Am I to fussy when choosing a breeder?

For the last two years we have been trying to buy a Samoyed puppy. I have seen 3 breeders so far and only one I found appropriate. Unfortunately all puppies at the time were already reserved so I only went to see a breeder for a chat about the breed. The other breeder didn’t ask me any question and would not show me where the puppies were laying. I walked away.

Well now, this weekend, I travelled quite far up north, to see a breeder and talk through some topics in order to be put on waiting list for the next litter. What can I say? I was disappointed. The breeder had around 13 Samoyeds that were all nicely groomed but what stressed me was that none of the dogs would live in the house with him. Eventually 3 of them were pets only, the rest were out in nice kennels.
When I asked about the eye tests on the parents he made me feel like I am stupid, saying that English Samoyeds don’t have eye deceases and that it is only common in American Samoyeds. Further on, I asked about the vaccination and micro chipping of puppies and he doesn’t do any of it, as he believes vaccination at that young age could be harmful for puppies and that puppies are protected from mother’s milk until they are 8 weeks old and that microchip needle is too big and he would feel sorry for the pups.
However, he apparently does the DNA on them/parents. My opinion is that if someone is soooo well known for breeding Samoyeds, they would want to chip them so that they can be tracked back to them if something happens latter on in their life. Unless there is a reason why they wouldn’t want to chip the puppies. A good half of his dogs is not micro chipped. I mean if someone is doing interviews to put you on the waiting list and they are saying they only want the best owners… I know I would chip puppies!

He also was talking so confidently about the AKC scheme and how much effort it takes to stay on it, when I know it is not all that WOW as it sounds. Also, when I asked if they do any sort of activity with the dogs, the answer was no. And they don’t show them either. And for the first time I was told that Samoyeds were never used as sled dogs  I know they were used to hunt reindeer but they would pull the sled as well! He even has it on the website, his partner on the picture with Samoyeds and below it says: NAME with half a sled team.

However, I don’t think he is a puppy farmer or anything like that but is just that I didn’t get impression of him actually loving these dogs. I am really sad now as I travelled so far to see him and the dogs and it wasn’t as I imagined it to be. Will I ever find a Samoyed at all? Am I looking at too many small things? Or is this man just so odd? My partner says he must be odd to live a life for dogs.

I know there are some amazing breeders up here so please help me out.
I am getting real desperate!!

You are doing all the right things. Good for you Stick at it x

Stick at it, this place is a mine of information so hopefully someone on here can point you in the right direction alternatively is their a breed specific forum you could try ??

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"I am not perfect and i don't have to be, before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean" - Bob Marley

https://sites.google.com/site/blisschalet/

If I were you I would keep in contact with the breeder you were happy with and be prepared to wait for the right dog from the right breeder

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You can never be too fussy!!

If you think you've found the right breeder then wait for the next litter!
Even if it's 2years till the next litter, wait!

A good tip someone once told me was to surprise the breeder when the puppies have arrived and you will see exactly what the conditions are like!

Re the chipping, dont get too hung up on that.

Alot of vets wont even chip untill they are a lot older anyway as they still have a lot of growing to do and the chip has more chance of migrating around the body when they are still growing compared to when they have stopped.

And it is a mighty big needle for a little puppy!

We have our pup from a great breeder who loves her dogs to bits and we are waiting till Badger is 6 months to get him chipped, On advice from both our vet & breeder

You can never be too choosy with a breeder. Don't worry about that. Find one you like and ask to be put on the waiting list regardless of how long it might take

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"A dog is not "almost human," and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such."
John Holmes

Owned by Buster cairn terrier mix and Leo netherland dwarf mix bunny

I wouldn't worry about them being kennelled at all - 13 dogs in the house I would probably want to see the litter raised in the house for the first 4/5 weeks, but would have no problem if they were then moved outside in suitable kennels, although I know of litters that have been raised entirely outside (in lovely kennels).
Raising them out in kennels has absolutely no bearing on how they will grow up. I have a kennel raised up lying next to me on the sofa

I have no idea what tests are required for Samoyeds, but I would suggest you check with the breed club and I would never buy an unhealth tested pup.

Again, I don't find anything wrong with this at all, unless the pup had been kept/unsold beyond 8 weeks, then vaccinations should have been started by the breeder, but personally I prefer to do them myself when I buy a pup in.

I think there are mixed feelings about this. I know several vets who prefer to leave microchipping till they are older as the needle is large and as they are not going to go out until around 11/12 weeks depending on vaccs, then there shouldn't be a risk. So again, I wouldn't dismiss a breeder purely because of this or not vaccinating - in fact, I would prefer to take an unvaccinated pup.

Well, that would make me walk away, although to be fair, is dogs may be nice but you won't know.

Can you not go back to the original breeder you saw and either ask to be put on the waiting list for her next litter, or ask if they can recommend one. Good breeders do tend to pass on recommendations if they have nothing they can offer.

i don't know what area you are but i was offered a show quality puppy a couple of weeks ago. I also put someone on to a recommended breeder the other week, so if you want to pm me feel free and ii'll pass their details on to you.

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love me love the dogs

Don't you have to microchip all breeding stock when you're on the KCAB scheme ? I'm guessing that's what you meant by AKC

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ShazaLhasa
My fabulous furry friends

They should be DNA profiled, microchiped, or tattooed

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