to want my pups to go to 'naice' people only ?

[noDogfightPlease]

I will probably get a pasting and am too afraid of the doghouse mafia so have nc.

We have bred our beloved pet dog after much time, effort and money spent on the procedure (hip scoring, etc etc) and we have homes waiting for most of the pups but we have 2 pups that I need to find homes for.

I have had a few phonecalls and am finding myself only wanting them to go to 'naice' families and realise I am being a terrible judgemental person. The pups are only a week old so we have plenty of time to screen potential owners.

I am sure a lot of families / people can offer a pup a very good home and I need to just think of that. How can I get over myself ?

Perhaps the prospective owners would be interested to know how much it will cost to own the dog over its lifetime before they commit themselves.

I don't own a pet so I would be interested to know how accurate owners think these figures are.

I'm puzzled. If you're not a professional breeder, why did you breed if not for the money? You're unprofessional, no? Not wanting to keep the pups... so where does the love of the breed come in?

I'm not fond of dog breeders, particularly given that unless they are scrupulous and breeding rare, sought after breeds, the dogs may well end up on the street. There are thousands of dogs needing homes... great!

If you bred from your dog because you love your dog and want puppies from it to keep, fair enough, but I don't understand your reasoning at all.

no I have realised I am not being a snob as some of the homes found before we bred are certianly not boden 4x 4 type but just dog lovers who are looking for a quality dog for life from good parents.

We only need 2 homes now and I can see we will end up keeping 1.

And that goes for cats too fuzzy, I agree with you entirely. I had a pedigree kitten last year and I contacted the breeder before they were even conceived. She wanted to know all about us and we also wanted to be sure that it was not some dodgy kitten farm. Here in west Wales there has been a horrendous history of puppy farming which welsh gov is trying hard to crack down on. You are doing the right thing by vetting your prospective owners.

My MIL used to breed (many years ago). she was the PICKIEST person in the world when it came to choosing owners, which by all accounts was quite rare then. She ended up turning one guy away when he came to collect his pup because "she did not like the look of him" (he was, by all accounts, quite punky in his appearance. How gutted she must have been when her own son went through his goth phase!). she ended up keeping that pup.

Another owner who she actually allowed to take a pup, she heard on the grapevine that they were moving and she went round to take the pup back as she did not want it going too far away!!! as it happened, the owner was actually moving abroad and could not take the dog so he was over the moon that she was willing to take it back.

there are more stories, but don't want to out myself too much!
I think you are very right being incredibly picky about who to rehome with, and I don't think your criteria matter, you have to judge each case individually. I'm really tempted to ask what breed as I'm desperate for another dog myself but I'm guessing 5 months pregnant is not the ideal time!!!

And, all the people saying "you should not have bred", we all know there are dogs in shelters, it's very sad, but it's not like the OP can shove the pups back in is it?

Doodlekitty... This was done on purpose, no? The rest of us get our animals speyed/neutred.

I'm not saying i disagree Lying. i have a dog i adore, i chose not to breed from her. My next will more than likely be a rescue dog. I just see no benefit from pointing out to the OP what she clearly already know and considered before she made her decision.

If ya can't say something nice and all that...

so if all the pets in the country were neutered where would people get their pets from ?

I really dont want to get into that whole argument as we have been very responsible and had buyers before we bred.

And yes doodle getting a pup whilst pregnant is not a good idea !

My family wants a dog, preferably a King Charles spaniel. I and my husband have owned dogs ,as youngsters, and we have a cat , gained as a kitten through Cats Protection. We don't want a rescue dog,we want a "nice" dog but half the problem is we just can't afford some of the asking prices. That doesn't mean, though, that a dog wouldn't be looked after properly...it's just the huge lump sum to begin with. My kids are 12,15 and 19, so they are not going to worry a dog.
I rang up about a norfolk terrier once.The woman was quite short with me,asked me if I'd had a norfolk terrier before...I said no, I've had a westie, "OH these are quite different to those".
I asked how much the puppies were
"£900".
I said that that was a bit more than I was expecting... she replied, quite tersley, "Well, that's how much they are!!", so I came off the phone quite upset.
I wonder now if I was being judged. I have a Herts accent, but I live in East Yorkshire...perhaps the owner didn't think I would be "naice" enough.

I doubt you were being judged jam, this lady was obviously just determind to stick to her price.

I think she was asking a lot tbh. We have a cavalier who was bred from a family pet. He has his kennel club registration, pedigree, had had first jabs and vet checks when he came home etc, and he was £600. I thought that was expensive, but assumed that a large part of the cost was to price out people who didn't really want to invest in a family pet.

£900 is absurd for a dog and will be bred for profit.

We are selling at much less than that and will just about cover our costs. It makes me so sad when people breed for profit. How can they let the pups god knows where just for the money ?

I have a very northern accent, live in a two up two down, work in a take away and rarely brush my hair unless I am having a rare night out.

Luckily, the rescue I foster with, know what to look for and what to ask when they're looking for good dog owners/fosterers.

Do you your dogs a favour and let a rescue help you.

You can find GSDs in rescues. There was one in ours a few months ago. A lovely wee 8 month old pup called Zahara. I wanted her. They said she chased cats

I dont have GSD's

I will repeat, I want people who will love and care for the pups for the rest of their lives regardless of accents, looks etc. I look like a bag of shite but take very good care of my dogs.

I just got frustrated with the phone calls today from people ringing about the pups with no knowledge at all about the breed or pups and seemed, well just not bothered really.

Instead of giving a responsible breeder who has health-tested the parents and is looking for committed homes for the puppies a hard time, how about reserving your judgy ire for puppy farmers and irresponsible BYBs who couldn't give a flying one about anything other than pound signs?

Our cat's breeder is pretty strict about who she allows to have a kitten. She always makes sure they're capable of looking after the cat and giving it lots of love and attention. She also asks that the family come to see the kittens before offering them one (this is so that she can see how the kids act if there are any, she says!)

ok coconutty , shall I post it to you ?

You are not being unreasonable no.

You are possibly being unreasonable if you are making snap judgements on people, based on their accents, or what they look like, or what they drive.

My family breeds German Shepherds - has been doing so for a number of years and its not unreasonable to want to pups to go to "nice" homes - its damn irresponsible not to care where they go.

Prospective buyers have been known to be interrogated asked a number of questions over the phone, come and meet the adult dogs and tiny pups bringing along your whole family. Sometimes even a home visit is done to the purchasers house depending on circumstances. The new owners visit the pups every week its bedlam the pups are brilliantly socialised as are the adult dogs.

Puppy breeding when done properly (as opposed to half a job) is damn expensive - youve got the health tests of your dogs, the day to day care of the adult dogs, the additional cost when youve got pregnant bitches and pups, insurance, vet bills etc etc. Then there the bloody time and mess, cos dear me once youve got a litter of pups running round causing chaos in the house ......

Sorry, haven't read other replies.

No, you would be irresponsible not to check the owners. Responsible breeders sometimes actually insist on delivering the pup, so they can see the family and surroundings.

My parents bought a lab in the 50s - and my mother (a cocker spaniel breeder) was very amused to be 'checked'