Hi just wondered what other breeders do:
I will be selling a puppy to a lady that will be going on Holiday about 2 months after she gets pup home.
She has asked me if I would look after him while she is away, which I have agreed to, I would like to offer to look after the dogs I have bred if owners go on holiday etc: but wondered whether I should ask for money for his keep??

I wouldn't ask any money so soon after selling him because if you didn't have him back then she wouldn't be able to have him and if she's a good home, then I'd be only to pleased to help. :)

I would expect to be reimbursed for out of pocket expences for instance to either buy his food or them supply it.  I can't think they would possibly object, it will be a lot cheaper than kennels.

Emm That was what I was thinking Val, It would be a pleasure having him come back!! And I would hate the thought of him going into kennels at such as young age, so I think as long as they supply his food, then I am happy to have him!!

With our own breds we have only asked for the food but mainly because they are on a different diet anyway. :)

Maybe when the dogs are older and owners want you to look after their dogs you could include a small charge if you really wanted to.

I look after one of my rescue girls.. you might remember her Emily Rose and Lucy ;)  I specifically requested when homing her that she come back to me.. I never asked for any payment.. but they always bring tons of food for her.. and have always given me something (small cheque) and ALWAYS  a lovely holiday pressie :D :D

Another of my pups come back for annuals.. again with tons of food.. enough to feed an army lol...

I could never ask for payment .. but they have always insisted..

Hi

I had this to with my last litter. There was no way I was going to let them put her into kennels for the week and she had just finished her innoculations to. I took her back, really enjoyed having her. Money was never spoken about as I wasnt that bothered as she had only been away from me that long. But when they brought her to stay they handed me some money to cover the cost of her food. Didnt even look at it but after they went it I counted it and it would of fed her and my lot for a month lol. They also brought me a lovely present home and a bottle of duty free. 

Only problem I found though and you may not appreciate this yet. But it broke my heart to sell her in the first place and I cried buckets as she went out the door. It was even worse handing her back to her new mum the second time.

Wendy

A breeder freind had to stop loong after dogs she bred as she did find that people did start to take advantage expecting to board them every year for free/on the cheap.

After 45 plus years of breedign that can be quite a few regualr visitors and she foudn they just weren't up to it,a dn the disruption it caused among the resident dogs.

i thought it was an offense to take money for boarding dogs, without a license??

Well that as may be but it isn't fair for people to regularly expect a breeder to board a dog for them, of course free of charge.

costs still need to be met, and the dog needs to be fed

if the dog did go into kennel there be cost there.
plus if they got a pet minder in while they are away there be cost to.
a family friend they may give gift so there cost there too.for looking after the dog.

but they may have plan the hoilday before the puppy arrive then they should have either cancelled the hoiday knowing that there was puppy to take on and will be to young to go into kennels. or waited after the hoilday for the puppy and not have a hoilday untill the dogs old to go into kennels.
these owner of new dog should not expect the breeders to take back a puppy while they go on hoilday for no fee.yes it is another after care service if the breeder wishes.but what about the time and effect and the upset of your own dog to have another dog in the house.
when my litter went last week all the familys that had a puppy are not going on hoilday this year due to the puppy.
plus i dont have a hoildays but i chose not to put my dogs into kennels.
if i did have to go away my husband stays or my sons look after the dogs for me.which i am lucky for.

so yes they should give token of some thing for the care of the puppy

Oooh this is very helpful thank you.

We have a new pup (9 weeks at the moment) and we need to have her looked after while we go to a wedding in August (by which time she will be just six months old).

The wedding is in South Wales.  Our breeder's house is in Mid-Wales.
I was thinking of asking if she would mind us dropping our puppy off at her house, attending the wedding, and picking the puppy up on the way home.  We won't be late as we'll have our young daughter with us.

Reading this makes me think she would like to see her puppy again, just for a day :)  I was worried that I would be imposing or that she would think it was unreasonable asking her to 'babysit'.

I will of course take a large bunch of flowers and a bottle of wine along with the puppy's food! :D

My new puppy is only 3weeks old and she will be ready for us to collect on 21st May (8weeks old) but as we are going away on the 1st week of June, my breeder has agreed to keep her until we come home, which means she will be 11 weeks old by the time we collect her. I thought this was better than taking her for 2 weeks, then leaving her back with the breeder for a week! It will be less disruption and give her a few more weeks with her Mum.

We did this with one of ours and I would not again. Out of all mine she is the only one who can be a bit shy and i think it's because she did not leave the breeders home till 12 weeks. I think it's better for the pup to be out with it's new family at 8 weeks and if need be go back for the holiday. Pups need to be seing the sights as soon as possible and you may find the breeder has to much to do to spend time house training or socializing and these first few weeks are vitally important in those respects. So next time we ever have this situation I shall pick up pup have for a couple of weeks then take back for the hol's.

I have done it both ways and actually feel the pup is better having two weeks with new family and the new routine than leaving later and then having to get used to something entirely new and becoming more involved with the breeders everyday routines.

Never found any of mien caused a problem, but where the pup went to new owners first the they already had a relationship and just carried on with where they left off.

Those who Had pups later had more unrealistic expectations of them due to their age and didn't realise that they had to tart from scratch with their rules and housetraining etc.

The other advantage was that ahving the pups back I could fine tune a few things that new owners often get a bit bogged down with like stoppign puppy biting, and general discipline.

I think that it depends on the work that the breeder is prepared to do in the extra weeks after 8 weeks? 

I had a family who already had one pup from me and were on the waiting list for their second for months.  They had already planned to have family to stay from Australia at the time when the new pup would have gone to them, so I kept him for an extra 4 weeks BUT I treated him as though he was mine and took him everywhere - probably more than most people would.  By the time he'd left at 12 weeks, he'd travelled over 1000 miles in the car and had stayed in 3 other homes - they had no problems with him. :D

To be honest I would much rather have a pup sooner than later to enable socialisation, all the best, Dawn

We didn't get Roxy until she was 11 weeks old and it really didn't do her any harm being with her mum and breeder that bit longer.  She fit in with us straight away and (I think) has loved us since the moment we brought her home.

If the breeder is doing what they should then it won't matter what age you get the pup, but it will still be later getting used to you and your ways.

I agree, we kept a pup from the last litter until 11 weeks but we took him everywhere we could with us and he was well socialized but many breeders would not do this. It would all depend on how much faith you have in your breeder. I know we should all be  happy with our breeders in the first place but they are working round letting pups go at 7/8 weeks and some just do not have the time to spend hours with a pup that is leaving them in a couple of weeks anyway. Besides the  pup will enjoy the social side of re-visiting it's first home again and will neatly fit back into your routine with little worries.If you have done your homework properly in the first place by 8 weeks the pup should be ready for new challenges and the more it gets in those first few weeks the easier it will slip into accepting life's little upheavals.

It would all depend on how much faith you have in your breeder.
I wouldn't buy at 8 weeks from someone who didn't understand the importance of careful breeding and rearing. :)

some just do not have the time to spend hours with a pup that is leaving them in a couple of weeks anyway
Then they shouldn't be keeping the puppy. :(  From 6 weeks old, I bring each puppy individually into the living room every evening for 15 minutes so that it gets used to being alone and not just with the pack.  If I have a litter of 7 or 8, that wipes out just about all of my evening, but that's what being a 'breeder' means to me - to hand over to the new families, the best possible puppy that I can produce, from the choice of stud dog to feeding, rearing and socialising.

Hmmm, I knew you would put doubts in my mind (meant in a good way of course).

Luckily my breeder is my neighbour so I'm sure we can come to some arrangement.  I just automatically assumed she would be better off staying with mum the extra couple of weeks, but you have made me aware that that's not always the case! (I do want her earlier though, hubby thinks it's best to wait).  Our older dog is coming on holiday with us, but as the puppy won't be fully vaccinated by then, I would prefer she stay with the breeder for the week. Will have to have a chat with her and see what she thinks.

I suppose this is just a case of bad timing, but it is our only holiday of the year, and is only for one week so hopefully she will readily adapt to her new surroundings with ease.

I would treat any pup staying beyond the 8 weeks stage same as I would one I was keeping anyway with appropriate socialisation.  But it would be part of a multi dog household with just me and two older Young people as permanent residents.  I do not drive so trips in the car would be few, probably more likely to go on the bus.

This may be totally different to the life it will go on to lead in it's new home.  It may be destined to be an only dog, have several young children/elderly people full time etc, and go in the car every day (rather tha the only trips being in other peoples cars going to shows).

"i thought it was an offense to take money for boarding dogs, without a license?"

There is a thread somewhere on the forum, which highlighted that it was an offense Sam. You are correct

There is more to consider than whether your breeder is happy to have the pup back for a while or not.  Not all puppies get on well with their siblings or mum for that matter after a separation and it can take a few days of careful reintroduction to settle them back in.  If they are still tiny this isn't a problem but when they get older and bigger it can be, especially as new pack dynamics have formed after they have left.

I am happy to have my puppies back for holidays until they are 12 months then they would be expected to go into kennels or have some other arrangement made for them by their new family.  We regularly see puppies for day visits and the puppies of other litters which our boy has sired. 

All visiting dogs have their own food and blankets brought in for them, no money changes hands.

Our last GSD used to go back to the breeder but she did have lots of kenneling as it was on a farm.  She then took our 2 dachsies as well.  I agree it is illegal to be paid for having the dog, but she charged a very minimal £3.50 just to cover food really.  For me, it wasn't the cost rather than I knew they would be well looked after have plenty of company - human and doggie.  I guess it just depends on the breeder.  Often a pup comes up as soon as you start to put feelers out - as with the GSD that will be coming to us in June.  We had expected to wait 3 or 4 months to get the right dog. 

Louise

Well I am not going to charge for the pup to stay with us, I do not have kennels, all my dogs live in our home and it will be a pleasure having the little bundle come back for a holiday! Give my puppy I am keeping someone to play with!!!!!! :D