Looking For An OES In Northern Virginia
First off, thank you to all that post here and more importantly respond to posts... It not only shows how great an OES is, but also how devoted you all are to the betterment of the breed. My hubby and I plan on buying an OES in the next year. We will be closing on our first house in Arlington, Virginia in June (yep...big fenced yard and 2 blocks from a dog park) and we want to settle into the home before we buy a puppy. We have both owned dogs our whole life (my husband with German Shepherds and Australian Shepherds and I have owned Poodles and a Goldendoodle). We think that an OES will be a perfect fit for us. I'm hesitant to start calling breeders from the traditional Google search because well, quite frankly you never know what really goes on behind closed doors. I've also noticed that (and this is probably a good thing) that breeders advertising on the internet are few and far between. Even though I'm in Marketing, I'm a fundamental believer that word of mouth advertising (especially in the form of a recommendation) is a million times better than a website. My husband and I are adamant about a few things about our next puppy (or rather, where the puppy comes from) like having access to walk the home or the area where the puppy is being raised, to be able to select a puppy that meets our personality as opposed to 'matching' one from a photo, to meet at least the mother and live no further than an 8 hour drive so we can pick up the puppy ourselves. In your opinion, does this sound unreasonable? Also, I've been having difficulty in trying to find referrals for a breeder in my area. I've tried most of the referral websites that some of you have posted but have not really found anything in our area. Do any of you have any recommendations for a Breeder in Virginia (Well, VA, PA, WV, NC, SC, NY as those are all in an 8 hour drive). I'm sure I'm going to be posting a lot more on here so thank you in advance for the gazillion questions that I plan on asking. Thanks, Amy |
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| If you haven't checked here already, there's the OESCA Breeder Referral: http://www.oldenglishsheepdogclubofamer ... l/east.php A lot of them don't have websites, but start emailing people on that list and ask questions! If you can't find one on that list, there's nothing wrong with looking at the ones you find on google as long as you ask a lot of questions and make sure you're buying from a reputable breeder, not a puppy mill or BYB. I got Eevee from a breeder who wasn't on the OESCA list and she's a nice lady with wonderful dogs, I asked a lot of questions before I decided to go with one of her puppies to make sure I wasn't about to make a bad choice. You should ask questions even if you do pick a breeder from the OESCA list. If you don't know what kinds of questions you should be asking, you're going to want to ask about OFA and CERF certifications for sure (don't just take their word for it either, and don't take any "my vet said they're fine", the certification is important as OES are known for hip dysplasia. Get the parents of the puppies' AKC numbers and check it for yourself here: http://www.offa.org/search.html?btnSear ... ced+Search ). Ask about the age of the parents, if they are under 2 years they should not be having puppies since they can't be checked for the OFA yet. Ask how long ago the female had her last litter, I believe it should be at least 18 months. The breeder you're talking to should be open and willing to answer all of your questions fully. There's a really good website that gives you a good long list of what you should be looking for and asking about, which helped me a whole lot. You can find that here: http://www.untilyoufindme.com/Buying-An ... -Puppy.htm I learned all of this information from the wonderful people on this forum, if you want help choosing a good breeder, these people are going to give you excellent advice and make sure you're pointed in the right direction. Welcome to the forum!  |
abutz wrote: Hi, My husband and I are adamant about a few things about our next puppy (or rather, where the puppy comes from) like having access to walk the home or the area where the puppy is being raised, to be able to select a puppy that meets our personality as opposed to 'matching' one from a photo, to meet at least the mother and live no further than an 8 hour drive so we can pick up the puppy ourselves. In your opinion, does this sound unreasonable? Amy Good luck with your puppy search! Adding an OES puppy to our lives was the best decision we ever made (followed closely by adding 2 more...). I think it's great to aim for the puppy in a litter which has the best chance of matching your life. In this (and sorry, it's not entirely clear from what you said), I strongly believe in letting the breeder guide the choice. Aside from wanting females, it was the breeder who chose for us. Of course, this is assuming you find a great breeder, which is a must, I'm sure others can give you great advice on how to find some. |
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