Why buy the entire litter? - Page 8

My question for all of you breeders out there... Why do you breed 2 dogs of which you have zero promising buyers waiting to buy a puppy? I will not breed my Zambi (or any of my future bitches) unless if I can have at least 3 promising people who shows the true willingness of commandment to work either in SAR or Schutzhund including therapy/service/herding,etc work. I will not sell any of my future puppies to just PET homes where they recieves zero work of which they were bred for. If somebody wants a regular ole PET thats a full blooded German shepherd... contact people like hodie who are in the GSD rescue who has dogs that are in the need for a good home.

Lorri, Like Molly says ...."if you keep more than one of the litter, they just need to be kept separate except for play-time, trained separate, fed separate, and not allowed to live/bond together." We don't sell our puppies to just anyone either and with every litter, you have the risk that you will have more pups than buyers at least for some time... at that point, you have to start housebreaking and working on socializing and all the things puppies need to be exposed to... Say you already have 'x' number of dogs who all require some time and attention of their own as well, regardless of their age or working status.. Add to that a litter or group of puppies and you are taking on a huge task.. we all know (or should) how time consuming, say housebreaking is for 1 pup.. the numerous trips outside on leash to teach the pup this job. Each pup has to be taken out by itself and then you run the risk of getting everyone excited and accidents happening because a puppy learning about pottying outside takes some time... Now add to that, maybe a full or part time job and other responsibilities and maybe you have over stretched yourself.. it's a lot.... Now, I have a friend who bred a litter (6) intending to keep and raise them for drug dog candidates.. she hired someone to care for them and this is almost a full time job.... I'm not trying to be discouraging, just pointing out the reality of the situation. Brittany, when expecting a litter, most people do have folks lined up for puppy owners but not everyone does.. that wouldn't stop me from breeding a dog I believe to be a worthy candidate The simple fact is ... that doesn't matter anyway.. not every pup will be a super working dog superstar, not every pup will have the potential to be a service dog.. but most of them have the potential to be great pets and family members and regardless of what we want to think, that is where a good portion of our market is and after all, didn't most of us start out with our pet GSD before we found what we are doing now?? We would all wish for all our pups to be exceptional in every way and end up being the in the top in whatever venue we are interested in, but it just doesn't happen.. so we have to be realistic and brutally honest with ourselves. I do quite often point people towards the rescue group if I think they would be better suited to maybe an older dog or pup, but they don't always "have" what people are looking for at the time. So, that doesn't always work either.

Denise, I think that we are ready for that. I work 4 days a week and my husband is home full time with the dogs, so there is somebody here most of the time. Of course I am talking about Bo and I do not really anticipate much difficulty finding homes for her puppies. My problem will be deciding which one or two I will be keeping for me, one for sure will be going to the stud owner, the rest will be with us until the "HOME" comes available. Yes I will be fine with a pet home if the conditions are such that the puppy will be a fmily member rather than the dog in the backyard. Of course I know that all of Bo's puppies will be little phenoms... (uhhuh) but once I produce them, I am responsible for them and we are ready for that. The next hurdle for me is a buyers contract... Lorri

Oh, is this Lorri and "my" Bo?? LOL! Small world.. Let's hope Bo doesn't take after her mother and have 12 puppies!! I was never so tired!!

As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with Brittany. Why do your breeding if you do not have some homes set up in advance for resulting puppies? Then have to advertise and sell to the "average" family for pet purposes. To much commitment for an average family. Sacrifice to a pet home? Then all the talk of great bred dogs ending up in pounds and shelters, no wonder.

For all of that, does every person who contacts a breeder wanting a pup come through? Until the puppies are on the ground, and the money in hand... Yes I have had several people tell me they want a puppy out of Bo, does that mean that every one will be picking up a pup? I would be VERY stupid to think so, talk is cheap. The bottom line, for me anyway, is that this is a litter that I want- if I had 20 buyers lined up this would still be MY breeding. At least three of the puppies have confirmed homes before the breeding even happens. I have seen too many people that "really really want a puppy" that simply vanish when it comes time to actually buy one to ever have too much faith in it. I have also seen all kinds of crap with the whole deposit process so i will not even consider a pre-whelping deposit. Time enough for all of that when there are puppies on the ground. Lorri

I agree with Avorow and the others, I've had people even put down a deposit then change their minds, so unless a person promises their first-born on a puppy, I must agree, talk is cheap. "Well, something's come up", "Our finances aren't in order right now", "Now isn't going to be the best time for a puppy", You name it, people have heared it...Nothing is set in stone until you see them walk out with the puppy, and even then they can bring it back.

And for some reason they dont mind forfeiting that deposit. I dont mind that they back out, if they are uncertain they wont make good puppy parents , nor will they get involved in training, Its all expensive and when someone back out, yes Ive heard it all, I just find another buyer usally one standing by, waiting .

This is the reason why you should first get to know your potential buyers before even considering doing any kind of business with them. Theirs so much advantages that you can get just by getting to know your potential buyers such as: 1. To learn their personality and charecter 2. To see if they're talkers or walkers 3. To see if their serious 4. To see what the family of the potential buyers are like, especially the children, if they have any. I can go on and on but I'm sure you can drift my point.

Yes and they can still change their mind after filling out all the questions and I have dealt with the public in fashion sales (High end) for 48 years and I am still fooled quite often. So many people want to get involved with what it takes and what I suggest and the most frequently return I encounter is We've thought it over and our family has decided we cant spend the time u say it will be needed, and we just want a plain ole german shepherd like we had years ago, and we think maybe yours are not what we want . And thats after the see the web, read the info, and were referred to me by other breeders and owners of my dogs. Its confusing to some people as what is expected and so many dont know how much time and money it takes to do it the right way and to a standard I set . I agree Brittany, you believe like I do but Im in East Texas west of Dallas and 200 miles from big city life and the people here havent heard about Schutzhund, for a big portion of them , I sell mainly to referrals and people from Schutzhund people that know me so I only have a few that get advertised to the public but still hear everthing immaginable. Im worn out with one litter done right and broke from all the electric bill and food bills for these furry security alarms with a fir coat and huggable,.