How do (did) you look for a pup??

[jakort1]

I was recently asked how did I go about finding a Cardigan puppy and I started to wonder what do others do when considering a new addition to the household.
-How many breeders did you contact.
-Did you read the breed standard.
-What did you ask of the breeder for health guarantees (hips, eyes, etc.)
-What did the breeder ask of you.
-Did you consider a rescue
-Did you attend any shows, herding trials, etc...

There are about a few dozen more questions that come to mind but you get the idea. Remember this is just a thread to get people thinking about the steps they went through or are going through.

When I purchased my first Cardigan I had made an appointment with the breeder (weeks in advance) I drove to their house, but, I made certain I did not have ready access to my checkbook.

[Corgi_Lover]

well i did it sortof on impulse. so i didnt really do much but i do recomend:

>going to atleast 3 different breeders
>always go to there house
>questions:
>>ask for garentees
>>hips
>>health records
>>parents
>>do they show
>>y do they breed (it should be something like "to improve the breed" if it is "to put sweet pets in homes" stay away
>>what do they feed
>meat the pups parents or atleast the mom
>look were they were born and live
>they should ask:
>>what you plan on doing with the pup

[MattC]

I bought Nick for my wife's birthday. She always wanted to have a dog of her own. Growing up she had a wonderful Golden Retriever. Unfortunately we live in a two bedroom apartment in Brooklyn NY so a Golden was out of the question. I very much wanted the puppy to be a surprise gift but I did understand the importance of the decision of what dog to buy. We discussed the options from breeds to mutts and ended up choosing the Cardigan Corgi because of the economy of the breed's size and its "big dog" attitude. We thought at the time we were getting the best of both worlds. It turns out we were right!

[Louwants]

I was more of an impulse buyer also, I'm afraid. There aren't too many breeders in my area, or if there were, they weren't having any litters. I found one in the paper and made an appointment to see the puppies. Due to my work schedule, it was almost a week before I got there and Duncan was the only one left.
My husband's job was NOT to let me take the first one I saw, but he said, as soon as he saw my face, he couldn't tell me to wait or not to take that one. He said it lit up like a 5 year olds who saw all the toys Santa had brought. He wish he had a camera to take the picture, but he says he'll never forget it. I do remember my first words....."his ears are up already at 8 weeks!"

[linny]

I did alot of research over a period of two years. But it boiled down to a gut feeling I got from a family in Texas who raised corgis for the joy of it. I loved their spirit and the look of their dogs! I am so happy with my choice!

[glencorgi]

Here's a link with some good information on getting a puppy:

Puppy Buyers Guide

[KJohnson]

We were impulse buyers also. We decided that we were ready to make the commitment to a dog, and we had already discussed what kind of dog we wanted. However, we are the people that most members talk badly about here. The ones who have seen Corgis on the internet (and Cowboy Bebop) and just thought they were too cute. We did a little bit of research on the breed through the internet and figured out what they were like and if we could handle it in the condo that we have, and then we bought one. We called around in our area and no one was having litters, so we looked around on the internet. Westin came from a breeder in Kansas and he got shipped out on an airplane. The only thing that I wasn't really comfortable with when we got him was that the breeders never contacted me, I was always calling or emailing them and it always took them forever to get back to me, I still don't think I ever spoke with them, we always connected through email. Anyways! We got Westin in October, he was well adjusted, socialized and an all-around good puppy. He ended up having a little bit of jet-lag, but that was about it. At this point, I pretty much can't imagine our home without him. I'm glad we found him and got him when we did, but I think that the next time around, we'll take a little bit more time to pick one out. ((Total time from making the decision to getting the puppy = about 2 months))

[corgizmom]

Before I got Huckleberry-I had just seperated from my husband and bought a cape cod house. Smaller than my other colonial so I felt I needed a smaller dog. I wanted a ortable" dog that I could take anywhere with me. I didn't want a yappy dog. I wanted a low maitanence dog (i goofed there) so I got my first of 3 corgi's. LOVE 'Em.:

[Dillydoodle]

I definately was NOT an impulse buyer. I spent my whole life reading about and learning about different breeds of dogs with the hope that one day i would have one. My life finally became settled and stable and i knew i could give a dog a really good happy home. Then the research kicked into high gear. I went on line, i read about all the AKC breeds, I whittled down the list to about 10 breeds that i wanted to "get to know better" to see if they would fit into our lifestyle, Both the cardigan and Pembroke were on this list... then we started going to dog shows and meeting the breeds, meeting the handlers and breeders and asked a lot of questions about their breed, best and worst things etc. The list quickly got down to the one dog that kept coming up... the pembroke welsh corgi. We then talked to several breeders and asked a lot of questions of them.. and finally got down to someone we felt was going to be the right breeder for us, went, met her and her amazing dogs, and got on a list to get a puppy. We had met the most amazing female dog there who she was planning to breed shortly and wew just had to have a puppy from her, she was the sweetest prettiest dog. she was bred a month later and then came the long wait for the puppy to be born and the 10 more weeks of growing before finally being ready to come home.

Emilie

[Philbiker]

You mentioned rescue in your first post, I don't know how much luck anyone will have "rescuing" a corgi pup. When I think rescue or adoption I think of adult dogs and mixed breeds. Both our dogs were adopted as adults, Newman a full fledged pound "rescue" and Tucker the Corgi was an adoption through a personal reference.

Sorry can't add much except to say that I don't know if I'll ever buy a puppy in my life. There are many wonderful dogs who need forever homes and it's very nice to not have to deal with house training a puppy.