Hi,

Just a quick warning to everyone about a phone call I had a few days ago....

A PA rung me saying he was looking for a dog for his boss - I said that the person wanting to have the puppy needs to be the person that calls me (I don't care who you are or how important you think you are, if you would like a dog from me you can ring me yourself!). So man rings later that night, now he is clearly has a very succesful business and lives in one of the most expensive / exclusive parts of London but when I was questionning him about dogs etc he was fairly clueless. Asking about colour etc... (my breed only has 1). Then it came to asking about children - yes he had 2 children one of whom was 10 (and away at school), he then said that the dog was actually for the 10 year old as he has wanted a puppy for ages. Fine. I told him that he and his family had to come and meet me, see the puppies, see the bitch etc etc all the usual. Anyway I hang up the phone, 2 seconds later it rings again - same man saying "could you hold of delivery of the goods until 25th December".

Fuming was not the word. I really didn't think people bought dogs as surprise Christmas presents anymore?? How naive am I! Sadly there will be people out there 'breeding' that will 'deliver' a dog to him on Christmas Day. I am not that person (and I don't do deliveries anyway lol!!)

I would rather keep every single puppy then let one go to a home where it will be treated like an accessory and then got rid of when it pee's on the carpet. :(

Being rich/posh doesn't impress me in the least.  I once fetched a puppy back from a man living in the most expensive area of England.

He threatened me with his solicitor.  I called his bluff, and would do so again.

This is one of those things which gets my back up a bit... wealthy people thinking they can 'buy' everything.  The boarding school thing, for one - that by sending the kid off and paying someone else, the kid will get (emotionally) what it needs.  No doubt, with a puppy, he would pay for a dog walker every day and a trainer to come in and train the dog so he doesn't need to deal with it... 

As a dog trainer I sometimes get calls from wealthy people who want me essentially to go in, wave a magic wand and train their dog - they don't realise they will be left needing to do anything themselves.  It's one of the reasons I really discourage people from one to ones and get them to come to a class if at all possible.  I once had this boston terrier come to class accompanied by its owner (wealthy man) and TWO carers(!!) (man and wife) who were employed basically to look after the dog.  (Well, they may have had other duties as well.)  Owner just sat there and watched these 2 people train his dog for him.  Weird.

My Mum worked for a rich and very well known man who had 2 Goldies. He asked Mum to get him the pups (2 years between them) and told her to go to the best which she did. (Well good anyway though the breeders were a bit in awe of the fact that ******* was going to own them ! ? ! They never asked for him to visit, but they were properly bred with  health tested parents ) They were lovely dogs and wanted for nothing...except the love of thier "Owners". The owners travelled a lot and though Mum lived on the estate the dogs were alone in the house overnight. Mum looked after them well and they always had the last trip out into thier "run" (Read padock) at 11pm and were up and out again by 7am but they spent most of thier days in the "Padock" with a walk round the estate (20 acre ) once day, with Mum or Stepdad. Good food, monthly trip to be bathed and groomed, fed well and loved as much as possible by Mum and Carl. They had a huge Dog room they could access the run from and were allowed in the kitchen but no further into the house. The owner on occasion took them for a walk and was always nice to them but never spent time with them. They only ever left the estate to visit the vet or groomers.
True to Goldies form they loved everyone. The run opened up onto the turning circle of the drive so they chatted to all visitors over the gates but they never had "An owner" who did any more than pat thier heads and pay the bills. Lucky for them Mum and Carl loved dogs...they had to! but they could not take them into their house as Mum had 4 siamese cats who hated dogs..and the golden girls loved to chase cats! I suppose by the standard of living some poor dogs have they lived the life of luxury..but there is more to life for a dog, or should be.
Aileen

Delivery of the 'goods'????? I would have been spitting blood! I suggest they buy this boy a lifesize cuddly toy dog, much more appropriate!

As someone who went to boarding school I can assure you I got a lot of emotional reassurance, my matron and the other girls there were like my family, and my youngest sister did the same and she too isn't an emotional hazard.

> Delivery of the 'goods'????? I would have been spitting blood! I suggest they buy this boy a lifesize cuddly toy dog, much more appropriate!

That's made me chuckle!!   :-)

Some years ago I had an enquiry for a small breed puppy from a man who thought that he would just come and collect a puppy.  :-(  When I asked him if he was aware that he was responsible for the welfare of the puppy, it came as a shock.  It was obvious that a dog was just a commodity. 

I asked questions about the home.  And asked what he wanted the dog for.  He said "for the kid to play with" - I asked how old the kid was.  5 years old.     

I suggested he take said kid to Toys R Us.

Impossible, and unfair, to generalise.  This isn't a debate about wealth it's about an owners ability to provide a loving and caring home for a dog.

Gema was happy to turn this particular person down, a sensible decision based on what she has reported, but it would be inaccurate to make assumptions that all wealthy people are unsuitable owners.  Bad dog owners come from all walks of life - same as the good ones, and choices about education aren't terribly relevant :) 

As a general observation Christmas isn't always a terrible time to get a new puppy.  I don't think one should be given to a child on Christmas day but there are plenty of people with more free time at Christmas, not less, and plenty of childless people might be having a very quiet and peaceful time and long to be disrupted by a baby puppy hooligan.  I'd hope that most breeders would give all potential owners a fair hearing and be willing to be flexible if presented with the right family.   Presumably, going ahead with a mating that produces puppies ready to be rehomed in November and December means that most breeders will be prepared for this very eventuality...

Going back 40 years pedigree dogs with KC papers were mostly only bred by show people, you could not get puppies anywhere else and you could count on one hand the people that you knew who had one,  it wasn't unusual at all for puppies to be Christmas or Birthday presents as they were such a special gift and dogs were bought for life, unlike today.

It also was not unusual for staff to go out and buy them for their bosses whether the local solicitor or doctor's PA or the staff from the manor house, and often today it can still be the same..........but you could guarantee those pups/dogs would be cared for, trained and want for nothing and not be moved on, whoever looked after them and would be in better hands than many impulse buyers we have today........

Would the pup have had a good home with this man?....... I don't know...... that is down to the vetting that all breeders do and totally a breeders decision, myself I am used to dealing with business people and the way they act, it would not have initially put me off, the man may have been completely incompetent with regards to an animals needs or he may well have fully understood and offered a good and stable lifestyle, knowing that live in staff would be the ones training, feeding and caring for the dog would not have instantly put me off it is better than many full time workers today buying pups and leaving them for hours on end.

Dogs are social animals they need company and they don't differentiate between the staff member who may feed and exercise them and the business man who will stroke a dog whilst sitting by his feet at a desk or the little boy who adores him when home from boarding school if anything if you think about it the dog has the best of all worlds.

I agree you cannot judge on class or wealth, generalisations like that should never be made.

Today absolutely anyone can breed and just as bad own a dog, whether they can look after it or not and vetting has to be 100 times stricter and more careful.

Rescues are full of unwanted dogs and thousands of dogs are passed from pillar to post by feckless owners every year, it's why I like to visit homes if I can to fully understand the set up for the dog over the next approx 15yrs, then weigh everything up.

Breeding comes with much responsibility especially today.......... you can only go with your gut, but sometimes people express themselves badly which is why face to face is always the best way to vet. :-) And many people do not understand the etiquette of how to buy a dog from a responsible breeder. ;-)

If you are happy and content with where your pups are you can rest easy, myself I wouldn't be too mad with the man often it is just a lack of understanding each other............ a breeders life is never dull. :-D

Just to say that I've had the same phone call I think. Did the 'PA' have asreally strong accent. They had got my phone number from this website. It is definitely a scam. Beware

I recently got an email asking for a pup as a surprise Xmas present for this persons Mum, I said I didn't have any pups and that any reputable breeder would want to meet Mum and may wish to keep the pup till after the holiday period was over.

waggamama, not everyone who goes to boarding school experiences emotional neglect - sorry if you read what I said like that.

What I said referred to people who think that money can substitute for giving something emotionally.  It cannot.  Some wealthy people give both money and love/time to their kids.  Unfortunately, many wealthy parents don't give enough of the love/time but think they can substitute with money - or assuage their guilt by giving more money.

This man's attitude of not even wanting to come and view the puppies and wanting it to be there when he wanted it, at his convenience, does suggest more someone who wants to give only money and not the time/love which is needed.  If he's doing this for his dog, chances are he's doing it with his child, away at boarding school too.  I acknowledge this may be speculative.

I know of someone who had a very similar call last year....not sure if they purchased a puppy or not.

Sounds like too many enquiries along the same lines to be genuine.

had a lady bragging to me that all her pups where bought by a very exclusive buisness person and they came and assesed her litter and just what they where looking for, and took the whole litter, i had to ask why did you let the whole litter go to one person would they be able to cope with a whole litter , she said oh they went to be sold at Harrods, my husband dragged me away before i had time to say anything else..................

Talking of Harrods, I know someone at work who purchased one from there as he thought it would make him look good as he likes all things fine, well its a bog standard cross breed now that has grown up into a nothing type dog, iykwim...£2000 he paid

Stupid people and just wish it wasn't allowed where cats and dogs are sold in shops..

Hi,

Yes - South African (I believe). Male.   

> Gema was happy to turn this particular person down, a sensible decision based on what she has reported, but it would be inaccurate to make assumptions that all wealthy people are unsuitable owners.  Bad dog owners come from all walks of life - same as the good ones, and choices about education aren't terribly relevant :-) 
>

  
Yes absolutely - my decision was not made on his wealth or the fact that he is seemingly a top ****** in the City. I'm sure the dog would have had the best food money can buy, a nice bed and a walker etc etc but would it have had a loving family and a happy life? Possibly not.
He asked me if it was likely that the puppy would pee on the carpet for goodness sake! I told him that it will be 8 - 9 weeks old when it is ready to rehome and yes of course it will wee on the carpet / be sick / poo / roll in fox poo / chase rabbits & squirrels!

I agree about Christmas not always being the worst time to have pups due to people having extra time off work etc and of course if the OH said to me he would like to pay for a puppy (never going to happen!) for me for Xmas I would jump at the chance!