Most of our litter have now gone to their new homes with the exception of two.  One we are keeping as he is a third the size of his littermates which puts people off him, despite him being hale and hearty now.

I thought I had chosen prospective owners really well, turning several away, some for no other reason than instinct - just something about them I didn't like.  However, one prospective owner had driven 300 miles to look at our puppies, had passed my criterea and instincts but then had the cheek the other day to email me and DEMAND that the puppy should have had all his injections when he collected the puppy after his holiday AND that I had 'his tail chopped off' Don't want to start a debate on docking here - We decided not to dock our puppies tails, the prospective owner knew of this and obviously saw his pup with a tail when he came to pick him.  I rang him back immediately and said I was no longer happy about him having one of our puppies and immediately sent him a cheque refunding him his deposit.  The puppy is now going to someone on our reserve list who are very excited about having the puppy, tail and all :D

I've just had an email, asking "do I have any litters, and can she arrange to come and view and pick up tomorrow at 10am????"

Emailed back - no puppies, and that she would have to answer a questionnaire before being INVITED to come and see the prospective parent - that unfortunately I don't "do" instants - can take as long (or longer) than a human pregnancy :D

Margot

I had a phonecall the other day from someone who launched straight into a monologue saying she wanted a Weimaraner, wanted a girl, but if she couldn't get a girl she would have a boy, that she wanted a 'proper' one, not one of these with white on their chests and that she had done her homework and wanted one that had a certain (won't name the kennel) 'line in it' as they were smaller than the rest of them :rolleyes: (not true, by the way, don't know where she got that one from!)

Hi

Reminds me of someone I know who wanted a yorkie. Phoned a add in the paper went to see pups and booked one. Due to be collected when ready.

In the mean time the person told her mum about it and showed her the photo she had taken mum told her not to buy it as it was the wrong colour. (Mum knows all about dogs because she had one once) Yorkies are silver and this pup was BLACK.  Make sure it had a certain name in the pedigree. I cant remember the kennels name but they do a lot of winning and have done very well at Crufts. If it didnt have him in the pedigree dont touch it. I did try and point out that the price she was paying she would be getting a pet not a crufts winner and she would be very lucky to get anything from that line and all yorkies start of black and tan and then turn silver with age. She wasnt having it. Then she phones the breeder up and gives him a real earfull about trying to sell her a dud pup. She then demanded a reduction in the price and he met her half way so she didnt have to go all the way back to his house.  He said no.

Wendy

Well at least she did some homework. If she had got it wrong then you could of offered her some guidance? I'd rather have some-one like that knocking on my door for a pup, than some-one who was buying on impulse or had no idea of what she was letting herself in for. I must admit, we did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions. Unfortunatly we probably upset some people by saying no, but I knew I wanted a dobe bitch and that she had to be brown, of good breeding and from well balanced parents. I have her now hurrah! She's wonderful, loving, great fun and a real mischevious devil. She's soooooooo beautiful, and just as I hoped she'd be. I'm glad now that I wasn't swayed by other different, more immediate and no doubt very genuine offers.

I am dimayed too about potential owners. I have a litter of healthy pups at present. I have decided who should be the 'chosen ones' for my puppies as the bitch didn't have enough to go around. There is a smaller pup in the litter but absolutely nothing wrong with him. One family have been to see them & I was really pleased with the questions they asked, the way they conducted themselves around the bitch & pups & not once did they mention NOT having the smaller pup.

Then there is another family who are completely different. They want to choose NOW. i kindly explained that no puppy would be chosen until the stud dog owner had chosen their pup. (The above family were fine with that.) This family said "well we WILL choose next & I will leave you the full amount for the pup instead of the deposit" I was quite taken aback by this as I think they ought to be lucky to be having one of my puppies IMO!!! I have told them that if everyone wants the same pups then I will hopefully match the right pup to the right family.

If no one likes it they can have their deposits back.

I don't understand some people & why they think they can DEMAND what they want. They won't get anywhere with me like that!!

Weima I think that's yet another reason NOT to take a deposit. People don't take as much for granted then.

I agree, I refused to take any deposits for my pups as I wanted to make sure I'd made the right choice among the owners who applied. Some people never got as far as a visit, and some who visited where told "I'm sorry they're all sold now". I chose the best (nicest) 3 families but didn't confirm for sure that anyone would actually get a pup until they were 7 weeks old. The families who did get pups were ok with this arrangement and visited every week and emailed almost daily asking about them. When the pups were 7 weeks old I matched pups to owners depending on temprements and all owners said that they had got their favourite pups - LOL  9 months on and it's all working well. I kept the one I did as she was the least confident and I would have worried about her anywhere else. Needless to say she has turned into a very confident little madam - but then so are the rest :D   I go for walks with the two local ones weekly and receive emails from all of them regularly.

Yes, I don't have any quibble with what you are doing but in those circumstances I don't think it fair to take a deposit.  A deposit, to me, is a commitment and it works both ways.  If the buyer backed out they should not get it back but it also commits you and they should get a puppy.  If you have more buyers than puppies you simply can't take deposits off them all!

I'm not taking anything from the 2nd family. The 1st family I am quite happy with but I am not having anyone dictate to me about my puppies.

I had someone put the phone down on me because I was telling him the true aspects of owning a Weimaraner.  He said that I would never sell any pups with an attitude like that, putting people off them!  Haven't had any probs finding homes and have a reserve list.  Think he thought Weimaraners were like the one on the DFS advert, nice and relaxed all the time!

"Think he thought Weimaraners were like the one on the DFS advert, nice and relaxed all the time!"

And I hope you're sending each pup off with a nice designer sofa to lounge on??? :D

Don't forget the vodka drinking one playing the pianio! And the Watchdog one lol

I'm not ditating who you sell your puppies to at all :)  I'm extremely picky myself, in fact there is a thread or two to testify to that ;).  I am just questioning the practice of taking deposits when it doesn't actually secure a puppy, perhaps even the legality of it is questionable.

Didn't I read recently that if you take a deposit off somebody the legally you HAVE to sell them the pup? So yet another good reason not to.

(What's up with the forum tonight, it takes 30 seconds each time I click on a post to read or reply?!)

I have a litter of healthy pups at present. I have decided who should be the 'chosen ones' for my puppies as the bitch didn't have enough to go around. There is a smaller pup in the litter but absolutely nothing wrong with him. One family have been to see them & I was really pleased with the questions they asked, the way they conducted themselves around the bitch & pups & not once did they mention NOT having the smaller pup.

On another thread you say your pups are ten days old -do you have two litters or do you really let people come and visit and pay deposits before the pups are even a fortnight old???

Only 1 litter on that's enough for me! I am just wondering what is wrong with taking deposits of people when the pups are young? They are all healthy pups & I am happy that they are all going to survive.  ALL my prospective owners would have left deposits before the litter was even born....a definite no no there.

I only let people come & view the pups when they were a week old & I knew that the bitch was quite settled with them. Every owner of puppies has their own ideas about when people can view their pups as only they know about the bitch & how she will react etc.

If anyone pays a deposit then they will get a puppy. However, there are a few people at the moment paying deposits for puppies & not collecting the pup

Well personally I think at a week old NOBODY can tell what a pup is going to be like.........certainly not as regards looks (other than markings in some breeds) and temperament (or size as the smallest can still become the biggest and vice versa) and I would be very suspicious if I was asked to pay a deposit on a week old pup and pick it then! I don't even pick which pup to keep myself until 6 weeks.

As has already been said about deposits, you're stuck if you then later find out the buyer isn't suitable as you have legally agreed to sell the pup, and if the person changes their mind and don't really want a pup they may end up taking it anyway because they've paid a deposit, which hardly is ideal.

Nobody has picked a pup & they won't until at least 6 weeks. I have NOT asked for any deposits but rather the new owners want to make sure that they will get a puppy.

I don't know how you do things in your breed but in my breed for which I have been breeding for many years, this is the way we do it!

I have already decided that the people are suitable to have one of my puppies & those are the ones that have left deposits. Not everyone has left a deposit.

Hi

My last litter that went to there new homes last week were all booked at a week old. The owners came at 2 weeks when they had there eyes open to see and choose which one they wanted.

Two of the pups were provisionally booked from a week after the mating was done. We had to wait until they were born to see if what they wanted was in the litter and by luck it was.  Other people on the waiting list were not so lucky. like me if they wanted a dog pup and all were girls. So I knew from the beggining that I would not be keeping one

They chose there pups purley on apperance. All of them had different markings.

They visited roughly every 2weeks,. sometimes more as they grew and we had practically daily emails.

I didnt take deposits and all the way along I made it very clear that they could pull out when ever they wanted. All of them offered and I said no. It also made me feel that I to could change my mind if for any reason I felt I didnt want one to go.

I know if it different if you are choosing a pup for showing or to do a certain job. Mine were all going as pets.

Wendy

I take depostis once pups are all going to survive so that I can put the unlucky folk ontoother breeders in a timely fashion, and to weed out thsoe just looking and those commited to woning a pup.

In my breed if you are considering a pet then only the sex is at issue as they are all one colour :D

People will be able to choose a puppy in the order that they booked, and I will endeavour to steer them to the puppy most suited to their circumstances, as after all I know my pups, tyey only get a snapshot of them when they come to choose.

I hasten to add I don't take large deposits, but enough to be meaningful (£50) which is around 10% of the average price of a puppy.

I never take deposits purely because I'm then committed to selling to that person, even if at the next visit they turn into Hannibal Lecter - it's a legal contract. I let people start coming to see the pups from about 3 or 4 weeks (bear in mind my breed doesn't start getting their markings till about 2 weeks) because they haven't got any personality before then - they're just cute little fat sausages!

I do the same

I tell people that the puppies aren't doing anything until about 3 weeks old but they want to come & see them sleep That is their perogotive & usually they come every week & take pictures of them growing!

I personally am not bothered about looking at puppies until they are about 3 weeks when they do become interesting but then I have beed brought up in an environment where puppies are second nature to me.

New puppy owners are soooo excited I klnow I am if I am buying one in but my excitement sets in at about 6 weeks when I have seen the potential there.

Well, I don't know that I agree with all and sundry visiting and bringing in germs and stuff whent he pups are only a week old...personaly I wait till 3 to 4 weeks, the pups are getting around a bit then too, much more exciting and safe! All the best, Dawn

Ditto Dawn. I find puppy buyers ummm and ahhh over younger puppies but nothing constructuve happens until they are up and about and have all their facaulties, so from my waiting list, the first few people for bitches, the first few for dogs come between 5 and 6 weeks in to visit and say they would be happy with ANY puppy of that sex in the litter. Then on the day of collection (between 7 and 8 weeks) they come in order of being on the waiting list and I and they match the best puppy to them and their circumstances. None of us are Mystic Meg however much we would like to be, so things can go pear-shaped from this, but rarely do.

The thought of having people dancing about my puppies before about 4 or 5 weeks of age leaves me cold.

Di

Ditto to all of that Di!

i agree with dawn as well ... but i dont let anybody see my pups until they are older still .....6wks .......  what can anyone tell about a puppy thats barely got their eyes open and is not that mobile ..... surely they need to have some idea on the character the puppy is going to develope to make such and important decision .....

I saw my puppy at 4, 6 and 7 weeks, before collecting her just before she turned 8 weeks. I am glad i got to see her grow and I have a record of her from 4 weeks, and I was happy the breeder trusted me enough to let me come and see the puppies from such an early age. it made me feel the breeder had created a transparency regarding her breeding where she was happy to let prospective owners come and see her, meet all her dogs, fuss mum, and also get an informal interview so she could suss out suitability. I feel very priviledged to have known my girl from 4 weeks., and she was adorable then!

I encourage people (not just potential owners) to visit my litters from two weeks, but don't discourage virtually from day one, for socialisation. 

I am less worried for them re infection when they are small, as they will have cover from their mothers antibodies, it is in fact when they get to leaving age that the risks are greatest when this is wearing off.

Obviously if people have long distances to travel I suggest that pups are not interesting enough until over 4 weeks old, but when new owners have been closer (an hours drive) I have had a couple visit every week from a few days old.

Everyone does it differently and they must have decent results from their methods to stick to them, so there is no real 'right and wrong'. My feeling in this thread is the visiting is fine. Ok, if you accept people around your pups at 2 or 3 weeks or whatever, then its probably to the good for them maybe. But those who let people start to focus in on a certain puppy from this sort of an age, based on marking, or colour shade, or mobility or whatever are sorely asking for problems, in my humble opinion. Its when they start to become 'little people' around 6 - 9 weeks of age that lets you match them up the the family, couple or individual that counts rather than 'oh i want a dark chocolate puppy with white markings on its pads' that makes for that 'Narnia style' happy ending where they banish the bad people, kill the dragon and nip back through the waldrobe for tea and scones with Auntie.

Errr... ;-)

Di

well put Di .... thats exactly what i think and why i leave it later than sooner for prospective owner to see the pups .....

Theres a difference between seeing pups and choosing/allocating them.  Never do this before 7 - 8 weeks as that is the age I like to choose.