Our Puppy Process & Policies

Bringing Home a Nosam Puppy

Ready for your next hunting dog, performance prospect, or family companion?

Nosam Kennels raises purpose-bred German Shorthaired Pointer and Vizsla puppies in Central Kentucky, emphasizing health, temperament, structure, natural ability, and trainability.

We want families to understand exactly how our puppy process works before committing to a litter. From joining our waiting list to puppy matching and pickup day, we aim to keep the process clear, organized, and focused on finding the right puppy for each home.

What’s Included With Your Puppy

Every Nosam puppy goes home with:

• Health-tested and titled parents

• AKC Limited Registration

• Prepaid AKC registration

• Pre-registered AKC Reunite microchip

• Microchip transfer into your name

• Veterinary health examination

• Health certificate

• Age-appropriate vaccinations

• Routine deworming

• Fecal examination

• Complete puppy health records

• Access to our online puppy training, care, and feeding resources

• Lifetime breeder support

Our puppy price includes Kentucky sales tax, AKC registration, microchip transfer, and applicable registration fees. No additional charges apply at pickup.

Joining Our Puppy List

Once you are ready to move forward with a Nosam puppy, you will complete our Puppy Placement Application and submit a $600 non-refundable deposit.

We apply your deposit toward the total purchase price of your puppy.

Because we produce a limited number of carefully planned litters each year, deposits help us plan responsibly and know committed homes are waiting for our puppies.

Your deposit reserves your place with Nosam Kennels and, when applicable, your approved sex preference. It does not establish a puppy pick order.

We ask families to complete a detailed placement application so we can learn about your lifestyle, dog experience, household, hunting or performance goals, and what you are looking for in your future dog.

How Our Waiting List Works

We maintain a waiting list for families interested in our Vizsla and German Shorthaired Pointer puppies.

When you join our list, we will discuss your preferences and upcoming litter plans. Once we confirm an appropriate breeding, we contact families on our list about that litter.

If you are applying for a litter that has already been bred, born, or has availability, we may apply your deposit directly toward that litter.

Being first on our list does not mean receiving first pick of the litter.

Instead, we match puppies individually with families after we have had the opportunity to evaluate their temperament, drive, personality, structure, and potential.

How Puppy Matching Works

We do not use traditional first-pick, second-pick, or third-pick puppy selection.

Whether your deposit was the first or eighth received does not determine which puppy you receive.

During the first eight weeks, we observe and evaluate our puppies every day. We consider:

• Temperament and confidence

• Energy and activity level

• Natural hunting drive

• Independence and handler focus

• Trainability

• Structure and conformation

• Performance or show potential

• Individual personality

• Your household, experience, lifestyle, and goals

At approximately 8 weeks of age, we use everything we have learned about the puppies and our conversations with you to determine the best overall match.

Our priority is not giving someone the puppy they chose from a photograph at three weeks old. Our priority is sending each family home with the puppy most likely to succeed in their home.

We make every effort to honor sex and color preferences when possible, but the match's suitability will always come first.

Nosam Kennels reserves first choice from every litter when retaining a puppy for our breeding, hunting, performance, or show program.

Watch Your Puppy Grow

Waiting for your puppy should be part of the fun.

Once your litter arrives, families receive regular Watch Your Puppy Grow updates throughout the puppies' development.

Updates may include photos, videos, professional-quality photo sessions, developmental milestones, training progress, and information about what the puppies are learning at each stage.

This gives our families an inside look at how their puppy is being raised and helps them learn about the litter before puppy matching takes place.

Puppy Pickup

Puppies generally go home beginning the first scheduled pickup weekend after they reach 8 weeks of age.

We strongly encourage families to pick up their puppy in person, either by vehicle or by flying in and traveling home with their puppy. Nosam Kennels is located in Greensburg, Kentucky, approximately two hours from both Nashville, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky.

 

For families who cannot travel to us, delivery options may be available and can be discussed in advance.

AKC Registration & Microchip

Every Nosam puppy comes with prepaid AKC Limited Registration and a pre-registered AKC Reunite microchip.

We handle the registration and transfer process for you, so you won't have additional AKC registration or microchip transfer fees after your puppy goes home. Limited Registration still allows your dog to participate in many AKC events, including hunt tests, obedience, rally, agility, Fast CAT, and other eligible performance activities. However, offspring produced from a dog on Limited Registration are not eligible for AKC registration.

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Puppies intended for conformation, breeding, or preservation-focused homes are placed separately under an approved show/breeding agreement and co-ownership with Nosam Kennels. Full Registration is not automatically included simply because a buyer would like to breed their dog in the future. We require the dog to earn a title and pass all required health clearances. Full registration allows for breeding and AKC registration of future litters.

 

We are happy to work with new and aspiring breeders who are willing to put in the work. You do not need to already be an established breeder to be considered for a show or breeding prospect. We are willing to mentor committed owners through the process of proving their dog through appropriate health testing, conformation and/or performance titles, and other requirements outlined in our agreement. Our goal is not to gatekeep responsible breeding; it is to make sure dogs carrying the Nosam name into the next generation have been properly evaluated and proven before they are bred.

Will My Puppy Be Crate or House Trained?

We begin building the foundation for both before puppies leave us.

We introduce our puppies to crates during early development and teach them to use a dog door to start building good bathroom habits.

However, an 8-week-old puppy is not fully crate-trained or house-trained.

Changing homes means learning a completely new environment, schedule, doors, crate, people, and routine. Your puppy will need continued consistency and reinforcement after you bring them home.

Our goal is to give you a strong foundation so you aren't starting from zero.

Health Guarantee

A licensed veterinarian examines every Nosam puppy before leaving our care.

Your puppy will go home with age-appropriate vaccinations, routine deworming, a fecal examination, health records, and a veterinary health certificate. Our breeding dogs complete breed-appropriate health testing before we use them in our program.

Health testing helps us make informed breeding decisions and reduce the risk of hereditary disease, but no breeder can guarantee that a living animal will never develop a health condition. It simply means your breeder has done all they can to prevent it and is willing to stand behind the dogs they produce. 

Nosam Kennels provides a 2-year health guarantee against certain hereditary and congenital conditions, subject to the terms, requirements, and exclusions outlined in our Puppy Contract. The Nosam Kennels Puppy Contract outlines what is covered, buyer responsibilities, exclusions, and available remedies.

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What Sets Nosam Apart From Other Breeders?

As an AKC Breeder of Merit and Breeder of H.E.A.R.T., Nosam Kennels is committed to producing German Shorthaired Pointers and Vizslas that are more than beautiful dogs with impressive pedigrees.

We breed with purpose, prioritizing health, sound structure, stable temperament, natural hunting ability, trainability, and versatility with every pairing. Our breeding dogs are health tested and proven through recognized titles and evaluations, including AKC Hunt Tests, NAVHDA, conformation, and other performance events. We believe there is a difference between saying a dog can hunt, work, or meet the breed standard and putting in the time to objectively prove those qualities.

We raise our puppies with the same intention. From their earliest weeks, we focus on building confident, adaptable puppies and evaluating each one as an individual so we can thoughtfully match them with the families and hunters where they are most likely to thrive. At Nosam, our goal isn't simply to produce the next litter. It's to preserve what makes these breeds exceptional and make thoughtful improvements with every generation.

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Ready to Apply?

If you have reviewed our puppy process and believe a Nosam German Shorthaired Pointer or Vizsla may be the right fit for your family, the next step is completing our Puppy Placement Application.

The application helps us learn about your household, experience, lifestyle, and goals so we can determine whether our program and eventually one of our puppies is a good match.

After completing the application, you will be directed to the appropriate deposit and contract information.

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