Hello all, new here so bear with me.....

Bit of a strange one but we lost our golden 2yrs ago at good age of 15yrs which left Ruby our boxer now nearly 8yrs on her own & we'd decided a few months ago to give our home to another puppy, another Boxer. We both are home based, late 40's, very outdoors type people, have a holiday home up in Lake Distric and wherever we go, Ruby goes etc....

So.... We placed our name down with a few KC regd breeders & regularly checked " good " internet adverts for litters etc..... Nearly three weeks ago we were pointed to a new advert on Pets for Homes for a recent (3-4 week old) litter down in Southam, Surrey.... Some nearly 260 miles away..... Anyway, we rang and spoke to the young lady at length and she came across very knowledgeable, caring and assured..... It was here 2nd litter in 2yrs, mum was/is shown and dad is a very well known show (Crufts Champ 2014) dog with a well known breeder/show of Boxers..... The young lady went on to say that there were two girls left, she had wanted to keep one in particular BUT there was a little too much white on the face for the show ring (doesnt bother us) as advised by this well known breeder of Boxers and owner of the dad to these pups..... So.... Without further ado we committed to the young lady and placed a good sized deposit within a few hours, to this point she would return our calls, texts etc...no issues.

We then spoke with the breeder/owner of the famous dad who confirmed everything was spot on, dad was dad etc.... And the young lady had a bit to learn but heart seemed in right place and if she failed on anything then she'd have herself to answer to (very old fashioned kinda attitude which I liked).

Very excited and looking forward to regular communications, photos, updates etc..... We waited patiently for promised pics..... One day grew into a week and eventually I did some digging and the tel number we have brought up a few things that started to concern us, namely other breeds of pups were advertised on this number back in January (she has since said they were here sisters who breeds/shows Cavaliers, this turned out to be correct), and some jack russels last year, again this was answered..... She also does dog grooming and has horses (or mum and dad do)..... I rang for an open conversation stating my concerns of having to keep begging for info, photos etc... And said it felt strange from a breeder etc...and I also felt I was troubling her etc.... She gave a cock and bull excuse about being busy etc.... And she said she would go downstairs now (this was 8.30pm) from her bedroom and take pics of the puppy and send.....

Several poor quality photos came through but nonetheless they came through.... That was two weeks ago.... We've been busily getting our homes ready for the new pup, told people, shown photos etc.... More photos, progress was promised two weeks ago but nothing..... We had a very short reply from a text sent last week on exact date ready for collection as we'll travel down day before and stay overnight etc..... More photos were promised this week and 2 days ago I sent her some of our Ruby and asked for some updated ones on the pup but as of now (Friday 3pm), no reply, nothing......

Having read the thread here on a lady having taken a deposit on a pup but something not sitting right with the new owners, we ourselves feel the same BUT on the other end !!!!!

The litter have been registered with KC on 24/2/16 as I was sent an e mail from KC as Im on their puppy list (Boxers) so that was a coincidence.... The pups were born on 18/1/16 and are due for collection 14/3/16, not long away....

Any advice peeps ? I dont want to annoy her enough for her to simply " not let us have the pup " but in the same breath surely Im entitled to ask the basics etc ?

Thankyou in advance

Chris & Paula

Unless I have misunderstood u havnt.met mum or the pups ? If that is the case it's a must and assuming pup is over 4 weeks needs to arrange as soon as reasonabley long journey I know but its the name of.the game  .u need to do this before funnaly takimg tje pup Please don't take anything as hearsay unless u can see for yourself . Some of  the  more experienced breeders will be along soon I am sure with more help

Until the 14th comes along your abit stuck. You havent been to the address where the pup is staying or seen anyone in person i would contact a couple of days before collection too arrange a time for pick up and address. If it were me i would be seeing if i could get a landline number for the address she gyou and ring the number to make sure she isnt sending you on a wild goose chase as you have got a fair bit of travelling to do. How did you pay banks transfer? There is a lot of scams going on on selling sites but to be honest this dosent sound like one. As for going to meet mam and the pup yes its a definate must but its abit to late for that now you have allready invested money into the dog so i would be trying to kee her sweet until you have the pup.

No responsible breeder would take a deposit from someone they don't know without meeting then first and having them down to visit,you need to male sure that you're happy with the set up and that you're also happy with the puppy too.
If things aren't sitting right and for you as a purchaser they wouldn't be for me either I would say you want your deposit back. Do you have any correspondence that you've paid her money and what it was for? Anything to say if either back out money would be returned?

I would get yourself down there tbh asap to visit before the time comes to collect,you need to be happy with everything. Cant believe that this lady hasn't even asked to meet you in advance. Doesn't make sense.
See what you can do and if you've had dealings with the stud owner and this breeder messes you about I would be having words in their ear about it.

exactly what suejaw says she is talking a lot of sense. Do hope you sort this out but don't take the pup if you arnt happy even if it means losing the money.

Yes agree if you arent happy with the pup don't take her with you, ask for your deposit and take someone with you. If they get funny then walk away and if the money is that important afterwards you can look at trading standards and possibly small claims to get it back.

I appreciate that my mistake was not going down to meet/view etc.... But a round trip of 560 miles and the fact Id had a good long conversation with the person AND Id spoken with the breeder who owns the sire made me believe all was OK......

Ironically she watsapp'ed me tonight with several photos after my wife text here just as I posted this message so fingers crossed.....

I s'pose what I struggled to understand is after sending a £500 deposit the communication from her as a breeder was nil yet you'd think she would welcome lots of dialogue and building up of a relationship but hey-ho my mistake.

Here's hoping

Regards

Chris

As a breeder I'd never accept a deposit from someone without a viewing.

I've travelled hundreds of miles to view a puppy and have had people travel hundreds to view my puppies.....if you don't want to travel that far, don't enquire about puppies outside what you consider a fair distance.

I have to say I think £500 deposit is extortionate!

500 pounds is ridulous as a deposit . As for the mileage I did the same for my fcr on two occasions and likewise for my gsd. It's  not unusual at all to get the right pup .

To be fair all may be, and probably is well.

Chances at the lady is pretty busy, if she has a family life, job maybe, and a litter of pups, that's some serious hard work.

There is so much paperwork to do registrations etc.

The registrations are confirmed you have had photos.  Some people are better and more organised with communication with new puppy owners/enquiries, and may not have developed a system for handling them.  After all in an average litter of this breed they are probably in contact with half a dozen to 10 new owners.

Those of us with more experience maybe set aside a day each week to take photos and send a round robin email to all the owners with all the puppy photos, and update my website weekly, other people do not.

Some people send videos I wouldn't' have a clue)/

Some people don't' necessarily have a camera and those mobile phone pics are often awful (auto settings rarely good for animals or close ups of young pups).

Again with you checking the breeder out with the stud owner, sounds like a Novice breeder (especially considering where you sae the advert, as few experienced breeders would need to advertise with the general puppy sites often having a waiting list simply from their own websites, though the kennel club and breed club, and often through recommendation once they have a reputation as good breeders.

A newby breeder may not have been around long enough or advertised a litter on a website in advance and therefore won't have had a chance to get people on a witting list to visit before pups born or before due to go to homes, but only get that far when pups are several weeks old, and it doesn't' occur to them to invite the new owner to visit befo0re pick up unless they ask to.

> I have to say I think £500 deposit is extortionate!

I have never charged more than 10% as a deposit.

Marco0124
Until the 14th comes along your abit stuck.

HP
Marco above is right, you 'seem' to have a combined oral and written contract, the contract completion date is not till 14th - if the terms of the contract are not met by the 14th you need to make a report to the police straight away.
.

1.   What does the receipt for your deposit monies say - non -refundable?   If so you are stuffed.   And I have to say there's  NO WAY I'd have parted with that kind of money as a deposit unless it was refundable!   Most deposits are far less than that, and non-refundable however.
2.   You should always go see mum with the puppies and meet the breeders.   There are way too many scams around these days, and that's a website I'd NEVER TOUCH!!
3.   You might try contacting the Breed Club and see whether the name of this breeder is on their list of reputable breeder-members.  Hopefully she is.

I guess you can but wait for the collection date, turn up, and hope all is as you expect.   Otherwise you may be looking at all of this as a very hard learning experience.   And perhaps consider taking them to Court as it is a significant sum of money.

ps   All this 'Crufts Champion 2014' is a nonsense.   There is no such thing.  There is a BOB (Best of Breed) in the Breed Classes at Crufts, a Group win/place and obviously Crufts BIS (Best in Show), but no Crufts Champion.  Anybody breeding and showing dogs, would know that.   Oh and the dog could have taken his Championship qualifying 3rd CC at Crufts, but that's all.

good post mamabas . I would be taking a trip down there to see exactly whats what and reassure myself this is the pup I want even if it is only 10 days away and 250 miles just for interest I googled southam surrey. I have lived in surrey all my life and never heard of it. The only one I can find is southam house near addlestone . have you checked the address ? I do hope its all genuine and the pup is being bought up in the way you would want and helathy

I have had people.come to me and travelled further to view and meet us and them come back again to collect.
You have enough time if the owner is free of course to get down there tomorrow or next week. Even if it means getting a train or flying down.

I've had people travel 500 miles each way.  They visited twice before final pick up.  Because they didn't want pup to travel all that way in 1 go, they booked B&B to break up the journey home.

I had a buyer(word of mouth) who flew down from Edinburgh to Bristol, hired a car and drove to Exmoor to meet my in whelp bitch and for us to meet. When pups were four weeks he, wife and their beautiful children drove down to see them. When they collected their pup they all came again and stayed in a b&b on the way back to break pup's journey. Edinburgh is 450 miles from me so a total of 2,700 miles.

They gave my precious pup the most wonderful home and treasured him for all his 14 happy years and we cried together when he crossed the bridge.

Travelling for a wonderful friend is well worthwhile, I too have no hesitation in travelling for the right pup.

As a puppy buyer, if a breeder wants to meet me, I will definitely meet with them - flew to Ireland and back, to meet the breeder of one dog, whilst the mum was pregnant. 

From my perspective, I don't usually feel the need to meet the breeder - I've usually found them on recommendation from other breeders and I know of them, they have good reputations, and I have researched them well online and spoken to them on the phone about how they will raise the litter.

But if they want to meet me, as a buyer and home for one of their puppies, I will definitely travel to them whatever the distance.

I did once accept a deposit for a puppy without meeting the people face to face and on the understanding that if when they came to pick her up I felt they were not suitable or on the other hand they did not like the puppy then the deposit would be paid back to them. We exchanged several phone calls (the days before the internet) and the terms were in writing, all was well and they stayed in touch for 14 years and had another puppy 5 years after the first. It does worry me that the deposit is so large although I believe that a deposit must be returned if requested as it is meant to "hold" the puppy for the buyer not as a part payment.

You have to accept all is well now.............until the time comes and it isn't............hopefully it is. You've paid a 'ridiculous' deposit so what is done is done, I guess as far as the breeder is concerned you are now a serious buyer and you have faith in her too in leaving a large deposit like that.

Rearing puppies is hard work and constant work, especially if the breeder also has other dogs to care for too, the thing is not everyone does have time or is organised enough to take constant pictures and make updates, the quality and breeder of the pups is much more important. Yes, you've had to push for photo's etc but just remember not all breeders are into doing that, some are very old school still.

Just sit back, relax and wait................. you chose this breeder, she chose you so you'll have to put up with the way she does things, right or wrong,

When collection time comes hopefully you will both be happy with your choices and you'll have a wonderful pup, I would suggest you don't rock the boat and panic over needing more than she's prepared to give.

If this is a scam, (a need for £500 oh dear, really hope for you it isn't) you'll find out soon enough, not a great website IMO for getting a pup from, what was wrong with using the Boxer breed clubs or Champdogs in the first place?

I really hope all will be well for you, please let us know, the pups genuine lineage is the important thing here, everything else is just a bonus, fingers crossed.

IN some ways my story has similarities.
Years ago now I took one of my girls to a nice stud dog - he's a CH and proven.  Not allowed to be there for mating, had to wait other side of the garden!  All looked well but no pups.  Ovulation tests done so should have been ok.  Had 2 matings as well.
A year or so later I contacted them as I was still very interested in the sire and asked if he had any litters due.  They told me one of their girls was due a litter.  I continually asked for details of the bitch so I could check up on pedigree, hips etc.  I then started phoning and was told the litter had been born, can't remember if she had 5 or 6 but they had no idea how many bitches/dogs there were - strange??  I then phoned back a week later and a second litter had been born, again no details of how many of each sex out of 4 pups or give me any info on the bitch.  I was beginning to be a bit wary - he had offered my the stud fee I had paid  (£500) off the price of the pup.
The reason I didn't visit was they had moved much further away and he probably wouldn't have allowed me to go until they were 4 weeks old+
I decided that this breeder was not for me and made no further contact.  Yes, I;m £500 down, but a lesson learnt.
p.s.  I then looked in the following BRS to see details of the litter - he registered 13 puppies that quarter to ONE bitch.  How glad am I about my decision, I would never have been 100^ sure of pups breeding.
Having a good relationship with the breeder of your pup is so important, if you have any doubts, try and get your money back and find another breeder.

I doubt very much the OP would get their deposit back, it was given as a sign of their commitment/interest in that particular puppy. Will have to wait and see what happens. Hopefully all will be ok and the breeder is just very busy/disorganised/unthinking.