When deciding on a whether to have a dog, the main question you should honestly ask yourself: are you ready to take on responsibility for a living being???

If the answer is yes, then we will gladly share our experience with you.

So you have decided to become a happy owner of a black terrier. Where to begin? Of course with choosing a puppy! First ask yourself which gender you want your dog to be. If you are not sure about your strength and have not had dogs before, get a female, since they are much gentler, more yielding and softer than males, however males are more impressive, due to size, manliness and mass. Another equally important question is your goal: whether your future dog will be a guard, an exhibit or a breeder, a family favorite or all of the above? It is a complicated question, but a necessary one indeed.

If you want a family friend and a protector, then it is unlikely that you will be phased by some appearance defect, since it will have no influence over the love and allegiance the dog will have for you, plus such a puppy will cost much less. If, however, you need a future Champion and prize ring star, then it will be much harder for you to choose, and in this case you might want to consult with experienced breeders who know the breed well. Maybe it is a great sportsman that you’re interested in, then the first thing you should look at is the puppy’s personal attitude and character as well as the working capabilities of his predecessors.

The next question is raised right after the first one: where to get a puppy? There are lots of nurseries and clubs and the dogs there differ externally (typically) and in their character. Also each one of them carries Champions of a very high level but there are also simpler pets. If you have decided to choose your pet seriously, I think you should pay attention to the dog’s attitude, their health, availability of dysplasia test results and, of course, results of participation in the largest exhibitions and steadiness of such results. It is best to visit one or few large exhibitions and converse with owners, see the dogs and everything else with your own eyes.
 

It seems to me that having gathered the required information on dogs and nurseries you’ll be able to make your choice.

So the choice is made and the puppies are born!



The puppies are put on record, meaning their receive documents on their origin and are ready for getting a new home at the age of 45 days. Most puppies at that age already have owners, therefore if you want to pick a puppy from a brood, I recommend that you make an advance payment for the puppy (a small sum of money serving as a guarantee that you take the matter of purchase seriously) as soon as the kids are born. Unfortunately until a puppy is made an advance payment for, the owner has the right to offer it to other willing persons, and you might end up not getting your Blackie fuzzy blob of joy!
 

At the age of 45 days the puppy must weigh from 5 kilos and up. The puppy must not be afraid of hands, must be active and communicable.Don’t pick a puppy that is openly cowardly, don’t mix that up with awareness. If a puppy is brought into a new room or outdoors for the first time, it is entitled to act wary! Therefore it is more suitable to check the puppy out in the place where it’d been held prior to that age. The puppy needs to be confident there! A puppy that squeals and runs away from your hands and hides in the corner of the constrain is unlikely to grow up to be a reliable guard! Look at how the puppy treats his siblings and reacts to unknown sounds. In case there are puppies with psychic disorders, you will be able to spot them.



Pay attention to the puppy’s appearance: it must be black (don’t get too concerned if it has a couple of white hairs on the chest, such hairs usually disappear with age), white fingers, chin or a spot on the chest are unlikely to go away on their own! A puppy could “overbloom”, meaning his fur gets a grey, or a brownish-grey line followed by black hair again; don’t be concerned, since the puppy will overbloom and turn black again! All puppies differ in their hair, the most shaggy ones with thick undercoat will in the future have hair that will be softer and harder to take care of. The puppy must be of normal condition, meaning not fat and not thin! His legs must be even, both when observed from the front and from the back and from the side too, meaning the metacarpus and the metatarsus. The front feet must have 5 fingers, the hind feet must have 4 toes (sometimes breeders cut off the fifth finger on the front feet to and it is common practice). The eyes must produce no excreta, must be dark, the mucosa must be pink. Be sure to check the occlusion which must be scissor-like. If the puppy is male, check for presence of two testicles. It is also recommended that you check if the puppy has an umbilical hernia.
 

Naturally, if it is your first time getting a puppy, it is best to leave the choice to the breeder or the nursery owner that will most likely tell you all about the puppies and will recommend that option that is best for you. Ask the breeder about what the puppy ate, whether it had undergone vaccination and when deworming took place. Don’t hesitate to ask for some puppy feed that would last the following 2-3 days, it’ll help you switch the puppy over to the kind of feed more comfortable for you to provide.
 

Attempting to summarize; the puppy must:

- not be cowadly
- be healthy
- not have spots and marks in hair color
- have dark eyes
- have even extremities
- havecorrect occlusion
- the male puppy must have two testicles
- not have a hernia (or the breeder must warn you about it)
- have an ear mark or a microchip

have the following documents:

- puppy ID - puppy card(which is later on switched for Pedigree)
- veterinary ID (if the puppy had undergone vaccination)
- identification certificate (if the puppy has a microchip)

Those are naturally the general rules. In order to pick a Star of the prize ring, you will have to think over many mating options, take a look at many breeders and have a hard time picking a puppy from the brood, but I think the breeder will help you with that the best.

The main truth about picking a Champion: you aren’t born one, you become one! And if it’s the issue of choice between appearance and attitude, I would prefer better attitude, since that will manifest everyday and exhibitions take place much less frequently.