Before buying a Spitz Puppy

Not all of my experiences, as a breeder, finding forever homes has been perfect and blissful. Through my past interactions with future forever families, I have been on the receiving end of potential legal threats, been lied to and accused of selling temperamental puppies to buyers. The real reason had nothing to do with the puppy but everything to do with the buyers and their home circumstances. They throw their excuses back at me demanding for their money back after what I would never fully know the experiences the puppy had gone through with the family. Even after my extensive due diligence, my process was not fool-proof. I learnt that when it comes to a living animal, there's never a perfect solution but only the best we can.

So, why wouldn't we, as responsible breeders, be additionally protective of selling our puppies? Don't be surprised, in fact, you should expect the breeder to interview you, get to know you and be there to guide you before they handover the puppy and after. Don't also be offended if the breeder decided not to shortlist you. Remember, it's a two-way conversation and you too, should be interviewing the breeder and asking questions to prepare you before your puppy's arrival.

Please, please, I urge you before you buy a Spitz puppy to overlook the adorable white fluff and picture-perfect instagram shots and spend some time to get to know the real stuff about them so that you can appreciate them as much as they will return unconditional love, joy and bring memorable moments with you.

Some key considerations:

Do I have the time and support? It is crucial that you and your family members are equally supportive to care for your young pup, not just to feed it but shared expectations on boundaries, communication and the biggest one, I personally feel, toilet training. 

I would like to challenge you, can you house train your pup (well, alright, at least 90% trained) in 14 days? If it hasn't grasp your house rules in a two-weeks span, you haven't been spending enough time with your pup to understand your pup, especially it's toileting behaviours. It definitely isn't because your brought home a slow and lower intelligence Spitz.

Do I have the money? I have to dive in to a more personal and sensitive topic. Raising a dog (and dogs) is not cheap and you should not put yourself in a position where you are scrapping your last pennies until pay day to feed an extra pair of mouth (or mouths). 

Please take pride in buying and raising a puppy from a responsible Spitz breeder where you can see the parents, on at least the mum. Yes, Spitz are not cheap and responsible breeders usually don't price it to rip-you-off but to place a premium of us raising the puppy and the commitment you will make to continuing their education and lives with you. 

Invest to feed them with quality premium food or even better, cook for your pet as you will know what is going in its tummy and out the other (as disgusting as it is, I just have to say it).

Do I have kids? Your priority is your children and at the end of the day, of course, you will choose the safety and wellbeing of your children first and foremost. Please do consider how you will be raising a puppy that also needs your protection and attention while you are also raising your kids. Japanese Spitz have natural protection instinct (they believe in guarding) and if they need to protect themselves or a family member who they believe are in danger, they might do their job too well. 

I've had families who've made regretful decisions and I've seen toddlers mistreating puppies - of course, the puppy will be traumatised and put their guard up. As a general guide, waiting until your youngest child is around five years and above might be better timing to bring in a new puppy into your family.

Oh and one last thing, ask yourself... are you buying the puppy for the kids or really, for yourself?

Do I have other pets? A wise decision to make is NOT to introduce your dearly love pet dog or cat of over three years old that is well over their puppyhood to a new puppy. The highly energetic, young, curious, daring, annoying and sensitive personality might not go down too well. Unfortunately, most times, letting the packing order figure out on its own leads to injuries and that means headaches and unnecessary vet bills.

Our Lily when she was over 2 months old

One last note, I'm not going to lie, raising these bundle of fluffball joy can be a handful. As adoring as they are, they can be your best nightmare until they go back to sleep again. My best advice is be patient, tolerant and consistent with yourself. 

I hope my blog here will help you understand the breed better and decide whether Spitz is the right breed for you and your family. They will be part of your family until the end of their lifetime, you do need to make informed decisions and I want you to be informed.