A friend warned me that the puppy farmers are looking for new stock,and she was endorsing her pedigrees as not for breeding,I am very grateful for the tip,as I think I met one yesterday.A lady from Leicester had contacted me about puppies,and when I phoned to tell her my litter was born,she said she had bought one elsewhere,but wanted another one,I was kind of uneasy then,but agreed to let her come and see my litter. She took very little notice of the dogs or the puppies,but wanted to see the pedigree,and how many champions were on it.I asked her if she was interested in showing,she thought she might be,but was very vague.She asked about KC reg.so I told her yes they were registered but that I was selling them as pets and intended to endorse the pedigree not for export or breeding,at which she got very huffy,and said she would expect a lot more champions in the pedigree for that price,and so I told her I had lots of other buyers and sorry for her wasted journey and showed her the door.I am in no doubt she was not a genuine pet owner.Another potential owner arrived during this time and commented afterwards what an awful person,I am so glad you did not let her reserve a puppy.Thought I would just pass on the warning.

Two lessons to be learnt from that I would say.

Your phone screening needs to be far more extensive with references given before any visit

and

the very reason why you should not take deposits...ever... as the baddies dont always show themselves in the first one or two contacts.

I have a woman chasing me for a puppy for about a year now and she tells me what I want to hear.....home all day, never would leave the puppy but one quick check on Facebook sees her bitching about all the hours she does at work.

If you need to find out - you can.

And now, Google is your friend!   Ask for address and postcode, early on in discussions, and you can google the post code ....it can soon find out who really does have large garden with park/fields close by!

I google earth all puppy enquiries there are more and more roads beiing added .

Yes, me too..well my mum does..I havent quite got to grips with GE but my mum is addicted to it so as soon as I get an enquiry that I feel sounds suitable I send her the address. its been very useful indeed as much as I hate computers/technology.. Google is in fact a very useful tool for checking up on people one way or another that's for sure. 

I remember going through the interview process for my first mastiff-first on the phone and then visits every 2 weeks (5 hour round trip)lol. Felt very impressed that she was that careful where her babies went.  I would not have expected to do anything else.  We still keep in touch all these years later.  A friend of mine used to travel up and down the country (years ago), checking where her newfies were going and insisted they came back for a puppy party at 1 year old.  Some of the stories used to amaze me!  Instinct is a wonderful thing and that doubt is probably correct.

I'm being very very carful with who we sell to as we are getting requests nearly every day but many just don't sound right, they sound right on the first phone call I send photo's then when I talk again they mention things that just send alarm bells ringing, half the time I dont know if im being over protective but Id rather send a puppy to a home I feel 100% about.

However I found that many good buyers have send photo's of their own dogs off their own backs with me doing checks like the rest of you on GE, and keeping up to date with emails about twice a week, soon sort out who's who.

>However I found that many good buyers have send photo's of their own dogs off their own backs with me doing checks like the rest of you on GE, and keeping up to date with emails about twice a week, soon sort out who's who.

When we went for our first meeting with the breeder - to see if would be allowed on her waiting list - I took photos of my other dog, the dog kip room, my house and garden, and the walks we go on!!

... I was a bit keen :)

PS we've only just got the Google street man thingy - I wish I'd shut the garage door, but at least the garden is tidy and the dogs aren't in view.  (I wonder if they have to blur dogs faces like people?)  Oh dear, my minds gone bimbling off...

Google also often comes up with all the ads in a persons name if they are advertising pups or stud.
I had someone 2 years ago ring and say they had purchased one of my dogs from someone. I was shocked but put my sensible head on and asked for the dogs name this instantly identified the dog and family concerned. I asked when he was brought and what he was brought for. The answer was just a pet but the family forgot to give me KC paperwork. he then said they haven't got any you must have kept it there with u. I said oh that might have happened knowing the family had def had the paperwork. Got bloke to give me his full name and address and I would see what I could sort out.
Googled him and he was a puppy farmer who will not part with that dog for a lot of money offered to him despite him paying only £200. He has no paperwork as the original family sent it back on the threat that if they gave it to the puppy farmer I would take them to court for selling the dog on.
I know he will have either renamed him to be able to reg pups with paperwork he has or he will be selling unreg pups. I could not recover the dog.
Often I have people ring about his pups and one day he will make a mistake and send a pic of my baby as the sire and then I will contact whom ever will listen even if it is trading standards.
My litter now have had a big puppy farmer ring but as soon as she gave me info I knew who she was. She wanted a specific pedigree so I notified the stud dog owner she is trying to get his pedigree so they can make people aware of her.

Im probably going to get shot down here but thought i would add my bit :(

when we were young we always had dogs, as a teenager my dad was attacked by one of ours as he tried to stop it choking on something it was eating,i was very wary for a long time, one day dh brought home a lovely small spaniel he had took it off his friend as they were not looking after it and they no longer wanted her, she had health problems that we treated and i regained my confidence with dogs, unfortunatly she died whilst being spayed and we were devasted at the time i had 3 children and was going through the process of registering as a childminder, after a year the house was too quiet so we agreed to start looking for a pup of same breed, unfortunatly no one would put us on their list because of my job and the kids :( we tried for months but no go, in the end we did get one but not from what you would call a very good breeder although he is registered and i have since had all his checks done, but this was because we had no choice, we did not want to be travelling hundreds of miles as we wanted a pet not a champion show dog and no local breeders thought we would offer a good home :( our dog is part of our family and is looked after as much as one of my human children :)

If you had of googled my last house there were no fields, i had a small garden but i had a car and only live 5 mins drive from a nice woodland area and 15 mins from the beach :)

So we dont all fit into the perfect bracket but that does not mean everyone is out to just breed dogs, although you will get some who do and its just a hope that you can spot those who are :)

> Google is in fact a very useful tool for checking up on people one way or another that's for sure. 

It sure is!   I had a perfectly normal sounding person give me loads of details about herself.  Enough information for me to find her advertising her wares!!   

Well I have to admit I google earth my prospective owners and home vett also. I let a pup from my last litter go to a lady who ran her own childminding business. I was completely satisfied that they were the perfect family for my boy. They also have two girls of their own , and I am in regular contact with them. My boy has a great life and is loved to bits , he's great with the children and gets to go on all of the excursions she takes the kids on. I couldn't wish for a nicer family.
However it's not to say I wouldn't refuse another child minder ( I may not like the person , or their set up! ) , I have to be satisfied and content that the family are right for my babies , otherwise the answer is simply NO!

Have been breeding dogs for nearly fifty years,and relied on my instincts plus my dogs reaction to potential puppy buyers to find good homes for the babies,but of course we only advertised locally ,now we have internet  which is a whole new experience for me.I try to keep an open mind when meeting people,I once had  a man call to see about a puppy for his daughter, and the dam who was an OES reacted very scared,we later discovered  that he was a butcher,who had been slaughtering that day,a really nice family  who gave my pup a lovely home,I even sold a pup to a lady who works full time in the family business,she takes the dog to work with her in an undertakers office ,where his cheerful presence is often a great asset.Another of my puppies often goes to work with her owner in the probation service where she helps break down the barriers with some of the tough youngsters they deal with there.This lady who called this week brought her mum,the girl was just the stooge,pretending to buy a family pet and as soon  as I saw them I knew that I was not going to sell her a puppy.

If you had of googled my last house there were no fields, i had a small garden but i had a car and only live 5 mins drive from a nice woodland area and 15 mins from the beach

I have two friends, one lives in a small terraced house in a town centre, with only a tiny back yard. She has two large breed dogs who are walked for over an hour in the morning, a short walk mid day and then another long walk in the evening. Between exercise they are happy to louge around in the house. Nobody could want for a happier couple of dogs.

The other friend lives in a lovely rural area, has a beautiful garden of approximately an acre, yet her dogs are kept confined to a small flagged area at the side of her house. Although she is home during the day the dogs are kept outside and only tend to see her at feeding/grooming times. Exercise is minimal, with a treadmill and hydro pool being used to keep them in fit hard condition.

If a breeder was to use google earth to look at the suitability of the homes, my first friend would probably fail miserably, yet IMHO she offers a wonderful home. Whereas, in the second case the location looks wonderful, but I know which home I would rather place a puppy in.

Although I appreciate GE can be a good tool, it does worry me that some lovely people are being forced to purchase puppies from less desirable sources, as they are struggling to convince breeders that they can offer a suitable home.

One of the happiest, most well looked after dogs we have at dog club is a little collie cross who is owned by a "disadvantaged" family who had lost their last dog after 15 years. It's a long story but they were not in a position to be able to afford to purchase a dog themselves, yet could afford the monthly insurance premiums, feed bills, etc. Their plight came to our attention and a decision was made for us to pay the adoption fee ourselves. That little dog lives in a small house, but lives the life of riley and couldn't be more loved. Sometimes money and a big house doesn't guarantee a dog has a quality home.

>Although I appreciate GE can be a good tool

An interesting point, coming as it does at a time when Google adverts are being discussed so heavily.  It's one of the ways in which GE is supported and funded...

Another poster said Google is your friend.  Yes, well possibly but it can also be like an annoying new 'best friend' or mad stalker once it starts its contextual targeting!!

With regards to Google earth though it's just one of the tools available to breeders to help ensure people are being honest.  It's one thing to present yourself as an ordinary joe when in fact your address is a known puppy farm.  Or to tell a breeder you work from home when a magazine article places you in New York 15 days a month!

For families in unusual circumstances, family set up, small house, no garden etc, their choice of breeder might be a little more limited but it's not impossible.  I hope that most breeders give puppy buyers a chance to explain what good owners they will be but of course it's entirely up to the breeder who they sell to.  These families have to work a bit harder and take steps to convince the breeder, BUT they musn't feel their only option is a puppy farm or a badly bred or unsocialised example. 

> I google earth my prospective owners and home vett also.

My friend Stephanie Presdee also does this. When a buyer in Switzerland wanted one of her flatcoat puppies, she actually flew over to Switzerland to do the home check. As it turned out the home was great and some years later they returned for another puppy.

Hi Polly,
I too would do this , I don't have litters very often and my puppies are so precious to me. I need to be able to visualise where they will be spending the rest of their lives , otherwise I would not be able to settle at all.