train correctly.

QUESTIONS REGARDING PROBLEMS with your new puppy may be discussed with your veterinarian or with a member of the staff of the Kalamazoo Dog Training Club by e-mailing KDTC@net-link.net or kazoodog@aol.com or by calling 616-327-2143; 616-344-0434; or 616-349-7840.