Quiltingboard Forums - Boston Terriers

Please be careful about the breeder that you choose. Yes, you can find them cheaper with some breeders more than others, but there is usually a reason. Ethical and responsible breeders do at least the minimum health screen of the parents, their parents, siblings of the parents - etc and should have a very good knowledge of the health of the puppies they've produced. Don't let a breeder tell you "I don't have that problem in my line" without being able to back it up with documentation.

Ethical and responsible breeders choose the sire and the dam carefully for sound reasons - not just because the neighbor down the street has a boy and the breeder has a girl and they make a date.

Ethical and responsible breeders are willing and capable of assisting puppy buyers through every step of dog ownership throughout the dogs life, and will typically have a contract that states that they get first right of refusal if you should ever want to give the dog up - they feel responsible for bringing the dog into the world and KEEPING it there.

I can go on and on ...

But all of these things cost the breeder money, and yes, part of the costs are passed down to the owner.

BUT consider that the chances that a breeder who doesn't have the knowledge or dedication probably got her dam from a pet shop, which means a puppy mill, which are rampant with health issues that could be both costly to you and may seriously affect the quality of life and/or life span of the dog.

Some of the health issues that commonly affect Boston Terriers are: Juvenile Cataracts, late onset Cataracts, Deafness, Patellar Luxation (the knee cap 'slips'), Vertebral issues (can cause crippling), and Demodectic mange (a genetic mange that cannot be "cured" - it is an autoimmune disease). Hip displaysia can also be found in the Boston (12.4% incidence rate but this is only with 169 dogs tested so my suspicion is that the incidence rate is actually higher especially since the Boston and the Bulldog share a common ancestry and the incidence rate in the Bulldog is ASTRONOMICAL (the highest of ALL breeds at 72.6% affected!!) so NO hip displaysia is NOT a disease only of "large dogs" - many of the smaller breeds have a much higher incidence of HD than a lot of the larger breeds (the Pug is ranked the 2nd highest, the French Bulldog 17th highest - all share a common ancestry with the Boston - getting the picture?))

There is a data base that anyone can use to look up breed statistics, and look up test results for hips, patella's, eye problems and deafness (as well as a host of other diseases) for individual dogs at http://offa.org/index.html. If you want assistance using this data base -let me know. It's a breeders first "tool" in pedigree research.

Check out all of the information on health etc and there is a breeder list. Don't discount a breeder that is far away as most reputable breeders are pro's at shipping, and you can always fly out to wherever and bring the puppy home with you in the cabin of the airplane (check with the individual airline, there is usually a nominal fee and you have to reserve the space as they only allow X number of dogs in the cabin at a time).

Lots and lots of information here at the Parent Club site.

http://www.bostonterrierclubofamerica.org/index.htm

Best of lucking finding a happy healthy new family member! If I can be of any assistance, let me know.

Sue