I have met a lady in the park several times with a beautiful young pedigree terrier.When I was speaking to her today she was concerned about the way the breeder conducts her 'business'.I said I would post the details breifly and try to get some opinions on the subjects she is concerned about.
1/ The dam of her bitch has just whelped another litter-I know you can register 2 litters less than 12 months apart but the first litter are only 8 1/2 months!!Apparently the bitch looked awful after the first litter
2/ The breeder will not allow any visits to the pups before they are ready to collect!!
3/ The breeder requires a £100 deposit for a pup at time of booking(without having viewed)
4/ The breeder will NOT allow people to chose their own pups-she choses for them.I don't mean gives you a choice depending on wether you want show or pet I mean you are given the pup she decides you should have.
It all seems a bit strange to me and I definately would not be purchasing a pup from her but how do you feel.
Archer

well im know breeder but that is not normal well so i think anyway,where is this breeder based?,sounds like it may well be a puppy farm,what breed is this dog in question i know you said terrier but which one?

Its definately not a puppy farm.She only breeds this one type of terrier and I believe she only has one bitch.
Archer

I wouldn't buy from this breeder. If she won't let you see the pups before you go to collect, how does she know anyone is a suitable owner? It sounds as if she just wants the money, and once the pups are gone the owners are on their own.

Archer,
I certainly wouldn't buy a puppy from this breeder. It is important for a breeder to chat to people who are potentially going to purchase a puppy, but it is just as important for a potential puppy purchaser to be able to chat to the breeder to see if they want to buy from this particular person & to be given the oppurtunity to ask questions about the breeders dogs/lines. If I were to choose a pup I want the one I feel is right for me - not the one that has been chosen for me.
I guess the person in question is allowed to do "business" however she likes, but one thing is for sure, she won't get any "business" from me.
kel

ok sorry its not a puppy farm ok them sounds like she is just doing this for money then, well thats how it comes across,

I'm not thinking of buying a pup from this breeder -I'm still waiting for another elkie pup!!(looks like its gonna be a long wait LOL)The lady I see at the park is concerned for the bitch and also a freind of hers has booked a pup but wants to visit and choose her new baby and is wondering if this way of doing things is common practice since they are both novice dog owners
Archer

Hi Archer, I know you weren't thinking of buying a pup from her, my point being that it's not someone I would buy a pup from. (or would advise anyone else to) If the lady's friend has not paid a deposit I would advise her to steer clear. This certainly is not common practice. A good breeder would welcome people to come & view pups & ask Q's. Another thing to consider is what if there were a problem with the pup, would the breeder be offering backup & support to new owners?
The thing that concerns me is the health & welfare of the bitch, if she has had 2 litters so close together.
Kel :)
PS on a different note, how do you get the smily faces on posts?

ooh looks like i worked out the smily faces -
:)
how do you do others, I can only do :) & I could probably work out 1 more............ here goes
:(

I personally would not get a puppy from a breeder who has more than one litter in the same 12 months from the same bitch. Also as has been said you should be able to visit the puppies and see the mother and so on before collecting the puppy. With regard to choosing which puppy you have, I would say it depends on the breed. My friend didn't have a puppy from a particular breeder because the breeder insisted she would choose which puppy would suit them. Eventually they found another breeder who let them choose their own puppy and they chose the most dominant one. They ended up regretting their choice (inexperienced in that breed) and even said to me that they wished they had let the original breeder choose for them after all. So the breed could affect who chooses.

Fiona

Have a look here CD Help Pages

Melody :)

It might be a good idea to share thoughts with a breeder and to discuss pups characters etc with new owners, but for me the best part was seeing my girl every week for 8 weeks, the first time she was just 24 hours old and like a tiny baby hippo in my hand .... :) I will never forget that experience esp. as i shall probably never breed myself. It's also so important to see the dam.

It doesn't sound too good to me, but i'd like to hear her side of the story.

Lindsay

please tell me how to do faces. IM THICK lol

Hi Archer,
I wouldn't buy anything from this lady, far less a puppy :(
How can she possibly know what kind of homes she's allowing her babies to go to, if she won't let people see them before they take them home - that seems ludicrous to me .
I'm afraid if I was a potential buyer, that in itself would set off the alarm bells and I certainly would be giving her a wide berth.
Looks like her puppy was lucky.....this time :(
Sharon
X

maybe she's ashamed of what her bitch looks like, wouldn't have thought it would look very healthy after having litters so close together. Wished she lived near me i'd go round and whip her a**e!

Hi Archer
I will let you know what I think or do on each of your points:
1. In certain cases there may be "good cause" for breeding 2 litters within a 12 month period. This subject has been discussed before and various "acceptable" scenarios have been mentioned. It should NOT be done without a GOOD reason ie to make money off a litter twice!
2. Puppies should be able to be viewed anytime from about 3/4 weeks of age. I am happy for new owners to come and see my pups as many times as they want but I do appreciate if they live a far far distance away that it is not always possible.
3. I do take a deposit at the time of someone confirming they want a puppy. I keep in regular contact the prospective new owners and ask many questions over the phone. I also keep them up to date on the pups progress with phonecalls and pictures. At the time of booking I explain the deposit is fully refundable should anything happen to the puppy. Due to the amount of enquiries we receive I keep a waiting list and picks of pups go in order that people have contacted me EXCEPT if we are keeping one or there are show homes waiting.
4. As explained above choices are given in the order of contact except if we are keeping a pup or one is to go to a show home. This is explained to new owners from the start and the only person that does not get a choice is the person on the list that made the enquiry last :-) sounds complicated but I hope you get the jist of what I am saying :-) All my new puppy owners have been fine with this and after seeing the pups have said they would all have been happy with any of them!!! :D
Sometimes it is not possible if the pup is going a long way for the new owners to get to see the pups before BUT I honestly think you can tell just as much about a person by chatting to them regularly on the phone as you can meeting them when they come to view a puppy. I can thankfully say ALL my puppies have gone to fantastic homes and I keep in touch with them all having visits form many and loads of photo updates! :-)
I have had phonecalls from people who I just do not feel happy with and have not sold pups to them but thankfully that has not been often.

I have to ask, Why on earth would anyone put a £100 deposit on a puppy they had never seen?

Don't get me wrong, I can understand a puppy from a good breeder breeding from a well known bitch to a well known stud but that does not seen to be the case here!

John

Thanks everyone-you've all confimed my feelings.
I have passed on myconcerns to this lady and will let you all know if anything comes of it
Thanks Archer

Out of interest, Archer, do you know what breed of terrier?

Presumably the breeder has a dog as well...if not, there is someone else as bad in the breed, for allowing a mating to an obviously out of condition bitch.

Hi
yes I do know the breed but sorry would rather not say since it is one of the rarer ones and the sire is VERY well known so rather than risk upsetting anyone I'll not say.The other thing is since I am only going on whats been told to me not first hand knowledge
Regards Nikki.

I appreciate that, Nikki, but personally I feel that if this does turn out to be true, people in that breed should be made aware of the fact that the stud dogs owner is not too fussy about the bitches his dog is put to. It smacks of "take the stud fee and run" rather than a willingness to take joint responsibility for the offspring as it should be. I am by no means condoning the actions of the breeder of the puppies, but all too often the stud dog owner is forgotten in a case like this.

what do i think? i wouldn't get a puppy from this woman. i would want to choose the pup and hear about the temperament of the mother and father, [and definitely see the mum, if not the dad too]. i would want to see if the pups show any individual characteristics [ie dominance, submission, 'bit of a loner', bossy - that sort of thing]. some people like to show , some just want a companion etc etc. i would also want to see the condition of the eyes, skin, ears, and check there wasn't an umbilical hernia - for example.

she could be unwilling for people to see the pups mum if she is not coping and looks in bad condition, and unwilling for people to see the conditions in which they all live. if she has nothing to hide she should welcome potential buyers to see what a happy and clean environment the pups live in and should be proud to show them off! it's also good for the pups to get visitors and socialise a little with new people.

a good breeder would also want to vet the new owners, surely, as there are many 'odd' pet owners about, those who haven't thought it all through and don't know enough about what is entailed in management of the particular breed. and also those who basically just love puppies, not giving any thought to the fact that they are really buying the adult dog that it will soon become.
i wouldn't hand over 100 quid for something i hadn't seen! the owner of my pup didn't even want a deposit but kept her for me.