My puppies will be 7 weeks old on tuesday and i am dreading them leaving for thier new homes next week :( All the homes i have found seem perfect so i am sure they will be well looked after but i dont know how i am going to cope without them all here. I am keeping one which might ease it a little and one of them has to stay until it is 10 weeks before the new owner can collect as they are going on holiday so i will at least have another one for an extra 2 weeks but it is still really upsetting. I cant stop looking at them all the time and it breaks my heart knowing they can't stay here forever :( I think thier mum is going to miss them all also as she just loves them. She is still feeding them and washing them and now playing with them all the time and hates to be away from them for too long. My other dogs love the puppies to pieces also and even the cat likes to go in beside them when they are asleep for a cuddle. The house is going to seem so empty without them all here, they are such individuals with thier own characters and personalities its so hard thinking that i might never see some of them again :( just wondered how everyone else copes with this as i feel like im going to be so depressed when they go.

Can you remember when your older dog was a pup and pulled clean washing off the line and dragged it around the garden; peed on the carpet in the middle of a programme you were trying to watch, chewed the things you didn't want her to chew, nipped the new shoots off all your plants, re-landscaped the garden?  Can you remember your adolescent dog defying you? running off, causing you a panic attack, going through the bins, running off with socks and swallowing goodness knows what ending up at the vets yet again?  Can you ever remember thinking, even just fleetingly, I think I've made a mistake having this dog?

If you haven't, what breed have you got? :-D (only joking, don't tell)

What are you talking about when they were puppies they still all do those things! hehe :D Well maybe not quite that bad but they like to keep us busy!

The house does seem quiet and you do miss them, but if you are happy with all their new owners to be then you have to think they have gone on to make others happy too, not to mention soon enough you get e-mails, photo's, phone calls, especially if you tell the new owners that you look forward to an update you'll get them and suddenly it does not feel too bad. :-)

Yes i have told all the new owners already that i would love updates on how they are getting on and to email photos if they can and they all seem to be happy to do that. I know i will be seeing one of them often enough as it is going to stay with my friends who own the father of the pups so im sure he will be visiting often. It was so sweet when they came to choose which pup they were having as the father came also and he was playing with the puppy so carefully i could just tell they were going to be great friends. He will be staying in the village so i will probably see him out on walks with his daddy often. The other boy and 2 of the girls are going to homes in the nearest city so wont be too far for visits and the other girl is going to a place 3 hours drive away but they were the ones suggesting we could visit any time and that they would happily come visit with the puppy in the future, they used to breed though so i think they must know how it feels.
  I found it really strange when people came to pick thier pup the pup we thought would be best for them seemed to actually pick them. Also the amount of people that applied for one has totally amazed me, most of them were totally unsuitable though, the people who have been chosen to have one kinda stood out from the rest from thier first email or phone call as good dog loving people and the more we learned about them the more we liked them so i am sure they and the puppy will be happy with each other. I have had a few nasty emails from one person who passed to the point of viewing the puppies before i decided she wasnt quite right for one which has made me question my judgement a little as she seemed like a such a nice person before i got the emails.
I still think i will be tempted to pop all the puppies in the car and disapear with them for a few hours when people are supposed to be picking them up though :)

Its hard (my 1st one went from the litter yesterday) but certainly in my breed they suddenly arrive at a point where they NEED to go to their new home for the one to one that i simply cant give a whole litter.....they need individual stimulation, attention, love etc and my current litter hit that point about 3 days ago....so even though I sob as they go down the farm drive....I know they need to go for their own sakes. I had a lovely photo late last night of Crofter sat opn his new bed in his new home, with his own toys.......it was so so sweet and worth every bit of heartache to see that photo.

As you know I write for the dog press and one thing I often hear when people write to the paper is that they are disappointed if they send pictures and letters etc and the breeder does not always reply. So don't leave it up to the puppy buyers to get in touch and if you do not hear from owners for quite a while, take the time and opportunity to contact them. I know some breeders organise "puppy parties" where owners and the breeder can all get together somewhere with their dogs and have a 'birthday party' for example for the puppies.

I have had one reader contact me recently because the puppy has some health problems and the breeder does not want to know! They told me they have always sent pictures and letters but the breeder has not replied and now the dog at 13 months of age has developed a health problem and they were hoping for support from the breeder. The breeder in reply has sent a solicitors letter saying she does not want to be contacted by the puppy owner, unless the puppy owner returns the puppy, in which case she will refund part of the purchase price.

I think it is important for breeders to keep in touch with puppy buyers as much as it is important for puppy buyers to keep in touch and let the breeder know they are happy and the dog is doing well. Even Dogs4Us receive letters from happy puppy buyers, so as a breeder are you any better if you do not respond or make the effort to keep in touch in the first place?

Once your puppies go the house will feel empty for a while but you should be looking forward to a very positive relationship developing between you and the puppy buyers. Most puppy buyers who get good support and regular contact from the breeder of their dog, will in fact find the puppy buyers will return in time for another puppy, because they feel confident that the breeder of their pup is truly interested and concerned for the welfare of their dogs.

Oh i really like that idea of having a puppy birthday party! I am definatly going to try and arrange that if the new owners seem interested :)
I think with my puppies being small and there only being six i am managing fine with giving them all some individual attention at the moment but yes i can see how it gets to a point where they have to go for thier own good as upsetting as it is. I have done a website for the puppies and was planning on asking the new owners to keep sending photos in and updates on how they are getting on and stuff. I would definatly reply to any messages they sent me and although im not a proffesional breeder i know enough to be able to give basic advice to them if they get stuck and even if i dont know the answer to something i would find out the same as i would do for any of my own dogs and offer all the support i could. I wouldnt dream of turning them away if they asked me for advice. I just hope i dont get on thier nerves calling them up all the time :)

So don't leave it up to the puppy buyers to get in touch and if you do not hear from owners for quite a while, take the time and opportunity to contact them.

I have to disagree here. (Assuming we are talking about contact AFTER the first few days/couple of weeks when I want to hear from everyone of course to ensure the puppy has settled in.) Some people object to being contacted, and you notice it quite clearly. I find it's much better for the buyers to contact YOU and then respond straight away. THAT is important, of course, replying quickly. But I only ever contact my buyers at Christmas. I even had one puppy buyer once saying she felt she couldn't live up to my expectations, so now I leave people to it and if I hear nothing, assume no news are good news.

I have also once been on the other end of an overzealous breeder, who would ring more or less every week and expect detailed reports and complained at not getting more frequent photos. It got very annoying after a while as it was just TOO much and all was fine so little to report on. I like for my buyers to guide me so to speak. Some keep in touch every week, some once a month (I have some that send me one e-mail a month with all the news for the previous month), others less frequently, some just respond after my Christmas contact when I send letters to everyone -and then here are the sad one or two that you never hear from no matter what. You can't force people to keep in touch, it isn't for everyone. We're all different. :)

Hmm yes i can see your point there. I hope none of these people dont want to keep in touch :( I wouldnt like to get on thier nerves at all so i guess maybe its best to only call or even email when they havnt contacted me for a while. One of the new homes called up today for an update on how the puppy was doing and to tell us she had come up with a name for her,she also said she might be popping over for another visit before her pup is ready to come home with her :) so hopefully she is the keep in touch kind of person.

just had a look at your webpage there, the pups are absolutley gorgeous!!! makes me all broody for a pup again!

> certainly in my breed they suddenly arrive at a point where they NEED to go to their new home for the one to one that i simply cant give a whole litter.....

This is what I find, and you know they need their own family with just them to concentrate on.

> i really like that idea of having a puppy birthday party

We had a family walk last year Mum ,Dad and three of the pups.

I drop an email and photos to the dogs breeders, I get a quick nots back. But its more high days and holiday's really. I did contact both in the early days with a few questions like what food should I change to, here's an update photo, I think its only polite as they wanted to know how "the boys" are doing. But I would not expect the breeder to cough up vet fees after a few months. I would also never return a pup once its mine its mines for its life.

>I have to disagree here. (Assuming we are talking about contact AFTER the first few days/couple of weeks when I want to hear from everyone of course to ensure the puppy has settled in.) Some people object to being contacted, and you notice it quite clearly. I find it's much better for the buyers to contact YOU and then respond straight away. THAT is important, of course, replying quickly. But I only ever contact my buyers at Christmas. I even had one puppy buyer once saying she felt she couldn't live up to my expectations, so now I leave people to it and if I hear nothing, assume no news are good news.<

I think you may have misunderstood here. I was not meaning weekly or monthly contact but some contact if only on the puppies birthday or Christmas. An over zealous breeder would drive me nuts too, but I do know what I am doing. On the other hand pet owners might like to know that the breeder of their dog is still interested long after the "Ahhh" factor has gone and the dog is older.

Many years ago I bred a litter and one lot of owners would send pictures from time to time, and I always replied. Then suddenly they stopped, I didn't think much about it at the time, but when the pups first birthday came and went I wondered what was happening so a few months later I called on them as I was in the neighbourhood. They were pleased to see me and it turned out that they had gone to a training club, and the trainer there had asked them about what feeding instructions I had given them. He apparently looked at the care pack I had supplied and ridiculed in front of the class and ended up by ripping it up. They were told by this trainer that the puppy at that time 4 months of age, did not need the meals as laid out in my care pack, It needed to have one meal a day of a pound of minced offal and a handful of Winalot biscuit and it needed to be exercised properly which he said was to be taken at least 3 or 4 miles a day twice a day! Of course the puppy was wrecked, it had not grown on properly at all and the owners had believed this "trainer". Once they realised things were going wrong they did not dare to write to me and tell me what they had done.

Since then I do keep in touch puppy buyers and I do encourage them to contact me. I also tell them at the time of sale that I expect them to keep in contact, and will visit them if I do not hear at least once or twice a year that everything is going well. So far nobody has objected to this at all. As I tell them this at the time they are buying the puppy and show them that I am in touch with puppies from previous litters, they know that I am serious that I need to know how things go and then if a health problem crops up particularly I need to hear from them so that I can review my breeding policy.

We are having a first birthday party for our litter in June. Sadly one of the 12 died just before Christmas but it looks like at least 9 or 10 will try to join us even though some are several hundred miles away!
I cried after each one left, it was so hard to say goodbye after such an intensive few weeks but we have had news and photos from everyone and have seen quite a few of them.

I think you may have misunderstood here. I was not meaning weekly or monthly contact but some contact if only on the puppies birthday or Christmas.

Ah, then I'm with you. :) What an awful story about the trainer and the puppy buyers!! How did it all end for the poor dog?

Thank you for all the responses :) I do think most of the owners would come if i tried to arrange for a birthday party in a year but it seems like such a long time away! Perhaps i could try and arrange a 6 months get together also or even arrange for a dog walk with a few of them that live the closest every now and then if they seem happy to do this but i think you are right in leaving it up to the new owners to decide how much contact suits them. I guess they are more likely to contact me if they need to if they arent already sick of me :-D

Are you keeping a pup, Kim? They really are very beautiful! It will be interesting to see how they grow on.

M.

yes i am keeping little pigglet :) She has really grown on me. She looks the double of her dad too and is the only one with a long nose now :-D all the others have little round faces more like thier mum. Im actually suprised at how intellegent these pups seem, they have already all learned to sit on command and seem to answer to thier individual names, mum isnt really an intellegent dog (puting it kindly!),must be from the dad i guess :) The thing that made me pick pigglet was her eye contact, ever since her eyes were open she would sit and stare into my eyes with such a curious look and she still does it when ever i hold her. The others do it too but not from so young and they seem to get bored of it quicker.
  They all have thier own good qualities though, Tigger soon to be named Millie is the happiest most friendly puppy and is going to a home with two very sweet children and thier mother, Winnie is the cheekiest but is also the only one who rolls onto her back for a tummy rub everytime you pet her, really sweet as her tail never stops wagging :) she is going to an older couple, Coco is the quietest girl and seems to be the most sensitive but she is also the cuddliest and gentlest and never wants to go down when you pick her up,she is going to a country home to live on an estate that also does some work with disabled children. Gizmo is the calmest and will sit and wait for his turn to be petted while the others clamber all over you and is also one for eye contact, he wags his tail whenever you make eye contact with him, he is going to a young couple. Junior is the most playful and never seems to stop he is by far the most confident and outgoing, he is going to live with his dad. oh i am going to miss them all so much :-( but i am glad i could find good homes and they will have all the individual attention they all need and i can spend the extra time i will have on raising pigglet.

She's gorgeous! Hope you keep updating the pics so we can see them grow up.

M.

Have put thier latest photos on if you want a look at how they are turning out :) Not fair i want to keep them all! I will keep updating Pigglets photos and will add any the new owners send for anyone who is interested.

Something my latest pups breeder did was to set up an e-mail ring for all owners of the puppies in the litter.

So we all now e-mail pictures and news of our babies to everybody who has one of these puppies!
The breeder e-mails little tips and hints to do with the age the puppies are at that time (pictures of the parents when they were same age, diet changes, info on fireworks, vaccination reminders, info on hip xrays, pictures of the pups that have visited her etc.)
There are few e-mails more or less every week, people just sending pictures of their baby or telling other what they have been up to (well they are not babies anymore really at 17 months).
Some people are very active, some we have heard for few times only but every single one of the 10 owners has said it has been nice to have the e-mail ring.

It has also been nice to drop an e-mail to others who have a pup of similar age when there has been something that makes you wonder, the pups behaviour, growth rate etc.
It has been good for the breeder too as often people have similar questions but not everybody "dares" to ask so this way they can keep all puppy owners informed even the ones who might have been thinking about it but not been brave enough to ask the breeder :).

I think it is a good way to keep in touch without being too pushy (after all you are not sending personal e-mails that "demand" a reply).
Of course most are in touch with the breeder directly too on top of the "litter mail".

I mm doing similar but with the blog....1sp pup from this litter went at the wekend,and 2 more tomorrow.....they have all said they want their pups pix on the blog!!!