My husband and I always knew we would get a dog the minute the opportunity presented itself. We had been apartment dwellers and had only cats. In January 2002, we were transferred from Chicago to Los Angeles. My husband is in the Navy and they provided us with an actual house on the base. Finally we could get a dog.
We debated for many days on what breed. I wanted a golden retriever, my husband wanted a collie. We finally came to an agreement on the golden retriever and set out looking for a breeder. We were aware of all the things to ask the breeders in order to ensure we were getting the best dog possible. We knew we wanted a dog from a reputable breeder that was not a puppy mill. We wanted a dog whose parents and so forth had been been tested and passed all the tests for the hereditary diseases that goldens were prone to, especially hip dysplacia. We knew this did not guarantee our puppy would not have hip dysplacia, but knew that the chances were a whole lot less if it didn't exist in the last 3 or 4 generations.
We spent a few weeks searching locally, and could not find anyone who currently had any puppies nor was going to have any in the next few months. Let me re-phrase that. We did not come across any "reputable" breeders that had or were planning any litters in the near future. We came across quite a few "backyard" breeders that had plenty of puppies for sale, but we did not want to get our puppy this way.
In the course of our search, we came across a company that advertised in our local paper as a puppy finder service. The main thing that caught our attention was that they claimed in their ad not to use puppy mills. Since we had been unsuccessful in our own search, we gave them a call. They backed up their affirmation that they did not use puppy mills. They claimed to have a network of breeders across the country that they could contact and see if anyone had any puppies available. They guaranteed the animals came directly from a hobby breeder and not a puppy mill. They guaranteed that the puppies ancestors had all been tested and passed the tests for hip dysplacia, among other things. They also assured us that our puppy would personally be driven from his breeder by a veterinary technician.
With the things we know now, the phrase "network of breeders" would have sent up a red flag, but at the time, it did not. They answered all the important questions correctly, are partnered with a veterinarian in a VERY affluent neighborhood, and we trusted they were telling the truth. So, we hired them and set the wheels in motion to get us our perfect puppy. Aside from the health concerns, we had 3 other requests for our puppy. He had to be male, medium gold and come from parents that were on the big size, and appear to be big himself. We wanted a big guy!
It only took a few days for us to get the call that they found us our puppy. That too may have sent up a red flag to some. We re-iterated our concerns to them, and they assured us that the puppy met ALL our requirements. They told us the puppy would be coming from Missouri and that it would take 2-3 days for them to get someone out there and get them back. We couldn't wait!!! The fact that the puppy was coming from Missouri would have sent up yet another red flag if I knew then what I know now, but again at the time, it did not. So we waited impatiently for our golden bundle of joy. |
