Has anyone bought recently via champdogs?

[SayItIsntSo1]

I’m looking for any experience o people buying via adverts on champdogs. And if you paid for priority access?

I get the notifications but it wants me to pay for priority access to actually be able to do anything on the earlier ads.

Feeling a bit out faced and wondering how long it took people in the crazy current market to secure their puppy via adverts on there.

We’ve decided this year is the right time to get a dog. We’re looking for a working cocker puppy, we have school age kids so not able to take on a rescue. (Which is a bit infuriating given the number of them of spanielaid ).

SpanielAid will rehome to you if your kids are over 5 years old (a friend volunteers for them) so that may be an option for you.

We got a working cocker through Champdogs at the end of October. Started looking end of August and got in touch with a breeder by mid-September. I was incredibly lucky but also very proactive, I responded to a lot of adverts and reached out to breeders even without litters. Got a response from maybe 3 people, only one of whom had a litter available. One other response said they were planning a litter and would have put us on their waiting list.

Definitely pay for priority access. It's what, £10? Peanuts compared to what the dog will cost you. Breeders are getting so many enquiries you need to contact them as soon as the advert goes up.

@ashmts can I ask are the breeders charging normal prices or the amped up covid prices?

@Motorina son is not over 5 so spanielaid isn’t an option. Although something we will consider in future, a friend has 2 dogs through them.

That’s good to know @ashmts. I’m happy to jump on ads as soon as they come up. I contacted about 10 breeders through them earlier in the year and got less response that you did. Maybe priority access will give me an edge to get in there quicker

@loubieloo4 We paid a lot, far more than we'd have paid a year before. I was happy to pay that though as if the breeders sell for £900 or whatever they run the risk of someone selling on for profit. Most of the adverts were priced at £2-3k when I was looking.

@SayItIsntSo1 When I say I contacted a lot of breeders I'm talking > 50, just to get those three responses. It is a tough time to be looking.

Wow @ashmts it really is tough! I feared as much.

I don’t mind paying what people are paying as that’s the market and as far as we’re concerned it’s a massive commitment.

Hopefully we find the right breeder. You’ve encouraged me to go back to one I’ve spoken to earlier in the year but will likely find that’s not an option anymore.

Prices are insane at the moment. Top dollar in the breed we own, out of health tested working stock with a lot of successful field trialling dogs in the pedigree, was around £1k.

Now a puppy from any random litter, formerly about £700, is £2k+.

I got our springer spaniel pup through a breeder who advertised on champdogs. I paid for priority access. I think I signed up for Champdogs last September - I emailed maybe 2-3 breeders who were advertising litters focussing on those whose ads had all the parentage and health information you would want and were offering puppy contracts etc. I did end up paying lockdown prices.... £2.25k for our puppy. She is a well-bred pup - sire was a ftch but still, crazy money. But timing was important to us (turns out it was totally the wrong time as homeschooling a 5 year old boy and a springer puppy at the same time was extremely challenging!) and the breeders were farmers (the proper kind not the puppy kind!) and I can’t really blame them for charging what was the market rate at the time. They obviously really cared about the puppies - loads of questions as to whether we could provide a suitable home and a video call interview... I think the fact that we live in the town where the breeder grew up helped! They have also been brilliant - constantly in touch with tips on training, feeding etc. Anyways, we picked our dpup up on 1st January. She’s my first dog and I definitely think we’ve been lucky. Our trainer has a dog from the same line as our dpup and says that they tend to be lovely soft dogs - I couldn’t have known that from the research I did. I would be even more careful if we get a second dog in a year or so and make sure that I get it either from the same breeder or from our trainer or someone she knows.

Many years ago (12) I saw puppies I adored, met all the health checks etc. I could also check the out on KC snd breed how history/club. Was an old post so I was able to contact the breeder and got on their waiting list. Turns out someone could not go through with purchasing a puppy and I we blew to get one earlier.

You can use champ dog similarly. You should be aware that good breeders will have waiting lists. We joined the same breeders waiting list this past summer and expect to be called @ august/sept this year.

You really need to do your homework as camp dogs does not vet adverts.

@LorelaiVictoriaGilmore @LongTimeMammaBear thank you for sharing your experiences.

Hi, I contacted about 20 on champ dogs and had maybe 5 replies. I also joined a Facebook group for the breed, which is where I got the recommendation for the breeder from whom we are now getting our puppy (got the recommendation and then contacted via champdogs) - was also lucky as I was initially told all puppies in the litter due were pretty much spoken for, but there ended up being one left when I contacted again.
I did pay for priority access, not got my money’s worth as I only had ‘early’ notification of one litter since joining a few weeks ago, I did email the breeder but got no response.
I think most good breeders appear to have lined up homes in advance and have waiting lists so you need to be more proactive rather than just waiting for litters to be advertised.