On the lookout for a gundog puppy? Here’s our complete guide to choosing a gundog puppy and everything you’ll need to think about from making that phone call to collecting your new puppy. Long gone are the days of flicking through adverts at the local shop, or even generic classified websites. Today buyers of gundogs puppies can search, find and engage with buyers who specialise in breeding and raising the finest gundog puppies directly on platforms just like ours. We’re Gun Dog Trader – The UK’s fastest growing platform for the buying and selling of gundog puppies, trained gundogs, gundogs for stud and other working dogs.
Choosing your gundog puppy: which breed?
A question we at Gun Dog Trader hear being asked a fair amount of times and unfortuantely, there’s no simple answer. The breed you choose will very much depend on your needs, but also the needs of the breed you choose. Many buyers forget that gundogs are usually only out in the field working on a shoot for three, maybe four months of the year. It’s important to understand that which ever gundog puppy you choose, he’ll need occupying for the remaining months of the year. Questions to ask yourself may include the size of your garden, the access you have to open space, your ability (and your families) to cope with a high energy dog – all of these are important questions any responsible buyer should ask themselves when choosing the breed of your new gundog puppy. Read our guides to the breeds of gundogs to get started, or talk to your local gundog breeder. In most cases, choosing a gundog puppy that can cope with the demands of training and work life in the field, whilst also being able to be that family pet that everyone in the family loves is what most aim for.
Most gundogs only work in the field for three, maybe four months of the year. Thinking about how you can occupy your dog and meet its needs for the remaining months of the year is an important question all responsible buyers should ask themselves when considering the breed of their next gundog puppy
Choose your gundog puppy: When is the best time of year to buy?
Usually speaking, spring and early summer are the best times of year to buy a new gundog puppy, however this isn’t to say that quality gundog puppies are not available outside of these periods. Practical matters for the breeders are what usually drive spring and summer as being the best times of year to buy a new gundog puppy. House training, basic retrieval training and the likes are all easier to achieve in the summer and spring when compared to the winter. Aside from this, buying a new gundog puppy in the spring or early summer gives you plenty of time to master the training and with some luck, your new puppy should be good for the season after next.
Choosing a gundog puppy: Finding a responsible breeder
This is likely to be the most important decision you’ll make. Finding a good and responsible breeder is something that all us responsible buyers want to do – but how exactly do we find them? Our online marketplace Gun Dog Trader has been specifically developed to provide a platform for both breeders and buyers of gun dog puppies to find and engage with one another safely. As a buyer, you can start your search with just a breed in mind, or even just a location and our platform will show you all the ads relevant to what you’re looking for within seconds. Gun Dog Trader only works with responsible breeders and anyone selling on our platform has to agree to our terms and conditions, where we require sellers to meet our standards. If we find or our notified of a seller that we feel isn’t acting responsibly on our platform, we’ll investigate and if need be, we’ll report them to the appropriate authorities. That’s how we keep the users of Gun Dog Trader safe and ensure we’re only allowing responsible breeders to use our platform. Good responsible breeders will always let you see the mother (Dam) of the puppies unless there’s a good reason and you should never just choose your gundog puppy online without first meeting the breeder which we’ll talk about in the next section.
Choosing a gundog puppy: Meeting the breeder
Any responsible breeder will never sell a gundog puppy solely online to an unknown buyer and likewise, we’d expect responsible buyers to want to meet the breeders first. Most choose a face-to-face meeting, but times are changing and providing both breeder and buyer are comfortable, online video meetings offer an excellent alternative in the initial stages – especially when there’s some distance between the two. Online video calls can allow both the buyer and seller to meet virtually (usually over WhatsApp or similar platform), where the buyer can ask all the initial questions they have and so can the breeder. Good breeders will always ask you questions so be prepared for them. They’ll want to assure themselves that you’re going to give this new gundog puppy an appropriate home, so don’t be offended with numerous questions or even being asked to show them your garden during the video call. Likewise, a good breeder will always be happy to respond to all of your questions also.
Choosing your gundog puppy: What to look for
So you’ve found a breeder and you’ve hopefully arranged a first meeting either face-to-face or virtually. What should you look for when choosing your gundog puppy? First things first, don’t just walk in a choose one straight away. Sometimes, you may want to visit a few different litters before choosing your new gundog puppy, but hopefully, these top tips below will help guide you.
- Don’t just buy the first puppy you see – it’s easy to do, we know!
- Ask the breeder to put away all the puppies that are not the colour, sex or have the markings you’re looking for
- Watch the remaining puppies and observe what each of them do – their legs should appear strong and move straight
- Ask the breeder if you can handle them and pick each up one by one
- Check their eyes, their teeth and how they react to you
- Each puppy should look clean and bright – and if this isn’t the case, it may not be well
- Make sure all of the paperwork is correct and present (Pedigree, health screens, checks etc)