Got a message from my puppy owner to say they have made the decision to rehome her and they are offering me first refusal to buy her. Ive replied nice as pie and said im sorry but I agree its for the best for her benefit. Reason is change in working commitments recently.  I have said I will have her back here with her family but as per my contract I rehome not resell and even though she will be spayed whilst here waiting for the right home, also said ill take a donation to go to breed welfare for the new owmers. I won't (and to be frank simply cannot afford to buy her) pay for her.

They have her up for 50 less than what the family paid me and are in Manchester, I looked through the freeads and saw her, advert placed before she contacted me. The area is notorious for ddb breeders and not all the nice kind. She is endorsed and just over 12 months. What shallI do if they refuse???? I may already have a home for her with aanother puppy owner who has a male and are considering rescue for a bitch. She was the last to go and I cried for days after she went but we cant have another large breed in the house. I want her back here but what if they put money before her.?

Maybe you have been a little too honest with them & just said you would have her back...end of. I cant see how they expect to get money for her, from you!
It is so hard to get dogs back you bred, when they are no longer wanted. We have just managed to get an 11 year old back. It was said she was a problem & would be pts but when we said we would be over straight away to pick her up. The reply was 'oh no i'm not ready to let her go yet'...confused.com!!! Anyway patience has paid of & 5 months later she is back home with us :) :) such a relief....3 days later & there isnt a problem.
Good luck & hope you get her back...fingers crossed for you

Offering you first refusal to buy her says it all I'm afraid..........

I'm also afraid that she will end up going to the highest and first bidder.

If you do not have the funds I would beg and borrow from family and friends to get her back so that you can sort out a 'real' lifelong home for her.

Some people hold you over a barrel I'm afraid, they are disgraceful, but as a breeder you have no power here, you take her on their terms or you don't get her. :-( Just say you'll take her back, obviously they want money for Christmas. :-(

If you do not have the funds I would beg and borrow from family and friends to get her back so that you can sort out a 'real' lifelong home for her.

Was going to say exactly the same. It's not fair, far from it, but I'd do whatever it took to get a dog that I had bred back so I knew it was safe.

>> I'm also afraid that she will end up going to the highest and first bidder.

It's all about money these days, sadly.

Yes, I would say exactly the same thing - you can't risk not knowing where your dog ends up.

>but I'd do whatever it took to get a dog that I had bred back so I knew it was safe.

Totally agree!
Unfortunately it looks as though your only option is to pay for the pup's return (especially as the owners have advertised the dog first then offered you the chance to buy!)

Shouldn't have to be the case but I personally would expect to have to have it as part and parcel of the contingency plan money put aside by a breeder to cover every eventuality  when producing a litter.

They are calling the shots, which may not seem fair, but please buy her back. I am sure this is what any truly responsible breeder would do.

It might be worth pointing out the endorsement would mean that any buyer hoping to breed from her would not be able to register any puppies, and that your in a better position to find a good home.

Also it might be worth giving the person you have in mind for her, their details and see if they will come to a mutual agreement over re-homing price.

Otherwise as the others have said you can call their bluff, but if it's a breed that is easy to sell for BYB purposes then I'd not risk it and beg borrow or steal the funds to get her back.

I had this happen with my very first litter 11 months odl bitch just before Christmas.

I did have someone wanting a puppy or older youngster, and when informed they were willing to pay.

In my breed there is very little resale value and at 11 months they would have been lucky to get half of what they paid for an 8 week pup, but a person keen to have a youngster (they had just lost an oldie) were willing to go up to £100 less than puppy price.

I told the relinquishing owners they'd be very lucky to get that amount especially as there were several litters of the breed in the pipeline and people would always go for a puppy over a re-home.  I stipulated that the parties came to me to make the exchange (the old owner was close to me) and they even counted out the money that the new owner gave them.

Beg borrowing and stealing isnt option for us. Due to financial difficulties, redundancy etc  (contingency plan savings are covering the basics) . We have borrowed from family to cover a looming bill and i wont go into the rest on here. I have had no response to my email as of yet, but they have become a breed thats difficult to give away once out of puppyhood never mind sell. so i hope with the lack of offers so close to xmas she will take me up on the offer, but i will speak to my other puppy owner and mention it. having discussed it with another one of my puppy owners we both agree that it would be a good match. Just hope she thinks of Poppy first, ill let you know how it turns out. :-(

I had a return clause in my puppy sale contract which meant if a puppy was out of a home for whatever reason and at whatever stage of their life, it 'should' come back to me.   I have to say that occasionally an owner might feel too awkward to admit defeat however.   It only happened the one time with one I sold at a slightly older age as not only was she not showing her early promise, but by then, I had another litter from which I wanted to keep 2.   Sadly as the rehoming wasn't working out, I took her back (we drove out and picked her up!!) and told them that I'd pay them what I received for her when I did find another suitable home for her, minus a minimal 'boarding fee'.   This I did and thankfully only had her with me for a couple of days before she went off to live with a super lady and her mother, who'd just lost one of the same breed, and happened to be at Crufts and saw us on the benches.   It was fate as the one they'd lost looked like the mother of my returned puppy who was at the show.  They couldn't believe it!!

To offer her to you to buy, when you'd bred her is not on I'd suggest.   First refusal - heck that bitch should have come back to you, period.  But it is all about money these days - easy come, easy go with no commitment.  And if you pay them what they paid you to get her back, they won't learn that buying a puppy sould be a commitment.  Good job if you get her back so you can spay her before she goes out again - she could have ended up as a breeding machine with somebody.    I urge you to reword your sale contract to include a return to you clause.   As above.

I had it with one of my puppy buyers, except the pup was 14 weeks, Apparently it had bit one of the kids and they were now scared stiff of it WTF I pointed out the signed contract stating they had to return the pup to me if they could no longer keep it, an hour later they turned up on my doorstep in their pj's and handed pup over, she is now 2 years old and is the kindest bitch going, I never rehomed her

As you have someone who would want her could u not pass there details on to them and they could agree on a price, if they wanted to rescue they would have had to pay and adoption fee anyway so maby if they offered them some money the current owners would sell the pup straight to them.

Ive spoken to my prospective home today and they are happy to take her and see how it goes. But dont want to part with money before seeing how the two dogs will get on. So after this I called the owner no response so left a message asking if she got my email and I have a family friend who could maybe have her and I will travel up tomorrow to bring her home and then drive out to kingstons house for a meet and greet. No reply. Happened to see her on preloved and a Facebook selling site. Desperate much??? Just popped up on the activities to the right. Its just money so I may have to say if all goes well you can have what kingstons family offer me just to get her back. But it is half what shes wanting. But there are many others a third of the price in the same area so im hoping noone has gotten in touch and she gets in touch with me. I do have a contract that states if the dog can no longer be kept then if the offers there return to me or ill offer assistance. Its the kcabs contract. Thank god shes endorsed. Grrrr

If this was my situation and you are now getting blanked, I think, distance allowing, I'd be there physically.   You say she's endorsed, but I hate to tell you but that only means any puppies she might have cannot be KC registered.   Sadly it doesn't stop her from being bred.    I do agree with the suggestion that she goes from her current home to her new one rather than from them to you, and off again, if possible!   Far kinder on the bitch.   But right now, I do believe she needs to come back to you, whatever it takes.   That way you can get her checked over before sending her off again?   I hope you sort this out.    Having puppies is all very well, when it all goes smoothly.   When it doesn't it can be a nightmare.    I loved rearing a litter, but NOT letting them go!!!

> I think, distance allowing, I'd be there physically

Most definitely.  It happened to me.  I drove there straight from work one night, collected my puppy, and handed her the full price in cash.  I was already in the car before she had finished counting it.  No, I couldn't afford it, but I couldn't afford to let one of my wonderful pups end up god knows where.  Being a bitch, even with restrictions in place, what if she had been used as a puppy machine.  I couldn't let her go, so she stayed here.  Never had a litter, and she's been spayed now.  I changed her name right away, bless her. 

When I crawled into bed in the early hours, I was shattered,, but would do it again in a heartbeat.

Just to let you all know she has just left mine to go to her intended home. She remembered me saw her family I got lots of loves and kisses. Her coats abit of a state lack of exercise and few more groceries in her but her new mum feeds raw and fingers crossed she will settle fine with her brother. Will go see her again in the new year. So happy shes safe and overjoyed she remembers us. Xx

Big relief!

Hooray !...great news :)

Hooray!

Super news, what a relief for you.

Wow, wonderful news.  Thanks for the update.

Well done LouiseDDB ! You've had a really stressful time recently and deserve this happy resolution.

Best wishes for Xmas and 2014.

Poppy and Kingston spent first night together have been walked in the woods this morning and gotten filthy. Shes eaten her raw meals and was happy to see her mummy this am. Early xmas present for me as my tummys been churning since I got the email last week. Dont think she was loved and possibly kept in a downstairs loo in the dark. Grrr. Why have a dog. And why let it get to that stage if you knew you couldnt cope or it was impacting in the dogs welfare. Just hope she has no negative impact on her. But seeing her yesterday I think shes just one of those dogs that will love you regardless. Her new mummy has brought faith back and im glad to have them. Thats 2 puppy owners as repeat customers of extendes family. Sigh of relief today. My neighbour is still at it but that I can handle in my own way xx