Questions to Ask a Stud Owner Before You Book

I am on the other end of these calls most weeks, so I know which questions get asked and which ones almost never do. Some of the ones that never do are the important ones.

Here they are, with what you are actually asking for in each case, and what a good answer sounds like. A handler who knows their dog will answer most of these without pausing.

Is he health tested, and can I see the certificates?

"Yes, he is fully health tested" is not an answer. Neither is "he has had seven tests". Seven tests that do not include the ones that matter for your breed are worth less than three that do.

What you want is the names, the scheme and the dates. It also helps to know that health tests come in three different forms, because they are not interchangeable:

• DNA tests, for inherited conditions. A lab result, usually clear, carrier or affected.

• Radiographic screening, such as hip and elbow scoring. X-rays, scored under a formal scheme.

• Clinical examinations, such as eye testing, carried out by a vet on the day.

A good answer sounds like this: "DNA panel done in March, clear for all of it. Hips scored 4:3 and elbows 0 in February. Eyes tested clear in March. I will send the certificates over." Fifteen seconds, and it ends the question.

Ask to see them. A handler who has them to hand will not hesitate.

What is his temperament like?

Easy to skip and worth more than people think. Temperament carries down to the puppies, and you are the one who will be living with that, and so will the families who take them.

Ask what he is like around other dogs and around people, and ask to meet him if you can.

When was his last mating, and did it take?

This tells you he is in work and producing. Ask whether she fell pregnant, how many were in the litter, and whether they have a photo.

Most handlers will be pleased to show you. A recent litter is the best evidence there is that a dog is doing his job, and any handler worth booking will have asked their customers for photos for exactly that reason.

What colours does he produce?

Worth asking simply because it sets expectations. But if there is any merle involved, the colour question stops being about preference and becomes the most important question on this list.

If your girl is merle, read this one

Merle lightens patches of dark pigment, which is what gives the mottled pattern. A merle dog carries one copy of the gene. Mate two merles together and roughly one puppy in four gets two copies, which is called a double merle.

Two copies strip out far more pigment than one, and the same genes are involved in how the inner ear and the eye develop. Double merles are frequently deaf, blind or both, often with very small or malformed eyes. It is not a cosmetic problem and it is entirely avoidable.

So if your girl is merle, ask directly whether the stud is clear of merle. Not whether he looks merle. Whether he is clear.

Here is the part that catches people out. Merle only affects dark pigment. A red or apricot dog produces no dark pigment in its coat at all, so if it also carries merle, there is nothing for the merle to lighten and the pattern is completely invisible. The dog looks like an ordinary red dog and can still pass merle on. You cannot tell by looking, and that is the whole problem.

That does not mean avoiding red and apricot dogs. Most of them carry nothing at all. It means that if either dog is red, apricot or cream, and merle appears anywhere in the breed or the lines behind it, the merle gene should be DNA tested before the mating goes ahead.

And if a mating has already happened and the puppies are red or apricot with no merle markings showing, tell the new owners they may carry merle invisibly. Otherwise the problem does not go away, it just moves down a generation into somebody else's breeding.

Do you travel to me, or do I come to you?

Worth asking early because it changes everything about the day. I am mobile, and people often say it is the reason they booked, usually because their girl does not travel well. Others will want you to come to them.

Can we meet before she comes into season?

Some handlers offer this and it is a good way to see the dog's temperament for yourself with no pressure on anybody. I do not offer it, because I am mobile only, but plenty do. It is worth asking.

Do you offer a free repeat if she does not fall pregnant?

Most handlers do, and most attach conditions to it. Mine are fairly typical: she needs scanning at around 28 days, and I ask people to get in touch between week nine and week ten if she has missed.

Ask what the conditions are before you book rather than after, and ask whether the free repeat is one mating or the two you originally paid for. I offer one at her next season, which is common, and it is better to know that now than to find out later.

If they do not mate successfully, do I still pay?

Ask it. Handlers differ and it is awkward to raise on the day.

I do not charge if they do not successfully mate, and the handlers I know do not either. But some do, and you want that settled before you are standing in somebody's garden.

When should I get in touch to book?

Day one. As soon as you see the first signs of her season, usually bleeding, ring the handler and get in the diary.

What I typically do is pencil her in for around day nine, then ask the customer to get back in touch when they think she is ready, or when the clinic gives them the go ahead if they are progesterone testing. Ask whether the handler can take short notice, because the timing will move.

And to answer the one I get asked surprisingly often: no, you cannot book eighteen months ahead. Nobody knows when her next season is going to start, including her. Wait for the first signs, then ring, and hope the stud is free that week.

Can you guide me through the process?

I can, and I will. Most handlers who have been doing it a while will.

But I am not a qualified vet, and most stud handlers are not either. However experienced the handler is, have a local vet's number to hand before the day. Experience is not the same thing as veterinary cover, and the handler telling you so is a good sign rather than a bad one.

The short version

Ask what he is tested for and ask to see it. Ask what he is like. Ask when he last produced. If either dog is merle, or red, apricot or cream with merle anywhere in the lines, ask about the merle gene specifically. Ask what happens if she does not catch, and what happens if they do not mate. Then ring on day one of her season, not before.

A handler who answers all of that easily is one you can work with. One who gets vague about the certificates is telling you something too.