When you pick up your puppy, another checklist.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I am supposing and hoping that before you read this you have consulted the 'What to look for in a breeder' notes here and have gone through the great check list of tips of what to do when you get your puppy home. You have chosen your breeder and perhaps chosen your puppy.  I want to also add some thoughts on picking up your puppy. This is because all too many times puppies come home with obvious problems that could be avoided.

1) Pick up your puppy and look into his/her mouth.  You are looking for a bite where the top teeth just overlap the bottom ones.  The bite is important not just for aesthetic reasons. There are many cases where puppies need extensive and expensive dentistry to correct a malformed bite. The breeder would have known there was a problem (IMO)

2) Lift up your puppies ears and take a good sniff as well as checking to see if the ear flaps and canal as far as you can see is clean.  A bad or yeasty smell or brown wax blobs are NOT good. If your puppy comes home with an infection he/she will need veterinary treatment which really should have been taken care of before you get him/her.  Again the breeder will know.

3) Check the skin and do this by moving the hair backwards from your fingers so you can see the scalp which should be clean and clear of redness or anything out of the ordinary.

4) check all over the puppy with your fingers all around the tummy area. You are checking for little lumps .

5) Ask the breeder if the puppies poops are normal and ask if there has been any tummy upsets in the litter.  Ask what anti-parasitics have been given and what precautions against Giardia have been used.

6) check that your puppy is clean and look under his/her tail.  You are looking for a clean smelling puppy. Breeders will often wash puppies before they go.

I'm sure there are more checks that the layperson can do before bringing a puppy home. Hopefully others will add their own ideas.  I have always done my very own check on each of mine when I chose them and again when I collected them for home.  If you are concerned that something is not quite right talk to your breeder and make sure you are 100% happy before you take that gorgeous furbaby into your possession.

[Jen and Annie]

These are all good pointers.. We did not know to do all of these things, but thankfully Annie has normal teeth, ears and skin!

[Kristi and Mickey Finn]

I wish I read this before our puppy pick up! #2 is what happened to my puppy. I did look in his ears but I was super excited about getting him and didn't look hard enough. I trusted our breeder.