How to sell puppies Questions

Discussion in 'Border Collie' started by ZeldaZulu, Jan 1, 2019.

  1. ZeldaZulu

    ZeldaZulu New Member

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    How to sell puppies

    Hello again,

    For those with experience, please be gentle with this topic. I know this is the case with all breeders and if you are going to breed you have to be ready for this conundrum, none-the-less it is difficult. So please do not do the lecture of 'well this is what you need to do!' I know this, but it doesn't make it easy in the real-life scenario and as much as I mentally prepared, the bottom-line is challenging.

    I have 5 beautiful border collie puppies and I need to sell some of them. I prepared for this prior to breeding, during pregnancy, even during the 1st few weeks of their life.

    But then they develop characters, personalities - they look at you as a protector, a source of love/companionship...apart from their mother, you are generally their greatest source of everything they know, respond to, seek affirmation from. This part gets difficult to say - I love you, of course I do. I care for you but I can send you off to the unknown. I'd of course vet any prospective buyers but it is still an unknown.

    Not looking for a psychological analysis - but how does one see a puppy, 2 puppies, etc as lovable, but ultimately - you have to pick which ones you love best sort of? The one(s) with the best characters (how?) or whatever your determining factors/characteristics are (even looks may factor into the choice reason). For me, they each are beautiful in character. They are learning, developing & loving. Many go through stages of being more boisterous, then they become more introspective at times - it's hard to know their character when it is a developing aspect of their puppyhood. They are of course all adorable - beautiful looks, build, face.

    So I hope that those with the experience, can think to the 1st time they had to do this and how they - if they are animal lovers (and yes, getting them homes is still animal love - I know) - they were able to separate one love from another to choose those puppies. If you are pragmatic, and this is par for the course your love of the puppies is focused on love of getting them into homes, you may not be the best person to talk to - I am seeking people, like me, and their process of transition from one type of love to another. I get that the other has to exist - I hope to learn from those who had to make that transition.
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  3. Malka

    Malka Member

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    On Ginny - I do not know what to say that will be what you want to hear. I do not think it is a matter of which puppy you love the most - in my case it was knowing that I could only keep one, if that, and the reason for that. And as for the others, I had a waiting list and had checked future homes for my pups.

    There characters, as they grew and developed showed what future owners would be the best for them.

    I never wanted to part with any of them, but I knew which puppy was right for which prospective owner.

    And yes, at times, I wanted to keep all of them.
  4. ZeldaZulu

    ZeldaZulu New Member

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    Thanks Malka for your response. I do know this is a necessary part, I just don't know how to even begin. As a 1st time breeder, I've not had a line up of homes. Not because I hadn't thought to prepare, but there were lots of uncertainties - how many survive (thankfully all did), what to look for in personality, etc. So I knew some people did that, but without the experience of developing dog personalities, survival rates, and being a reputable breeder - this seemed, whilst advanced thinking maybe a bit premature for where I was at in experience.

    I really thought I knew where I'd go with them - on a personal choice level. And then, I'd see how and where I'd be able to home them with good homes. But the personal choice thing just was so much harder as I do love them individually for all the reasons in the book. They are really the best little bunch of pups! I know that's bias of course speaking but I couldn't ask for a better litter really!
  5. Malka

    Malka Member

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    Ginny, with a first litter of your own breeding, it is oh how wonderful, I want them all, I can not bear to part with any of them. But the truth is you can not keep them all, however much you love them all individually.

    I do not know why you decided to breed, but you had to understand the whys and wherefores, and understand that you just can not keep all the litter. I loved all my pups but I knew which, if any, I could keep. And sometimes it was none.

    That did not mean I did not love the others because I did. But I knew that their new homes would be the best homes for them.
  6. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    Malka likes this.
    I always hated the business of selling my puppies. My reasons for breeding were to perpetuate my own family line, and to produce the next show quality puppy. Therefore my needs came first, and I knew there would be surplus puppies to find homes for - not many, as like @Malka, most of my litters were toy dogs, and a typical litter would be somewhere between 1 and 5 puppies.
    I usually had a couple of people who had made enquiries earlier, so I had time to get to know them, and know that I would be happy to offer them the chance of a puppy. If I had a puppies that were heavily marked, (or too lightly marked), or one which had a slightly faulty bite, - it can happen in toy dogs - I would be able to let them know quite quickly which puppies would be available. If there were a couple of good ones, then those puppies would not be available until I had made my choice.
    If I remember correctly, your litter was to breed a pet which you hoped to be able to compete with in working tests. In that case, I would look for an attractive, biddable puppy which was happy and outgoing, and was showing some signs of having an instinct for the job. If in doubt, you could ask your future trainer for their opinion, (you don't have to take it, but another pair of eyes is always good). I would also have the puppies vet checked for any potential health problems. I'm thinking of things like eyes, hearing, dentition, narrow ear canals, hernias etc.
    If you can find all that in one puppy, that is the one to keep!
  7. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    ps. Sometimes your stud dog owner can pass on puppy enquiries. Always check these people out for yourself though.
  8. Malka

    Malka Member

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    I had a wonderful mentor. She taught me everything I should know about breeding, and my brood bitch came from her. And I used her stud dogs, knowing their full pedigrees and from where our girls and her dogs came from.

    We wanted pups where we knew came from on both sides. And she was the one who told me which puppy I should keep [a bitch puppy for future breeding to keep up a well bred line - ones not to be sold for breeding, and which showed signs of being good show dogs]. Her choice was not always my choice, but she knew far better than I. And as it turned out, she was always right.
  9. Malka

    Malka Member

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  10. Malka

    Malka Member

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    Apologies - I had tried to add something but the electricity went off so my post was not applicable.
  11. ZeldaZulu

    ZeldaZulu New Member

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    Thanks everyone for the messages! I will look into the tests or other sources to see which one is looking the 'best' so to speak. It is new to me to have brand new puppies - so to see them develop, versus getting a dog which is what I had with our girl (she wasn't a puppy when we got her but already a working dog).

    Right now, they are too young to show much proclivity in anything - and truthfully, we see 1 one week and think hmm...she's quite boisterous and bossy, then the following weeks - she's been more cuddly and takes the 'sit' command really well (anticipating it and sitting in front of me - like 'look how good I am, do I get a treat?' - so not understanding the command in that case but certainly grasping that 'sit' but definitely getting that the nice sit gets food). Others seem introspective one week, then little monsters the next. I'd suspect they are going through phases which may pass but most are biddable to doing what she did and sitting, she just took to it the fastest. We do different interactions with them. Taking 1 away and working with them. Taking 2 see how the distractions are to it. Also taking all in a room and seeing how they play together. So whilst I'll take Carole's advice to heart about a trainer second set of eyes, we are also trying to watch and observe them regularly and in different settings.

    How old did you reasonably sell your puppies? It seems a bit changeable (6wks, 8 weeks - some even 12 wks), but obviously to observe these characteristics it needs them to not be so 'weaning puppy' and more 'puppy' if that makes sense. They are always changing but in these weeks, they've only recently come to know of an outside world so that I am sure factors in hugely to an air of excitement.
  12. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    Malka likes this.
    Cavalier puppies are quite sturdy for toy breed, so they left at nine weeks. I wouldn't let any breed leave before eight weeks. I have run puppies on for longer, but when they live as family, it does get awfully hard to part with them. Far better to make your mind up by nine weeks and let their new owners enjoy some of those baby days.
    You will also find that keeping more than one puppy begins to be a chore as the grooming, and individual training starts to take up more of your time. If you hang on to them too long you may also find that the puppies begin to become more closely bonded to each other than to you.
  13. Malka

    Malka Member

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    I used to breed Griffons and there were usually only 1-2 pups in a litter [until my Z girl popped out the five Z babies]. There are two "types" of Griffs, Griffon Bruxellois [rough coats with beards] and Petit Brabançon [smooth/short coats].

    They are classed as one breed and two roughs could produce smooths, two smooths could product roughs. The Z babies had a smooth dam and a rough sire. The same as her first litter, when she produced one rough and one smooth pups. The Z babies were her second and last litter, same mating, two pups were smooths, three were rough.

    All pups, including the Z babies, had their own personalities almost from birth, and I knew which one was meant for which person on my waiting list.
  14. Chris B

    Chris B Member

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    It may not be the current way of thinking, but I think 7-8 weeks is the optimum time to let pups go to their new homes. By this stage, they have picked up on various cues from their siblings and have started to discover that biting too hard stops interaction with them. It gives their new owners the chance to give them individual attention and participate in the socialisation and puppy training process which I believe is more successful when the pups have the undivided attention of their owners
  15. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    Members of UK Breed Clubs have to sign that they agree to be bound by a code of ethics, the basic template of which is provided by the Kennel Club, with additional clauses being added by each individual club. Though I don't think it has been included in the codes for larger breeds, a minimum selling age of 8 weeks is given for many of the smaller ones. I don't know about all of the tiny toys, (not enough time to read up), but the British Chihuahua Club cites a minimum age of 12 weeks. Additionally, the highly complex Animal Welfare, (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, Schedule 3, would now appear to make it illegal to sell any dog, cat, ferret or rabbit under the age of eight weeks. I doubt that any of this will affect Ginny, as the Act only applies to England, though it is likely that the other home nations will draft similar legislation.
    I don't know whether there are any recommendations in the US.
  16. ZeldaZulu

    ZeldaZulu New Member

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    Good to know this. I suspected as much as I know that weaning really is only occurring around 6 wks anyway - and it would seem harsh to me to go then - but I've seen adverts for people selling at 6 wks so was a bit uncertain if what seemed harsh timing of 6 wks is a better socialisation timing, or if we're still ok to keep them on and give them the transition from one stage to the next. I've read with dogs it is good to assume a transition time - so never work from hard lines but more soft lines of transitioning stages.

    Mum has definitely given clear indications to the pups that the milk is up! So weaning has been happening actively along the way. Since the age of 3 weeks, I started to work on the food intake. I have Royal Canin Mother and Babydog formula so that it is safe to use during their weaning weeks. They are all good weight and sturdy pups so doing very well indeed!

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