When I got home I searched the Kennel Club for Assured breeders. Scout was healthy and active. He had no hip, elbow or eye problems and none of the tell tale signs of a badly bred dog. I wanted a healthy dog. I knew that it was going to cost me a lot more than a dog off Gumtree but I wanted to avoid unscrupulous breeders.
It turned out that there was a gold star assured breeder near the house - seriously - less than 10 minutes drive away. Not only was this breeder near, she had the above mentioned litter of puppies and we share the same vet!
The litter she had when I contacted her was larger than she had planned. The breeder had a waiting list but because the bitch had produced 10 puppies instead of the expected four, everyone on her list was satisfied plus a couple extra puppies. When I phone asking about puppies she had some that were available! I went over to the breeder's house about an hour later and plunked a deposit down on one of the black male pups. His eyes were just opening so I couldn't really get a good fix on what he would be like. . . but I already had puppy on the brain.
A few weeks later The Man of the Place went with me to see the pup. His eyes were open by then but he was still very small.
Yesterday was the big day. The pup whose pedigree name is Exelby Weaver and his pet name is Fenrir (Fen for short) came to to live with us.
He had a very big day yesterday.
