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 with an emphasis on 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, our goal is to make 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. There are no additional charges for these items 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.

Your deposit is applied toward the total purchase price of your puppy.

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

Your deposit reserves your place with Nosam Kennels and your approved sex preference when applicable. 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. When an appropriate breeding is confirmed, families on our list are contacted regarding that litter.

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

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

Instead, puppies are individually matched with their 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.

Throughout the first eight weeks, we spend every day observing and evaluating our puppies. 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 suitability of the match 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 while also helping 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 so there is no additional registration or microchip transfer fee for you.

Limited registration allows your dog to participate in many AKC performance events, including hunt tests, obedience, rally, agility, Fast CAT, and other eligible activities, but offspring produced from the dog cannot be AKC registered.

Puppies intended for breeding or conformation are placed separately under an approved show/breeding agreement and co-ownership with Nosam Kennels.

Full registration is never automatically included simply because a buyer intends to breed.

Will My Puppy Be Crate or House Trained?

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

Our puppies are introduced to crates during early development and learn to use a dog door to begin developing 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 going home.

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

Health Guarantee

Every Nosam puppy is examined by a licensed veterinarian 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 being used 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.

Specific terms and requirements of our health guarantee are outlined in the Nosam Kennels Puppy Contract.

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.

​