Acquiring Your First Silken Windhound Puppy
There are many important factors that must be considered before bringing your furry new bundle of joy into your home.
Silken Windhounds are a rare breed that are almost never found in shelters or rescues. Consequently, if Silken Windhounds have caught your eye, your best bet is to purchase a puppy from a reputable breeder. Finding and working with a reputable breeder can be a confusing or even daunting task, but the time and energy you spend during this process pays dividends in ensuring that your Silken Windhound is healthy and will be well-adjusted to your home and lifestyle. Ethical, reputable, and responsible breeders work very hard to promote the well-being of the Silken Windhounds they sell and the overall welfare of the breed. These breeders stand behind the dogs they produce and support them and their owners throughout those dogs’ lifetime.
How to find a Breeder
Scammers and unethical breeders can end up costing you time, money, and heartbreak. To avoid this, it’s wise to search carefully to find a breeder you can trust. One of the best ways to find a breeder is through direct referrals. If you have ever met a Silken Windhound in person before, you can try asking the dog’s owner where they obtained their Silken. If the owner had a pleasant experience with their breeder, they should have no trouble recommending them to you.
Many of the reliable breeders within the Silken Windhound community earn their reputation via word of mouth. Asking around Silken Windhound groups on social media is another good way to find a breeder that may be up your alley.
In addition, another good place to start looking for a breeder is through breed clubs such as the Silken Windhound Club of America (SWHCOA) and the International Silken Windhound Society (ISWS). Both of these clubs maintain a list of breeders who are members of the respective clubs; you can find SHWCOA’s list of breeders here.
When reaching out to potential breeders, do not feel pressured to commit to the first breeder you find. It is important to shop around, ask questions, and find out if the breeder’s practices align with your beliefs.
Face-to-Face
Simply watching a puppy cam or looking at photos on a breeder website will not always provide you an accurate portrayal of a puppy’s health and temperament. Any expert will tell you that the best way to get to know a breeder and the kind of dogs they produce is by getting up close and personal with them.
Ethical breeders often invite prospective puppy buyers to visit and tour the places the pups and their parents spend their days. The premises should be well-maintained with clean kennels and exercise areas. None of the breeder’s dogs should seem malnourished, unkempt, or unduly confined. When meeting a breeder’s hounds, puppy buyers should look for signs that the dogs and puppies are well socialized; puppies and adult dogs should be both outgoing and interested when interacting with people.
If you are unable to visit a breeder on their premises, you may be able to meet in other venues, such as at local dog shows and dog sports events. Some breeders will also meet via video conference (e.g., Facetime, Zoom, Discord).
Ask Questions
A breeder should be someone you can trust to be a valuable resource and mentor for you throughout your dog’s life. When meeting with a potential breeder for the first time, come prepared with a list of questions about the breed, the breeder, and the puppies. Don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions! Breeders love their dogs and are happy to talk about them. Some possible questions to ask include:
- “What made you choose to breed Silken Windhounds?”
- “How do you socialize your puppies? What experiences do you expose them to?”
- “What kind of diet do your puppies eat?”
- “How old are puppies when you start sending them home?”
- “Can I meet the parents on site?”
- “What kind of exercise needs can I expect from one of your dogs?”
- “How would you describe the typical temperaments of dogs that you produce?”
- “How do you plan a litter?”
- “Can you provide a health guarantee and a health certificate?”
- “Are you a member of the Silken Windhound parent club?”
- “What tests do you run on your breeding dogs? Can I see the results?”
- “Can I see the parents’ pedigrees and registration?”
Be aware that many breeders do not send their puppies home before they are 12 weeks old. This is particularly important to check if there is a chance you may need to fly to your breeder to obtain your Silken, as many airlines have restrictions on the weight of dogs that they allow to fly in the cabin.
It is especially important to note that most Silken Windhound breeders do not use a “first come, first served” system when selecting their puppy homes. Instead, they match each pup in a litter with a potential home based on the puppy’s performance potential, energy level, temperament, and personality. This is both to ensure that their puppies thrive in the best environment possible for them and their buyer receives the best possible dog for their needs. This is why it is very important to be forthcoming about what activities you would be doing with your dog and the sort of environment they would be raised in.
When you interview your breeder, they should not only have no problem answering your questions but should also be interviewing you back. A good breeder will want to determine if you are a suitable home for not only the breed but also one of their puppies. Expect to field questions about your personal, home, and work life as well as what you’re looking for in your Silken Windhound.
Alternatives to a Puppy
Breeders don’t always keep their breeding dogs for the dog’s entire lives. Dams and studs are often retired from breeding to prevent bottlenecks in the breed’s gene pool. These dogs eventually need homes to call their own. It is also possible that a breeder may have an adult dog or older puppy in need of a home that perhaps didn’t work out as a future dam or sire but would otherwise make an excellent companion.
In cases such as these, breeders will usually announce the need for homes for these dogs on social media. If you are interested in acquiring an adult dog or older puppy, reach out to breeders to ask if any adult dogs are available. Even if a breeder doesn’t have such dogs at the time, you can ask them to consider you for any should one become available in the near future.
Signs of a Good Breeder
We previously mentioned that a good breeder will answer your questions patiently and ask you questions to determine your fit as a home for their puppies. Further, they will often allow you to tour their home and kennel where the puppies and their parents reside. But what are other signs of a good breeder?
Good breeders will not be churning out a high volume of puppies per year, but instead they will demonstrably treat their Silkens with loving care and think of them as members of their family. In fact, some breeders may not have readily available puppies at the time you contact them. Do not be discouraged if this is the case, as many conscientious breeders tend to give their dams a rest between litters to avoid over-breeding them. Most Silken Windhound breeders tend to either breed Silken Windhounds exclusively or perhaps in addition to one other breed.
A good breeder breeds their dogs responsibly, including taking potential genetic health concerns into account. When appropriate, the breeder should be able to present documentation illustrating pedigree and lineage, including test results that show that your pup’s parents were screened for hereditary problems such as Multidrug Resistance 1 (MDR1) drug sensitivity, Collie Eye Anomaly (CEA) and other problems that may arise with their eyes, thyroid, or heart. Many breeders post their dogs’ health testing results publicly on the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) website. Silken Windhound breeders as a community have been working closely with Embark to reduce the risk of puppies inheriting genetic issues, as well as working with university researchers to study Lotus Syndrome in stillborn puppies.
Most responsible breeders will be a member of a breed club, though it is also important to note that not all breeders that are club members can be assumed to be ethical. Members of ISWS are expected to follow a code of ethics and SWHCOA is working to develop a code of ethics as well. All ethical breeders will register their litters with ISWS and generally also with the United Kennel Club (UKC), which is currently the main reputable kennel club in the US that recognizes the breed. Breeders should also be performing at least the health tests recommended for the breed by ISWS which can be found on the OFA CHIC program website. At this time, Silken Windhounds are most often registered with the International Silken Windhound Society (ISWS) and the UKC. Be wary of a breeder who hesitates to provide registration papers or wants to charge more for registration papers, claims to be “USDA approved”, or tells you they will mail registration papers to you at a later date.Most Silken Windhound breeders recognize the value of early neurological stimulation, socialization, and training programs developed for puppies, such as Puppy Culture and Avidog, as these programs can improve puppy development and adaptability. Though not all good breeders use proprietary programs to socialize their puppies, all good breeders spend one-on-one time with their pups and provide stimulating toys, fun, exercise, loving handling, and exposure to a variety of novel experiences, like riding in vehicles and walking on different surfaces.
Good breeders will also rely on a capable and reputable veterinarian to offer the right care for their dogs. For this reason, your breeder should have a good working relationship with their chosen local veterinarian. This veterinarian should be providing each pup with the required care according to current medical standards. The breeder should thereby be able to readily provide you with a complete medical record on each pup, at your request.
By extension, your breeder should also be willing to provide a written contract with a health guarantee that will allow time for a post-purchase examination by a veterinarian of your choice. There should be clauses in the contract that ensure the breeder will either take the puppy back for a full refund, offer a partial refund, cover medical expenses, and/or replace the puppy should your veterinarian identify a medical problem at this visit.
Don’t forget to pay attention to your instincts. If something doesn’t seem right, or if the breeder is less than forthcoming with the information you need before buying your Silken from them, walk away. Also remember that a responsible breeder will not ship you a puppy sight unseen. Nor will they request for you to purchase your puppy from them in a parking lot. It may be inconvenient for you, but you should absolutely pick up your Silken puppy from the breeder in person.
Lastly, every breeder worth your time and money will stand behind the dogs they produce. Every dog purchased from them should have a lifetime guarantee of support for their new owner, and for themselves. This means that should you ever have questions pertaining to your dog or their care, you can contact your breeder for answers. In the event that circumstances prevent you from keeping your Silken, their breeder should request their return for the first opportunity to re-home the dog themselves. This is why it is exceedingly rare to ever find a Silken Windhound in a shelter or rescue situation, but if ever the event arises that your breeder refuses to take a dog back, please contact the SWHCOA or ISWS rescue team immediately.
One approach to be certain you’ve found the breeder for you is to ask yourself this: if you had an emergency with your puppy in the middle of the night, would you feel comfortable calling on this person? If the answer to this question is yes, then you may have found your future breeder.
