So you want a basset puppy? Please make sure to read the information below before selecting a breeder.

Every dog deserves to lead a happy, healthy life, not one cut short or filled with pain because of careless breeding. It may take longer to find that great breeder than it would to get a puppy from a puppymill, pet store, or from the newspaper, but it's worth it!

The following are all characteristics of a reputable breeder:

• They have a good reason for breeding. Money is not a good reason! Reputable breeders lose money. They are breeding to make the breed better.
  
• They have health-tested their dogs for any genetic problems that breed may have. You deserve a healthy puppy and your puppy deserves to be healthy!
  
• They are up-front and honest about any potential problems their breed may have.
  
• They participate with their dogs in conformation showing or dog sports, etc.
  
• They have only a small breeding program- at most a couple of litters a year, not dozens! Their puppies are raised with lots of individual care and attention.
  
• They know the pedigree of their dogs inside and out. Most of the dogs in the pedigrees are titled in at least one area.
  
• They offer a contract and/or a guarantee against genetic health problems and will also take the puppy back at any time in its life if you can no longer keep it.
  
• They ask you as many questions as you ask them! They want to make sure that all their pups go to good homes.
  
• They line up homes before they breed their dogs. You'll probably have to wait for a puppy.

Please stay away from newspaper ads, the Internet, backyard breeders and pet stores as they're feeding the pet overpopulation problem. There is a danger in getting puppies through any of these sources. Any puppy with an unknown genetic history is a risk -- both physically, and temperamentally.

Please don't support backyard breeders and pet stores by purchasing from them.

Help fight back by requiring that the parents of your puppy be tested for genetic problems, and insist on meeting the parents, or adopt through rescue! If they're not supported by purchases, they'll cease to exist and less and less animals will have to die each year in shelters. Below are some red flags when buying a basset puppy:

• Advertising basset puppies with the primary selling point being that they are "AKC or CKC-registered". AKC or CKC registration is not a sign of quality. It is the canine version of your auto registration. It just means that your pup is supposed to be a purebred basset. It means nothing about the health of the dog. Many puppy mills are registered with CKC or AKC.  BEWARE!
  
• Having both parents on site. Usually, the best father for a litter of pups is owned by someone else! Any breeder who has both parents should be questioned as to why their own dog was the most suitable father.
  
• Always having puppies.
  
• No titles on the parents or guarantees or health testing, because they are "just breeding pets".(these are Titles, like "Ch, CT, FC that are on their registration papers. See AKC website for details: http://www.akc.org/events/titles.cfmon)
  
• They do not offer a health guarantee.
  

So where do you find these great basset breeders? A good place to start is with the breed club, Basset Hound Club of America, which can be found at www.basset-bhca.org.

The only way to guarantee the health and quality of your next puppy is to purchase it from a breeder whose parents are Titled, and active members of the Basset Hound Club of America.