I have been a long-time lurker on this newsgroup. My husband and I are
trying to adopt a pointer puppy and we have tried and hopefully found a
responsible breeder. We decided on a pointer after going to a local dog
show and talking to many different handlers and owners about their dogs.
Some discouraged us from their breeds because of exercise requirements and
their need for "work." We have heeded this advice and not chosen those
breeds. We found the breeder we've tried to adopt our puppy from a referral
from the secretary of the Pointer Club of Canada (she liked our very
comprehensive letter of introduction) and by discussing various issues to do
with the adoption (plus earning the approval from the breeder through an
interview process).



The first breeding that we reserved ended up being a false pregnancy; the
mother was lactating and showed all signs of being pregnant. No puppy for
us there. The second breeding, the mother had a very hard labour. Five of
the eight puppies ended up dying and the mother died three days later. The
breeder wanted to keep the puppies for a bit longer (and extra 4-5 weeks).
My husband and I took this as a "sign" to wait and not to rush in. We took
the next year to fix up the yard and prepare for a new puppy (plus the city
is installing a sewer system and everything is a mess right now). We had
our name down for the next litter to be born in the fall (take home in the
late fall). However, there were problems with the impregnation; we just
found out that the mother did not take so still no puppies.



The breeder has two puppies left from earlier in the year, which are ready
to go now. My husband's sister has a dog that after years of trying to get
the dog to be O.K. with him, still runs out of the room when my husband
enters it. Roxy is perfectly fine if my husband is throwing a stick or
playing outside; we've accepted this fact and just keep being nice and let
her work on it in her own time. My husband is slightly worried that because
these pointer puppies will be 12 weeks on August 20, that they may have the
same reaction to him. The breeder is 12 hours away by car so it's not
possible to see the two puppies ahead of time to check them out. .



Our question for the collective brain is: how important is it for the new
owners (us) to see the two puppies and choose them? Is it ok if the breeder
chooses a puppy for us? How important is the generally accepted 8 weeks old
timeline?



Thanks,



Tara and Brett