Should I buy a puppy with an umbilical hernia?
The truth is that you simply cannot “plan” to breed a dog who is an unproven puppy, so your question may be moot. Responsible breeding requires a series of stringent screening and testing, specific to the breed. These are, hopefully, the same health checks you asked your breeder about both the dam and the sire. He needs to be hip scored and eye tested, and as he matures, both testicles need to descend. You need to look at everything from his jaw line to his temperament to make a responsible decision about whether your adult dog is good breeding material. If all proves well, you need complete medical histories for him, his dam, his sire, and their dams and sires, too – three generations – which your breeder is unlikely to give you because your backyard breeding competes with her (hopefully) professional breeding, probably to the detriment of the breed standard. Your breeder’s contract may, in fact, require you to agree to neuter your dog. Most responsible breeder contracts do. Given all
