I don't want a fancy show puppy. I just want a good pet.

The most important job that any dog has is to be a good pet!

There are several qualities that a dog needs to have to be a good pet. It should be healthy and well-socialized (to children, other people, and other animals). In addition, it should grow up to look and act like what you would expect of a dog of that breed- after all, you chose a breed based on the characteristics that it should have. A Golden Retriever puppy should grow up to be a 70-pound easily trainable retrieving maniac that loves everyone and can play all day.  It should not grow up to be a 120-pound dog that fights with other dogs, hates kids, cannot be housebroken, and refuses to retrieve.

If someone simply breeds two unevaluated Goldens together, the offspring may not look or act like a true Golden should. If these offspring are bred to other unevaluated dogs, pretty soon you will have dogs that are Goldens in name only but that look and act nothing like a well-bred Golden Retriever.

In addition, anyone who buys a dog as a family pet want to ensure that the dog is healthy. Responsible breeders will ensure this by doing the proper genetic testing to ensure that the parents of their puppies are healthy. Less reputable breeders are unlikely to know that such tests exist, let alone do them.

Your best chances of getting a healthy puppy are to buy one from someone whose motivation for breeding is to produce the finest possible dogs. That means someone who breeds only dogs that are themselves good pets and good representatives of what their breed should be. It also means someone who tests their parent dogs to make sure that they are free from any genetic defects before they are bred. It means someone who knows the background of their dogs well enough to know what they should produce.

In most cases, the people who are truly responsible breeders do show their dogs, in order to determine that they do indeed resemble the breed that they are supposed to be. Show and performance events are how responsible breeders make sure that their dogs both look and act how their breeds are supposed to look and act. And they keep their dogs as house pets, so they know that their offspring will be good pets as well.

Every litter of "show puppies" has some dogs that will never be the show ring. They may be Shelties that are a half inch too big, Pugs without enough curl in the tail, or Dalmatians with spots that aren't far enough apart. These pups have been raised with as much planning, medical attention and socialization as their show-quality littermates. They make the best possible pets.