Finding a great breeder

I see a lot of posts online asking how to find a good breeder and how to know if you are getting a healthy, well bred dog. I see a lot of misinformation on these posts, so I decided to write a more in depth post about finding a great breeder. To understand what to look for and why, it is important to distinguish between a reputable breeder and a “backyard” breeder.
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Reputable breeders are breeders that do not breed for profit and follow an unofficial set of ethical rules and the ultimate goal of improving the breed over many generations. Reputable breeders are known for being more expensive than their non-reputable counterparts. While this is typically true, it’s important to understand that the profit margin of reputable breeders is less than that of non-reputable or backyard breeders. This is because reputable breeders are providing high quality dogs that require a significantly higher investment and thus, a higher price to maintain their breeding practice.
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Example of Pembroke Welsh Corgi breed standard from the AKC.

When it comes to determining which breeders are reputable and which are not, you should look for the following qualities:

• Genetic health testing. In the case of Corgis, the most common tests are for Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) and Von Willebrand Disease (VWD). Research the breed you are interested in to determine what the most prevalent genetic disease are: these are what should be tested in breeding stock.
-In most cases, only the parents of a litter are tested for DM. Dogs should only be bred if both are DM free OR if one is DM free and one is DM clear (carrier). If a free dog is bred to a clear dog, then some of the puppies may be carriers, but they will never be at risk for developing the disease. This is only important if the puppy will be bred and if a breeder does offer breeding rights, then they should test every puppy in the litter to determine which are DM free and which are DM clear.

• Hip and eye certification. For corgis, hips are especially important. A hip certification is the categorization of the dogs’ hips into one of 7 categories: Normal (Excellent, Good, Fair), Borderline, and Dysplastic (Mild, Moderate, Severe). Only dogs whose hips are within the normal category (preferably Excellent or Good) should be bred. Eye tests certify that a dog does not have signs of eye disorders which is important because Corgis have a predisposition to persistent pupillary membrane.
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• Parents are breed standard. If the parents are not shown for conformation, do your best to ensure that they are breed standard. Breeders should not breed dogs that are overly large or too small, nor should they breed for breed “defects” such as fluffy corgis. While their offspring could still be outside of breed standard, breeding dogs of breed standard greatly reduces the chances. The best way to determine if they are of breed standard is to familiarize yourself with the AKC breed standard and visit the parents.
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• The puppies have received proper veterinary care. All puppies should be vaccinated and dewormed by the time they leave their mother. For Pembrokes, dew claw removal and tail dock are also standard, however, some breeders are electing not to dock tails due to controversy. If you want your dog to have an intact tail from a breeder that typically docks, then you can ask them to keep a puppy with an intact tail. However, this does forfeit your ability to wait to pick your puppy later when its traits are more obvious since tails are typically docked around 2 days of age.

• They have a contract. Reputable breeders should have a legally binding contract that includes (at least): the agreed upon price, spot on waitlist, registration (limited or full), spay/neuter contract, health guarantee, and requirement of the buyer to return the dog to the breeder if for any reason they can no longer keep the dog.

• They only breed dogs of appropriate age and do not over breed. Females should be bred for the first time after two heat cycles which is generally around 1.5 years of age. Females should be retired around the age of 6, after there is sharp decline in the size of her litter, or immediately after she experiences complications with a pregnancy. If a litter size is very small (3 pups or less), the female has likely been over bred. Females should not be bred every heat cycle (~2 cycles per year). Males should be retired by 7-8 years

• They are responsive and they invite you to come to their home. If a you have a difficult time getting in touch with a breeder after you have already established initial contact, it should be a red flag. If a breeder will not give you the option to come to their home where the dogs are bred, this should also be a red flag.

• You don’t have to interrogate them for basic information. A breeder should be upfront about what position you are in on the waitlist (first pick, second pick, etc.), what testing they do, personalities of the parents, etc. They should willing give you the information you need to know because most reputable breeders love to talk about their wonderful practice! Avoid breeders who don’t directly answer your questions.

• They don’t let the puppies leave their mother before 8 weeks of age. Puppies need to remain with their mothers for at least 8 weeks, but many recommend that herding breeds such as corgis remain with their mother until 10 weeks of age.
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• They are papered and come with a pedigree. While this is important, not all papered puppies come from reputable breeders. A dog does not need to be of high quality to be registered with the AKC.
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Zelda at ~6 weeks old

Oakley at ~6weeks old

What else can I do to make sure I am supporting a reputable breeder?

There are some other great ways to make sure you are purchasing a quality puppy. One of the best ways is to look at reviews on Facebook and reach out to some of the people who have purchased their puppies. Ask them what their experience was, if they recommend them, and if there is anything they would have done differently. You can do this across any social media platform where the owner has provided information about the breeder. I have had several people reach out to me through Instagram and I am always happy to help. You can also ask the breeder which of the dogs on the puppy’s pedigree are alive and their ages. Ask what the cause of death was for any deceased dogs on the pedigree to discover any potential health risks you may not have been aware of.
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It is also important to understand that Pembroke Welsh Corgis and Cardigan Welsh Corgis are two entirely separate breeds. Recently, the trend of merle Pembrokes has been on the rise. Many breeders are advertising these merles as being “pure corgi” however, these are not purebred dogs. The idea of mixing both breeds of corgis and calling it “pure corgi” is as silly as it would be to mix a French Bulldog and an English Bulldog and call it “pure bulldog”. Reputable breeders do not produce these types of mixes and if you want a merle corgi then you should look into getting a Cardigan.
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Purchasing a dog will always be a controversial topic. Many people believe that purchasing a dog will always directly contribute to the number of dogs in shelters, and this contribute to the current problem of pet overpopulation. And in the cases of supporting a backyard breeder, this is true. However, when you support the practice of reputable, ethical dog breeding you can help prevent more dogs from ending up in the shelters. Because of spay/neuter contracts and agreement to return the dog if the owner cannot keep it, dogs from reputable breeders almost never end up in shelters unless they are lost or their owner passes away.
Backyard breeders do not have contracts, do not regulate the breeding of their dogs, do not have waitlists before breeding, and do not do any temperament or health testing. Backyard breeders will typically advertise their puppies on sites like Craigslist and their prices are substantially lower than that of a reputable breeder. However, because they do not provide any of the qualities listed previously and many do not adequately vet the female during her pregnancy, their profit margin is significantly higher than a reputable breeder.
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Pet stores should also be avoided because their puppies come from puppy mills and backyard breeders. They will not admit this, but often if you search the name of the kennel that a puppy at the pet store is from, it will come up as a puppy mill. They also charge exorbitant prices for their puppies (more than a reputable breeder would charge) and they are often sick which results in high vet bills.
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Zelda and Oakley are from two completely unrelated reputable breeders and they are very similar in size and build. This type of consistency is to be expected in dogs from reputable breeders because they are breeding breed standard dogs.

What should I expect when I get a puppy from a reputable breeder?

• They have all of the qualities previously mentioned.

•. It will take time to find the right breeder and you need to be willing to travel. While it is more convenient to find a local breeder, traveling farther for an ethical breeder who provides the best puppies is the best choice.

• Your puppy will cost roughly $1200 or more, depending on the area and you will need to provide a deposit to hold your spot. Remember, this high initial investment will pay off in the long run.

• There will likely be a waitlist. The length of the waitlist will increase depending on how specific you are in regards to what you want. If you want a specific sex or color, you will likely need to wait longer to get it.

•Expect weekly updates of your puppy after it is born. Puppies grow incredibly fast and their colors and markings develop with each week after birth.

• Your breeder will encourage you to stay in contact. This is especially important if your puppy suffers from any ailment that could be genetic – they will want to know to inform the owners of the litter-mates.

• Most breeders will want to interview you to make sure that their puppy is going to a suitable home. The length and detail of the interview is dependent on the breeder.


Remember, buying a dog from a reputable breeder does not contribute to the number of dogs in the shelter, but buying from a backyard breeder does. If nobody ever supported backyard breeders and only got dogs from reputable breeders or shelters, eventually the number of dogs in shelters would decline so much that there would be hardly any dogs in the shelter at all.

Backyard breeders are much more common than reputable breeders and they cause a lot of misconceptions about ethical dog breeding. There are many common myths such as purebred dogs are less healthy than mixed breeds and that they have less desirable temperaments. This is because backyard breeders breed for profit, not to improve the breed over the course of generations and these myths do not apply to purebred dogs from reputable breeders. In fact, well bred purebreds are typically healthier than mixed breeds because the genetic disorders associated with the breed are slowly removed from the breeding pool. When you mix two breeds you are combining two different lineages of possible genetic diseases which can pose risk for even more health problems in the offspring. Reputable breeders also temperament test their dogs to produce offspring with favorable temperaments. Reputable breeders do not practice inbreeding, line breeding, or interbreeding.

**All of the information in this article is based on basic internet research and personal experience, I am in no way an expert nor do I breed my dogs. If there is information in this article that is incorrect, please contact me via the contact form or on Instagram so that I can make necessary adjustments. Thank you.