Long story short, pup is now 10 weeks old been at new owners family home for ONE week.
They call to say they are not getting on very well, he is running round all the time, biting, he is over the top exuberant and they just can't cope.
I am really upset and annoyed by this as I vetted all the buyers thoroughly and even turned people away in favour of this family, I thought they knew what they were doing.
Anyway, I had a very stern conversation with them and discussed he is only ten weeks old, has been with them one week and all these behaviours are perfectly normal puppy behaviours!
They have agreed but have decided to return him to me which of course I am happy to do.
My question is what do others do in these situations regarding the purchase price?
If this was a hereditary health issue problem or something else linking it back to me then of course a refund at this early age would be acceptable, but what would others do in this instance as the puppy is perfectly healthy and it is the family's inability and lack of preparation/training which is the issue.
Thoughts appreciated.

Refund it so they can't say they have any claim on the puppy and breath a sigh of relief that you got him back quickly before he developed behavioural problems from being with such a non-understanding family!

My boy was ten weeks old and had been with his family for two weeks, when they called the breeder to say they didn't want him any more. When we decided we could give him a home we offered them, through the breeder, just over half the asking price and this was accepted. Don't know if this helps FWIW. He's been absolutely brilliant.

In my.contract it says they can return within 7 days with full refund. Will take back at any time and tbh I would refund in this instance

If this were happening to me, I would refund immediately to avoid the risk of the family selling this puppy on to some unknown person. The rights and wrongs of the situation should be put to one side. Just get the puppy safely back in your posession asap and thank God these people came back to you first.

I would refund in full and sell for full purchase price.  Many breeders don't even place/sell puppies until they are 10 weeks, so he's hardly too old to place easily yet.

I know many will disagree with me on this but I advise doing what I did when faced with a similar situation a few years ago. I just refunded the money in full. What was worse was that I had kept the puppy for a couple of weeks longer than normal ( 10 weeks) to accommodate a family event. The reasons for return of puppy were specious to say the least.  And this after several visits /bonding sessions. I also had the inconvenience if transferring puppy back to my name as the family  had done the transfer of ownership -that was a first in my experience as a breeder , so many never bother ,so many take their time !
I just didn't want any further 'hassle' with this family.

I also had a situation in which a seemingly healthy puppy , health checked  by more than one vet , had to be returned due to a non hereditary neurological condition. Heart breaking for the family concerned.  And of course the money paid was returned.

On the other hand ,these could just be 'teething' problems ( pun intended) and many a family, in my experience at least,  given advice and support, have made great puppy owners. Seems they've made their minds up, sadly .

They can sell on to any old home.  Refund in full immediately.  I couldn't get my pup back fast enough when it happened to me.  I went to collect because I wanted her back with me ASAP.

Your responsibility to this pup is to ensure he's safe.

Couldn't agree more Jean.... I jumped straight in the car when I had a call from an owner letting me know they couldn't 'bond with him'. The thought of my puppy being with a family that didn't want him there and maybe resented him filled me with horror. The hard part was letting him go again as I felt very protective of him.... Fortunately so did the new owner.

I think you will feel a huge sense of relief once you get him back. Refund the full amount so they have no say in puppy's future. Don't feel bad about them slipping through the vetting net..... We've all be there:)

10 days - refund in full for sure and I'd be grateful they had not let the situation linger on where they were unhappy with the pup for whatever reason.
When people say are you not sad to see them go, I say the best thing I can hope for my puppies is that they are happy and have a long and fulfilling life and that the owners are happy and never regret their decision.
It is so hard to make sure that you are getting it right. In my last litter I had a jittery situation as I think puppy has been more than they thought despite my best efforts and they are the most mature dog experienced couple you could think of. Good job they contacted you first.

Definitely refund in full to get your pup back. My rescue GR (now almost 11) was a pup from a similar situation but came to me via a national rescue. I was his 5th home at just 9 weeks old.

Original buyer couldn't cope with him and he was passed from pillar to post rather than being returned to his breeder until he came to live with me. The rescue refused to let the breeder know and wouldn't let me know who the breeder was so I could inform them that he was safe in a forever home - they were very anti-breeder and didn't believe there are such things as responsible breeders :-(

He was a very easy pup and is an absolute delight to share my life with but I often wonder what would have happened to him if he hadn't come to live with me and if there is a breeder out there somewhere wondering what happened to the beautiful boy they bred.

I'd definitely take him back.   Obviously the people are wrong (although they have admitted defeat!), but don't leave the puppy in a bad situation, to be 'ruined'.    And as for a refund, that's up to you and would depend on what's on your sale contract,  but I'd give them a full refund less a small 'boarding fee' depending on how long you have to keep him before finding another home for him.   This might make people think before buying.   Otherwise it tends to be 'easy come, easy go'.   BUT, on the other hand, if they get wind of that, they may decide to sell him for what they paid you for him, elsewhere.    And you do need to get him back.   And yes, I'd be round there to collect him before somebody suggests they home him elsewhere themselves meaning you lose track of him totally.

People!!

Add   "I often wonder what would have happened to him if he hadn't come to live with me and if there is a breeder out there somewhere wondering what happened to the beautiful boy they bred. "

Too right - I WISH Rescues would consider the other side of every story.   I'd go nuts if he was a puppy I'd bred and I discovered he'd gone from his original owners.

I had a situation with one of my puppies I bred, I vetted the home and thought it was ideal....they got her home and after a couple of weeks thought she was too much for them....they sought help and advice and are now happy together.

At the time, if they wanted me to have her back I wouldn't have hesitated, I'd have paid full refund.....making sure she was OK and not passed around was more important to me than the cash.

Refund for puppy's sake. Thou i would be tempted to take off a small amount.Why on earth they didn't think a puppy be hard work? Maybe one of the other families on your list you could re contact re possible home.
I hope you get puppy back and his not too traumatised.

Zipzop, did the buyers ask for a refund?  You didn't say. I expect you got in the car and went straight there and collected the puppy?

What with the new microchipping law, this situation of rescues not informing breeders should stop - or at least, the people who rescue will have the breeder's details on the chip still, should they want to contact the breeder to let them know the dog is safe.

Full refund at this age, if a puppy is over 5 months I would take back and refund the selling on price plus or minus boarding depending on circumstances but you do run the risk of them refusing and your puppy ending up on the internet sites so I would want the puppy back.

No the buyers have not mentioned money at all. It's a little bit less straightforward as they have sent all the documentation off to the kennel club and to petlog for change of ownership so I will now have to wait for these to come back before I can resell the puppy.
Unfortunately they rang me last night while I was at work, I was working til, late, so I couldnt do anything last night and my shifts are such that I have been at work this morning.
They are bringing the puppy back this afternoon, but still no mention of the money. So I guess I will have that conversation when the puppy is safely back in my hands. Once pup is back, I think I will not refund any money until I have the paperwork back in my possession also. By the sounds of it they just want rid of the pup sadly.

I would maybe give them half back now, and the rest back when they give the paperwork to you or transfer the puppy back to your name. 

A puppy without papers can't be sold for full price...

Get them to sign something to say they have given the puppy back to you and the paperwork will follow - that might help if it then doesn't follow and you have to go to the KC about it.

> you do run the risk of them refusing and your puppy ending up on the internet sites so I would want the puppy back.

Which would be my biggest fear.  It's why I would never, ever quibble.

KC means Kennel Club, right?

What does WWYD stand for?  And FWIW?  Sorry to be so uncool... 

Aha!  I bet WWYD means:  What would you do?  

But FWIW?  hmmmm........

For What It's Worth.

> But FWIW?  hmmmm.......

It means " For What It's Worth" 

What would you do is wwyd

And 'tbh' is to be honest.

GWOT =Gone Way Off Topic

Nimue, you are not uncool. Language is about communication and the use of such abbreviations gets in the way of this. So many abbreviations are ambiguous and lead to misunderstandings, sometimes with tragic consequences.

Language is about communication and the use of such abbreviations gets in the way of this. So many abbreviations are ambiguous and lead to misunderstandings, sometimes with tragic consequences.

I couldn't agree more.  I love language.

WONITTA?

WONITTA?  hmmm....   I'm stumped. 

I live in a tiny country which has four languages in it (German, French, Italian, and Romanish), so abbreviations are - in general - kind of pointless. 

Lol, that was a joke!

Puppy came back last night with a whole host of toys, beds and feed in tow!
Pup seems ok, quite stressed I guess at the double move but more than that he has hair missing off his muzzle like a scar (although it's only been a week not sure what's happened there) and it has turned into an utter delinquent. :(
It's jumping up like a maniac, won't let it's self be held as in it just fights to get away, but when you do pick it up it just wants to lick your entire face, yuk. My dad held him last night and he tried to get down so much that it badly scratched his arm and there was serious blood.
I'm actually shocked that things can turn this way so quickly, thank god I've got him back!
By the looks of it he has had no discipline/rules/boundaries whatsoever. I dread to think what would have happened if they had kept him any longer.
Best thing is, he was so boisterous when he got back I let him out with his mum, he did it to her so she gave him a bit of a rollicking (in the nicest possible way) and he thankfully has calmed down and already is improving.
Thanks all for the advice.

Lol, that was a joke!

Hee hee!  You got me there!  One point for YOU! 

Firstly,am glad you have got the pup back and it is getting the treatment it needs. My post is from the point of view of a newbie owner..myself and the OH have toyed with the idea of getting a dog for years but for one reason or another the time was never right (only just moved in together-would we last,rabbit as pet,both worked days etc) so we're restricted to fantasising about having a GS or husky/similar..Anyway,last year lost one of out cats in horrific circumstances,we were devastated,remaining cat miserable/lonely as hell...he needed a friend,wouldn't have accepted a kitten.SERIOUS research began,our lifestyle,what breeds would fit with that,which of those breeds is known to accept cats,what could our house cope with-eventually decided on a breed,read everything we could about it..looked for the bad as well as the good,found a few breeders we liked the sound of,emails were sent-a couple didn't reply,another couple don't breed anymore but offered advice/names of people who may have pups,a while later another replied-got pups,wanted to know if we were still interested-YES! Instant rapport with her,conversation easy,went to see pups,felt like we'd known her years,she didn't sugar coat anything-we knew exactly what we were letting ourselves in for,agreed that she would let us have one,thrilled,continued emails,she introduced us to others involved in breed,everything was perfect.Time came to pick up pup...then came the hardest few weeks of my life-always been an animal lover but have always had rescues,didn't realise just how much of a disadvantage my total lack of maternal instincts would be.I struggled,wanted to admit we'd made a mistake and send him back but there was no way I'd give up on him.The upshot is no matter how much you've read/how good the breeder you have found is nothing can prepare you for the reality.I persevered as I knew it would get better-he's my world now,amazing dog-going through his teens but I don't care! Basically I felt someone needed to stick up for the (brief) owners,can empathise with how they felt but pity them in that they couldn't give the poor thing a chance,bet they regret it every day. Hope I haven't upset anyone,love reading this forum and have got loads of ideas on things to do with my pup from here.

I sort of agree, we're bringing a puppy home fairly soon, after 2 years of planning!  And I am hopeful we will survive the first month and the year of 6-18months because i'm *expecting* it to be incredibly hard tiring work and ridiculous at times but ultimately worth it.  I've planned for not liking it much (not the dog, the hard work!) so my expectations won't get in the way of coping with whatever the reality is.

I do know people who have gotten a puppy and after a few days been tearing their hair out.  Some of them just crate the dog for 3 months - it's to these people's credit that they returned the dog because they don't grow up into happy well-balanced dogs.  Obviously very sad all around, but probably the best outcome one could hope for in the circumstances.  This is another reason it's best to choose a good breeder - if this pup had come from a dodgy puppy farm he'd have been non-returnable and goodness knows what would have happened to him.

When I bought Isla home nearly three years ago, goodness where has the time gone, I was uptodate with the washing, ironing and housework, had a load of ready made food in the freezer (defrost, stick in oven stuff) and nothing arranged for the first two weeks of her arrival. All I had to do was concentrate on her. In a perverse sort of way it was quite nice apart from the biting.

Interestingly I've spotted there's a program next Monday on bbc2 8pm called Choosing the right puppy for you presented by Kate Humble. It's about doing some research before getting a pup to make sure you understand the breeds needs and requirements particularly over grooming and exercise. According to a newspaper article there is even mention of making sure both parents are health tested (shock,horror and amazement). Hopefully this program will be an improvement on some I could mention.

The programme sounds quite promising, I hope it lives up to expectations! Thanks for the heads up!

Can't be any worse than the secret life of puppies!  For me a good breeder was a must as my background is cats,didn't think twice about taking on two adult rescue cats but with a dog needed the reassurance that any problems/issues the dog may have would be our fault and therefore we would have a good chance of going well,we did this wrong so he's like that so if we now do this then we can fix it.His breeder is fantastic and the epitome of the 'lifetime of breeder support' clauses.The one thing everyone says about him is how well behaved he is and he is a pretty confident chap.

I was on a good breeder's list for 18 months before I got 2 boys. Don't worry not pups rats

I think it may be the same in all animals good breders are worth their weight in gold. When I got my second pair of rats from her after waiting again I wasn't charged as she only bred when she wanted something for herself and gave the others to people who had had rats from her before.

They were super confident healthy rats well handled and so friendly