Breeding practices & purchase contract

At Curby's Corgis, we absolutely love the breed, and will do everything that we believe in and can to protect and promote it, improve it, and continue to evolve with it. Evolution is an important thing. No matter how great any breed may be, there is always something that you can do to improve it. When a breed fails to evolve with society, the purpose of its existence can be defeated. 

When looking for the right breeder for you, it is important to get all the necessary information up front. Everyone has different breeding practices and values that they follow. It is important that you find a breeder who has the same or similar breeding values that you do. We are not here to convince you that we are the only ones who are doing everything right. You may review our practices, disagree, and then decide that we are not the breeder for you, and that is okay! We encourage you and support you in finding the right fit. We are very transparent and open with our whole process for that exact reason. 

Our role as a breeder is taken very seriously. We believe that it is our job and responsibility to produce the best puppies that we possibly can, educate their new families, and be a lifetime resource to support them at all times. We are always happy to be a resource to new clients, or even just friends, who have had bad experiences with irresponsible breeders in the past. Many irresponsible and/or uneducated breeders seem to disappear after selling their puppies that they have produced. These puppies often face health issues and the owners are left in the dark with many questions. Whether we remain close friends, or you chose to become a part of our family by bringing one of our puppies home, we are here as a resource to all of you! 

Successful and responsible breeding is a science and skill. It requires technology, experience, investment, and other characteristic qualities that cannot be bought, or even sometimes taught. We believe that the most important qualities to achieve breeder success are ongoing education and passion for the breed. Passion is not something that can be learned. You either are born with it, or you are not. We have found that passion will take you farther than anything else.  

In our Breeding Program, looks and money will NEVER come before the health, safety, and general wellbeing of our dogs. Our dogs are health tested & routinely examined by our vet. They are up to date on all of their vaccinations and receive all treatment or tests as recommended by our vets. Our puppies come with a puppy purchase contract to guarantee their lifelong health and happiness. This is to also ensure that we meet your expectations. 

To review what is included in our puppy purchase contract, please see below.  

To review what factors we consider before making the decision to breed, please see below. 

We require a spay/neuter agreement will all of our puppies that are purchased as pet home only. We very rarely will offer full breeding rights, and only are willing to consider responsible breeders. This agreement is legally binding and ensures that our dogs are not being irresponsibly bred. We believe it is our responsibility to require this in our contracts to continue to do our part, and prevent more irresponsibly bred dogs from ending up in shelters or rescues. 

We require a return agreement with ALL of our puppies. This agreement is legally binding and ensures that our dogs are returned to us if the buyer is no longer able to keep or care for the dog purchased. It is then our responsibility to either rehome or keep and care for the dog ourselves. We believe it is our responsibility to require this in our contracts to continue to do our part and make sure that our dogs NEVER end up in shelters or rescues. 

We require a vaccination and health agreement with ALL of our puppies. This agreement is legally binding and ensures that all of our puppies are receiving the proper care that they deserve and will need throughout their lifetime. We believe it is our responsibility to require this in our contracts to keep the health of our dogs as a top priority and require that they are always up to date on vaccinations and routine health exams. 

We offer a breeder agreement that goes home with ALL of our puppies. This agreement is legally binding and ensures that our buyers are bringing home the happy, healthy, puppies that they were promised. We believe it is our responsibility to offer this to our clients so that we can be held accountable, if we are not meeting expectations. 

We require a pricing agreement that has to be signed by ALL of our clients. This agreement is legally binding and ensures that the buyer is aware of the total purchase price for their puppy before placing any non refundable deposits. 

Our dogs are DNA tested through Embark. Embark DNA tests for over 180 different genetic health conditions & traits including the most prevalent ones in corgis (DM, VWD, EIC, etc.). Our dogs are routinely examined by our vet every 6 months. Vet clearance is important before the decision to breed a dog is made.  

Assessing temperament in dogs is very important before deciding to breed them. The temperament of a dog can influence the dog to behave in a certain way or to react to different situations. A dogs temperament is important to be aware of so that undesirable characteristics such as aggression can be taken into account.

Knowing the structure of the dogs that you are breeding may help to lower the incidence of inherited diseases. Many breeders believe it is essential to perform more procedures such as OFA tests, to evaluate hip and elbow radiographs in dogs, however we do not. If the dog being tested is even slightly positioned incorrectly, the results from the procedures can come back incorrectly. The procedure also never guarantees that the offspring from the dog will even be exempt from such disorders you are testing for. 

We require that our females are at least 2 years of age before breeding. This is the age that dogs typically reach sexual maturity. We also do not breed our females past the age of 5 years, though our girls are typically retired at the very young and healthy age of 4. 

Life expectancy accompanies age and health. We prefer to retire our females at a very young and healthy age so that they can live the remainder of their lives healthy, happy, and care free. 

We take into account the date and size of our females last litter before making the decision to breed to ensure that our females are allowed a proper recovery period. Larger litters can be harder on our females, though some females may bounce back super quick. We always want to ensure that our females get a healthy and well deserved break between their litters. 

Becoming a mother is not only life changing and challenging for humans, but for dogs as well. Not everyone is cut out to be a parent. If one of our females' has a litter and does not take on the role of a mother well, she will not be bred again.