West Highland Terrier Breeders
Whenever you think of getting a West Highland Terrier puppy, the first thing you should ensure is that West Highland Terrier breeder is genuine. There are three types of breeders generally speaking, i.e. (i) the pet shop or puppy mill breeders, (ii) the back yard or impulsive breeders and (iii) the hobby breeders.
The Quality of Your Dog Will Depend On That of the Breeder You Choose
If you are looking for a purebred, your efforts should first aim at finding a genuine West Highland Terrier breeder. Among the three categories of breeders named above, the last one is the choice you should make.
(i) The pet shop or puppy mill breeder – Never go to a pet shop for a purebred, because you will, most often than not, come back with an extremely cute puppy with unknown parentage and possibly a number of genetic defects. This category of breeders breeds the West Highland Terrier for profit. Hence, it is natural that they cannot pay too much attention to details – even the essential ones – because they are busy making money. They normally breed the female too often and without checking the antecedents of the male or even the female. Their aim is not to propagate the best of this breed, but to make profit and hence their approach does not cover quality but quantity.
(ii) Back yard or impulsive breeders – these breeders find that they have fallen in love with their wonderful West Highland Terrier and they simply want to have some more like them. Therefore, on an impulse, they go for breeding it without really bothering to check whether their West Highland Terrier is actually a good candidate for breeding, or whether the stud is. The result is that the puppies though looking like the original pets bear invisible genetic defects which will be transmitted down the line, if they are bred again. As it is, they may turn out with defects themselves, which may crop up anytime during their lifetime – which is pretty long.
(iii) The hobby breeders – this type of breeders is where you should go. These people breed as a hobby. This is because quality breeding cannot be a profitable business – there are too many things to take care of when you breed a dog in the proper manner, to leave a margin for profit. However, they do it nonetheless, because they love the breed; and what they are doing for it. Hence, you will get quality here because that is the only yardstick to measure their results.
Now that you have learnt how to differentiate between various types of breeders, it will be easier for you to find a quality West Highland Terrier breeder.
