How to buy pure breed dogs in Nigeria

By Kodichukwu Okonkwo, DVM | March 28th, 2015




Whether you like it or not different people prefer different breeds of dog likewise different people are suited to different kind of dog breed. I have seen individuals that own dogs because their friends own the same but are not satisfied. Some just own dogs intending a security attribute from the dog only to get the opposite. What I’m trying to emphasize here is the need to get a breed of dog that satisfy your specific need. It is easier in other Countries like the USA and UK but fairly difficult to obtain in Nigeria. In these other countries there are established breeders of specific dog breeds with the pedigree of each dog properly outlined whereas the breeders in Nigeria are few and most keep multiple breeds at the same time.

Common Practice

Most Nigerians just stop along the road at the sight of a beautiful looking puppy carried by a local vendor and just purchase these puppy without any records at all. They may not even know if the dog is sick. The next thing is to get a vet to check the dog only to be exposed to their ignorance. I have seen a lot of this as a veterinary doctor.

Prevailing Dog Vendors

Unfortunately, there are few serious dog breeders in Nigeria, what we have are dog lovers who happen to get puppies from their bitch and wish to sell the puppies. You see these people advertising online and on the streets with signs. In most cases the breed they tell you end up being false or “incomplete” but in others you will get a nice one.

There are false assumptions that dogs brought from Jos Plateau State of Nigeria is pure breed but it might surprise you to know that in-as-much-as there are many serious dog breeders in Jos, there are also fake or unserious breeders too. Jos has been the dog breeders’ capital of Nigeria so you get many good breeds there but you will need to know the breeders with track records.

 How to start your quest

If you really want to buy a pure breed dog of whatever breed in Nigeria you have to do some homework on your own part. Go online and check photos and description of the breed you desire – click here to see a list of dog breeds. Read thoroughly the description and body conformation of the breed, view photos of the adult and puppy of the breed before you set out to buy.

Consult a veterinary doctor, the reason is that most vets have image to protect so they will advise you sincerely on how to get these dogs and who to get it from sometimes they will help you get the right puppy or dog you desire.

Use online sources to get the right breed. The free ad sites can help you but look out for original images. When you browse some of these websites especially Nigerian sites, you will see adverts with duplicate images or photos with different name of vendors, please avoid these duplicated image adverts.

Our own site's Puppy Market here at fairvet.com/dogsale you will see many adverts from different persons many of whom we do not know their integrity but you can talk to us to tell you those that are for real because some of them are actually our clients and source so we will give you the ones we know to be trust worthy.

Talk to people that own dogs to tell you more about these dogs and where to get them but the most preferred people to talk to are well established vets. I mean vets that own offices you can walk into anytime. Tell them you will return the dog if you find out it’s not the breed you asked for - that is if they source dogs.

It is important to visit the kennel from which the dog is sourced to see the parents of this puppy and compare with the photo you saw from the internet. Do this or request the pictures if the parents are out of reach.

I guess this article is getting too long so for more tips comment below to get more.

5 Comments
  1. chinedu michael July 24th, 2015
  2. Gbenga Seun August 18th, 2015
  3. Oluseye March 27th, 2016
    • doggysam December 12th, 2016
      • MARK August 30th, 2017

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Kodichukwu Okonkwo, DVM

Founder of Fairvet Animal Clinic Ltd since 2011, studied at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. He is well experienced in small animal, large animal & poultry medicine, and also skilled at zoo medicine. He loves animals and builds both professional and personal relationship with pet owners in order to sustain a good interaction with pet and animal owners, coupled with His great skills in programming; he brought about www.fairvet.com which he personally built from scratch.



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