December 31, 2025 • 16 mins
This week, Tony talks about how time and a little due diligence go a long ways toward finding the perfect pup.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hey, everyone, welcome to Foundations. I'm your host Tony Peterson,
and today's episode is all about taking the right approach
to researching your new puppy. It's a pretty good idea
to not be overly impulsive in life, at least when
it comes to the big decisions. You know, you wouldn't
(00:25):
want to marry someone you met a week ago anymore
than you'd want to buy a house like just on
a whim, you know that kind of thing. This also
goes for getting a new furry best friend who is
very likely to be with you for at least the
next decade. Yet, a lot of folks will, you know,
not put very much thought into their next puppy, you know,
about as much as they'd put into what they're going
to have for dinner tonight. That's a mistake, and it's
(00:47):
something I'm going to talk about right now. In a
past life, I managed a restaurant in southeastern Minnesota where
we had the typical ensemble of servers, cooks, dishwashers, etc.
There are plenty of stereotypes to go around when it
comes to the restaurant working crowd, and many of them
(01:09):
are warranted. A lot of them center around folks who,
let's just say, aren't the most reliable workers you can find,
so when you did find someone who could show up
on time and handle the job, you would try to
keep them around. One of those folks that I had
was a younger kid who I really liked, partially because
I wasn't terrified he'd no show for every shift, and
partially because on his off days he spent a hell
(01:31):
of a lot of time hunting and fishing, so we
had something in common. While I was talking to him
one day and we got on the topic of family,
and he casually mentioned that a few years earlier, his
younger sister had gotten pregnant as a freshman and hidden
it from their family. How she pulled it off, I
can't really imagine, but he said he was in his
room one evening and she called to him from her room.
(01:52):
So when he went over there to see what was up,
she was sitting on her bed, which was covered in
blood and other assorted biological fluids, and she was holding
a newborn. She had given birth quietly by herself in
her room, with no medical staff, no nothing. When I
asked him what that was like, he said, once you
get past the shock, of it all, you realize that
your family suddenly just has a new person who factors
(02:14):
into basically everything, and it really upsets the balance of life,
to which I replied, well, no shit, that's bonkers and
something a lot of us probably can't imagine but maybe
secretly think about sometimes, considering some of us now have
teenage daughters. I'm sure you know where I'm going with this,
but I'll say it anyway. A secret baby birth in
(02:35):
your house is one thing, but getting a puppy impulsively
without a lot of research is a small kind of
parallel to that, and it's something you don't want to
do to yourself. Right now, all over across the country,
right now, all over across the country, there are people
who are dealing with brand new puppies that were purchased
as Christmas presents. If you're one of those people, I
sincerely wish you luck. Not only is winter, at least
(02:58):
in much of the country, a real chance for training
a brand new puppy, but getting a gift of a
dog is generally not a great thing. I realized this
warning should have come earlier, but I also have to
assume that the crowd that listens to this podcast is
probably more likely to put in real thought to their
next puppy than the average suburb family where I live,
a place where, for some reason, maybe because no one
(03:20):
ever sent me the secret pamphlet, it's just a spot
where it seems like you're bound by law to buy
some sort of doodle for the kids, or a French bulldog,
or for the close enough to us but not like
us suburb dwellers a really well bred bird dog that
will never spend a day and it's life hunting birds.
Maybe I'm just too jaded to live here. I don't know,
(03:40):
but I do know that surprise Puppies's gifts are generally
not a great idea. It's also generally not a great
idea too. As I said in the intro, impulsively pick
up a new puppy. Here's the thing about that, though.
For a lot of us, winter is the time to
consider big spur of the moment purchases. Every single year
up here in Canada South, I hit a point during
(04:01):
the winter where I start shopping for ice fishing gear. Now,
I used to ice fish a lot, but that was
a different stage in my life in a long, long
time ago. I probably wouldn't regret starting to ice fish again,
but it's just not that appealing to me for a
couple of reasons, besides the fact that I don't drink anymore.
One is that I'm allergic to fish, so whatever I catch,
(04:21):
I have to either throw back, which is totally fine,
or clean for someone else, which mostly sucks. The second
is that by the time you have an augur, a shack,
a flash of Rod's reels, tackle, and all the assorted
stuff to make an ice fishing thing happen, you're going
to spend a lot of money. So I shop, but
I don't buy because I really don't want to get
back into it that bad. Yet every year, the boredom
(04:42):
of winter brings my mind to thoughts of ice fishing.
The dead off season months might do that to you
on the puppy front, or you just might be in
the market for a fresh recruit, considering the older dog
is eight or nine and it's just about time. Either way,
if you're considering adding a new dog to the roster,
you should give yourself a lot of time for the process.
(05:03):
This is probably obvious, but I'll spell it out anyway.
A dog is a long commitment, A part of your
life that will change just about everything and not something
to be taken lightly. Not only do you want to
get the right dog for you, but you want to
be the right person for that dog. The problem here
is that we just generally don't know where to start
(05:24):
with the research, and we just generally think we know
what we want now when it comes to the research part.
Let me give you an example from something that keeps
popping up in my life. I follow a couple of
subreddits on dogs and dog training because you can actually
learn a hell of a lot from random strangers who
are interested in the same stuff as you. But I
also see a lot of threads pop up with people
(05:44):
who have decided they need a new puppy soon and
they are considering a certain breed. It's almost never something like, Hey,
I'm a hardcore quail hunter and I'm considering getting an
English pointer so but instead it'll be like, I'm the
father of nine kids, I live in Memphis, have seen
one quail in my life, which was on a billboard,
(06:05):
So I'm thinking of getting a Gordon Setter because they
look really cool. You know who chimes in on something
like that. A couple of different types of people. The
first are folks who have never seen a Gordon ceter
and know nothing about it. You know, they'll just weigh
in anyway. And then you have a few folks who
have seen a Gordon setter, and you know who advice
maybe against it. And then you'll have folks way in
(06:27):
who have Gordon Setters tattooed on their chests and who
would never own a different breed. Now, who do you
think is going to offer up the most persuasive argument
for getting a Gordon setter? You know, the person who
has always owned them and who will only tell you
how amazing they are and not talk about any of
their downsides. Breed loyalists are the most adamant salespeople you'll
(06:49):
ever meet. But someone should probably tell that guy about
the reality that Gordon setters are built to survive and
thrive in Scottish winners, which are not quite the same
as you get living in Tennessee, and their coats would
be an absolute nightmare in a lot of places where
cockle burrs or beggars, lice or a high prevalence of
ticks can be found. Could he make it work? Sure?
(07:11):
Should he? Probably not? Enough time during the puppy buying
process allows you to source info from a variety of places,
not just people who are obsessed with a specific breed.
I cannot stress how important this is. Another type of
thread that pops up a lot are the ones where
people will say, help, my ten week old German short
(07:31):
hair doesn't seem to want to do water retrieves on
live mallards, and I'm at my wits end. They'll then
go on to say they've always had GSP's, but they
lost all their upland spots, so they mostly hunt ducks,
and for some reason their dog just doesn't seem to
be as interested in the process as their buddy's labrador,
and it's giving them some trouble. Now, in that case,
there might be nothing I or anyone else can do
(07:52):
to sway the thought process any but it's a good
example of the wrong pupp for the situation. What we
forget about when we are kicking around the idea of
a new dog is that it isn't just about what
we want, but also what we can do for the
dog to give it the best life possible. That kind
(08:15):
of behavior is sort of expected out of the general
pedoning population, but if you're looking for a dog with
a job. It's not a responsibility that can be taken lightly,
and finding not only the right breed but the right
litter is something that shouldn't be rushed. There are a
couple of reasons for this. If you want a really
well bred puppy, which you do even though they cost
more than the dogs with more questionable blood, you're probably
(08:38):
going to have to wait a while. The best breeders
aren't just churning out dozens and dozens of litters a
year with an almost unlimited supply of puppies. This goes
for rare breeds, obviously, but also for the more common breeds,
which seem to be everywhere. But the quality of the
puppy you probably want isn't going to be everywhere. It
might be waiting to be born a year from now,
(09:01):
and the waiting list is already pretty full. This is
a dead end for a lot of folks because they
don't want to wait that long or won't plan that
far ahead. But if you do your research and all
roads point to a specific breeder, then the weight is
probably worth it. And speaking of research, aside from posing
a question to a bunch of randos on Reddit, and
hoping you get something actionable in return. There are other
(09:23):
ways to learn about dog breeds and to narrow down
your choice, and then when you do, ask yourself why
you came to that conclusion. Because why we want a
dog is really really important, and if we are honest
about it, that can tell us a lot. So let's
say you make a list and go, you know, I
need a family friendly dog I can hunt upland and
Waterfall is known for having strong retrieving desire, you know
(09:47):
where good blood is generally largely available, and training them
is known to be, you know, not so bad and
not just low grade torture. You might populate that list
with Laps, Goldens, maybe some of the German and breeds
who support beards and coarse coats and whatever else. Most
trainers would probably point you pretty quickly to Lapse. Then
maybe Golden's, and for the right folks, one of those
(10:09):
bearded dogs. But for some reason, a lot of people
will say I don't want a popular breed because they
are everywhere. I want a rare one that makes me
feel special at cocktail parties or something. Then if you're
being honest, it's not necessarily about the best dog for
the job, but something else entirely that will not only
limit your puppy choices a lot, but also limit the
(10:29):
training resources you can tap into just due to their rarity.
It'll probably get worse too, because there are always a
lot of reasons why a breed is rare, and many
of them aren't because they are super duper awesome. Essentially,
you really want to know what you're getting into, But
how would you know whether that choice is a good
one or a bad one. Well, if you have the
(10:50):
chance to talk to a trainer who has handled them,
that's a really good start. I'm not talking about a
breeder here, so let me clarify that just like with
random dog owners who are low to a breed, certain
trainers also specialize in certain breeds and they often breed
those dogs. Are they a better source of real info
on the breed than some dude at the park who
hunted with one back in nineteen seventy two? Sure, but
(11:14):
they're going to be biased as well. They might very
well talk you into a dog, or if they have
some principles, they'll interview you and figure out what you're
like and what you hunt, to where you live and
try to either steer you into the breed or into
something else. But a trainer who doesn't breed those dogs
is a different story. I remember getting an assignment for
(11:35):
gun Dog magazine a long time ago on a pretty
rare breed that is mostly found in Europe but has
taken a small foothold in the US. I call the trainer,
who I know really well and who has gotten his
hands on more dogs than just about anyone, so I
could interview him about the breed, and he said, they
are a great breed if you like a dog where
you have to drive a stake into the ground in
front of it so you can tell if they're actually
(11:56):
moving or not, which meant they didn't quite have the
got juice or drive that he was looking for in
a bird dog. He didn't let me print that for
obvious reasons, but that information would be super valuable to
someone looking at that specific breed and who also needs
a lot of drive in the uplands. Access to good
trainers who have handled a lot of dogs is probably
(12:17):
the best resource you can find. Just be mindful of
their time, since they are running a business and not
just a free consulting service. Now, another source of really
valuable dog information is likely to be your veterinarian. Now,
if you have to bring in your current dog for
a checkup or whatever, and you're kicking around the idea
of a new puppy, ask them if they've treated the
(12:39):
breed before. They probably have, and they probably have their
opinions on the temperament, personality, and potential health issues. This
is no small thing and can be an enlightening conversation.
And of course, whether you are kicking around a new
breeder already have it narrowed down and just need the
right breeder, you can deal a hell of a lot
of internet sloothing your but you should also consider asking
(13:03):
your veterinarian before you go down the internet route if
they've handled breeds that are maybe common from local breeders,
because that's where a lot of people go. So if
there's health trends with a certain breeder, this veterinarian who
works here twenty minutes away from that kennel might know
a hell of a lot about them. Ask around, get
(13:23):
your information, but also do your internet research. Don't just
read infro from people who love the breed. Figure out
where they come from, what they were bred for fifty
or one hundred or two hundred years ago. That's not
going to tell you everything, but we'll tell you a
lot and can definitely steer you in one direction or another.
(13:44):
All of this takes time and some effort, but all
of it is worth it. It's also a good way to,
at the very least consider deviating from the breed you
always buy or the one that you have your heart
set on for whatever reason. You know there's nothing wrong
with being a ride or dye golden retriever owner, but
maybe you had some bad experiences with their health and
(14:05):
that has you a little gun shy on the breed.
Or maybe you're now suddenly fifty five, and while when
you were younger you had English cockers who you love
to chase after for pheasants, but now you're slowing down
a little bit. You're kind of sick of the pace
and have realized you wouldn't mind a dog that's going
to go out find birds, lock up in a beautiful
(14:26):
point and wait for you to shuffle up and take
the shot again. There's a lot to consider when it's
time to put down a deposit on a fresh recruit,
and the more time you give yourself to work through
the process and conduct some due diligence, the better off
you'll be for it. This also happens to be a
great project to start during the winter, when the daylight
is in short supply and we are all a hell
(14:46):
of a long ways from the start of next season.
You can go down the rabbit hole of breed's history,
or find a trainer to chat with sometime about a
different breed. You can learn about liter availability and the
timing of the whole thing, who has been producing puppies
that win field trials, and you know, Master Hunter ribbons
and all the good stuff that might make your experience better.
(15:07):
But you also give yourself time to come to terms
with not only what you want out of your dog,
but what you're willing to put into your dog, and
where you'll take the dog on your travels, and how
many hours it'll have to be created when you get
the promotion you're expecting, and right on down the line.
It's a two way street, and it's not a decision
that should be made impulsively or lightly. So you owe
(15:28):
it to yourself to spend some time digging into every
aspect of this process that you can, and you certainly
owe it not only to the dog, but to whoever
else is in your family or in your life who
will be tasked with caring for it or just being around.
It's just like any of life's big decisions. Give yourself
the time and the info you need to give it
(15:48):
your absolute best shot. That's it for this week. I'm
Tony Peterson. This has been The Houndation's podcast. As always.
Thank you so much for listening and for all your support,
and happy New Year. By the way, if you need
some more entertainment, some more information, maybe you want to
read an article, maybe you want to find a new
recipe for those peasants you shot off fall, whatever, go
(16:09):
to the mediator dot com. Check it out. We drop
new content just about every single day. From films to podcasts,
to articles to all kinds of stuff. The mediator dot
com has you covered. Check it out.
Hey, everyone, welcome to Foundations. I'm your host Tony Peterson,
and today's episode is all about taking the right approach
to researching your new puppy. It's a pretty good idea
to not be overly impulsive in life, at least when
it comes to the big decisions. You know, you wouldn't
(00:25):
want to marry someone you met a week ago anymore
than you'd want to buy a house like just on
a whim, you know that kind of thing. This also
goes for getting a new furry best friend who is
very likely to be with you for at least the
next decade. Yet, a lot of folks will, you know,
not put very much thought into their next puppy, you know,
about as much as they'd put into what they're going
to have for dinner tonight. That's a mistake, and it's
(00:47):
something I'm going to talk about right now. In a
past life, I managed a restaurant in southeastern Minnesota where
we had the typical ensemble of servers, cooks, dishwashers, etc.
There are plenty of stereotypes to go around when it
comes to the restaurant working crowd, and many of them
(01:09):
are warranted. A lot of them center around folks who,
let's just say, aren't the most reliable workers you can find,
so when you did find someone who could show up
on time and handle the job, you would try to
keep them around. One of those folks that I had
was a younger kid who I really liked, partially because
I wasn't terrified he'd no show for every shift, and
partially because on his off days he spent a hell
(01:31):
of a lot of time hunting and fishing, so we
had something in common. While I was talking to him
one day and we got on the topic of family,
and he casually mentioned that a few years earlier, his
younger sister had gotten pregnant as a freshman and hidden
it from their family. How she pulled it off, I
can't really imagine, but he said he was in his
room one evening and she called to him from her room.
(01:52):
So when he went over there to see what was up,
she was sitting on her bed, which was covered in
blood and other assorted biological fluids, and she was holding
a newborn. She had given birth quietly by herself in
her room, with no medical staff, no nothing. When I
asked him what that was like, he said, once you
get past the shock, of it all, you realize that
your family suddenly just has a new person who factors
(02:14):
into basically everything, and it really upsets the balance of life,
to which I replied, well, no shit, that's bonkers and
something a lot of us probably can't imagine but maybe
secretly think about sometimes, considering some of us now have
teenage daughters. I'm sure you know where I'm going with this,
but I'll say it anyway. A secret baby birth in
(02:35):
your house is one thing, but getting a puppy impulsively
without a lot of research is a small kind of
parallel to that, and it's something you don't want to
do to yourself. Right now, all over across the country,
right now, all over across the country, there are people
who are dealing with brand new puppies that were purchased
as Christmas presents. If you're one of those people, I
sincerely wish you luck. Not only is winter, at least
(02:58):
in much of the country, a real chance for training
a brand new puppy, but getting a gift of a
dog is generally not a great thing. I realized this
warning should have come earlier, but I also have to
assume that the crowd that listens to this podcast is
probably more likely to put in real thought to their
next puppy than the average suburb family where I live,
a place where, for some reason, maybe because no one
(03:20):
ever sent me the secret pamphlet, it's just a spot
where it seems like you're bound by law to buy
some sort of doodle for the kids, or a French bulldog,
or for the close enough to us but not like
us suburb dwellers a really well bred bird dog that
will never spend a day and it's life hunting birds.
Maybe I'm just too jaded to live here. I don't know,
(03:40):
but I do know that surprise Puppies's gifts are generally
not a great idea. It's also generally not a great
idea too. As I said in the intro, impulsively pick
up a new puppy. Here's the thing about that, though.
For a lot of us, winter is the time to
consider big spur of the moment purchases. Every single year
up here in Canada South, I hit a point during
(04:01):
the winter where I start shopping for ice fishing gear. Now,
I used to ice fish a lot, but that was
a different stage in my life in a long, long
time ago. I probably wouldn't regret starting to ice fish again,
but it's just not that appealing to me for a
couple of reasons, besides the fact that I don't drink anymore.
One is that I'm allergic to fish, so whatever I catch,
(04:21):
I have to either throw back, which is totally fine,
or clean for someone else, which mostly sucks. The second
is that by the time you have an augur, a shack,
a flash of Rod's reels, tackle, and all the assorted
stuff to make an ice fishing thing happen, you're going
to spend a lot of money. So I shop, but
I don't buy because I really don't want to get
back into it that bad. Yet every year, the boredom
(04:42):
of winter brings my mind to thoughts of ice fishing.
The dead off season months might do that to you
on the puppy front, or you just might be in
the market for a fresh recruit, considering the older dog
is eight or nine and it's just about time. Either way,
if you're considering adding a new dog to the roster,
you should give yourself a lot of time for the process.
(05:03):
This is probably obvious, but I'll spell it out anyway.
A dog is a long commitment, A part of your
life that will change just about everything and not something
to be taken lightly. Not only do you want to
get the right dog for you, but you want to
be the right person for that dog. The problem here
is that we just generally don't know where to start
(05:24):
with the research, and we just generally think we know
what we want now when it comes to the research part.
Let me give you an example from something that keeps
popping up in my life. I follow a couple of
subreddits on dogs and dog training because you can actually
learn a hell of a lot from random strangers who
are interested in the same stuff as you. But I
also see a lot of threads pop up with people
(05:44):
who have decided they need a new puppy soon and
they are considering a certain breed. It's almost never something like, Hey,
I'm a hardcore quail hunter and I'm considering getting an
English pointer so but instead it'll be like, I'm the
father of nine kids, I live in Memphis, have seen
one quail in my life, which was on a billboard,
(06:05):
So I'm thinking of getting a Gordon Setter because they
look really cool. You know who chimes in on something
like that. A couple of different types of people. The
first are folks who have never seen a Gordon ceter
and know nothing about it. You know, they'll just weigh
in anyway. And then you have a few folks who
have seen a Gordon setter, and you know who advice
maybe against it. And then you'll have folks way in
(06:27):
who have Gordon Setters tattooed on their chests and who
would never own a different breed. Now, who do you
think is going to offer up the most persuasive argument
for getting a Gordon setter? You know, the person who
has always owned them and who will only tell you
how amazing they are and not talk about any of
their downsides. Breed loyalists are the most adamant salespeople you'll
(06:49):
ever meet. But someone should probably tell that guy about
the reality that Gordon setters are built to survive and
thrive in Scottish winners, which are not quite the same
as you get living in Tennessee, and their coats would
be an absolute nightmare in a lot of places where
cockle burrs or beggars, lice or a high prevalence of
ticks can be found. Could he make it work? Sure?
(07:11):
Should he? Probably not? Enough time during the puppy buying
process allows you to source info from a variety of places,
not just people who are obsessed with a specific breed.
I cannot stress how important this is. Another type of
thread that pops up a lot are the ones where
people will say, help, my ten week old German short
(07:31):
hair doesn't seem to want to do water retrieves on
live mallards, and I'm at my wits end. They'll then
go on to say they've always had GSP's, but they
lost all their upland spots, so they mostly hunt ducks,
and for some reason their dog just doesn't seem to
be as interested in the process as their buddy's labrador,
and it's giving them some trouble. Now, in that case,
there might be nothing I or anyone else can do
(07:52):
to sway the thought process any but it's a good
example of the wrong pupp for the situation. What we
forget about when we are kicking around the idea of
a new dog is that it isn't just about what
we want, but also what we can do for the
dog to give it the best life possible. That kind
(08:15):
of behavior is sort of expected out of the general
pedoning population, but if you're looking for a dog with
a job. It's not a responsibility that can be taken lightly,
and finding not only the right breed but the right
litter is something that shouldn't be rushed. There are a
couple of reasons for this. If you want a really
well bred puppy, which you do even though they cost
more than the dogs with more questionable blood, you're probably
(08:38):
going to have to wait a while. The best breeders
aren't just churning out dozens and dozens of litters a
year with an almost unlimited supply of puppies. This goes
for rare breeds, obviously, but also for the more common breeds,
which seem to be everywhere. But the quality of the
puppy you probably want isn't going to be everywhere. It
might be waiting to be born a year from now,
(09:01):
and the waiting list is already pretty full. This is
a dead end for a lot of folks because they
don't want to wait that long or won't plan that
far ahead. But if you do your research and all
roads point to a specific breeder, then the weight is
probably worth it. And speaking of research, aside from posing
a question to a bunch of randos on Reddit, and
hoping you get something actionable in return. There are other
(09:23):
ways to learn about dog breeds and to narrow down
your choice, and then when you do, ask yourself why
you came to that conclusion. Because why we want a
dog is really really important, and if we are honest
about it, that can tell us a lot. So let's
say you make a list and go, you know, I
need a family friendly dog I can hunt upland and
Waterfall is known for having strong retrieving desire, you know
(09:47):
where good blood is generally largely available, and training them
is known to be, you know, not so bad and
not just low grade torture. You might populate that list
with Laps, Goldens, maybe some of the German and breeds
who support beards and coarse coats and whatever else. Most
trainers would probably point you pretty quickly to Lapse. Then
maybe Golden's, and for the right folks, one of those
(10:09):
bearded dogs. But for some reason, a lot of people
will say I don't want a popular breed because they
are everywhere. I want a rare one that makes me
feel special at cocktail parties or something. Then if you're
being honest, it's not necessarily about the best dog for
the job, but something else entirely that will not only
limit your puppy choices a lot, but also limit the
(10:29):
training resources you can tap into just due to their rarity.
It'll probably get worse too, because there are always a
lot of reasons why a breed is rare, and many
of them aren't because they are super duper awesome. Essentially,
you really want to know what you're getting into, But
how would you know whether that choice is a good
one or a bad one. Well, if you have the
(10:50):
chance to talk to a trainer who has handled them,
that's a really good start. I'm not talking about a
breeder here, so let me clarify that just like with
random dog owners who are low to a breed, certain
trainers also specialize in certain breeds and they often breed
those dogs. Are they a better source of real info
on the breed than some dude at the park who
hunted with one back in nineteen seventy two? Sure, but
(11:14):
they're going to be biased as well. They might very
well talk you into a dog, or if they have
some principles, they'll interview you and figure out what you're
like and what you hunt, to where you live and
try to either steer you into the breed or into
something else. But a trainer who doesn't breed those dogs
is a different story. I remember getting an assignment for
(11:35):
gun Dog magazine a long time ago on a pretty
rare breed that is mostly found in Europe but has
taken a small foothold in the US. I call the trainer,
who I know really well and who has gotten his
hands on more dogs than just about anyone, so I
could interview him about the breed, and he said, they
are a great breed if you like a dog where
you have to drive a stake into the ground in
front of it so you can tell if they're actually
(11:56):
moving or not, which meant they didn't quite have the
got juice or drive that he was looking for in
a bird dog. He didn't let me print that for
obvious reasons, but that information would be super valuable to
someone looking at that specific breed and who also needs
a lot of drive in the uplands. Access to good
trainers who have handled a lot of dogs is probably
(12:17):
the best resource you can find. Just be mindful of
their time, since they are running a business and not
just a free consulting service. Now, another source of really
valuable dog information is likely to be your veterinarian. Now,
if you have to bring in your current dog for
a checkup or whatever, and you're kicking around the idea
of a new puppy, ask them if they've treated the
(12:39):
breed before. They probably have, and they probably have their
opinions on the temperament, personality, and potential health issues. This
is no small thing and can be an enlightening conversation.
And of course, whether you are kicking around a new
breeder already have it narrowed down and just need the
right breeder, you can deal a hell of a lot
of internet sloothing your but you should also consider asking
(13:03):
your veterinarian before you go down the internet route if
they've handled breeds that are maybe common from local breeders,
because that's where a lot of people go. So if
there's health trends with a certain breeder, this veterinarian who
works here twenty minutes away from that kennel might know
a hell of a lot about them. Ask around, get
(13:23):
your information, but also do your internet research. Don't just
read infro from people who love the breed. Figure out
where they come from, what they were bred for fifty
or one hundred or two hundred years ago. That's not
going to tell you everything, but we'll tell you a
lot and can definitely steer you in one direction or another.
(13:44):
All of this takes time and some effort, but all
of it is worth it. It's also a good way to,
at the very least consider deviating from the breed you
always buy or the one that you have your heart
set on for whatever reason. You know there's nothing wrong
with being a ride or dye golden retriever owner, but
maybe you had some bad experiences with their health and
(14:05):
that has you a little gun shy on the breed.
Or maybe you're now suddenly fifty five, and while when
you were younger you had English cockers who you love
to chase after for pheasants, but now you're slowing down
a little bit. You're kind of sick of the pace
and have realized you wouldn't mind a dog that's going
to go out find birds, lock up in a beautiful
(14:26):
point and wait for you to shuffle up and take
the shot again. There's a lot to consider when it's
time to put down a deposit on a fresh recruit,
and the more time you give yourself to work through
the process and conduct some due diligence, the better off
you'll be for it. This also happens to be a
great project to start during the winter, when the daylight
is in short supply and we are all a hell
(14:46):
of a long ways from the start of next season.
You can go down the rabbit hole of breed's history,
or find a trainer to chat with sometime about a
different breed. You can learn about liter availability and the
timing of the whole thing, who has been producing puppies
that win field trials, and you know, Master Hunter ribbons
and all the good stuff that might make your experience better.
(15:07):
But you also give yourself time to come to terms
with not only what you want out of your dog,
but what you're willing to put into your dog, and
where you'll take the dog on your travels, and how
many hours it'll have to be created when you get
the promotion you're expecting, and right on down the line.
It's a two way street, and it's not a decision
that should be made impulsively or lightly. So you owe
(15:28):
it to yourself to spend some time digging into every
aspect of this process that you can, and you certainly
owe it not only to the dog, but to whoever
else is in your family or in your life who
will be tasked with caring for it or just being around.
It's just like any of life's big decisions. Give yourself
the time and the info you need to give it
(15:48):
your absolute best shot. That's it for this week. I'm
Tony Peterson. This has been The Houndation's podcast. As always.
Thank you so much for listening and for all your support,
and happy New Year. By the way, if you need
some more entertainment, some more information, maybe you want to
read an article, maybe you want to find a new
recipe for those peasants you shot off fall, whatever, go
(16:09):
to the mediator dot com. Check it out. We drop
new content just about every single day. From films to podcasts,
to articles to all kinds of stuff. The mediator dot
com has you covered. Check it out.
Host
Cal Callaghan
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