You may or may not wish to obtain your puppy from me, but when looking for a puppy from any breeder, please choose an ethical and responsible one!

Good and ethical breeders typically do not advertise in the newspaper, they rarely sell their puppies on mass puppy selling sites like pets4you.com, puppyfind.com, europuppy.com or nextdaypets.com. Reputable and ethical breeders are not comfortable advertising their puppies like money-making inventory to be purchased with a credit card. However if you do find your breeder of choice on such a site - all of the following guidelines should still apply.

You want to look to breeders who are health testing for hips, elbows and thyroid. Make sure they can provide you with official OFA results, not just "say" they have them. ASK FOR PROOF. Unsubstantiated claims of "my vet says their hips are fine" or "grandparents or dogs in the pedigree have good hips" are not adequate responses!

If breeders cannot provide official hip and elbow scores from OFA, PENNHIP or any other internationally recognized body on the parents of the litter you should look elsewhere for a puppy.

A good breeder can tell you why they are doing the breeding and the strengths and weaknesses of both the sire and the dam. They will have knowledge of the pedigree and what came before. They will be honest with you about health issues and temperament. They will not breed their dogs before the age of two or at least very nearly approaching the age of two. Official hip & elbow clearances cannot be obtained before the age of two.

They will not breed the same two dogs together over and over again. Numerous repeat breedings do NOT constitute a breeding program with goals in mind to constantly move forward and improve the breed. Numerous repeat breedings using the same pairings are breedings that simply create more puppies - typically purely for financial gain. Such practices are based simply on convenience. It is much easier to put the same two dogs together year after year than seek out and pay for a stud dog that is complimentary to the prospective dam of a litter. This does nothing to contribute to the betterment of the breed which ideally should be every breeder's goal. There is rarely a good reason to repeat a breeding more than twice. If breeders are proudly announcing that this is the 3rd or 4th breeding of the same pair of dogs you should look elsewhere for a puppy.

Breeders who are truly concerned about a puppy placement will not rush you for money or a commitment to buy. They will ask you many questions about your living situation and home life in general to make sure that this breed is right for you. They will not be afraid to say "NO" to you if your situation is not suitable for the Tibetan Mastiff breed. And they will require you to return the puppy to them if any time you cannot provide the puppy or dog with a permanent home.

Responsible breeders believe in keeping in contact with you about the welfare of their puppies. If a puppy buyer has grooming questions, feeding questions, or training questions, breeders should be there for you long after the puppy is no longer a puppy.

They will usually insist puppies sold as pets be spayed/neutered or placed on an AKC limited registration. The limited registration makes the dog exempt from having any of its offspring registered by the AKC.

If a puppy is placed in a breeding home they will offer to mentor you and help you make the transition from pet owner to breeder. They will be available to help you research pedigrees, teach you about structure/movement, health, temperament and breed type.

They will usually take back any dog of their breeding at any age. Reputable breeders do not want to find out a dog they bred has been left in a pound, put in rescue, or dumped by the roadside. They assume a lifetime responsibility for the canine lives they have put on this earth.

Bad breeders have a detrimental impact on the entire Tibetan Mastiff breed and you should feel that it is your responsibility to reward good & ethical breeders.

Questions to ask your breeder:

How long have you been involved in the breed?

How old are the sire & dam of this litter?

What are the official hip & elbow scores of the sire & dam?

Do you test the sire & dam's thyroid levels yearly before breeding?

Can you provide documentation that these evaluations have been done?

What made you decide to breed these two specific dogs together?

Is this a repeat breeding and if so why?

What kind of support will you offer me after the puppy arrives home?

Will you take the puppy back at any age if I can no longer provide a home?

There is no reason to pay premium prices for a puppy if the breeder cannot even be bothered to pay for the most basic of health tests or operate with the most basic of good breeding ethics. You are rewarding bad behavior by giving these kinds of breeders your time and money.

If you have not yet visited the following site I strongly encourage you to take some time and read all you can about the Tibetan Mastiff Breed. You will get a very good idea of what the breed is about at the following links, the FAQ is especially helpful.  These links will take you off site:

Tibetan Mastiff Info Site

Tibetan Mastiff Articles

Tibetan Mastiff FAQ

Evaluating Breeders - A Checklist

Thank you for visiting Citadel Tibetan Mastiffs!