Thanks for the kind words, its nice to know all my typing is appreciated and actually read .
Yeowa, that's a good idea about 'what a mill and BYB is'. I'll start typing it up. Hoping to get a few more bits and pieces written up for this over Christmas, things are quite hectic at the moment.

For now just a short one, the flip side of what to ask a breeder...

QUESTIONS A RESPONSIBLE BREEDER WILL ASK YOU?

A responsible breeder will screen all potential puppy owners very carefully. They will ask you as many questions as you ask them to ensure their puppy will be going to a good home. Some breeders will even insist on coming to visit you before you visit them in order to get a better idea of the environment their puppy will be going to.

Some questions you should expect from your breeder;

What experience do you have with dogs (and [Insert Breed] specifically)?
Why do you want a dog?
What are you looking for in a dog?
What interests you in this breed?
What do you know about the breed?
What type of house do you live in?
Who lives with you (how many children? what age? how many adults?)?
[If appropriate] Are you planning on having children (if so, when)?
What is your average family income?
What are your working hours like?
Who will be the primary carer for the dog?
Have you had any other pets (if so what, and for how long)?
Do you currently have any other pets (if so what, and for how long)?

There are many other questions a breeder might ask, in general they will want to find out as much as possible about your experience with dogs, your living situation (and any foreseeable changes), you reasons for wanting a dog (and the specific breed) and your understanding of care for dogs (and the specific breed).

They will want to ensure that you have done some research before choosing a puppy and understand the care (training, grooming, expenses, average age, health issues etc.) which will be required as well as be in a situation to provide that care.

Don’t be offended with the questions a breeder asks you, they simply want to get a good idea of whether their breed is suitable to your lifestyle and family, if you are prepared to take care of them (both time wise and financially) and if you will ensure their puppy grows up safe and well looked after.
If a breeder doesn't care what kind of life their puppy is going to have with you, do you really think they care enough about the puppy to breed it correctly, or care for it correctly while it is with them?

I am currently looking for a mini schnauzer. any one has any idea of a good breeder for mini schnauzer?

Done some search on lowyat for responsible breeders but I couldn't find many threads talking about this.
This one does however it is an old thread.
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1648058/all, and the thread starter talked about Linggene Kennel, http://www.linggenekennel.com/Index.html

They carry 3-4 breeds of puppies at one time, eg shih tzu, mini schnauzer, toy poodle....
and they seem to be okay.

But I am still new and will be searching the forum for as much information as possible that I need to know before buying a puppy, and of course how to choose a responsible breeder.

advice would be much appreciated. thanks

This post has been edited by jjjia: Oct 28 2012, 06:59 AM

I would suggest that you look for breeders that only specialised in 1 breed, as they would have spent most of their extra time and know very well about that particular breed....

Most importantly, you must know how to identify a responsible breeder from a backyard breeder.... Are their breeding dogs showed in championships and certified to be within breed standards as written by American Kennel Club (ie with a Mal CH prefix in their registered name)? Do they have too many litters in a year by the same dog? Are they willing to let you into their house and let you see how their dogs live?

However do note that champion parents and champion bloodline have 2 very different meanings! Champion bloodline just means that somewhere in the ancestry line has a champion dog, but this does not mean it's offspring possess qualities within the breed standards....

Ask alot of questions regarding the breed and general dog health care, grooming etc, a truly dedicated breeder will be knowledgable to answer you....

Another suggestion is to make time and visit the championship shows organised by MKA (info here : http://www.dogsmalaysia.my/?node=event/home ) to get to know breeders who spend their time on a particular breed, so that you will know who to look for when looking for a puppy....

One important thing to know about breed standards http://www.akc.org/breeds/miniature_schnauzer/index.cfm is to avoid being scammed by irresponsible breeders.... Especially in breeds with many colours.... for example, white schnauzers are actually 'defects' in their genes, white colour is not a recognised colour in dog associations.... Which logically, should be sold at lower price.... But due to demand and being hyped up by irresponsible breeders, they end up being sold at higher prices than standard colours.... This is just 1 of the example, there are many more off-standard qualities which irresponsible breeders hype up to sell them at higher price... Most famous being 'teacup' dogs.... But thats a whole issue altogether which you can search on the internet about....

Thanks for the reply cyanide, the info are really useful. I do agree that it is difficult to tell a responsible breeder from a backyard breeder (BYB).

If a person carries 3 different breeds, but the dogs are all in good shape and taken care of properly does that make him/her a responsible breeder for taking care the dogs properly? Or does it make the person a BYB because he/she is having too many dogs at the same time for commercial purposes? or does it all depends on how the person selects the dam and sire of the puppies?

After a couple days of search I find most of the sellers on petfinder with puppies for sales do not seem to be responsible breeders as they have a lot of puppies for sale all year round, which I will stay away from.

Another thing I am not clear about is the MKA certificate. What does it signify? I checked the registration form from MKA, it shows the name of the sire and dam. does it mean that there would be no inbreeding? What should I pay attention to when I ask for MKA certificate from the breeder? should I insist on getting the MKA cert when I bring the puppy home from the breeder? because there seem to be some buyers who were still waiting for the cert after a few months of getting the puppies and later found out that they got scammed

Sorry I have so many questions but I just want to make sure what is right and I do not want to support irresponsible breeder and pet mills.

This post has been edited by jjjia: Oct 29 2012, 05:36 AM

The dogs may look well taken care of physically or just in pictures, but are they well taken care of mentally and emotionally? Are they kept in cages or allowed all around the house? If they say they only cage their dogs when there are visitors, what does that imply? Is it because their dogs are not trained on how to behave when visitors are around? Or was that statement just a lie? More so when the visitor is a potential customer, there shouldnt be a problem of 'visitors might be afraid of dogs' excuse right? Sometimes they only show you the pup that you are interested in without letting you into their house.... Is there something to hide that you are not allowed to view the parents' living condition?

A responsible breeder goes through all that trouble to study and expand their knowledge on a particular breed, brings their dogs for competitions to certify that the dog is of quality and meets the breed standards.... They provide their dogs with good quality food, supplements and care.... They do this out of passion and as a hobby, outside their main income job (be it a professional job, grooming business etc) which sustains their hobby.... With so much time, money and effort placed into just 1 breed, do you think it is possible for a responsible breeder to be selling different types of breed? For a responsible breeder, the cost of breeding will never be recovered just by selling puppies (yes, even at high prices )

Even in selection of the mating pairs are done with careful decision making, weighing the possibilities of producing good quality puppies in terms of structure, personality, coat etc.... Obtaining a show dog itself costs at least a 5 figure sum.... But of course, not necessary that 2 champion dogs will produce champion puppies as this is genetics.... But by choosing a quality dog, it increases the chances of producing quality offsprings which would contribute to the improvement of the breed.... However, a pet quality pup from champion parents will naturally still be of better quality in terms of personality, structure etc than pups from just taking 2 dogs and allowing them to mate without much considerations....

Also do note that champion parents are not the same meaning as champion lineage.... Champion lineage simply means that somewhere in the pup's ancestry has a dog who has obtained its champion title.... However as i mentioned above, not all their offsprings will turn out to meet the breed standards.... This is where irresponsible breeders come in and use these dogs to breed and sell their pups as champion lineage to fetch a higher price, without considering the fact that the dog does not meet the standards of the breed....

for commercial breeders, their aim is to spend as little and earn as much money as possible from a single female, thus they have litters almost all the time.... Therefore the more puppies they have, the more money they make.... Let me just give u a scenario.... Dog A has 4 pups, dog B has 3 pups, dog C has 3 pups, all mated and give birth around the same time, how much care can each pregnant dog receive? And how much care can each pup and its mother receive? This is another reason why responsible breeders dont have many litters at the same time.... This is different from large dogs with large litter as there is only one mother to be taken care of....

Now you may wonder, if responsible breeders are in this for passion, why do they charge so much for a pup.... A simple question to answer that.... Wont you spend more effort to take care of something you spent alot of money on? If someone can spend so much on gadgets, why not on a life which will stay with you for a long time, right?

As for MKA cert, it simply shows the pedigree of the pup.... From the cert, u can see a few generations of ancestry of the pup to make sure there is no inbreeding.... Also to apply for the cert, both the pup's parents must have certs themselves and the pup must have a microchip inserted....
However, some irresponsible breeders will go to the extend of forging the parents cert just to register the pups with MKA as they can fetch a better price....
Normally when you can bring your pup home, the cert is not ready on MKA's side, so your breeder will inform you once the cert has arrived, normally should be before the pup's 1 year old birthday if there is no delays.... But if you purchased from a responsible breeder, then you wouldnt need to be afraid of being scamed, right?

This post has been edited by CyaNide27: Oct 30 2012, 01:15 AM