I initially agreed to hold a puppy for a woman 8 spoke with via email who planned to travel 7 hours drive to meet our puppies, and claimed she had good knowledge of the (quite difficult) breed from childhood etc.
When her and her husband arrived they were 18 year olds, and didn't speak English the whole time except occasionally she responded to me. Her husband only spole to her in Spanish so I couldn't understand anything they said. That wasn't a big deal, except it felt quite rude as they stayed an hour and basicalpy ignored me to plsy with the puppies. Then after the contract was signed and I had deposit and address and full name I did some investigating. I found they were actually even younger, 16 year olds who had become pregnant at 15 and married, and had a 3 month old baby at home they never mentioned. The address showed as being an apartment with no garden. The husband's facebook showed he was into street racing, again not relevant to his ability to care for a dog, but I can't stand irresponsible morons racing in cities, people die regularly here from being hit by these idiots. It also showed he had quit his last minimum wage job and was in no rush to find another
I was already in two minds at this point about how responsible they could really be, with so many huge life changes in such a short span. But I had 5 more weeks before the puppies were ready to leave.
Then came the emails. Could I reduce the price of the puppy? They had not realised how much it would cost driving so far to me and tolls etc, and it didn't seem fair paying full price. They suggested $300 instead of $500. I responded thst the price was based on the cost to raise the litter and care for mum beforehand, first shots and 2 vet visits, 2x wormer etc and high quality food and milk... I had a spreadsheet of every single cost so I could come up with a fair price. I wasn't making any profit. I told them if they felt the price was unfair I could refund the deposit.
Next email was ridiculous. She wanted me to let them pick up the puppy 2.5 weeks early because she was graduating the day after and wanted to take him to the graduation party. I said absolutely not, the puppy couldn't be out in public areas where other dogs might have been until all shots were given and it would be a very scary thing for a puppy on his first day away from his mother. Also not to mention it is illegal to send puppies home before 8 weeks, and I was waiting till 10 weeks.
At this point I was down to my last straw. I didn't want to trust them with the puppy and I felt if I did he would end up in the pound within a year. Then came another email demanding I reduce the price $100 and meet them half way since it was such a long drive. That would mean a 7 hour round trip for me, along with about $80 in gas and tolls, as well as the fact I would uave to trust them to show up at all, or bring the amount they werw supposed to... what would I do if they decided it was still too expensive at the point of exchange? It was all just ridiculous. I emailed back and said I was no longer confident that they could provide the home the puppy required, or the vet trips etc he would need and I sent back their deposit. I'm sure they were furious, and it stressed me lut knowing they knew where I lived, but given the long drive I assumed they would leave us alone.
Anyhow, my point is, raising puppies is incredibly hard work. It was tougher those 10 weeks than anything I think I've ever done, and the sole interest I had was getting the best possible homes for those babies. So if anyone is planning to buy from a breeder they should absolutely expect to be snooped into... i looked at social media accounts, I even found court documents about a bankruptcy on one of the future owner's parents... but the background check stuff is only part of it. The breeeder needs to have a good feeling about the owner. Why is this person interested in this breed? Why do they think it is a good fit for them? Have they anticipated the quirks and potential health risks of the breed? Or did they just watch Game of Thrones and fall in love with dire wolves and want something similar?
I think in the breeder's position I would be more wary of you with one toddler and a pregnancy. I would question how much time you would have for the puppy. Whether it would we be given less attention when the new baby came. Whether you had a good plan for affording vet treatment on top of all the new baby costs...
It doesn't mean the breeder is right. You might be an incredible home. But it does loom like a risk and if there are lots of others interested, the breeder should go with the bbest possible chance her dogs won't end up in a shelter.