Liberty Siberians
Breed: Siberian Husky | Member Since 11/10/2010
When a pup is sold, we provide copies of the testing that parents have received along with the pup's personal health record which records everything done to the pup while in our care, such as each worming date and what was used, and each vaccination and what it covers.
The parent genetic tests that we do are OFA testing for hip displasia and CERF testingfor hereditary cataracts and eye issues. OFA is a one time test that costs between $200 and $300 per dog, depending on where you have it done. Our males are done and we are in the process of getting all of our females done. The CERF screening or testing is to test for hereditary eye issues such as cataracts. If the opthomologist screener does not write something in the box when the test is done, your dog is clear of any hereditary conditions. If there is anything written in the box the test needs to be interpreted by CERF. Either way you can send the screening in to CERF, but it is absolutely necessary to send it in if the screener saw something and it was written in the box on your sheet. We provide copies of the screening as well as dates. This test is not a one time test and should be done yearly, particularly from ages one to five. This is the critical time period in which most hereditary eye conditions would show up. We provide you all information on which dogs have been tested and for what and the results of the testing.
Another thing we do is provide dates of birth and registration names of our parent dogs and when their first litter occurred. You can get this infromation by checking in with AKC also. We DO NOT breed puppies. If a dog isn't at least 18 months old (and generally, we would wait until 2 years old or older), it SHOULD NOT be bred! A female comes into heat for the first time on average at 8 to 10 months of age, but they are still a puppy at that time and no responsible breeder will use them to produce a litter.
When researching a breeder, you can check the numbers of their dogs through AKC as well as the numbers of litters and the ages they were bred, the point being, their honesty in advertising. So if someone states in their ads that they are a small kennel (because they think that sounds good to say)and that they only have 2 or 3 litters a year, check it out. Check out the ages that their dogs have been bred. This will give you an indication of their honesty and ethics as a breeder. If dates of birth of parent dogs or registered names are not provided on someone's web site, be very cautious about buying from them.