Good morning Jolly people :D

Question: i have said that one of the 'to be' owners of one of our future litter (just waiting for her season to start!) can come and meet the mother, before the pups are born (even made!), they gladly excepted the invite and are coming this week. The reason i asked is that they have never had a Staffie before, although after asking them many questions, i found they have done plently of research into the breed, and have been walking 'staffies' from the local RSPCA, i wanted them to meet Mum, and to see how their kids coped with a full grown lump of muscle bounding towards them to lick them to death!!! :), do you think it's a good idea or should they have not come until at least the pups are born?

appreciate comments :D

Emma

I expect all my would be owners to visit me prior to the litter arriving , unless circumstances dictate they cant. I wont put people on my waiting list until I have met them and seen them with my dogs.If a person goes on the list when the litter is here, I ask them to visit and after they have left we make the decision whether or not they can have a pup.We see them again when they pick the pup up.It has always worked out fine and made it easier when we have had to decline a family.

Diane

thanx Diane

I would like to meet them just for my own piece of mind, they seem nice enough, but thats only via emails, they don't live very far away (1/2 hour drive)so its not a hassle for them. Other people on the waiting list have been recommended by our breeder so i am sure they will be ok, its just this particular family contacted my via champdogs search (we are listed as breeders in the staffie section) so apart from emails they are unknown to me, i just needed reassurance from you wonderful lot that i was not 'vetting' too much :)

Emma

Well at least you will get a "feeling" for them Emma before the pups are even here. Plus you get to see how their kids are with Jazz ( referring to poor Naomis thread re: the kid from hell)
:)

thanx guys i knew i could rely on you all to reassure me :P
i have already asked them loads of questions and they have asked us loads too, is there anything in particular i need to ask, time at home, experience, kids, vets and training have all been talked about.

I will need help when the time comes with a contract too, (to make sure i don't have to go through what poor naomi has!) and puppy care sheets etc, this is our first litter so i want to make sure i do everything right :)

Emma

I would make sure all puppy owners see mum BEFORE puppies.  Puppies are very cute and its always best to see growen ups first.

the other day we had people looking for a red and whie come round to see 4 growen up red and whites so they can see what mutts they look like when they grow up!  we don't have any puppies so they was no...awww puppies kinda thing.  So yes its a very good idea puppy owners see mum first without babies anywhere in the house!!!

Rox

Hi Emma. I don't think you can vet people too much :). If you meet them before hand they can see how an older one behaves - or in my breed, what they actually look like

It's not the first time someone has turned round and said 'I didn't realise they were so big' :D

At least if you meet them you will have a better 'feel' and hopefully you will see if they are for one of your babies. ;)

i know, staff pups look a lot like labs, and thats a bit different from 15-20kg of pure muscle bounding towards you for a cuddle!!!!! :D ,

I am just worried about new homes after what Naomi is going through.

Whats your breed rox & lindylou?

em :)

We went to visit Spice's mum and older brother before she was born .
We also got introduced to other doggy members of the household.
We shared experiences of dogs in general and we took along a few pics of our previous collie cross too.
We first knew she had arrived by a phonecall from the breeder as the litter was being born :) and were kept fully informed of their progress by phone calls and email.
We first saw Spice at 11days old,then fortnightly thereafter,until we brought her home with us,it really helped in the bonding between us and watching her develop and grow was a fantastic experience.It was about an 80mile round trip each time but who cares we wouldn't have missed it for the world.
We have kept in close contact with the breeder and have emailed many pics to her as Spice grows and hopefully we are meeting up again this coming weekend at a show! my first ever real doggie show :D hopefully we shall meet some of Spice's other relations there too and maybe one or two of her not so little brothers or sisters.

Jacqueline.

I have Irish red and white setters!  We let these new potential puppy buyers come in and be lept on by all 4 of our dogs, and they had them jumping on and off of them, at the end of the evening they said "this is the dog for us" but if they had of come in and not liked the size/attitude then they would have found out BEFORE they got the puppy.

Even when we had the litter, the pups were either upstairs or in a cage which was fully coverd so buyers saw the 'adults' first before the cute, cuddly, sweet little puppies!  We would also do it that way if we do go ahead with the breeding of one of the girls on their next season.

Rox

thank you all so much :P

you have made me feel so much better about it. I am looking forward to meeting them, so fingers crossed, i will let you all know on friday evening how it went.

Emma

Hi Emma, I've got 3 Large Munsterlanders. (oversized spaniels :D )

They are supposed to black and white, but mine tend to be more brown than anything (mud ;) )

Over the years I've been asked 'Is that a big spaniel or spaniel X dalmation?' It didn't help when I had a black & white English Springer. She was the 'puppy' of my first Munster (even though she was 7 years older :p )

Anyway, I always invite people up if they are puppy hunting - even if I don't have pups on the go. Not many people have said they don't think the breed is for them - especially after Chance has sat on them ;) He may not be fully mature but believe me, you know when he's sitting on you

Linda