i have just had an e mail from a gentlemen who has bought an 8 month old pup of mine from someone i sold to. she was sold a pup with a contract to say he was to come back if he needed to be rehomed. the gentleman has already bought this pup and altho he seems a nice man has never owned a great dane before. the lady i sold to never informed me of her needing to rehome even though i keep in regular contact with the people who take my pups.
i feel sick that although you put these regulations in to place that this still can happen

From what people have said in previous threads along this line , you have no rights over this pup unfortunately .
Does he seem approachable , as if he would   want to keep in contact for advice ?

Embrace it.  If he has come to you with your pup that is a good thing. You know where pup is and do your darn best to encourage him to stay in contact and get involved.  He's possibly a better owner than the person you sold the pup to!

As other post says, you have zilcho legal right over the pup once it is sold, so go on and encourage him to stay in touch with you.

It's happened to me and I'm still waiting for a response from the new owner (contacted via the KC) which in my heart of hearts don't think I'll ever get.

i have just e mailed him with puppys details and photos of when he was born and growing up etc..
he seemed ok but the fact he has never owned a dane is a concern.
i have asked him to keep in touch and let me know if he ever needs to rehome him.

the rights always seem in favour of the buyer rather than the breeder in these things. even though that contract is in place.
but i suppose letting the pup go in the first place stops all those rights.

Seems to me if the previous owner was a great dane owner didnt help much if they let pup go without informing you etc:

I agree with previous poster I would be pleased that he felt the need to contact me , that speaks volumes I would even consider a visit if possible to sit down with him and give him advice , let him know you are at the end of the phone,  if he has difficulties you be his first port of call rather than the person he bought the pup off.

Your most probably feeling sick at the thought of the pup could well have been passed on with no trace. I would also be devastated, but as others have said, thank goodness this man has contacted the breeder, I would make myself extremely available to this man re: any training issues or worries so that you are his first port of call and can help him being a first time dane owner, he sounds like a very responsible owner and hopefully you will have good communication with him.

What has happened is terrible and a disgrace form the previous owner, but count your blessings now, instead of thinking what could have been.

i know thanks. i think i needed to rant at the total unncessary rehoming of him when i would gladly have taken the fella back and have people waiting for pups.
but yes you are all right. i have e mailed him with pictures of mum and dad and when he was a pup and asked him to keep in touch.

Thank goodness he got in touch with you, at least you have that link to your pup,I would be sooooo angry the original owner sold the pup on, sounds like pup is with a good person though so thats a comfort.

I know how you feel, I deal with foster's Danes through the rescue, and one case I collected a Dane, which was a nice speicmen of the breed, a bit thin, but you can help that, anyhow, turns out this poor soul was on its 4th home, and coming into the rescue, the person who had bought the puppy, had sold it on, then passed on another 3times, we found out who the breeder was, and he was livid, as the original owner had signed a contract saying the puppy came back to him, if any problems etc, anyhow the Dane went back to the breeder, so in fact that was the sixth home, and the Dane is still with him.

So some people dont care for contracts, atleast this gentlemen had the manners to contact you.

the same happend to me and it was 1 of my best friends ,it took her a week to tell me i was heart broken ,luckly the little chap went close to home and i still see him x

I would be thankful the new owner has gotten in touch.  As others have pointed out, once sold you have no rights to the pup at all.  You can only hope an owner will get in touch with you rather than pass the dog on.  Having your pups permanently identified by Tattoo or chip helps give some peace of mind that you can be traced should they end up in rescue.

It's so sad to hear stories of owners getting rid of a pup so soon after they got it. Why they don't notify the breeder is beyond me. I would be livid if that happened to be so I can understand your frustation. Is there a better way breeders can prevent thier puppies from being shuffled from house to house? Obviously just saying the pup goes back to the breeder isn't enough to stop it, even when there's a signed writen contract involved. Could a breeder perhaps put a monetary fine into the contract? So if the owners broke the terms of the contract they would have to pay up. Is that even legal?

Is that even legal?

No, these contracts are written in good will, they have no real legal standing they are a backup for breeders, once something is sold it is no longer a breeders property, I've been thinking about it though, the only way you could ever really get around it, is if a solicitor drew up something like a 'lease hold' for our pups, where the pups still belonged to a breeder so when it came to re: sale or transfer they would be breaking the law as the pups/dogs are on longterm lease.

Of course there would need to be lots of small print, i.e they could only reclaim ownership if being re-homed, badly treated etc, no rights over breeding issues etc (endorsements cover that anyway) it might be something that responsible breeders may infact get into, infact I'm surprised that we don't, thinking about it.

Even if this is a first time great dame owner at least he came to you and at the end of the day everyone has to start somewhere. Give him as much advice and help as you can (and he wants) and hope this time he will stay in contact about your pup

I think its all down to money why the person doesnt bring the puppy back to the breeder, they sell the puppy on because they want to get their money back. Also they may feel embarressed to bring the puppy back to the breeder, knowing they have failed.

>Also they may feel embarressed to bring the puppy back to the breeder, knowing they have failed.

I think that reason's probably more common that we suspect.

that is true. however i think there are more recriminations when they dont admit they have a problem, i would not think any less of someone actually admiting to me they cant cope than just not getting in touch and letting me have the pup back, as i always have people waiting for pups. i think i am going to take into consideration tattoing and keeping it in my name should one ever find themselves in a home.

To be honest everyone has to start off with a breed at some point and having parents who rescued a great dane who someone bought on a whim they are pretty much as other dogs except much larger.  I am assuming this guy must have actually wanted a great dane to rescue one?

When we rescued Blue we actually went to see the breeder who also had a american cockers and she really helped us out.

The poor dog though with the people who had her before was basically tied up all day.  So sad but she lived until 8 with us and had a very happy life.

I think that reason's probably more common that we suspect.

That is the reason we were given for  Harley not being returned to his breeder but given to the DogsTrust instead - he went into rescue at 9 weeks old so had only been with his new owners for a week before they decided a puppy was not for them. If you take on a pup, having done lots of research, asked all the right questions and been in regular contact with the breeder since before the puppy was born it must be quite difficult admitting that you made a mistake and things aren't working out. I would imagine embarrassment could well be the cause of many a puppy not being returned to a reputable breeder - especially as any responsible breeder takes great pains, and rightly so, to explain what an important decision it is when you decide to buy a puppy.

I had one come back just a week and a half after going, change in circumstances they said.

Hi, just read your post about your Dane pup. We had 3 Cavaliers last year(still got 2), one of whom had to be returned to the breeder. We contacted her straight away, as we had signed to say that should she need rehoming for any reason then we would contact the breeder. Whats the point of signing if you are not prepared to honour it!!. Our breeder was very understanding and we got half our money back, even though she didnt have to give it back.

> Our breeder was very understanding and we got half our money back, even though she didnt have to give it back.

Was it a health issue?

AAaaawww, Barbara,

That is just awful, why do people do this?

I have to confess I think I maybe destined to have an Elkhound at some point as I always have one earmarked from your litters :) Unfortunately it always seems to be the one  your keeping ( except Blue, last litter so tempting ) :)

it was put down to a hormone imbalance that stopped her from eating, she was fine until she had her 1st season. we tried everything to get her to eat but nothing worked...i lost count as to how many different types of foods i tried.

I am quite surprised her breeder gave you any money back although as a responsible breeder it is no surprise that she was willing to take her back if you felt you could not cope.  What did the breeder do with her?
Perhaps this is another reason why you should scrap plans for breeding.  What would you do if someone returned you a puppy that they could not get to eat or needed nurturing through an illness? It is all part and parcel of taking on that responsibility I am afraid.

Well it was Blue that came back, and was my pick of dogs and I had wanted him shown.  Now a pet on the Isle of Man, LOL

My breed is quite houndy, do you think they would be compatible?

My eldest son 19 in March always loves your babies, I am more of an adult dog person myself always prefer the grown up version (exeption being boxer pups) , I'm the same with humans as well. LOL give me the 2yrs upwards anyday :)