Questions to Ask When Adopting a Puppy
Twenty questions to ask a rescue, foster carer or breeder before taking a puppy home: where the litter was raised, veterinary records, what the puppy has already been socialised to, sleeping and toileting habits, adult size, costs and after-care.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Where was this puppy born, and where have they been since?
Why ask it
The answer should be a place you could visit, not a chain of hands. Puppies moved between several locations in their first weeks arrive with more illness and more fear, and a seller who is vague about the origin usually has a reason.
How old are they exactly, and when were they separated from their mother and littermates?
Why ask it
Ask for a date of birth, not an approximation. Separation before eight weeks is widely advised against and is restricted by law in many places, and puppies taken early are more likely to struggle with biting and with being alone.
Can I meet the mother, or see where the litter was raised?
Why ask it
With a breeder this is not optional; a refusal is the clearest signal you will get. With a rescue the mother may genuinely be unknown, in which case ask to speak to the foster carer instead and see the room the litter has been living in.
What do you know about the breed mix, and what does that mean for adult size?
Why ask it
Guesses at mixed breeds are often wrong, and the difference between a fifteen kilo dog and a forty kilo dog changes your housing, your car and your costs. Ask what they are basing the estimate on, and look at the paws and the parents rather than the label.
What veterinary care have they had so far?
Why ask it
You want dates: first vaccination, worming, flea treatment, microchip, and any examination. Written records matter because your own vet will need them, and a puppy leaving without any paperwork is a puppy whose history nobody can verify.
Has a vet checked for anything congenital, and were there concerns about the heart, eyes or hips?
Why ask it
Some conditions are detectable early and some are known risks in particular breeds. With a breeder, ask which health tests the parents had and to see the certificates rather than being told the line is healthy.
What are they eating now, how much, and how many times a day?
Why ask it
Take the same food home for at least the first week. Puppies get diarrhoea easily from an abrupt change, and doing it in the same week as the move makes it impossible to tell an upset stomach from something more serious.
How is toilet training going, and what surface do they use?
Why ask it
A puppy trained on newspaper or on artificial grass will look for that surface in your house. Knowing what they are used to lets you match it at first and change it deliberately rather than by accident.
What handling have they had: nails, ears, mouth, being picked up?
Why ask it
Puppies who have had their paws and ears touched daily become dogs who tolerate a vet and a groomer. If nobody has done it, that is a job you now own, and it is much easier at ten weeks than at ten months.
What have they already met: children, cats, other dogs, traffic, stairs, a vacuum cleaner?
Why ask it
The list of things a puppy has encountered calmly is the single most predictive thing you can learn about them. What is missing is not a fault, but it is work with a deadline, because early impressions are formed in a window that does not reopen.
How do they cope with being left alone, and for how long?
Why ask it
Ask what has actually been tried rather than what they expect. A puppy who has never been alone for ten minutes will not manage four hours in week one, and this is the issue most likely to affect your working life.
Where do they sleep, and how are the nights?
Why ask it
Crated, in a pen, or with the litter. A puppy who has always slept touching siblings will find the first nights alone hard, and it helps enormously to know that in advance rather than at two in the morning.
Do they bite hard during play, and what do you do when they do?
Why ask it
All puppies mouth. What you want is whether this one is unusually rough and what response has been used so far, because you should continue the same approach rather than introducing a third method in a new house.
What are they like at the vet, and have they travelled in a car?
Why ask it
The journey home is often a puppy's first car ride, and the first vet visit follows within days. Both go better if you know whether to expect travel sickness and whether the puppy has been handled by a stranger before.
How much exercise are they getting now, and what would you advise for the next few months?
Why ask it
Young joints are damaged by too much rather than too little, particularly in larger breeds and particularly on stairs. Ask for a figure and check it against your own vet's advice rather than a general encouragement to keep them active.
What will the coat need, and how often?
Why ask it
Grooming is the cost people forget. Some coats need professional clipping every six to eight weeks for the dog's whole life, which over a decade is a significant sum and a recurring appointment.
Are there littermates still available, and would you recommend taking two?
Why ask it
The answer tells you a great deal about the seller. Experienced breeders and rescues generally advise against taking two puppies from the same litter, and anyone eager to sell you a pair is not thinking about the dogs.
What would make you tell me this puppy is not right for my household?
Why ask it
Describe your home honestly first: the hours you work, the stairs, the children's ages, the cat, the garden. A good rescue or breeder will name a reason. Someone who has no reservations at all is placing puppies rather than matching them.
What is the fee, what does it cover, and what paperwork will I receive?
Why ask it
Expect the microchip registration transfer, vaccination card, worming record and, from a breeder, registration and health test documents. Ask what is not included and what your first month of vet costs is likely to be.
What support do you offer after I take them home, and what happens if it does not work out?
Why ask it
A responsible source stays contactable and will take the dog back at any point in its life. Ask specifically who you would call in week two when nothing is going well, because that is the week the question gets answered.
Adopting a puppy: what to check and what it takes
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you go and see one
Decide your limits in writing
Maximum adult size, coat type you are willing to maintain, hours the dog would be alone, and the monthly figure you can actually spend. Write them down before you meet a puppy, because none of these decisions can be made sensibly with a puppy in your lap.
Work out who does the mornings
Puppies need feeding, toileting and company at hours nobody volunteers for later. Agree the rota in the household now, by name and by day, rather than assuming it will settle itself.
Book the first vet appointment and the training class in advance
Good puppy classes fill weeks ahead, and the useful window for them is short. Having both booked before collection is the difference between a plan and an intention.
Be ready to leave without a puppy
The most important skill in this process is walking away from a sick puppy, an evasive seller or a mother who is not there. Going with someone who will support that decision makes it far easier.
What to look at while you are there
- Whether the mother is present, relaxed, and behaving normally around her litter.
- The condition of the space: clean, warm, room to move, toys that have been chewed rather than arranged.
- Eyes, nose and rear for discharge, and the coat for bald patches or scratching.
- How the puppies react to a new person in the room. Curiosity is good, and so is caution, but a whole litter cowering is not.
- Whether the puppy will follow a rolling object, react to a hand clap, and settle again after being excited.
- How the seller handles the puppies, and whether they are comfortable with you handling them.
- How many litters are on site. Several at once, with several breeds, is a commercial operation whatever it is called.
- Whether they ask you questions. A source that does not want to know about your home is not screening anyone.
The real cost and the real time
- Vaccination course, worming, flea treatment and neutering in the first year, then annual boosters for life.
- Insurance, or a savings buffer, from the day you collect them.
- Food that changes as they grow, plus the things they will destroy before they stop chewing.
- Puppy classes, and for many dogs a trainer or behaviourist at some point.
- Professional grooming every six to eight weeks if the coat requires it.
- Boarding, daycare or a walker for the weeks your working pattern does not fit a dog.
- Broken nights for the first fortnight, and toilet trips every couple of hours through the first weeks.
- Ten to fifteen years of daily walks, in weather you would not otherwise go out in.
The first two weeks at home
- 1Keep the same food, the same schedule and, if you can, something that smells of the litter.
- 2Confine them to one or two rooms at first. Full access to the house is overwhelming and makes toilet training slower.
- 3Take them out after every sleep, every meal and every burst of play, and go with them rather than sending them.
- 4Start leaving them alone in minutes, not hours, from the first week, while you are still in the house.
- 5Book the vet check in the first few days, and take the paperwork with you.
- 6Introduce new things deliberately and one at a time: the vacuum, the postman, the car, a calm adult dog.
- 7Contact a vet promptly about persistent diarrhoea, refusal to eat, lethargy or coughing. Young puppies deteriorate quickly and it is better to call early.
Reasons to walk away
The mother cannot be seen
Excuses about her being at the vet or with a relative are the standard script. With a breeder, no mother means no visit, and it is the most reliable indicator of a puppy that was not raised where you are standing.
Meeting anywhere other than where the puppy lives
Car parks, service stations and doorstep handovers exist to stop you seeing the conditions. There is no legitimate version of this for a first meeting.
A puppy available immediately, at any age, in any colour
Choice and instant availability are features of a supply chain, not of a litter. Ask how many litters they produce a year and watch how readily the number comes.
No paperwork and no willingness to let your vet look first
A source confident in the puppy's health will accept a vet check as a condition of sale. Refusal, or pressure to pay a deposit before you have met the litter, is where most puppy buying goes wrong.