Healthy, Happy, Hardy Dogs for Form and Function™
We take the health of our dogs and future generations very seriously. We do all the health tests recommended by the parent club plus additional DNA tests. We are happy to provide you with the results of the tests.
In this post I’m going to be blunt here on a few topics –
Health Tests
Not all breeders actually do the tests they claim to do. Not all breeders will provide the results of tests. Please always verify the results of the tests. Ask for copies. If a breeder doesn’t send you the results of either parents or has a dog ate it’s homework story – I would keep looking for another breeder to work with.
If I don’t have puppies, I will refer you to other breeders I would personally trust to get a dog from. Other breeders of Portuguese Podengos I would feel comfortable doing business with. Please even ask them to see the results of tests. We take pride in our dogs. We are happy to share our health reports with you. We want you to be as educated as possible when getting a Podengo.
I’m going to be outspoken again – Not all breeders have their puppies examined by a licensed veterinarian. Not all breeders have a licensed veterinarian administer vaccines. Every one of our puppies receives an exam, their first set of shots and are microchipped by a licensed veterinarian before leaving our home. We provide each new owner with your puppy’s individual health record. I’m not a veterinarian, I did not stay at a Holiday Inn last night, I have no business pretending to be a veterinarian.
Socialization
All of our puppies are raised in our house and are socialized starting at day one to provide happy, healthy and well adjusted puppies. We would love for you to visit our home. We use the puppy culture program to make sure each one of our puppies enters the world with as much promise as possible.
We don’t necessarily feel it is the number of dogs you breed in one year or a lifetime but the quality of life each one of your dogs (and puppies) leads. The quality of care YOU give each puppy and dog. Someone could only breed one litter in their lifetime but still be a bad breeder.
Guarantee
We will always take a dog (or puppy) back.
References
Star Mountain would be happy to provide you with references.
Ethics
I like that the AKC sets some of us apart with the Bred with Heart program and the Breeder of Merit program. Did you know, however, they can not disqualify someone due to poor ethics. Also, even though we all promise to do the requirements set forth by the AKC to be a Bred with Heart member or a Breeder of Merit., not all breeders truly do them or continue to do them after joining. The AKC does its best to verify.