Before you begin your search please read the following WRITTEN BY
ANOTHER BREEDER (I DID NOT WRITE THIS BUT I FULLY
SUPPORT AND FOLLOW THIS):
"This is because it seems that there’s a
lot of confusion about the whole “proper” way to go about things. So, puppy
buyers and anyone else thinking about maybe someday approaching a good breeder
about a puppy, here you go:
1) STOP LOOKING FOR A PUPPY. The classic mistake puppy buyers make
is saying “I need an xx breed puppy at the beginning of the fall” or whatever
it may be. So they go out looking for litters due in August.
BAD IDEA.
Puppies are not interchangeable; one is not the same as the others. This is
largely because every breeder has their stop-the-presses criteria for breeding
or not breeding, and each has preferences for size, personality, working
ability, etc. Breeder X’s “perfect puppy” is not the same as Breeder Y’s.
Stop looking for a puppy; look for a BREEDER. Make a personal connection with a
breeder you feel shares your top criteria, and then wait for a puppy from them.
Maybe they even have a litter on the ground, which is wonderful, but maybe
they’re not planning anything for a few months. Or maybe they’re not planning
anything for a year; in that case, ask for a referral to another breeder that
shares those same priorities and has a similar (or just as good) personality
and support ethic. However it works out, screen the breeder first, then ask
about a puppy.
1b) EXPECT TO WAIT FOR A PUPPY. It’s VERY rare
to wait less than a couple of months; four to six is normal. I’ve waited a year
on a couple of occasions; no, even we breeders don’t walk through the field,
able to pick puppies like tulips. We ALL have to wait, and we ALL have to get
matched up by the puppies’ breeder.
2) INTRODUCE YOURSELF THOROUGHLY. The initial e-mail should be several
paragraphs long; block out at least an hour of quiet for the first phone call.
When you initiate contact, clearly communicate three things: You are ready for
a puppy, you are ready for a puppy of this breed, and you understand what sets
this breeder apart from the others and you share that commitment. Specifically
describe your plans for this puppy; be truthful. If you are not going to be
able to go to four training classes a year, SAY SO. Don’t say “Of course,
training is a huge priority around here,” or you’re going to end up with a
puppy who’s flushing your toilet sixty times a day because he’s so bored and
you’re not challenging him.
The ideal first contact e-mail usually goes something like
“Hi, my name is X and I’m writing to inquire about your dogs. I’ve been doing a
lot of research on [breed] and I think they’re the right one for me because of
[these four reasons.] I know puppies are a huge commitment, and I am planning
to [accommodate that in various ways.] I’m approaching you in particular
because of your interest in [whatever,] which is something I feel is very
important and plan to encourage in [these three ways.]“
That’s the kind of e-mail that gets a response, and usually pretty quickly. If
I get something that says “I hear you have puppies on the way; how much?” it
goes in the recycle bin before you can blink.
2a) Bring up price either at the end of the
first contact (if
it’s been successful and you feel a connection to this person) or in a
follow-up contact. It’s nice to say “If you don’t mind me asking, about how
much are [breed]s in this area, if there is a typical price? I just want to be
prepared.” The breeder will usually give you two pieces of useful information:
Her price, and the median prices around you. That way, if you decide to go a
different way, you know about what to expect. If the second person you contact
names a price that’s double the median, try to discreetly find out why. A very
difficult pregnancy, nationally ranked parents, a surgical AI, c-section
resulting in very few live puppies, those are some reasons a breeder could be
asking more and it’s reasonable. If there’s no real difference from the other
breeders except price, think carefully.
3) BE WILLING TO BE TOLD NO. Not every person is the right match
for every breed. That’s just fact. There is no way on earth I could make our
home appropriate for a Malamute puppy, and I’d have to lie through my teeth to
get approved for one. And I have my entire life devoted to keeping dogs happy.
I don’t expect you to have anywhere close to the obsession I have, so that
means there will be some dogs that are just plain wrong for you. If a breeder
says no, ask why. If the answers make sense, don’t keep calling people until
you finally get one who will sell you a puppy of that breed. Go back to the
drawing board and be very humble and honest with yourself about what kind of dog
really would be right for you and your family.
4) PLEASE DO NOT GET ON MORE THAN ONE WAITING LIST unless you are VERY honest about it.
This goes back to rule 1. You need to understand that we think our puppy buyers
are just as in love with the puppies as we are. We’re posting pictures, writing
up instructions, burning CDs, researching everything from pedigrees to nail
grinding, all so we can hand off this puppy, this supreme glorious creature of
wonderfulness, with the absolute maximum chance that it will lead a fabulous
life with you, and we’ve built all kinds of air castles in our heads about how
happy this puppy will be, and what it will do in its life with you, and so on.
Finding out that you had your name on four lists shows that you don’t realize that
puppies are not packages of lunch meat, where getting one from Shaws is
basically the same as getting one from Stop and Shop.
Also, as soon as your name is on one of our lists, we’re turning away puppy
buyers. If we’ve sent ten people elsewhere because our list is full, and then
suddenly you say “Oh, yeah, I got a puppy from someone else,” it really toasts
our bread. So just BE HONEST. If someone came to me and said “I’m on a list
with So and So, but she’s pretty sure she won’t have a puppy for me, and I’d
love to be considered for one of your dogs and I’ll let you know just as soon
as I know,” I’m FINE with that. I understand how this goes. It’s not a disaster
for me to have a puppy “left over” at eight weeks because you ended up getting
that So and So puppy; it’s just frustrating to have the rug yanked out from
under me.
5. PLEASE DO NOT EXPECT TO CHOOSE YOUR PUPPY. This one drives puppy buyers CRAZY. I
know this, trust me. I have a lot of sympathy because I’ve been there. But the
fact is that when you come into my house and look at the eight-week-old puppies
and one comes up and tugs on your pant leg and you look at me, enraptured, and
say “THIS IS IT! He chose ME,” I’ve been looking at people coming into the
house all week, and every single time this same puppy has come up and tugged at
them and every single one of them have said to me “THIS IS IT!”
What you are seeing is not reality. You are seeing the most outgoing
puppy, or you’ve fallen in love with the one that has the most white, or the
one that has a different look from the rest of the litter (when I had one blue
girl puppy in a litter of black boys, every human that came in the house wanted
her; when I had one black girl puppy in a litter of blue boys everyone kept
talking about how much they loved HER), or the one that’s been (accidentally)
featured the most in the pictures I’ve posted. Or, sometimes, you have a very
good instinctive eye and you’re picking the puppy that’s the best put together
of the litter. And that puppy, of course, is mine, and you’re going to have to
pry him out of my cold dead hands.
My
responsibility is not to make you happy. And
that, dear friends, is why I am posting this now, and not when I have a bunch
of actual puppy buyers around :D. But it’s the truth. My responsibility is to
the BREED first. That’s why my first priority in placing puppies is the show
owners, because they are the ones that will (if all goes well) use this dog to
keep the breed going. It’s not that I like them better than I like you; it’s
that I have to be extremely careful who I place with them so that they can make
breeding decisions with the very best genetic material I can hand them. My
second responsibility is to the PUPPY. I will place each puppy where I feel
that it has the best chance of success and the optimal environment to thrive.
So while I do care, and I will try to take your preferences into account, do
not expect to walk into my living room and put your hand in the box and pick
whatever puppy you want. And do not expect to be given priority pick because
you contacted me first; conversely, do not expect that because you came along
late you somehow won’t get a good puppy. Sometimes the person who calls me when
the puppies are seven and a half weeks old ends up with what I’d consider the
“pick” for various reasons (sometimes because somebody called me up and said
they’d gotten a puppy from someone else; see rule 4 above). I am going to try
to do my absolute best to match puppies to owners as objectively as I can, not
according to who called first.
When I was waiting for Clue, I think I initially called Betty Ann six months
before she was born. I waited through two other litters, where Betty Ann
thought she might have something for me but then in the end told me no. Then I
waited until 8 weeks when she thought this one might really be the one, and
then another two weeks until she made her final picks and sent me a puppy. I
was about ready to vomit with the tension. I UNDERSTAND. But the rewards of
waiting and being matched with the right puppy are greater than any frustration
with having to sit with an empty couch for a few more months.
6) ONCE YOU GET YOUR PUPPY, THERE WILL ONLY
BE THAT PUPPY IN THE WHOLE WORLD. If you’ve been sitting
around with your fingers crossed saying “Please, Molly, please, Molly, I only
love Molly,” and I say “I really think Moe is the one for you,” you’re probably
going to feel disappointed. But take Moe and go sit on the couch, and put your
finger in her mouth, and realize that she has a really cool white toe on one
foot but none of the other feet have white toes, and let her try to find a
treat in your pocket, and I guarantee you by the time you’re five minutes out
of my driveway Moe will be YOUR puppy. And a year later you may remember that
you thought Molly was so pretty, but Moe… well, Moe could practically run the
Pentagon she’s so smart, and her face turned out MUCH more beautiful than
Molly’s did. And so on.
7) PLEASE FINISH THE ENCOUNTER WITH ONE
BREEDER BEFORE BEGINNING ONE WITH ANOTHER. If you
end a conversation with me saying “Well, this just all sounds wonderful, and
I’m going to talk it over with my wife and we’ll call you about getting on your
waiting list,” and then you hang up and call the next person on your list,
that’s not OK. If you don’t feel like you click with me, or you want to keep
your options open, a very easy way to say it is to ask for the names and
numbers of other breeders I recommend. That way I know we’re not “going
steady,” and I won’t pencil you in on my list. If you are on my waiting list,
and you decide that you don’t want to be anymore, call me AS SOON AS YOU KNOW
and say “Joanna, I’m so sorry, but our life has gotten a little crazy and I
need to be taken off the puppy list.” And I make sympathetic noises and take
you off. If, then, you decide you want to get a different puppy, be my guest.
Just keep me apprised and let me close off my commitment to you before you open
it with another breeder.
…Which brings us to something that is super important and most puppy people
don’t realize:
8 ) EVERY BREEDER KNOWS EVERY OTHER BREEDER. Now of
course I don’t mean the bad breeders, but the show breeding community is VERY
small and VERY close-knit. If you’ve been on my list for three months, I’ve
kept in contact with you, I think you’re getting a puppy from me, I’m carefully
considering which one to sell you, and finally I match you with a puppy when
they’re eight weeks old, and THEN you e-mail me and say “Sorry, I got a puppy
from Arizona, bye,” my instant reaction isn’t going to be “Oh noes!” My instant
reaction is going to be “From Jill?” I probably e-mail Jill several times a
year, if not several times a month, and I’m probably going to pick up the phone
in the next sixty seconds and say, “Did you just sell a puppy to Horace Green from Topeka? Did you
know that he put himself on my waiting list three months ago and has been
saying all along how excited he is?” And two minutes after that she’ll get a
call from Anne in Oregon and Anne will say “Did you just sell a puppy to Horace
Green from Topeka? He’s been feeding me lines for eight weeks! I had a puppy
ready to go to him next week!”
And we will take your name in vain, Horace Green from Topeka, and Jill will
feel bad that she sold you a puppy, and oh the bad words we will say. And
Horace Green from Topeka will be a topic of conversation at the next Nationals,
and t-shirts will be made that say “DON’T BE A HORACE,” and someone will name
their puppy Horrible Horace and everyone will get the joke and laugh.
In the end, “Be excellent to each other,” as Bill and Ted so correctly ordered
us, is pretty much the paradigm to follow. If you err, err on the side of this
being a relationship, not a transaction. Try to act the way you would with a
good friend, not with an appliance salesman. And the ending will be as
happy for you as it is happy for us.
You can enjoy more of Joanna's insightful articles at http://rufflyspeaking.net/blog/