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Victoria,

I give you huge props for most of your post; however, I'm uncomfortable with
a couple of things you bring up in your #2:

"2. Find a good breeder.? Make sure their dogs are AKC registered, and that
the puppies are also eligible."

This is important only because a good breeder will be active in the breed.
It's not good enough for the parents to be AKC registered; the breeder must
be active in the breed to know what is "out there" to breed to. The
breeder's aim must be to put the best pups on the ground possible. (There
are way too many people who have a purebred bitch who breed to any random
dog of the same breed just to be able to sell registerable pups for money.
They have no interest in a breeding program that seeks to improve the
breed.) Thus, I'm not comfortable with what you say next:

"Both parents should be on the premises, or at least available for you to
veiw in person.?Some breeders contract out to a stud, so if he iatn't
around, that's fine, but definitely pay him a visit."

The breeder should be looking for the best match for the bitch. That best
match might be in the next city or several states away. If the bitch and the
stud dog are both on the premises, I advise asking a lot of questions before
acquiring a dog from this person. On the surface, that kind of situation
doesn't look like a carefully thought out breeding program to me (i.e. a
"backyard breeder" -- watch out for health and temperament issues), although
it might be.

The important thing is to find out what the breeder is trying to accomplish
with their breeding program. If they seem puzzled by your questions, warning
flags should go up. (They should be trying to accomplish something other
than simply making a few bucks or doing it because they like having puppies
around.) 

In any case, a person looking to acquire a purebred should be able to look
at some dogs the breeder bred to get an idea of whether the dogs the breeder
puts on the ground are suitable for what they want. And, heck, even within a
litter of purebreds, there is often so much variability that some of the
pups might not outwardly look or act like either parent. They might be a
"throw back" to a previous generation. That's why it's important for the
breeder to be active in the breed, so they know what's "back there".

And to make this endurance related, I think you could pretty much substitute
horse gender words for the above and have it still be true. :-))))

Again, props for the rest of your post!

(A word about rescue dogs: the majority are wonderful examples of their
breed and the rescue dogs are usually very grateful. Go to any shelter or
rescue website and you will see how many Jack Russels -- and Labs and
Goldens -- need homes. Please consider one!)

Deanna




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