Buyer Beware

Buyer Beware

Entlebuchers are still rare in the US. They can cost more than some other breeds. Over the lifetime commitment of your Entle, you will never regret investing a higher price initially for quality from an ethical, responsible breeder! The alternative of buying what seems to be a "bargain" Entle, can mean heartache, tears and significant costs later in vet bills, specialists, medications and behaviorists. There are no guarantees in life, yet your chances are greatly improved working with a responsible, health conscious breeder! You deserve a breeder that offers knowledge, help and support if any unexpected issue should arise. Plus you will be part of the solution by not feeding the greed of puppy mills. Problems with homeless, unwanted and unhealthy pets can be changed by smart, educated consumers who demand better as part of the solution.

My suggestions for requirements when buying an Entlebucher puppy from a breeder:
•   CHIC Health tested results for both parents: OFA Hips, Patellas, PRA DNA, and a current annual eye exam.
•   The pup's parents are AKC Canine Good Citizens (CGC) or Temperament Tested.
•   Ask about the pedigree COI (Co-efficient of Inbreeding) for your Entle puppy! Inbreeding of close relatives is proven to compound issues and is not sustainable for the health or longevity of a breed.

Please do not feel intimidated asking to see the parents pedigrees or hard copies of test results. Watch for repeated names in a 3-5 generation pedigree. If you only get promises but no hard copies- consider it a red flag and walk away! Knowledge is power!
Read: A Beginner's Guide to COI for insight into why diversity is important, especially in a rare breed! There are many Entlebucher breeders that take COI into consideration and care deeply about the breed's diversity, health and temperament in addition to their "looks". At this stage of breed development in North America, value a breeder that follows the rest of the world's guidelines: look for a puppies COI to be under 5% in the first 5 generations.

Education, asking questions and holding breeders accountable is key! If you want an Entle but don't care if the parents are highly inbred or health tested, check with shelters, rescues or NEMDA Rescue! Please do not encourage bad breeding practices. If you purchase from a breeder that does not do health testing, you agree to their lower standards which is not fair to you, your family or your new puppy. And a breeder that cuts corners profits off you. Once they have your money, they can move on. If/when health or other concerns come up, they do not return phone calls. I've spoken with many Entle owners that love their dog but wish they could do it over and do it differently. The stories have a common theme; "it felt wrong but I fell in love with a picture/promise so I hoped for the best". Trust your gut!

The initial purchase price of a respected breeder doing all the right things, can seem expensive. When life settles back in to reality with your new healthy, well adjusted puppy and you are being supported by your breeder every step of the way, you will know it was a bargain!

How can you tell a responsible, health conscious breeder?
•   Puppies have permanent microchip ID.
•   Contract guarantees they will take back a dog they bred at any time throughout its entire life, for any reason.
•   Belongs to a regional or National Parent Breed club (for Entles the AKC Parent Club = NEMDA).
•   Openly shares information; provides hard copies of pedigrees and all health tests for the Sire and Dam of your puppy.
•   Cares about the welfare of the puppy/dog first and foremost.
•   Offers their experience, assistance and resources to help you properly raise and train your puppy/dog.
•   Asks questions to get to know you for a compatible temperament, personality and lifestyle match.
•   Invests their own resources giving back to the breed: donations toward health research, rescue, breed club involvement, etc.
•   Does some type of activity with their dog/s. Any activity shows dedication, goals and commitment to learning and teamwork.
•   Continues to learn about canine genetics, structure, breed concerns, behavior, health/nutrition, training...etc.

In a rare breed like Entlebuchers, you usually cannot meet both parents on site. It can be a bigger red flag if the dad is on site because the breeder may not seek out other quality matches or research pedigrees. Entlebuchers have a small gene pool. It is a huge dis-service to the breed for breeders to consistently repeat breed pairings, even if the results were good the first time. Genetic diversity is most important for a rare breed with a smaller gene pool! Lack of diversity creates bottlenecks which make health problems more prevalent and able to spread because there are less dogs to choose from. I do not have a problem with breeders that own compatible pairs and breed them together, when they limit the number of repeat breedings and continue to search out other compatible matches for both, to strengthen the gene pool. After one repeat breeding, I would question a breeder's motives, interests and knowledge of health issues, genetics, and their breed's diversity.

These are just some factors that contribute to the price of a puppy from a responsible breeder; if lucky they break even!

Finding a responsible breeder will take a little work and can sometimes be confusing. For a wealth of info, Read: Making a Difference: Being a Responsible Dog Breeder

With any purchase, your own best interests should come first. Do your research, ask for references and work with someone you can develop a rapport and feel you trust. I recommend meeting some Entlebuchers before getting one! If you can, meet at least one of the parents of your future puppy but if it's not possible try to meet at least a few different Entlebuchers. There is a range of differences in temperament, personality and size.It will help you decide what you would like in your own future Entle puppy or perhaps it will help you decide the Entlebucher breed is not a good match for your lifestyle. Either is valuable information.

If a breeder makes it too easy or convenient to get a puppy from them, consider it a RED FLAG; proceed with caution, healthy skepticism and be willing to walk away.

Top 10 Tricks and Gimmicks to watch for
•  Paypal buttons on websites (accepting non-refundable deposits with little to no interaction).
•  Offering 2 for 1 or a littermate at a reduced price.
•  Selling females for more money than males.
•  Low ball pricing. Skipping health tests and cutting corners benefits the breeder NOT the buyer or puppies!
•  Pressuring you for a non-refundable deposit ($) before sharing health or other information (hard copies).
•  Excuses! They say the right things but don't follow through with hard copies, answers or action to your requests.
•  Screening calls. You always get their answering machine, never catch them in person.
•  Discouraging you from picking up your puppy in person, usually positioned as a service to help you out.
•  Fake Awards! Click the link to see an example of a real fake ad from an actual breeder's website. Organizations like AKC, Good Dog, Breed/Dog clubs recognize members that work hard and put in effort to earn awards with established criteria. People with questionable ethics use clip art or businesses that design "official looking" awards without merit, to seem credible and impress you.
•  Bragging about meaningless, illegitimate accomplishments or credentials. Here are a few easy examples meant to deceive you into being impressed or faking credibility: from "Championship lines", boasting of a great relative's accomplishments, saying they are a "PRA free", just bragging their dog is imported- could be good for the gene pool but not if imported from a popular sire, unregisterable (or foreign puppy mill) kennel or if they do not health test their imported dog... Ask questions to learn more.

Puppy Buyer Etiquette - An honest, straight forward blog post that explains the etiquette of buying a puppy from a responsible breeder. Thank you Joanna Kimball of Ruffly Speaking. I appreciate many of her writings on breeding topics. While I don't agree with her 100% of the time, she has intriguing and thought provoking ideas.

Remember the old saying; if it seems too good to be true...

---

 

Thoughts About Clubs

Nothing is perfect: no clubs, no non-profits, no businesses, no people… that's life! I still feel strongly that breeders and owners should belong to their breed's parent club. All major accomplishments for a breed, will only happen through the work of many dedicated enthusiasts. Membership in the parent club shows your interest is a strong mutual interest in seeing the breed be healthy and thrive! I am not referring to personal accomplishments; I am talking about the betterment of the breed.

Being a member of NEMDA, the parent club offers:
•   Access to the most current health, genetic and temperament information.
•   Ties to the global Entle community. NEMDA maintains relationships and shares concerns worldwide with other Entle clubs.
•   The ability to work toward and achieve greater common goals and purpose for the breed.
•   Networking opportunities to make connections with other owners and their Entlebuchers.
•   A standard, minimum Club Code of Ethics agreed upon.

Supporting your parent breed's club is the best way to advocate for the breed and its future. Clubs facilitate an organized effort to affect positive change and accomplish things no one person could achieve on their own. Even if you just pay dues to receive the newsletters, those funds contribute toward programs for the health and well being of the breed! It's even better if you can volunteer your time, money or a talent. Any support of your breed's parent club is a huge thank you to your dog!

Entlebucher Rescue

Sometimes, an Entlebucher does not work out in its original home. A quality breeder always takes responsibility for any puppy they have bred. In this case, the term "re-home" is used. As part of their contract, the breeder will take back the Entle and/or assist the owner in finding a suitable home, in the Entle's best interest. Entles of any age can find themselves in the position of needing to be re-homed. If you are interested in a re-homed Entle, work with a breeder or breeders to be placed on a re-homing list. An advantage to re-homing an Entle is that you will know the Entle's background and pedigree (for health and temperament knowledge), plus the breeder will be there for you as a resource throughout the dog's life.

The term "rescue" refers to an Entle found as a stray or in a shelter (unknown background) or an Entle whose original breeder would not take responsibility for the dog and abandons it. In that case, NEMDA rescue has procedures to identify the dog as a purebred Entle (or mix) and help find it a proper home. We have fostered a few purebred Entles and helped in their adoption process. Second chance Entles can make first rate companions!

Entlebuchers are a lot of dog in a medium-sized, compact package. They are not for everyone! We have been NEMDA Breed Ambassadors for over 20 years, which means we are willing to talk to and meet with prospective owners doing breed research.
Usually by spending time with them, it becomes clearer if the Entlebucher breed is a good match for you and your family. There are many breed ambassadors in just about every U.S. state and many Canadian provinces. Contact by email, the NEMDA Membership coordinator. They can refer you to a club breed ambassador/s in your area for a close encounter of the Entle kind!

---