As the title says really, is it worth having waiting lists?

I've only bred 3 litters (4th hopefully soon) and have had waiting lists each time. And each time, at any time from the initial enquiry, to when the pups are on the ground, people back out on a regular basis. I keep them updated with when the bitch is due in season, when she's come in season, when she's mated, when she's scanned and when puppies are born.

They rarely contact me to say they no longer wish to stay on the waiting list and it's usually when I make contact with updates I get told "oh we've got a pup elsewhere".

It really seems not worth have a waiting list and it would be better to just advertise the litter when they are on the ground as people seem to have the "I want it now" mentality.

Just wondered what others thought?

I have people on my list who have been waiting over a year. Often past puppy owners wanting another. I just wait till we have pups on the way then work my way through it and see what's left. If I am then short its easy to put the word out in the clubs and find extras ! In my breed we have lots more looking than pups available.
The best owners are those who I have grown to know over the waiting time !
Aileen

As a puppy buyer I find the idea of another puppy in the house a daunting prospect - I love my dogs and do enjoy the puppy months BUT I much prefer them from 6 months old!

With that in mind I like the waiting list period as it enables me to get organised and get my head around how much my life is about to change :)

I like to do a round of family visits before the pup arrives and then have a clear diary for some months so I can concentrate on the new arrival.  I probably take it more seriously than some buyers but it's what works for me - I'd actually hate to have a pup 'right now'

I suspect there are as many types of buyer as there are breeder but it's a waiting list breeder I'd be looking for every time

I keep getting people telling me to " add me to your waiting list".
I don't have one, don't want one....And I have no intention of implying a 'promise' to any one.

Adding someone new to my waiting list never implies anything. They all get told that it is just a list and I will vet those still on it once pups are on the way but nothing is definite until I have met them a few times.;-)
Never take deposits or "Promise" anything.
Aileen

For the puppy buyer I see a waiting list as a good time to get stuff sorted and to have a good think about the pup. If you go see a litter of cute puppies you can get swept up in all the excitement and than after end up thinking did I realy want this puppy after all. When u have to Waite but know your on a list (so in the running for a puppy) you can sit back relax and make sure that you realy are ready for one.

I imagin it also give you as a breeder time to meet the buyers and find out more about them depending on how long befor hand they enquire, someone may say one thing to you when you first meet them but then may let something slip a moth or two later that may chance your mind about them.

You will prob allways get people going elsewhere with out letting you know they no longer want to be on your list for one reason or another more so if your in a popular breed with lots of pet breeders however if someone is of the 'I want it now' type and can't be bothered to Waite For what they want do you realy want them having one of your pups?

Par for the course I'm afraid.   I'd take names but only if I was doing a litter in the near future (we bred only for our next generation).   But more often than not when I call back with puppies on the ground, it's either we bought elsewhere (often an entirely different breed) or we've decided not to have a puppy after all and so on.   Those people I probably didn't need in any case as only with one litter did I have to resort to advertising on the KC Puppy List.

For some people it's very much like buying a bag of sugar - wake up one morning and think let's go get a puppy.

Mind you, those who did stay with me, usually became friends in the interim which made parting with my precious puppies that much easier!

ps   I have never taken a deposit either.

In my breed, I'd NEVER EVER in a million years even contemplate mating a bitch unless I had at the very least 6 people on a list, ideally a LOT more, at the time of mating. Advertising once pups are born simply doesn't work in my breed. The people interested in them are either the wrong kind, not right for the breed at all -the wrong ones are likely to respond to an advert, or the right kind that plan carefully in advance, would never respond to an advert and contact breeders a year or two in advance, go to meet breeders and their dogs before there are any pups, choose the breeder rather than the puppy, etc. So the trick is to have too many people on the list, as yes, there is always somebody who drops out. I had 4 people drop out for this litter I have now, but also I was 4 pups short as I had 11 wanted but only 7 pups -and those 11 did not include those that dropped out. For my next litter in a year's time I currently have 5 people on the list, one of which has been on it for 2 years already. Two of the people there wanted a pup from a specific bitch, hence preferred to wait until it was her turn rather than go for the current litter.

When I have had to advertise pups I have always ended up having to keep at least 2 pups as it is impossible to find the right homes that way. But my breed isn't 13 to a dozen and the buyers tend to all be experienced dog people serious about competing in one form or another, so they are not likely to go and look elsewhere and end up with a badly bred pup. The problem occurs when there are large litters and people drop out and there just aren't replacements to be found. This is only the third ever litter I have had where the pups have all had homes right away, and it was probably a lot to do with timing -no other breeders with similar lines with litters at the same time.

So once again it's very much breed specific I'd say.

>someone may say one thing to you when you first meet them but then may let something slip a moth or two later that may chance your mind about them.

This has happened to me twice.  I love the look on their faces when they "get caught out." 

I just say I don't think I feel happy about you having one of my puppies.  And no argument will win me over. 

I don't have a waiting list as such. I insist that they come to the house first for a visit before the puppies are born, and if I feel they are the right people for one of our pups, then I put them on the list. If during the time between there initial visit, the birth of the pups, and there next visit when the pups are 4 to 5 weeks, I find anything wrong about them or that they've lied, then I remove them from the list.

Those that refuse to come for an initial visit, don't get any further.

I only make concessions on this if they are say, over a 4hr drive away.But even when these people turn up at the 4 to 5 week mark, I always tell them there is no guarantee, because if I don't feel your right, you'll not get a puppy, no matter how far you've come.

I prefer to have the waiting lists in place, as I like to have established a relationship with the potential owners, and know that their decision to have a puppy is not a rash one, but as you find expect people to drop out.

In fact if I know another breeder has a puppy left or cancellation I will ofte4n contact people on my list suggesting they may want one sooner (bird in the hand), as I feel what goes around comes around, and I'd rather have a new breed convert and a puppy on the ground homed sooner.

I update people as you say at various stages and add to my email that if they do not respond to say they are still 'on board' then I assume they have changed their minds.

By the time a pregnancy is confirmed I rarely have people drop out, but up until then I expect to loose more than half depending on how long they have been on my list.

On the other hand as others have said some people faithfully stay on the list for ages, even over a year.

Also as my breed is numerically small the number of good puppy enquiries are unlikely to al amterialise in a short space of time (say 6 weeks once pups a re on the ground), it's often feast or famine in our breed, no pups to be had, and then two or three litters born, and fi an imbalance of sexes then there will be pups taking longer to find the right homes.

I always warn any new breeder to expect to allow three months tot have all of a litter homed, and would consider having all pups go at 8 weeks unusual, even if all booked.

I always warn any new breeder to expect to allow three months tot have all of a litter homed, and would consider having all pups go at 8 weeks unusual, even if all booked.

That's how it is for me as well. Of my 7 current pups, 3 will go now at 8 weeks -one has left already, one tomorrow, one Sunday. 3 are staying longer, including one that has to stay until 17 weeks as he is going abroad and needs a passport. And the last I am keeping of course. Next week is going to be busy when I have to start socialising 4 pups!

Before I got my current pup, I researched long and hard and contacted a few breeders I liked the look of. Not only did they want to see us, but we wanted to meet them. I needed to see that they were all they said they were and I wanted to meet all their dogs and assess temperament which is very important to me. I expressed interest in a few planned litters and explained that I had spoken to other breeders and put my name down, mainly in case something went wrong with the planned litter such as no pregnancy, pregnancy failure (which did happen in one case) or not enough puppies. However once I had made my decision and both the breeder and us were happy with each other, I contacted the other people and told them to cross me off the list so to speak, it seemed only fair to do this.

Works both ways I find.  Although its hard to tell initially who is serious and who isn't.  I have people waiting for my next litter although no real idea when that may be so won't take them as serious until such times as puppies have arrived.

I think often it comes down to breed Pedlee, I always tell people to check out lots of breeders and litters so I guess some quite rightly do and due to the fact that you have a popular breed it will happen more often than many others, shame for you I know, and no doubt some will go with the first litter on the ground rather than the quality, but with the more popular breeds it is bound to happen.

Those of us with smaller numerical breeds will find good breeders will get more hits from really interested parties who will often return again and again and word of mouth will ensure full waiting lists whom will not budge.

Carry on with your waiting lists as you need to make those cuts and do that important vetting, but always have a large back up list too from those you have sorted out as with the breed being ever popular you're bound to get a few skip across to other breeders nearer or already born so I'd cater for that happening. ;-)

As a prospective puppy buyer, who's found their preferred breeder, I'm sticking like glue !.
Even once I'm in a position for a puppy, I'm prepared to wait, it'll be difficult for me as I won't have a dog at all in that time, but that's just the way it'll have to be.
The wait will make the eventual puppy all the more precious.