champ dogs is ok, providing you know what to look for, but it does narrow down the search and often weeds out the bad breeders, because people get a feel for what to look for on there, and can go on their forum where there are a lot of experienced breeders to talk to.

My friend advertised Dices last litter on Champ dogs we had 9 pups and ended up with 2 left, we went all the way down to Brighton to check on a home anf drop a pup off .

I know one or two good breeders who advertise on E-Pupz, but I cannot for a moment imagine why they do. The very last thing I would want is to have my pups advertised alongside the puppy farmers and completely unethical breeders who populate such sites. After all, "Sh#t sticks" as they say, and as my old mum used to say, "you are known by the company you keep"
I would not want to be associated with some of these people in any way whatever.
Research on the internet is one thing - but people need to realise that the internet is a double edged sword. It is full of information, but there is no guarantee that any of that information is truthful. If you keep in mind Benjamin Franklin's advice, you can't go far wrong, ""Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see."

Mick

Well said, Mick.

My dad got our first setter through word of mouth and through the English Setter Association.... I got Jamie through the ESA website and going through each breeder and we went to the breeders house and saw his dogs etc... he hardly breeds anyway and his dogs are fantastic! He gave me loads of info and really it was a chance for him to see us and what sort of house the pups were going to....
Personally I have bought piggies through the local papers but not a dog and I never would.... if I want a dog I would either go to rescue or a reputable breeder through the chosen breeds association

The rights and wrongs of breeding mongrels isn't really the discussion but your right - I was talking about accidental litters. Putting a litter to rescue does not ensure potential owners are vetted. Likewise it's wrong to asume that all those that advertise in the paper/web hand them over willy nilly.

I advertise on all the well known puppy sites and the reason I do so is not because I have loads of puppies to sell, I don't and I have a huge waiting list, but because I mention in those ads about health testing and I therefore give people an alternative to those pet bred non registered pups. Anyone who contacts me but isn't prepared to wait I pass onto people I know who may have pups or are having pups who health test.
How else do the general public know you are there and that there is an alternative?
I think ALL reputable breeders should advertise on these places and show people that there is something better and even though you may not have pups you can get them out of the pf/byb vicious circle and pass them onto reputable breeders who may be planning something.
Goes back to what I have said before. If you do nothing nothing gets done but if you are proactive and 'out there' then people can (and will) contact you and if you are particularly helpful they will come back and ask for advice and so you stop the buying and dumping of dogs routine because people have made a mistake.
These forums are all well and good if people find them but most, when looking for a pup, head for the papers and puppy selling sites not forums such as these so you have to grab them where they will be, not where you hope they will end up.
Becky

I have to say that not everyone is as knowledgable. I did not know that a pregnancy could be terminated after mating. I expect there are many many dog owners out there who if there dog was mated accidentally would just go on to do their best with the oncoming litter.This is perhaps how those "crossbreeds free to agood home" come about. Hence the ads in the free papers etc.

I am not condoning it, just thinking about it out loud.

Why not buy from someone on the internet? Because people TELL LIES! If you were to meet a scruffy geezer in a pub who said he had a pup blah blah blah, yours for a tenner, love, because he can see you`re a really nice person...Would you suspect a possible problem? So how do you know that Doglover posting on the internet site isn`t (a) a 14 year old thief who`s nicked his gran`s ****zu or (b) a reputable rescue who are looking for a forever home for a dear little dog? You don`t - until it`s too late.

I just wanted to add that, as some of you know, I have been researching breeders for our next pup. I do, from time to time, browse the free ads in the paper and online just purely out of interest (usually looking for horse things!) and I have noticed that some of the breed club registered breeders, i.e. those that the club recommends sometimes have adverts up. Usually, it's a case of recognising the photographs that I have been looking at on the club's website of available litters, or on the kennel's own website if the club has linked to it.

I understand what everyone is saying, that reputable breeders shouldn't need to advertise in such places alongside accidental matings, BYBs and PFs but does it therefore negate their "reputable breeder" status? Would you avoid a breeder which, although recommended by a breed club, advertises on free ad websites such as ad trader, free-ads and e pupz?
Genuinely interested for the purposes of my research