Hi, well we just got our first rescue call of the new year today!  Asked all the usual questions, including have they contacted the breeder, and stunned at the answer - didnt want the breeder to know, as they had really like him, and didnt want him to think any the less of them!  I know this breeder does contracts etc and buyers have to agree to return the dog to them if they can not longer keep it.  I also am pretty sure he would be more than happy to home it until it is adopted.  But OH no, they wont have him told in case it is embarrassing.  It makes me despair, and wonder just how many of the pups we sell, the ones who dont keep in touch, are actually still in the homes we let them go to?  I am NOT having a happy new year thinking about this!
bye
Gwen

I don't know what to say really.

I just know I wouldn't be able to hold my temper, Gwen you are an angel.

No suggestions Karen 

Hi Gwen

I am not surprised.

I had a call on my mobile in early December that I picked up just before Christmas (I don't use it very often).  It was someone looking for a young Dobe bitch.  By the time I spoke to them they had found one a couple of days before that they said as one of my puppies.  I did not have any last year so thought this strange but it turned out she was one of my male's daughters.  The puppy owners had not contacted the breeder (who would definitely have wanted to know) but the new owners were going to.  Either of us would have taken this pup in but it sounds as if she has found a good home.

Puppy owners sign contracts but don't seem to beleive that we actually WANT to hear if things are going wrong and need to know where our pups are.

I hope you can let the breeder know about their pup, once it has been signed over to you for you to do as you wish with you are free to contact the breeder, but request that they don't contact the previous owners.

Good luck

Hi Karen and Kerioak,  just felt I had to let off some steam with my original post.  It has put us in a very difficult position, as I dont feel we can break a confidence, after all they rang us as rescue, not as friends of a breeder.  So we have decided that the best thing to do will be to put the adopter in touch with the breeder when he goes to his new home.  I think this is probably rather specious reasoning on my behalf, but I kind of feel my obligation to the current owner ends when the dog is in new hands!

We had another dog in last month who had been abandoned at his groomers - they took him in for a hairdo and then refused to pick him up!  We had a lovely lady on our list with whom he is now happily settled and much loved.  Still feel guilty that the poor groomer is out a grooming fee - but we did send her a Christmas Card!

bye
Gwen

Hi Gwen

Whilst I realise that two wrongs don't make a right, if you know that the breeder concerned does contracts and would take the dog back then I still feel they should be contacted.  It makes for better relations between breeders and rescues?

If it was me I would want to know (it isn't - is it?)

How about you get them to sign the dog over to the rescue then you contact the breeder? I would think if they go to the trouble of a "contract etc" they would be pleased to know/help/assist with one of their own pups as Kerioak says.

You never know they may know of someone ideal for the dog :) or assist in the rehoming/vetting service.

Karen  
    

I have just rescued a shih tzu puppy put out by a neighbour at 16 weeks for weeing on her new carpets.   How can people be so cruel and why get a dog if you cant see a long commitment.  These people make me sick!

I would like to say a happy new year to all breeders and rescues you all do a fantasic job and wish all dog owners could be as loving as the people on here

What type of rescue do you run gwen?  I guess this is going to be a busy time of year now the excitiment of a new puppy has gone!

In Schip rescue there is a policy that a breeder is not informed if the owner of the returning puppy/dog has refused to contact them themselves, unfortunately it is very difficult but past experience has made it necessary to impliment this policy.  There are certain circumstances where it would be unwise and down right detremental to the animal concerned and it's soon to be ex owners if the breeder were advised of the situation, believe me I made the mistake once and all hell broke lose as they say and I'd never do it again no matter how much I thought of the breeder or people doing the returning.

Hi Schip (and everyone else) this is the invidious position into which this situation has placed me.  As a breeder I would be devastated to find that my dog had gone and I could have helped care and home for it in the intervedning period.  However, we had a long and hard discussion about this sort of thing at the inception of our term as offficers of Yankee Rescue.   It is a position which can be open to abuse - we have the advantage of rescue listings etc, so had to set guidelines so that no one abused enqurieis by using it as a puppy/dog selling thing.  We also considered a whole load of different cases from the past and from other breed rescues, and agreed that confidentiality with the owner  had to be respected,if requested, in order to gain the trust.  As my fellow 'rescuer' and myself set our rules, and had them agreed by the breed club, it is inappropriate to try and break them the first time one is questioned.  I know I will be bending them a little by telling the new adopter he/she can contact the breeder.  Glad for your back up Schip - what is seen as a straight forward courtesy - (indeed the only fair and common sense thing to do) in contacting the breeder could be construed as some sort of unfair advantage by others.  Allegations of improper use of privilege etc. etc.  And what is the current owner found out before we had the dog signed over?  He could end up being unsuitably homed just to keep him our of our "unreliable" hands.  This is one of the hard faces of breed rescue, along with dogs who have been neglected/ill-treated, and the prank phone calls at unsocialbe hours by the real wits who find our listings and ring to ask if our American Cockers all have British Passports or are here on Visas (Yes, 4 such call so far in the last few months!)
bye Gwen

Hi Eddie,  I dont run  a rescue, I am co-ordinator and fund-raiser for Northern Counties American Cocker Rescue.  We are, luckily, a very low volume rescue!  We took over on 1st December 2002 (when we discovered a dog about to be put to sleep in Local Authority kennels) and discoverd the previous encumbents of the role had given up 2 years previously without telling anyone.    In the following year we had to rescue/rehome 4 dogs, 2 of whom needed in excess of £300 each vet. care - the kitty stood at 37p which is where my role of fundraiser came in!  We paid for the care, raised the funds to cover it, and then carried on harrying people for money.  After LKA this year we are the proud custodians of just over £1000 in the bank for Yankees in need!
bye
Gwen

I am not surprised at all.  Similar has happened in my breed, but in this case the owners had ben less than truthful about their home circumstances, so didn't want breeder to know.  Luckily the rescue contacted had contacts within our breed and tyhe breeder was traced.  The bitch was homed with her Dams breeder and became a Champion. 

It is the reason that this breeder started having all her pups ear tattooed, so should they ever turn up their breeding could be traced.  This hopefully will also deter the pups owner from disposing of the pup rahter than refering to breeder, because it cahn be positively ID'd and reunited with breeder.

I also know of a dog in another breed that was abandoned on a busy dual carriage way, and thanks to it's tattoo wqas reunited with it's breeders by the dog warden. It also became a Champion.

I have to say that I wd. be devastated if this happened to one of my dogs and I wasn't advised.  Just shows that contracts aren't worth the paper that they are written on.

H Perrodeaqua,  this has been brought home to me in a big way - I always knew they were naot legally enforceable, but I wonder how many pupppy buyers pay any attention to the at all?
bye
Gwen

Gwen,

As a pet owner I would rather rehome a dog myself and would only return her to the breeder as a last resort.  The breeder of my Cairn did tell me if I ever needed to give up my dog to contact her, but it was not written into a contract.  It's not that I do not trust the breeder, it's that I know I would be even more careful about rehoming than the breeder.   If I could not find a suitable placement I would contact the breeder, however, before I contacted a rescue.

I've returned a dog to its breeder twice.  Once I had a GSD with a major temperament problem, she was a potential fear biter and a time bomb waiting to go off.  I kept her until she became afraid of one of my other dogs and I could not keep her safely with them.  This dog had been extremely well socialized since she was a puppy, was a show dog, I obedienced trained her and discussed her situation with several dog behaviourists.  I eventually discovered her breeder, who I knew well, was well known for producing dogs with iffy temperaments. She was the classic case of someone who had been in a breed for 20+ years and had become completely kennel blind.  When I knew I could not keep my dog the last thing I wanted to do was return her to her breeder, because I knew exactly what she would do.   I discussed the situation with my vet and asked him to PTS my bitch, he refused to do it until she bit someone.  I would not rehome this dog because I did not want to be responsible for the damage she might cause.  I was certainly not going to give her to a rescue and pretend she did not have temperament problems.  The only option I had was to return her to her breeder - who bred her!  Exactly what I did not want to happen.  And then having made a nice bundle of cash from the litter, of course, the breeder sold my bitch to someone who "did not mind" her temperament, which the breeder claimed amounted to nothing more than barking in the car!   And not another word was spoken between us about this dog. I am forever guilty about adding this bitch's genes to the GSD gene pool.

Second time I returned a dog to the breeder was when I moved to the U.K. and did not want to put my Cairn through six months of quarrantine.  The breeder was a good friend, had co-owned my bitch until she finished her Championship and produced her first litter, was head of the breed club rescue .. plus I knew my dog was happy to be anywhere.  The first time I left her at a show with her handler I watched as the handler put her in a X-pen, I walked away, tears streaming down my eyes, check on her from a distance about five minutes later .. only to find she was as happy as Larry. She was one of those dogs that was just thrilled to be alive and thought every other living being was there to entertain her.  This breeder also bred my bitch again, but she had a difficult pregnancy the second time and there was a congenital problem with one of the puppies in the litter.  So, she had my bitch spayed and rehomed her.  I have a photo of my bitch that her "new parents" had professionally done, looking like a very spoiled pooch.  She is taken back to the breeder twice a year for stripping and she is happy, healthy .. and overfed. 

I do not understand someone who would not contact a breeder to "save face."  It's nonsensical and illogical.  But just to say that not all breeders are created equal, even those who request that dogs be returned to them.

Stacey

I do understand that not all breeders are good as there word, and I have been caught between a rock and a hard place - this breeder is a friend, and a very caring individual.  But what has hit home worst about this is thinking about my "kids" - how many might have been rehomed and I have no knowledge where they are.  I know we will find a great home for this little guy - probablly better than he has at the moment judging by our phone conversations, but I feel I am betraying a friend and have a whole new worry now every time I sell a pup!  However, no one said rescue was easy!
bye
Gwen

I would generally have to disagree wuth who is more likely to be able to find a suitable home.  The pet woner with limited breed experience and few canine conatacts, or the breeder who will be able to network with ot6her breeders, is likley to get regular enquiries for pups or older dogs.

More often than not a dog needs rehoming as the owners have reqached some sort of crisis point, and if the breeder wasn't there to take on the responsibility might just dump the dog on some overworked general rescue, or rehome to the first person to offer4 a home, without knowing if they are suitable.

I too would be heartbrooken if o9ne of mine was rehomed without referenece to me, even if just to say who the new owners were, iof they homed within their family.

Just wanted to wish you good luck in finding a new home for him :)

Will you be passing on his pedigree when he's rehomed - the new owners would probably be able to find out the breeder from that? ;)  So, strictly speaking you wouldn't be breaking the rules :)

Hi, Wishfairy, yes, that is what we reckoned - with alittle highlighting of the phone number!  We have kind of reached a rationelle that our contract with the current owner ceases as soon as he is signed over to a new home - it may be specious reasoning, but I think it will be the best for all concerned (Kind of think our concern over what is best for the current owner will have ceased then)
bye
Gwen

Makes you wonder how many pups don't go back to their breeder for similar reason though doesn't it...almost daily in the paper you see an advert for a pedigree pup aged between...10 weeks and 6 months saying "unsuitable/marriage breakup/change job" as a reason for the sale.

I wonder how many breeders know their precious babies are being rehomed before they have even in some cases been vaccinated.

In the B'ham evening mail recently there has been an advert for sale "Boxer Bitch 11 weeks old, lack of time forces sale, 1st inoculaton given" 

I mean......Makes you want to cry.....Karen

Karen,

It is upsetting.  Keep in mind that some of these "must rehome because of ... child is allergic and heartbroken, marriage broke up, partner was diagnosed with a terrible illness, was made redundant, forced to leave our home" are not all legit.  Even the ones that say "free to good home" are not always what they seem.  A good number of these adverts are lies told by unethical breeders who are trying different tactics to get rid of difficult to sell puppies and young dogs.

Stacey

Gwen
      just to wish you luck in finding a better home for the little one .