Well, visit over and I am still alive and dogs have not been kidnapped!!!! Feel stupid now but there you are. I was less than impressed actually. the lady concerned's sister was all over my dogs, picking them up (much to their bewilderment as they usually have to ask permission to be "nursed") and they arent the smallest of dogs.!! She was very hands on, which was good, but her sister, who wants a dog, didnt actually touch them at all. She said how lovely they were but was a bit "stiff". On the way out she said that she had been working on her husband for the last three years to get a dog. Alarm bells there. I do realise that some partners do need persuading to get pets, but I am not sure a puppy would be the best idea in this case. Maybe an older, rescue dog of the same breed!! I can just hear him screaming "I didnt want a b........ dog" after having to clear up poop etc after a puppy for the umpteenth time. Interesting that. Maybe not a suitable mummy for one of my fluffs.

>the one that's bouncing all over you isn't necessarily choosing you, but does that to everyone!

There is the other scenario that the puppy running up to you had just woken up, whereas the one at the back is the one that has been running around for the last half an hour and is now tired ;-)

This is where you try to help the potential owners by telling them which of the puppies is most suited to their temperament. A good breeder can put the right pup to the right owner, but it is still up to the owner to choose the puppy, so long as you don't think that it is very definately the wrong pup for them.

Oh, and also, I sold a puppy to a family some years ago where the wife was buying said pup for her husband as a surprise (yes, I know ;-) ) anyway, the husband had had a dog of my breed before but his first wife had made him get rid of it. They were over the moon to get one of mne. About 6 months later I got a phone call saying that they wanted rid of the pup as it was jumping up on everyone and peeing everywhere. She returned home with me and there was no real reason but we believe that they had removed the waterbowl so that she didn't pee so often. I won 't make the same mistake again. Go with your gut feelng, it's usually right.

> I think that's the attitude of somebody with a breed that are 13 to the dozen. You could be dogless for a decade if you did that with something rarer.

Interesting! :)
So, does that mean the 'right' people who really want a certain breed - not a common one - might be more prepared to deal with the fallout if they end up with a difficult one? Are breeders of breeds like that, more willing to sell to someone who has already anticipated how to deal with any future issues? Or does the opposite apply - the breeder is happier to be stuck with 4 unsold pups and keep them, rather than sell to someone who might be an unwise choice?

I am just mulling this over - Would an owner who has trained their first dog from the start, but run into issues, and then gone to a trainer/behaviourist to sort the dog out (but maybe didn't succeed) be a better or worse potential owner for a second dog (from you) if they then approached you for a pup, than people who had no experience of the breed at all?

> but her sister, who wants a dog, didnt actually touch them at all

Warning bells!  :-(

> Maybe not a suitable mummy for one of my fluffs

Totally agree.  And that is your prerogative.  (Have to say that as it's an expression that my vet uses when I say I've turned someone down!)

On the subject of choosing pups, with our litter last year, all our puppy people gave us their preferences in order of 1 - 3 at 7 weeks. My husband and I sat down beforehand and put "our" choice for each family down next to their name. It was made clear that they would get one of their choices. Guess what, after explaining how the personality of each pup we had chosen for them we felt was the best "fit" for them, without exception, they all went home with the pup we had earmarked for them. All new owners were so happy with their puppies, and all felt they had a choice although we definitely "steered" them in the right direction.

A year on, I am so pleased that all the puppies were matched with the right families. I feel we handled a difficult situation in a really good way and would't hesitate to do the same again.

At the end of the day it's the breeder who has spent so much time with the puppies and knows them individually. It was so important to me, especially as I have a fairly large energetic breed, that those families with children didn't get a pushy bouncy puppy which could have been a disaster! All those families with children have been overjoyed with their dogs, it could have been so different!!