Hi, I had a litter of 6 puppies which have nearly all gone to their new homes. I have obviously taken all the new owners details, met them all and vetted them. I have been in constant contact with most of them for the last couple of weeks. One of our little girls went to their new home yesterday and I havent been able to contact the new owner since. I have sent him 2 emails just asking that he lets me know that the puppy has settled in ok and I have had no response. Is that normal? I am now wondering if this person has fooled me and if I should be worried about the puppies safety. I feel sick about the whole thing. All the other people that have picked up their puppies have contacted me to say how their first nights have been etc. As this is the first time we have breeded from our bitch I am really unsure. Could anyone let me know if they have experienced this before or if I am being overprotective?

Some people don't check their email every day - especially if busy dealing with a new puppy. Have you tried phoning or texting?

I have sent him another email about an hour ago. I am also aware that to him I may seem like I'm a little deranged. He has always responded by email within the hour. Do you think I'm being unreasonable getting worried about it?

Any responsible breeder will be worried until they get some confirmation everything is fine. But I think it'd be more sensible to try texting or phoning now rather than get in a state about it. If they ignore repeated phone calls/ texts as well as the emails then you'd have more cause to worry.

He won't think you are deranged if he hasn't seen the emails yet. And if he has seen them, but hasn't responded then I wouldn't be worrying what he thinks of you as he is out of order.

I would phone.

Thanks for the advice. I have text him now with a copy of the last email I had sent him. Hopefully he will respond to that, if not I will try to call him. I guess I am just also panicking in case he doesn't answer the phone then either. I suppose there is nothing I can do then is there?

I don't look for text messages either, always view a text as something not important enough for a voice call. 

For me a 'mobile' is just that for use in emergencies or when I am out, and I rarely look at it unless it rings with a call.

So as others have suggested a phone-call is best.

If I had tried to contact a puppy buyer with the same method I had always used and had no response I would phone. If there was no response then, I would go to their address and ask if everything was ok as I hadn't heard from them and I was worried.

I had this with my last litter , the lady was lovely, promised to keep in touch but didn't answer my emails. I let her have the pup I was going to keep as well as she seemed so lovely and really only wanted this one pup. In the end I called but only got to speak with her elderly parents who I hadn't met when vetting her. They explained that she was at work but reassured me that the pup was settling in and told me how she was doing. I sent photo emails of the pup from birth hoping that she would respond but she has never got back to me , this was in January . She said at the time I could call in if I was ever passing , which I will if I'm ever that way down the country. But it does hurt especially the first couple of months as they are your babies. I have settled now , but still wonder how she is doing.
I would give them a call hopefully they are just busy settling the pup in :) and haven't had time to check their inbox.

Have you heard anything?

this is why i prefer to talk to the person rather than e mail

Sorry but I cannot believe you have not phoned. E-mails are fine for keeping up with news but in the first weeks I would need much more contact and I would have been on the phone the next morning.
Ring the new owner and put your mind at rest
Aileen

Over the last 3 decades Ive become more than happy to get one contact within the week of collection then the odd call and Christmas card over the dogs life.
Recently Ive been getting a few of the 'final contact' type....telling me their old and precious dog has passed.

I find people want to get on with the pups new life and forget all about me....thats great!

Some people don't consider emails that important.  I certainly don't check mine daily.  I think that people will phone me if it's that important.

> He has always responded by email within the hour. Do you think I'm being unreasonable getting worried about it

Hopefully he's just too busy with the puppy :)  Reason has nothing to do with worry but I do think you're a bit early to start panicking yet.

Pick up the phone and ring him    ...and maybe next time tell your new owners that you like to get an email, a text, or a phone call within 24 hours just to let you know that the puppy has arrived in its new home safe and sound :)

I ask for the one contact at least thay day so I know they got home OK. Very occasionally, the call comes next day instead but if it didn't I'm straight on the phone. After that people never seem to surprise me. Sometimes the ones I think will always be in contact I never hear from and vice versa.
If I don't hear again, I do worry a bit but I've usually made contact around 6 months and if all is OK - I leave well alone.
They are usually too bust enjoying their puppy and have forgotten about me which is fine.
I do email at first birthday and guague then whether all is still OK and how they are likely to continue communication. Not everyone is the same

I think along the same lines as toolz and i prefer to treat my puppy buyers in the way that i would like to be treated myself (i.e i don't want to be hassled and hounded by a breeder who still thinks the pup is "theirs" after it's gone). Not everyone thinks the same way though, i know that all too well from past unpleasant experiences.

The occasional email with photos and a phone call every 3-6 months is more than enough to satisfy my curiosity about the well being of a pup i've bred, but i would never intrude on someones lifestyle in ways that have mentioned above as i think it's taking things a bit too far and if it was done to me i'd politely tell that kind of breeder to bloody well sod off lol :)

I know there's probably "overly passionate breeder" types on here so don't take my views personally if you happen to be like that.
Each to their own.

I couldn't get through to him on the phone last night but he has text this morning and said that she has settled in ok so I feel a lot better now and know I don't need to worry about her thank goodness :)

I'm the same -I let the puppy buyers decide how much contact there is to be. I DO expect a phonecall or e-mail after a few days to to be told the pup has settled down. I DON'T see the logic in being phoned the same day as by then they won't know yet if the puppy is settling in, it is too soon. Then I send out cards and a newsletter to every singe puppy buyer every Christmas. Those that keep in touch with me I always respond to -for some it is every week or even several times a week (those are the people that have become close friends in the process), others every few months, others once a year, and some you never hear from again.You can't force people to keep in touch but by contacting everyone at Christmas I show I am still interested. I do the same with breeders I have got pups from -if they are interested and respond to e-mails I keep in touch, if not, I don't.

When my pups leave I ask them to let me know they've got home safely and to either email or ring to let me know how things are going after a few days, and if they have ANY problems to ring me any time day or night.

I also tell them I don't expect daily updates.

It reassures me they have got home with no mishaps so there is logic and actually it is reassuring that the puppy is not spending its first evening miserable. I then expect to hear after about a week, largely to get an idea of how the people are getting along. I have never had a problem with the puppy being anything other than - well just a puppy.

Glad you have heard all is well with the pup and new owners.

I like someone who has travelled some distance to collect a pup to make brief contact when they get home safely, this is something I do and relatives who live some distance away who have been here visiting.

In the past I have sent breeders/stud owners pics through the post because they don't have the internet, if I get no response then I stop.

I would be very upset if I had no contact from someone who had a puppy into which I had put months of planning and 8 weeks of 24 hours a day care. I do not understand the "I've taken your money so the puppy is no longer of interest to me," attitude. Some of you would obviously hate to receive a rescued dog from my organisation because I insist that they ring almost as soon as they get home to let me know that the dog is safely indoors. If I don't hear, I phone them. No emails will suffice. A two minute phone call is all I need to reassure me and caring owners are pleased that I care. Then I ring next day; 3 days later; weekly for a month. etc. I don't care if people think that is over-kill. It sets my mind at rest that dogs I care about are settled and happy. You can all fling the insults now!

Then I ring next day; 3 days later; weekly for a month. etc. I don't care if people think that is over-kill. It sets my mind at rest that dogs I care about are settled and happy.

That can have the opposite effect. I know somebody who had a breeder like that and they got so fed up with being checked up on that when they moved they never let the breeder have their new contact details.

> I know somebody who had a breeder like that and they got so fed up with being checked up on that when they moved they never let the breeder have their new contact details.

I would think there is a very real danger of that.

I may plan and carefully rear a litter but that is because I am concious that I am responsible for bringing them into the world but once they have become someones elses I know I must be grateful for whatever contact they feel they have time and inclination to give. 
If I have done my vetting carefully, and I don't see why pandering to the breeders needs is a necessary quality for my future owners to have, I have to be content.  Of course I hope for it but I do not feel it is my right.

G.Rets level of contact would be too much for me IF I wasn't expecting it        BUT if this contact was explained as part of the vetting/choosing/agreeing/contract stage of the discussions then it's up to me to either agree and move forward, or disagree and find another breeder.

As long as breeders (or rescue organisations) are clear about their hopes and expectations then buyers can simply add this to their decision making criteria.

... it has to be said though that if I suspected the breeder was going to stalk me or not really 'let go' of the pup then I'd probably go elsewhere.  It's one thing volunteering to give daily/weekly updates to a friendly and helpful breeder, it's quite another to feel obliged to do so.  I certainly wouldn't want to field regular telephone calls when all I want to do is start the work with the puppy

> BUT if this contact was explained as part of the vetting/choosing/agreeing/contract stage of the discussions then it's up to me to either agree and move forward, or disagree and find another breeder.
>

True, but why would they want it?  I would feel I had failed their vetting in some way. 

From what Grets has said is from the rescue side which I think is fab, if she has rehomed a dog through rescue then a lot of contact should be expected and I think its a good thing.
If this was a puppy going direct from the breeder then yes it would be but thats not the case Grets has mentioned in this instance.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> if she has rehomed a dog through rescue then a lot of contact should be expected and I think its a good thing

If we had received constant contact from the rescue when we took on our last rescue dog we may well have given up with him and sent him back :-( He was  such hard work that I may well have thought we weren't the right home for him and it would have been quite easy at the time, during a phone call, to say that to the rescue. As it was we perservered and although he is still the hardest to live with dog I have ever owned he is still with us four years later and here he will remain. The rescue we got him from do ring new owners within 24 hours to make sure the dog is settling in but if there had been regular contact with them during that first year I wouldn't guarantee that he would still be here with us.

ETA - just realised that he has been with us for over 5 years now :-)

Thanks, Sue, for responding to what I actually wrote and for the support.

So many people on here read the post as they want to read it, eg. when I asked what people thought of the opening Olympics ceremony and was then slated for supposedly not wanting to watch any of the Olympics. Maybe that is true, but it is NOT what I posted.  I simply asked about the opening ceremony. Too quick to criticise, some of the people on here.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Too quick to criticise, some of the people on here.

I don't think anyone is criticising - I said how I would have felt and explained the reasons why I felt like that :-) Nobody expects everyone to have the same thoughts on every subject and we are all entitled to our own opinions - what works in one situation doesn't necessarily work in another and I do recognise that your rescue seems to be very good on making sure the dog is in the right home but in the situation that I was involved with I honestly believe I may well have thrown in the towel with our little rescue terrier if I had been in regular contact with the rescue organisation.

Others may not have felt the same way but we definitely did struggle for a long time with him and there were other personal circumstances that also made it it a very difficult time  for our family and it would have been far easier in one way to have sent him back to the rescue he came from and it may well have happened if I was receiving a lot of interaction with them as it would have been much easier to ask them to take him back than it would  have been to initiate that phone call ourselves.

As I said previously he has been with us now for over 5 years and we manage his behaviour and he is a beloved member of our family :-)

I'm glad that it worked for you and the dog but I would have wanted him back if you were struggling so badly.  That is exactly why I keep in touch: to try to help with problems that new owners may be having. Fortunately, I get almost no cases like that but we don't have too many dogs and have a good selection of homes offered so that I can try to get it right for the dogs and not place a dog where everyone will end up stressed. Well done for persevering though.

To be honest I believe wherever he was rehomed to it would have been a struggle and what made it even more difficult was shortly after he arrived with us my husband began his final battle with a terminal illness. He is the type of dog for whom I would use the term "a yo-yo rescue" - rehomed and returned constantly due to his problems but we found a way around things and he has a great life and we manage his behaviour.

I am not alone in realising he has many problems - my vet says he has never met a dog quite like him and commented on how sad it is that a dog such as ours was born in the first place and I fully agree with him - a very obvious case of irresponsible breeding, inadequate vetting of a puppy buyer and lack of socialisation have all played a part in his life. BUT we manage his behaviour, we provide him with a loving, responsible, caring home and accept him for what he is. He has improved greatly from his very poor beginnings in life and despite ongoing health and other problems he lives life to the full and is a very much loved member of our family. We have always had rescue dogs so am very used to the problems they can come with  but never have I had one with so many problems  as this little one has - our other rescue dog is my once in a lifetime dog and has been a fantastic role model for our terrier :-)

"Then I ring next day; 3 days later; weekly for a month. etc. I don't care if people think that is over-kill."

Sorry but unless the owners are particularly inexperienced or indicate that they expect a lot of back-up/hand holding, I think this is a bit ott too. I have done rescue work for 12 years now (several of our collies are fosters who stayed/rescues) and don't think this approach would be welcomed by new owners or, to be honest, is necessary if you have done your homework/vetted the owners carefully. I would also find it a bit (ok, a lot) patronising if you were to do it to me.