My family is looking to purchase either a Cockapoo or Cockalier. We are
located in the Middle Tennessee area. If you know of anyone that is a
reputable breeder and will have a litter of puppies ready by June 2005,
please let us know.

Thanks for your assistance.

Sincerely,

The Family Guy

On 29 Apr 2005 17:44:10 -0700 Family Guy whittled these words:
My family is looking to purchase either a Cockapoo or Cockalier. We are
located in the Middle Tennessee area. If you know of anyone that is a
reputable breeder and will have a litter of puppies ready by June 2005,
please let us know.

I can't refer you to any such breeder but I can give you some information
on how to idnetify one. Presumably for your family pet what you are
looking for in a breeder is two things (1) a breeder who knows enough and
cares enough to breed for good health and (2) a breeder who cares enough
about the welfare of the puppies that both of you will sign a contract
regarding matters such as what happens to the dog if you can't keep it,
and providing you guidence and advice to get through puppy problems and
avoid behavior problems. That you prefer a mixed breed dog doesn't mean
you have lower standards in regard to good health and temperament. You
may, however, have a harder time finding a breeder who actually knows the
dogs in the line well enough to do good genetic matching. Poodles
and cocker spaniels share a number of health problems so avoiding those
problems requires proper testing and record keeping to detect it before it
is serious enough to get noticed without that testing. FOr example, you
will want to look for a breeder who has "CERF'd" both parents, and
hopefully has CERF records onthe grandparents and great grandparents, and
as many siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins as possible. That provides
the careful breeder with good information about the risks of the puppies
haivng PRA or other eye diseases that may cause the dog to go blind at 5
or 6 years old. Similarly the skilled and careful breeder will have xrays
taken of the knees, elbows and hips of both parents, and records of the
same of grand parents etc to avoid the risk of "luxating patella" hip
dyslasia and other problems. Don't let anyone tell you only big dogs get
hip dysplasia. The Pug dog is nmumber two or three on the list of
affected breeeds. Poodles and Cocker spaniels are less often affected by
that problem, but slipping knee caps "luxating patella" and other issues
are important to check for and avoid. Temperament is also important. You
will definetly want to meet the mother. She should be self confident and
friendly. She should not be esepcially barky and she should willingly
quiet when her person assures her you are welcome in the home. If you get
a chance to meet the sire the same appplies. Do not under any
circumstances accept puppies when you cannot meet the dam, and if you are
not completely satsified with her temperament.

There is no excuse for all the unhealthy and poorly tempered dogs out
there. Nothing you can do to help except use care to chose a breeder
whose breeding practices produce healthy dogs of good temperament. It will
take some patience to find the right breeder, but I'm sure you would
rather do that than reward a breeder who doesn't know what they don't
know.

Good luck and have fun.

--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/

Thanks for your reply. I posted a similar message in a different
newsgroup and got slammed for asking a simple question. Your response
was kind and thoughtful. Take care and God Bless.

Family Guy said in rec.pets.dogs.misc:

I posted a similar message in a different
newsgroup and got slammed for asking a simple question.

If you mean the health group, I posted links to two "Cockapoo"
rescues in your area, and other poster explained that purposely
bred mixes are not done by reputable breeders.

Those are the only responses to your post I saw, though there
may have been others from posters I've killfiled.

Your response was kind and thoughtful.

There's no one like Diane.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.