AKC Miniature Dachshunds
Indianapolis, Indiana

I just want a pet.

I don’t want to show the dog.

I just want a healthy puppy.

I do not care about the pups pedigrees. Why should I?

One of the questions I get from people is: I only want a pet. Why should I care about the puppies’ pedigree? What's the difference in all the kennel clubs? There are many reasons why you would need a good pedigree while looking at the dachshund puppies for sale. They make a difference and there are many reasons why the AKC Pedigrees (American Kennel Club) are valuable.

AKC has so many rules and regulations to make sure your dog is a pure bred and inspects were your pup comes from. Every year to eighteen months a AKC Representative comes to the breeders  home or kennel  to look at the all the dogs and their living conditions. The AKC Representative checks to insure each dog can be properly identified. They take DNA samples of puppies to insure that the parents are indeed the puppies’ parents. The Representative checks all records for accuracy. A breeder is given a Certificate stating that the Breeder is in Good Operative Conditions and can continue to register their dogs or they Fail and cannot register their dogs until conditions are corrected.  If they have serious conditions they can be banned from registering any more dogs in the future.

With some registries you cannot get a Pedigree on your dog with some of the other clubs. Why is this important? Some clubs only require a photo to register your dog. This does not mean your dog is a pure bred just because it looks like a dachshund.  The American Kennel Club requires DNA for their dogs. Why is this important? As a breeder or a potential buyer I want to know who the parents are for sure and the ancestors behind them. You as a potential pet owner should also want to know what is behind your puppy. What health issues there are etc.

To be an AKC Dachshund Breeder and to have dachshund puppies for sale, AKC is more expensive than some of the other kennel clubs, but you pay for what you get security.The puppy that you decide to purchase comes not only from the breeder that you purchase your puppy from, but from the breeding of the other lines or breeders in the pedigree. Many years of improving, testing, research, champions, etc. Having a dog with a well known pedigree can give your pup results of years of health issues of your puppy in either a positive or a negative way. Not only does it reflect the health of your puppy, it also helps determine the disposition of your puppy.

Champions are very important in the pedigree. In order to finish a dog as a Champion, that dog has to be judged by several different Judges at several different shows. In order for your dog to stand out among all the great dogs being shown the Judges look at the overall dog, not just that the dog has good conformation. The dog also has to have a great personality, a dog that loves to show. A dog's temperament is not only influenced by the way the breeder raised the puppy or the way the owner finished raising the puppy into adulthood. The temperament also has a lot to do with the Ancestors temperament of the puppy. Good temperaments are Inherited a lot more than most people realize. Show dogs that seem to be a Natural and are the star of any room they enter do not get that way as a result of improper breeding. It takes skill you can only get from years of experience to produce a Show dog or a good Companion dog.

Another, important reason for seeking a puppy that has a good AKC pedigree and perhaps much more important is this: To have Champions you need  to have a reputation that allows you to win over the judges, you cannot be the type of person that does not stand behind your dogs. You can not be the type of breeder that breeds the life out of their dams. You can not be the type of breeder that sees nothing, but dollar signs in their dogs. You will be known as a farm, mill, or back yard breeder. That has nothing, but selfish motives.  A breeder must always remember that these dogs are doing them a service and in return deserves the best care that you can give. These dogs depend on their owner to love them, socialize them & provide them the very best medical care when it is needed.

When looking at the pedigree make sure you are not seeing too close of breeding, such as Brother Sister mating, Mother Son mating, Father Daughter mating. This type of breeding is dangerous because it just doesn't double up on just the good genes, but if not done correctly it can double up on the bad genes. We do not do this kind of breeding.

Champions in a Pedigree is impressive and to some degree important, but the overall health and structure of the pup should be considered. Good breeding and experience reflects how healthy your puppy will be. It also positively influences the temperament of your puppy. Testing is also a very positive part of being a good breeder. It is very expensive to test the dogs but a good breeder will invest this into the health of the dogs.

Reputable Breeders spay and neuter breeding dogs that produce genetic defects. They do not want to produce any genetic defects that will damage the quality of life of that dog. They do not want that dog to suffer or their off springs to suffer.  They should not do the double dapple breeding. Respected breeders care more about the dog than the dollar sign. If a dog is labeled as rare it probably isn’t the breeder is looking for a word to make more money. Dachshund breeders that will breed any dog they can find are the type of people that do not care about what they are producing. They just want to have puppies that they can sell in mass quantities.  They are not concerned with genetic problems or temperament problems. As long as they can sell the puppy, that is all that matters. They do not have to worry about vet bills that accumulate 6 months later because they do not provide care for their dogs (yearly shots, genetic testing, worming, flea prevention, & heartworm preventative) or stand by health warrantees for their puppies they sale. They continue to breed dogs that produce problems because it is profitable to them. Once the puppy leaves, the headache is someone else’s.

Reputable breeders do not operate like this. They stand behind their puppies.

Therefore, it is in their best interest to raise only healthy puppies to the best of a breeder’s ability. When a person raises a dog for a year only to find out 6 months later that the dog has a genetic problem, this is devastating. To find out that a dog you spent time on testing, training, feeding, care, and loving now has to live the rest of their lives with less quality than it could have had.  It would be easy to just discard the dog and get another one, but to a good owner, it really is devastating because that dog has become a member of their family. Also it is devastating to a Good AKC breeder.

A good breeder will look at the pedigrees many generations back. If they don’t recognize a dog or breeder they will ask around to find out if there are or were issues in the lines behind the dog.

This way you know that between the champions, pedigree, health tests that you’re getting a healthy well taken care of puppy. A puppy the breeder stands behind with years of research and hard work. So you can have a companion for you and your family many of years to come.