2 1/2 years ago my girl had a litter. I didn't do Contracts, but told all new owners that if for any reason they couldn't keep the dog, I would like to be informed 1st as I would take the dog back. A few months ago I saw an advert on a site offering a dog for sale, so being the nosey person I am, I logged in (I'm a paid member) & got the contact details. Sure enough it was one of my beloved pups :( I contacted the owner on the number on the ad, but got a voicemail service from someone totally different, so I tried emailing & got a reply, saying that it wasn't her dog up for sale. I knew this to be a lie, as I recognised the photo, it was one she had sent me a few months previous. She swore black was white that it wasn't her dog & sent me more photos, but they could have been taken at any time. I really don't know what to think :( My head tells me the dog has been rehomed, but my heart hopes it hasn't. It was a pup sired by the boy I recently lost at 5 yrs old. To make matters worse, I have just seen a dog reported lost in her Postcode area & it had recently been rehomed! I'm at my wits end here. The people advertising the lost dog have the name of the original owner, but do I, as the breeder, have the right to ask for that info?

Once you have sold your puppy you have no legal rights to it, only moral.  Did you chip or tattoo your puppies, this way you could check if ti is the same, if it turns up in a new home (you could offer contact) or rescue.

Contracts don't really stand up legally (buying a dog is no different to buying a fridge really, in the eyes of the law), but I find that if you put something in writing and get the buyer to sign to it, they are at least more likely to contact you if they can't keep the dog. They think twice if they've signed, agreeing to something.

I had this happen to me with my first litter, and I never found the dog again as she was definitely sold on and the previous owner refused to even speak to me. It's heartbreaking. :( Since then I've used contracts, even if the buyer is my best friend.

No Brainless I didn't chip or tattoo :( I had relevant Eye Check done, but didn't think to tattoo or chip. The owner of the pup in uestion said she'd had her chipped, but has since moved home, so I don't know if the chip is updated with her new address (which I don't have, but it's still within the same Postcode) This was my first litter & yes, I probably made mistakes, but I thought I'd chosen 'forever' homes for the pups & totally trusted the new owners. They say there's no fool like an old fool, well I'll be well prepared if I have another litter. They'll all be chipped...thats a prority. You say we have no legal rights. Would I have rights if I'd done Contracts? x

Sorry Marianne...you posted about Contracts while I was still typing :)

I would save wasting time on the detective work and buy the dog back. It is offerref for sale just buy it.

Blue the OP said the dog was now reported as lost.

Sorry  misread the last line where she said the people advertising the lost dog..

Very strange one.  It is a pity they hadn't just bought it when the first saw it advertised and asked no questions just to get it back..

Fingers crossed it shows up..

Hi Blue...I did offer to buy the dog back, but she was insistent that the dog wasn't for sale :(

So what was for sale? Pity might have been worth just getting anyone you knew at the time to go get it.  I'm assuming the story is you saw the dog you sold for sale and when you contacted her she said it was a different dog that was available?

No she admitted the pic on the ad was her dog....but said someone had 'hacked' her account. She said there was no way she would ever part with the dog. I've had a horrible feeling about this for a few weeks & have no way of finding out the truth, as she has moved house, so I can't get anyone to go see if she still has the dog. Maybe the one who has been reported as lost, isn't one of my pups, maybe its all coincidence that the lost one comes from the same area & has recently been rehomed. I'm going to check my emails to see when this all happened....there's been so much going on here lately I'm losing track of time....

Just checked...I emailed her on 31st July, the day I saw the advert. We had email convo's over the next 2 weeks. I told her I would buy the dog back, but she insisted it wasn't for sale. The last email I had from her said....'Do not reply to this email, my account has been hacked' That's the last I heard :( It just gets weirder now that I've actually put it all in words....maybe I'm too trusting, but like everyone else who has reared a litter, I care deeply about those pups & their welfare.

Unfortunately there is really nothing you can do if the people buying don't come back to you as per contract.

It is only as the result of someone on here that I was able to stop a pup that a friend bred disappearing god knows where as the owner had advertised it on a Forum for sale.

I joined the Forum and pointed out that I knew who the dog was bred by (it was sired by a dog I bred, not owned by me, and bred by a friend with contract for return).  I was told in no uncertain terms to go fly, but as I had alerted the breeder, who phoned them, the owner did let the breeder have the dog back.

Fortunately he now lives with one of my puppy owners who had lost to old age the older of the two dogs they had from me, understands the breed, so a good outcome.

I have all my pups ear tattooed, as the NDTR keep breeders details (unlike the chip companies who only keep latest owner details), and should any of mine turn up in rescue I can be alerted.

i think if it were me i would be going and speaking to them face to face, its harder to lie when someone is looking at you... that way you can also see if the dog is there and have peace of mind if they are telling the truth... something does sound iffy tho :( hope you get it sorted soon

I feel horrible writting this but I think this is going to be one of lifes lessons on how not to do it again.  Even if she was selling the dog, she didn't need to let you know.  Why she denied it is a mystery, maybe embarassed at failing?  I think she probably sold the dog.  Even so, what you need to do is try to trace  the new owners.  At least they care enough to report it missing?  You will maybe have more luck there.  I would try to pass a message through the place where you found out it was missing or local vets. 

> A few months ago I saw an advert on a site offering a dog for sale, so being the nosey person I am, I logged in (I'm a paid member) & got the contact details. Sure enough it was one of my beloved pups  I contacted the owner on the number on the ad, but got a voicemail service from someone totally different, so I tried emailing & got a reply, saying that it wasn't her dog up for sale. I knew this to be a lie, as I recognised the photo, it was one she had sent me a few months previous. She swore black was white that it wasn't her dog & sent me more photos, but they could have been taken at any time. I really don't know what to think

I have heard of people's photos being taken of websites etc and used in puppy advertisements, so there is the possibility that this is what has happened.

I had contracts with all of my puppies and they all went with endorsements.

> I have heard of people's photos being taken of websites etc and used in puppy advertisements, so there is the possibility that this is what has happened.

It's very common for the puppy scammers to do this, and kitten scammers too. I once found an advert quoting a whole chunk from someone's webpage as well as pics, the advert was located in the UK but it was from a very reputable US breeders' website.

Are you sure the original ad you saw was genuine?

> I have heard of people's photos being taken of websites etc and used in puppy advertisements, so there is the possibility that this is what has happened.

This happened to a friend of mine.  She was contacted by someone on our breed board saying that her dog was being advertised as the sire of a litter on a puppies for sale website (sire was named as different, but photo of her dog was used).  She contacted the website with the original photo as well as other photos and eventually (though grudgingly) they removed the ad, but no consequences to the advertiser that we ever found out.  IMO they should have been banned from the site.

Hi again & apologies for not coming back sooner. The lost dog was found, & I don't think it was one of mine, as the original owner was a good distance away. I guess I'll never know, as the lost dog was hit by a train & passed away :( I'll contact my owner again, to see if I can get updated photo's. If she has rehomed the dog, I would like her to be honest & at least pass my details on to new owner, so I can keep in touch x

>I contacted the owner on the number on the ad, but got a voicemail service from someone totally different, so I tried emailing & got a reply, saying that it wasn't her dog up for sale. I knew this to be a lie, as I recognised the photo, it was one she had sent me a few months previous. She swore black was white that it wasn't her dog & sent me more photos, but they could have been taken at any time. I really don't know what to think.

>I'll contact my owner again, to see if I can get updated photo's. If she has rehomed the dog, I would like her to be honest & at least pass my details on to new owner, so I can keep in touch x

If it would me I would probably tread carefully.  The fact that it was not her telephone number and someone totally different makes it more likely that she is telling the truth.  Using someone else's photos to sell a dog is not uncommon.  I would probably get a bit fed up with a breeder if she kept hassling me (implying that I was lying).  She has sent you more photos and tried to reassure you that it wasn't her dog and although, unless you visit you will never be 100% sure, I think you risk alienating her even more if you keep hassling her.

Having had a photo of one of mine used to illustrate an advert for an unregistered litter of my breed, I know this can happen.

I complained and the picture was removed by the webmaster.