reputable breeders on pupcity.com?

[jaspers mom]

Can someone please give me some reassurance? 

I have been searching for a puppy for six or more months now.  My husband wants a spinone (I have mentioned this elsewhere on this board).  I did a lot of research, emailed a lot of people, and found a woman who would have pups ready in the northeast when I could train one (end of June- I work the school calendar).  We spoke several times and I felt really good.  Unfortunately, when we got around to price, it turned out to be too much ($1200-1500).  I sadly told her I could not afford one of her pups (after I saw the pictures, oh I almost died!) and started searching all over again.  Alas, the few breeders with pups ready all want $1200-$2000.

I talked my husband into looking at thier "cousins" (German Wire-haired pointers, Cesky Fousaks sp?, Wire pointing griffons, basically anything large and scruffy w/a beard).  Thier personalities aren't quite as perfect for us as the spinone (good w/all kids, non-territorial), but close enough. 

We had a few close calls on petfinder, but it always fell through.  Thousands of great dogs, but not too many perfect puppies on there.  We already have an older rescue and we now want a baby.

I have found NAVDA German Wirehiared Pointer puppies for sale on a site called pupcity.  The breeder is out of Champion, Michigan.  He wants $250 - 400 per pup.  We would be responsible for shipping or transport.  This, I can afford. 

Please let me know if you have heard anything, even if what you heard was, "Yeah, it was okay."  Then I will at least know it's not some sort of death trap for dogs.

If I don't find something to bring into the house this week or next, it will be too late for me to break the dog in before returning to school.  I may have to wait another year. 

Thank you for any advice you can give-

[NoDogNow]

Critical question: Are you planning on hunting/trialing with this puppy? 

(Because NAVDA refers to hunt tests; you're looking at a kennel of dogs that are being bred with hunt tests and acutal hunting in mind, just in case you're not aware!)

Field line GSP's can be pretty hard driving dogs, particularly if you're not going to be hunt-training them and have to find some other activity to distract them from their birding instincts. 

If you're planning on hunt training him, pm me.  One of the magazines I work on is Gun Dog, and be glad to send you some back issues (including this years puppy issue!) of Gun Dog from out of my back stock to help you get started with the training thing.

[jaspers mom]

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Critical question: Are you planning on hunting/trialing with this puppy? 

(Because NAVDA refers to hunt tests; you're looking at a kennel of dogs that are being bred with hunt tests and acutal hunting in mind, just in case you're not aware!)

Field line GSP's can be pretty hard driving dogs, particularly if you're not going to be hunt-training them and have to find some other activity to distract them from their birding instincts. 

If you're planning on hunt training him, pm me.  One of the magazines I work on is Gun Dog, and be glad to send you some back issues (including this years puppy issue!) of Gun Dog from out of my back stock to help you get started with the training thing.

So much for reassurance, can anyone spell "disappointment?"  I know it's a good price, but I was hoping the more common gun dogs weren't that much.

To top it off (and relating to NoDogNow's post), I have been looking for a rescue that might be given up because it is gun shy.  I want a family pet, remember.  When I mentioned to my husband that some of the Spinone breeders strongly wanted someone who would hunt the dog, he responded, "Fantastic-I'd love to do that!"  Go figure.  I've been married 15 years to this guy and thought he only liked deer hunting.  Or more accurately, going to deer hunting camp.  I've never actually received venison out of this set up.  So, yes, I guess we are interested in a birdy pup.  Is there such a thing as a non-aggressive, mild energy, hunter?  Oh, yes, and let's not forget, with a beard?

Ohhh, I'll never get a dog!  I thought wives were supposed to be the hard ones to please.

P.S.  NoDogNow, if anything works out, I will pm you for hunting info-

[NoDogNow]

I've been married 15 years to this guy and thought he only liked deer hunting.  Or more accurately, going to deer hunting camp.  I've never actually received venison out of this set up

Well, deer are a little sneakier in the woods than birds are flying around. 

Listen, PM me right away, and I'm going to send you some back issues of the book.  They're FULL of all kinds of breed information on a lot of dogs, and better yet:  it's full of a classified section that's full of breeders who are serious about their dogs, training oppportunities for your husband to learn how to train and hunt with a dog and all kinds of useful stuff.  I'll toss in all the puppy issues I can find.  And you'll have a bunch of numbers that you can call to see if you can find a hunter that didn't work out. Or maybe instead of spending a fortune on an 8 week old pup, you can find a started dog that's already HAD all the shots and the tests, etc., some basic training, and that your hubby can finish up its training with and be ready to hunt with him this fall instead of next year.

  ???Why does your dog need a beard?

[doggylover]

The breeder price is only a tiny down payment compared to the financial pit that most dogs wind up being.  I think pupcity is a puppy mill.  I would run fast and far.  I think it's gonna wind up being better for you in the long run to rescue an older purebred dog (if you can't afford the 1500 pricetag) than to get a possible puppymill dog.  I agree with everyone else that a purebred shouldn't cost $400 dollars. 
I also don't like the name pupcity.  It sreams mill.  It isn't even specific to a particular breed. 

[jaspers mom]

Why a bearded pup?  I don't know, because my husband is weird?  They are awfully cute.  As I continue my research, it seems like the wirehaired pointing griffon is a better bet, tempermentwise, than the German wirehaired pointer.  We have known several German shorthaired pointer and they were very friendly (yeah!), but very hyper (not yeah!).  I know all puppies are hyper, but I was hoping for calmness after a couple of years.  I'm still learning and a spinone is still our first choice.

I know $1500 is a drop in the bucket for many dogs, but that's probably about what we spend in vet's bills over the lifetime of each of our past dogs.  We do take good care of them, we just have been lucky as far as health, plus, we've never started with a puppy.  We keep taking in older dogs with hard luck stories (which is why we are now wanting a pup).

[NoDogNow]

I agree with everyone else that a purebred shouldn't cost $400 dollars. 

Not everyone agrees with that statement. I don't know about Pupcity, because I didn't look at the site,  but there ARE great purebred dogs out there to be had for less than a thousand dollars. Particularly with field/hunting breeders--a lot of them prefer to be called kennels, even though they might only breed once a year--you can find good field 'kennels' that don't charge an arm and a leg for a dog, if you do your research and ask the right questions.

I know of a kennel that charges a minimum $1500 and goes WAY beyond that for their GSP's, because they have a well established lines, lots of champions and other kinds of hunt test titles, etc. in their GSP's.  But they're starting out in Brittany Spaniels--great little dogs, by the way, even it they don't have beards!--and those puppies are about a third of what their GSP puppies are.  I'm sure as they establish a similar record with their Brits, the price will get comparable to their GSP lines very fast, and in 12-15 years, their Brits will be half again more  expensive as a GSP.

There are also field kennels that will sell a pups from an oops litter that was unplanned (and that will be unregistered, unpapered and spay/neuter only) but that will be great dogs, for anywhere from $250 to $500.  They get their shots, the health clearances, etc, and they're every bit as good a dog as the papered ones. 

Not to forget the occasional oops crosses. One of Barney's favorite bird dogs ever was an unplanned chessie/springer cross that he paid $200 for.  The kennel would have charged him at least a grand for a purebred springer and twice that for a chessie.  Sure, it might have been nice to have the pedigree, but I'm quite sure that if even if Tink had been the purebred springer Barney was on the list for, he couldn't have shot any more pheasants over her. And she had great pillow manners, besides.

Just because a kennel isn't going to charge a lot of money for a puppy doesn't mean they're unscrupulous SOB's. Lots of puppies that cost $1000 are bred by BYB's--most of them, in some breeds, and y'all know it.  Dollar amount is not a guarantee. 

If your puppy budget is limited, what you have to do is really, really start researching not only breeds, but if you're after a hunting dog, the kennels. Plan on putting a puppy off one more summer. Make finding the right dog/kennel a family project for the whole year--shoot for a litter that will be born next April. 

Get online, learn about hunt tests and stuff, and then google for results, find out what kennels the dogs are from, and start finding those kennels on the web and researching them. Call up some kennels and ask some questions about what kind of testing they do, what are their breeding standards, why do their puppies cost what they cost, etc. 

Go to some hunt tests, and see if your hubby can find someone for the two of you to tag along hunting this fall over some dogs; see if he really DOES want a hunting dog, or if following the dog around the fields all day is something he's going to hate.  Because if he hates it, you might want to look into some different beardy faced dogs!