Can I ask how you deal with the logistics of prospective new owners and giving priority?

We have already had quite a bit of interest in the litter which is obviously great and we will be vetting homes very carefully. A couple of people however have asked whether they can put a deposit on a pup. They're a week old and we wont be accepting viewings for another 3 weeks but I can already sense that it's going to be a challenge keeping tabs on potential new owners.

I want to take their preferences into account but would you accept a deposit on a pup prior to a visit?

I've already spoken to a couple of people on the phone (and stalked them on Facebook )

NO!  Do not take a deposit and don't promise to reserve a puppy for someone you have never met.  By not taking a deposit you have not made a contract with anyone.  What if you accept a deposit, the buyers arrive later to choose a pup and you have walked yourself into a corner because you have never met anyone so unsuitable to own an animal of any kind?

I vet people by email, then phone, then in person.  If you haven't accepted a deposit then you can say I don't think you're suitable for one of my pups.  I had some people travel 4 hours to get here and couldn't stomach one of my precious pups going to this family.  Not my mistake - she shouldn't have lied to me on the phone.  By having enough "check ups" on prospective owners it is easier to pick up on their slip ups (lies.) 

My pups, my choice.  Until the day the pups leave home, and money exchanges hands, the pups are MINE.

I don't accept deposits as this is one of the reasons why I don't. Buyers think this means they will definitely having a puppy when it gives both the buyer & the seller room for movement if no deposit passes hands.

What are their preferences that make them know which pup is for them at only 1 week old? (I'm guessing colour is the obvious one, but everything else can change in the next few weeks!)

We don't take deposits and have three buyers that know they are getting a puppy, these were taken from the waiting list and we have a couple of reserves that I have questioned should anyone pull out. They respect that I pick mine first and are happy to wait until 8 weeks to find out what they will get!

If they want a puppy from you, I don't see why they won't let you pick which one is best for them. I thought it would be a problem to start with, but should a buyer turn around and say they don't want that pup then I know someone on the waiting list will!

I wouldn't accept a deposit at all and wouldn't allow anyone to make their choice until I have. I would want to know their choices and why they've picked a puppy or puppies. You won't know the temperament and characters of the pups at a week old so going on looks alone isn't the way to go imo. So what a new owner could pick out as their favourite may not be at all suitable for their home life. Also vetting is so important, going through emails, phone calls and meeting before a decision is made whether they are suitable or not.
Even then I wouldn't accept a deposit, it's all based on trust on both sides.

No deposits taken here for all the reasons stated by others, if your potential puppy people really want one then they will wait and comply with your way of doing things, I have had to refuse buyers in the past and it's not easy but a deposit would make it much more difficult.

Now I'm one of those that does take a deposit (around 10%).

My breed is numerically small,  so pups not readily available,  but also suitable enquiries for puppies may also be sporadic.

I will usually have met people on my waiting list,  and having accepted them,  like to take a deposit once pups are born and look like they will make it,  so that I can pass on those I haven't enough pups for,  to another breeder,  so they have a better chance of getting near the top of another list.

I do make it clear deposits are non refundable UNLESS I CANNOT SUPPLY a puppy for some reason.

This way I can get on with enjoying my puppies knowing as soon as possible to whom they are going.

I can then share regular updates,  trickle feed relevant information re training and care,  the importance of being well informed on feeding,  vaccination,  neutering (and what my policies are on the matter).  I have found over the years in later conversation,  that my carefully compiled puppy pack of information handed over at pick up was rarely being read with the excitement of a new pupoy,  but more likely to be taken in during the waiting time. Ditto puppy contract,  understanding endorsements etc.

This way by the time pups leave I feel we have a mutually beneficial relationship,  which will hopefully be ongoing.

We never took a deposit.   We liked to keep our options open.   I realise, from the other side of the fence, a buyer would want to make sure they have been able to book a puppy but in this instance, with the litter only being a week old, NO WAY.   I'd be looking at that as tempting fate!!!    With our puppies, and fact is Basset puppies just look like any other puppy (no ears down!)  so could be quite disappointing for a prospective new owner to come and not see a puppy with long ears, we didn't have anybody in until they were at least 5 weeks, and probably even older.   And then there's the fact that we only bred for our next generation, so wanted/needed as much time as possible to make a preliminary choice ourselves.

This selling puppies can be fraught - I had 4 survivors in a litter, one of each, and had two fellow-breeders almost fighting on the front lawn over which of the two males I had available initially.   In the end it got so difficult, with one especially, that I decided to keep the best bitch and one of the two males myself.  And the other breeder I sold the other male and female to (big mistake, but that's another story).    On the other hand, most of my buyers were quite happy to take my advice re which puppy I felt best suited them and their life-style.   I did have two, over the years, I had to take back, but that was more a rescue situation than anything else.

To answer this question - no.   Don't take a deposit at this stage and all you can do is say there should (note should because at only a week old who knows) be a puppy for them.    If they don't like that and decide to go elsewhere, you will have other homes available - count on it.

ps   -  With my current two, which were both buy-ins, a year apart, I'd been to see the breeder when mum was still pregnant.   Then again when the litter had arrived and were around 3 weeks as I recall.  At that time, I was able to select the bitch I most liked the look of (she wasn't keeping a bitch).   I went again in another couple of weeks, and at that time did give her a part-payment for the one I'd originally thought was 'the' one, but that was mainly because I wanted to pay some of the overall cost rather than paying it all at the time we bought her home (at 9 weeks).   It just suited all of us that way.    With my Basset, he was 4 months when we bought him so it was paying the full amount up front when we collected him.   No deposit situation.

Agree with the others, no deposit and no reserving at this stage. Even one of my best friends who is begging for one isn't going to be allowed to choose, until another of my best friends has decided if she might be tempted too. Mainly because the one my first friend wants could be the better of the two that colour, possibly even best of the litter, and as she is probably not going to show her, I'd rather my second friend who will show had the better one in that case. :-)

Well in that case you have made your allocations for that colour,  show home first choice based on Promise and then the other.

Actual choice of pups is at age when they can be assessed.

This is different to deciding if someone gets a puppy or needs to be passed onto another breeder.

I personally don't like to keep people hanging,  and then risk them loosing out on a pup elsewhere.

A deposit for me reduces the chance of a buyer reserving with more than one person,  and then I or another breeder find they haven't a pup homed after all.  This can cause bad feeling between breeders,  where in our breed we cooperate not compete when it comes to placing puppies.

We want to attract and ensure good new owners obtain a pupoy, and that pups get homed in a timely fashuon so that breeders are not discouraged from breeding, especialy first time or very occasuonal breeders.

With KC registratuons for our breed down to half if what it was 25 years ago, we need new owners, and especially potential exhibitors and breedets desperately.