Alpha
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 1,408
Location: Canada
Dogs Name: Vanya (Miniature Pinscher), Nadia (Doberman Pinscher)
Titles: SD CSAU ATT IBAR SPOT CGN WAC BH BSA G1a
Dogs Age: 17/03/09, 26/02/15
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I hadn't read this in a really long time... but man, do I still love it.
Recently my friend had a bad experience with a prospective client, and at the last minute refunded her deposit and kept the puppy.
She later discovered that prospective client was talking behind her back and bitching about the breeder even before she had gotten her pup - and that's one thing that really disturbed me. If you dislike your breeder that much why are you wanting a puppy from them? She kept trying to get exceptions to certain aspects of the sales agreement/puppy contract, kept trying to butt ahead of everyone else or get information before everyone else even when my friend was specific about when information would be dispensed. (It turned out to be a good thing anyway, several of this person's friends came forward later - or character witnesses from local doberman groups saying it is a good thing the breeder didn't sell her a pup for several reasons).
To that end, I feel like one of the important points that should be outlined but isn't necessarily mentioned here is
9) make sure you align with your breeder's values and vice versa!
When I was shopping for Standard Poodle breeders for my grandmother, I even had breeders offer me to look over the sales agreement and deposit contracts as part of the information exchange. I appreciated that because right off the bat it meant we could ask questions about certain clauses and discuss with the breeder why they've outlined it so, and if it would be okay to do something else instead. BEFORE commitment. This way if the answer was no, the breeder wouldn't be annoyed with us and we wouldn't be annoyed. No one is entitled to a puppy in general, and no one is entitled to a puppy from any specific breeder. It is the breeder's right to outline what they think is best for their puppies and the arrangements. If you disagree, either comply or move along to another breeder who will.
For example, I've seen breeders state in their contracts that the dog must only be fed Raw or certain pre-approved brands of kibble. If you ask about a different kind of kibble and get told no... but absolutely want to be feeding that kind of kibble, then move along to a breeder who will agree or won't mind. Inversely I've seen owners state they want the breeder to only wean the puppy off on raw, "natural-reared", doesn't live next to a farm etc. instead of demanding that the breeder change their practices to accommodate YOU, find a breeder who already does. You might have to venture further out of state/province but with patience you will find one.