Questions to Ask your Breeder

[freundhund]

Hi

I am after a list of question those of us that breed would like to be asked by a prospective buyer.

These can be how much can I feed a puppy?

How big will my puppy be when it grows up?

What test do you give your puppy while it is still with you?

Do you handle the puppies every day?

What sort of socialization have the puppies had?

Why did you breed the litter?

Just general questions that help you sort the type of person that will help you chose the best owner for one of your puppies.

So I would really like additions to the list. If you are a first time puppy buyer add the questions that you would have liked to ask now or did ask at the time.

Regards

Freundhund

[Schaeferhund]

I don't remeber being a first time puppy owner, I grew up with dogs... So I don't think I asked any of those questions, expect about how much socialization the pup have had.
My breeders did also present me with all the vet papers, including a complete check up done only a day before. If they didn't I would have asked about that.
My questiojns concentrated more on the mothers (I've known the fathers) Their score books, koer papers. The breeder of Perry was even nice enough to do a round of obedience in his back yard (he knew what an ad it would be , the performance was the last thing I needed to decide to take the pup)
Vaccinations, I asked about, what was fed before and what was the routine.
We talked about his previous litters, he had one with my females father. We talked a lot about training methods. He let me sign a paper that stated that he has to know about the whereabouts of the dog (very uncommon in Germany) and I'm not allowed give him up to shelters or animal testing or or or... I'll be fined over €3000,- if I do and he finds out, that's in the contrat. I was very pleasantly surprised with it, as as I said, it's not very common here.
The last thing I asked him was if I could call him, he said "anytime" and that was the end of the 4 hours buying proccess

[JanisN]

I don't think buyers get a chance to ask me very many questions. I volunteer a lot of info!

I routinely volunteer why we bred the litter in the first place; info about puppy testing; individual puppy place in the litter and personality; vet visits and vaccinations, etc.; crate training; obedience training; physical conformation; etc.

I think I inundate them with so much info they're kind of stunned at the end of it.

Recently I sold a pup on the strength of something I said (and it shocked me that the buyer placed so much importance on it). I told the buyer, as I always do, that no matter WHERE she bought her pup from feel free to call me if there was anything I could help with. That's not meant to be impressive, that's meant to be honest!

JanisN