Have you tried breed rescue? either labrador rescue or poodle rescue? Breed rescues work quite differently from other rescues.

Just wanted to add that labradors and poodles are both high energy dogs too.

Hi justv read your Profile IMO Labradoodles can be very excitable but I am not an owner. Would a puppy not be a lot of work for you?

I have wanted a Newfoundland for many year, but when my husband and I decided to finally get one, we searched and searched for CKC registered breeders and made sure they were in good standing with the CKC. We went to dog show after dog show, talked to breeders there and made sure to ask any questions we had. I am so glad I did the research, because I got the dog of my dreams!

Good post!

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"one who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferosity, and all the virtues of Man without his Vices." - Lord Byron[SIGPIC]

I wish I'd found this forum a year ago. My mum had a shih tzu and she was bought from a reputable breeder with credentials etc. She was unfortunately put to sleep in 2006 at the age of 12 after developing heart problems and spinal problems. Mum was devastated.

Last year she started making noises about getting another dog. Knowing that she wanted another shih tzu, she already knew about the breed. Thinking we knew what to look for, questions to ask etc, we found a breeder on preloved. She had two puppies left from a litter. We went to see the remaining puppies. Unfortunately the 'aaaawww' factor kicked in and common sense went out of the window. We were assured that the puppies were 8 weeks old. We saw the Dam and although she was a bit on the thin side, she looked lively and healthy enough. We paid our money and received a pedigree for the puppy. Mum had to ask for a receipt. We were given a bag of the food she'd been feeding the mother dog. She'd also told us that she'd frontlined the puppy.

When we got home the puppy didn't want to eat the food that the breeder had given us. On examining him, he had no teeth yet. After a few hours, desperate to get some food into him, mum gave him some fish she had for her tea. She mushed it up and hand fed it to him. It was obvious he was hungry but it looked like he'd never eated solids before. Luckily he lapped up the fish. We cooked some chicken and minced it up in the blender and he ate some of that as well. We checked his pedigree which had his date of birth on, according to that he was only 5 weeks old! He should never have been away from his mother at that age. Mum and I felt like such idiots for falling for it as well. She called the breeder back and she was adamant that the puppy was 8 weeks old. We bought some puppy milk to feed him and he eventually learned to lap that up himself. Mum took him to the vet the day after and he confirmed that he was less than 8 weeks old but he was healthy otherwise. Rather than take him back to the breeder for her to sell to someone else, we kept him.

Luckily he's now a healthy, strapping lad and we're very lucky he survived. He'll be 1 year old at the end of the month.

Mum and I are very angry at the breeder as she had already sold other puppies from the same litter before we bought ours! It was only luck that mum has had experience looking after new born puppies as she used to breed German Shepherds with her husband years ago. It was him who found the breeder for her first shih tzu and he used word of mouth, dog newspapers and reputation to find her. I also feel like such an idiot that we let a cute face cloud our judgement and aided a breeder who obviously didn't care about the welfare of the puppies and was only in it to make some cash. We won't be making the same mistake again.

The first photo is of Theo the day we brought him home. The second one is of him now.

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Owned by Ratty girls Hera, Athena, Boomer and Kitty the Cat
RIP Apollo and Starbuck, together again at the Rainbow Bridge. Till we meet again.

This is such a great thread.

I'm in the process of acquiring a poodle, and I must agree with you it is a minefield out there at the moment trying to find a healthy pup from a reputable breeder.

So many adverts can be misleading and I find when I start crossing my search over to different websites, the same puppy breeder can be seen advertising a completely different set of pups! Surely a responsible breeder will only breed one type of dog and not several. They can't possibly be giving the dog/pups as much attention as they need. The smell of money must be lingering somewhere.

Most of the pups advertised in the colour I want are miles away up north of England, it's too far for me to travel plus I don't like driving long distances I find it too tiring!

So if anyone knows of an apricot pup within reasonable distance please PM me.
Puppy farms need not contact me.

Good uck in your search. Where about are you??

Hi

I live south east wales, not far from newport!

Also remember that adverts with more spelling mistakes than a five year olds letter to santa, asking questions that no reputable breeder would ask (where do you go on holiday for example) and making boasts that are clearly improbable (house training, potty training AND toilet training a Corgi, honestly, can you imagine a poor little Corgi struggling to get onto the seat of the toilet?) are sure fire clues that these are scam artists.

Some websites link all the sellers adverts. One ambitious scammer was selling 17 different type of dog puppies. There is also another clue in that someone close to them has just committed suicide, died in a car crash, choked on a unicorns horn or something similar. They work long hours for a non existant or improbably named company or government department that forces them to work such long hours Ebeneezer seemed like generousity himself before the reformation. They offer to send you photos of the puppies but never do and want more and more details from you.

The old 419 dog scam is becoming prevalent on lots of sites, but strangely enough not here yet. We got our puppy through this site from a genuine breeder and were able to meet both parents. Turns out the little fox is sharper than a bag load of razors and is copying the big lads. Has house trained himself by copying the lab and the gssd in under 48 hours....

NEVER, ever pay money up front without seeing a dog! A deposit on meeting a breeder yes, but never money for carriage first. This one piece of advice can save you hundreds if not thousands of pounds. Remember meet dogs first then money, never the other way round!

Hi, I am thinking of buying a puppy and this was great to read. I really want a great dane but I know that it would not be fair - living in a three bed terrace. They need space and lots of time to run around - long walks etc. As much as I love them I wouldnt be so unfair to a dog.

I have been advised by the owners' of the site that the reason you do not tend to get many, if any scammers is that they actively review each advertiser on here. How good can they be? They really are clamping down on these despicable swines and need all the encouragement they can get! Please tell people far and wide that this site is set up to help those hunting for good pets and really clamps down on fraudulent advertisers.

As for the not enough room for a Great Dane. How about something smaller? The room you have may not be fair to a Dane, but there are other dogs who have great personality traits. Mind you saying that I have known people keep Great Danes in much smaller accommodation than you have available, As long as you give the dog plenty of exercise you should be ok. Speak to a reputable breeder and see what they say.

Any dog will require plenty of exercise and long walks. Even the small companion dogs such as the King Charles Spaniel love getting out in the wider community. So speak to a breeder, see if they think you have enough space (a good breeder will tell you if you have accommodation suitable for one of their dogs) and then make your mind up. I have seen Great Danes on holiday in a Freedom 2 berth caravan!