A
FEW WORDS OF ADVICE: Please be careful where you buy your pet. If you
want your Pom to LOOK like a Pom when it is grown, buy from a breeder who SHOWS. Please DON'T buy from a Pet Shop, where you can't see
the puppy's parents or meet and talk to the breeder. Do some research before you buy. One of the best things you can
do is go to the American Pomeranian Club website www.americanpomeranianclub.org Find a breeder referral in your state or area. American Pom Club members sign a Code of Ethics and you are more likely to
find a quality, healthy, beautiful Pom. You may be able to go see the puppies(and their parents) since they are in your
area, in person before you buy.
To read
the Pomeranian Standard, click on this link..
There
are other sources for obtaining Pom puppies. Use caution when using these sources. ~~ One of the worst, in my opinion, are people selling puppies in parking lots, on the side
of the road, or in Flea Markets. How do you contact these breeders if your puppy gets sick and dies a few days
after you get him home? ~~ Then there are the many websites that advertise registered puppies. Some of these
websites are wonderful, responsible, caring breeders. Some are dishonest and greedy! Sorting out good from
bad is not always easy. Begin with what kinds of registries these breeders use.
Is it AKC, which is considered the best in the USA? If the puppies are registered with anything other than AKC, the chances
of your pup being bred by an irresponsible breeder rises dramatically. The pet registries these breeders use
do not have the same integrity as AKC, which requires DNA testing of sires, and requires good records to be kept.
Some
of the registries the Pet breeders in the USA use are CKC, ACA, AKA, APRI, APR, NKC, NAPDR, UABR,
WKC. Many of these new registries were created by the COMMERCIAL PUPPY BREEDER INDUSTRY. Some of these registries have been
in existence less than 10 years. Some brag that they will register a dog without papers, all you have to do is "tell"
them it is purebred. Some give out "papers" for any combination of mixed breeds.
Can you trust a breeder who uses these kinds of registries to have quality purebred puppies? ALWAYS ASK! Don't just assume the "registered" puppies you are interested in are AKC registered--
or that other "papers" are just as good as AKC. They are not!
When looking for Pom breeders on the internet,
be very wary of the breeder who has 6 or 7 different breeds that they are selling and who always has many puppies for sale.
If you just want
a small or medium size pet to love, or don't mind if your Pom doesn't look like a show dog, please consider
adopting from a Pom Rescue or a shelter, and save the life of a discarded pet that did not meet someone's expectations. Another
source is show breeders who sometimes have retired show dogs they are wanting to place in loving homes.
Don't be afraid to ask .
How can you be sure you are dealing with a
good breeder?
Well, a person doesn't get high
quality puppies from breeding two poor quality dogs together. The parents MUST be
good quality before the puppies can be. ALWAYS
see the parents, or at least their pictures!! And
don't be fooled into believing that high prices always indicate high quality. I have seen some
websites that have very high prices ($5,000-$7,000) that have terrible Poms. As a potential buyer, it is up to you gain
some knowledge before you buy. Research the breeder, don't buy on impulse. Pom puppies are always cute, but how
will they look when they grow up? Like the parents! Oh, by the way, please remember that it is NORMAL for the
Mama dog to have a heavy shed after having puppies. Again, if the breeder
doesn't breed to the Pom Standard, they are NOT producing good Poms, no
matter what price they ask. Click here to READ the Pom Standard:
One sure sign you are NOT dealing
with a responsible breeder is if they don't ask YOU any questions ! They should be interested in the future
welfare of the puppies or dogs they bred, not just how much MONEY they are getting. (A good breeder will expect the
buyer to ask them questions too!)
Buyers
beware.... it is next to impossible to get your money back from irresponsible or unethical breeders when
you realize the pretty little puppy the breeder assured you would be tiny now looks like Godzilla, not the
5 lb Pom you were expecting. What's even worse tho, is when you find out he is in terrible pain from luxating
patellas and it will cost you $2000 to have surgery done on him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
