BUYER BEWARE-- Tips for Newbies Searching for a GSD - Page 8

One sign of a good breeder is that there is so much consistency within their litters that there really is no clear "pick" of the litter. Watching people like MVF take hours to pick his puppy was one of the proudest days of my career.
SS

bump

Bump

Not sure if this was said or not but BEWARE OF PUPPIES FOR SALE IN NEWSPAPER! 

This is an excellent thread!
RockyMud

Bigger is not always better
Make Sure you have a written contract for everything. If they refuse to write anything down run for the hills. they are definately trying to screw you.
 Health of puppy. 
 co-ownership describing what each person is responsible for.  What happens to dog at end of career. agree to buyout price up front. Basically breeder is just buying into the breeding rights, not paying for much of anything else.
 How sales of dogs are handled if you sell your pups thru breeders website.
 What the split is if the breeder whelps the litter, I know of one that takes 75% of the litter for Whelping it even though  you are responsible for paying all medical etc... on litter and all she does is whelp it.
Stud Fees. Some breeders will take 1/2 of you stud fee just for her listing your dog on her website, and will not pay for your dog to breed to their dogs.
Fees Associated with showing with the breeders team. Some breeders not only charge you for the handlers she brings in, also charges you for her hotel room, per diem for while at show. ETC........... and won't let you know about it till you get bill. a week or 2 before the show. Also fee's for Handlers aren't split by number od dogs you show, you may have 1 dog but still pay same as breeder with 20 dogs.
Visit several times breeders training Facility if they have in house training and Observe, type of training, how long is the training, what are you getting for your money.  Some breeders just have you there so you can pay for their dogs training. get 2 minutes of bitework, for $30 dollars, nothing else.
If you want a dog to title yourself, find a club that has titled their own dogs, some breeders just send dogs off to Germany to get bought titles, you're there just to support their own dogs ongoing training. If dog is being sent away, talk to trainer yourself some breeders will Markup cost you pay to help pay for dogs they are sending too.

TAKE YOUR TIME OBSERVE AND LISTEN TO WHAT OTHERS SAY AND DO AT BREEDERS CLUB IF ONE. SEE WHAT KIND OF TURNOVER THEY HAVE. GO TO LOCAL SHOWS AND TALK TO PEOPLE THEIR ABOUT BREEDER ALSO OBSERVE AND LISTEN TO WHAT IS SAID ABOUT THEM THERE.

Yep,
So much wisedom.
Newbies all I can say is you better watch yer ass.
Take a little reponcibility for your own decisions.
Moons.

Bump for the weekend

    The "Seller/Breeder" also needs to BEWARE! If you really care about your dogs, YOU will look into the New Owners of your pups ALSO. This is my Runt. The only survivor of a bout with Parvo ONLY to be allowed to run loose and get a Broken Pelvis, by negligent new owner.

     This dog was "Given" to one,and tranferred to another. Not MY Original Plan. Had BEST of Intentions for the Runt, turne into a NIGHTMARE for MY dog!!!!

Kitkat, I had thought about starting a separate thread for "alert" signs for sellers. Maybe you'd care to start one. This thread relates to alerts to buyers. Let's not confuse things. I

I've had a few nightmares with buyers over the years too. I stole two of my dogs back, 5 and 7 mos. old once in the middle of the night, just hopped a fence and took them because they were being neglected. We went straight to my vet because one had a chicken bone lodged sideways in his upper jaw, both way too thin, covered in felas, wormy. By the next day they were with my dad in Oregon... for GOOD. Never heard whether the owners even missed the dogs, let alone wondered where they went. They did NOT call the county shelter to report the dogs missing so I kind of figured they knew where they went. . I also had one returned with an hour notice with some stupid story about moving to Italy. Dog  was 11 mos. old, had no muscle, probably crated most of the time. not housebroken, a little shook up till the people left. The couple was obviously fighting like hell, woman in tears, man a real prick. They had LOOKED like the perfect family a few months earlier, I swear. Kids used to call me and send pix till about 6 weeks before the parents showed up in my driveway with the dog. Don't know where their kids were that day. At least they brought him home healthy and well fed. I thanked them (cursed them later after they left) worked with the dog afor a couple of weeks and placed him with a single mom and her slightly retarded 15 yr. old son. The kid and dog are constant companions now. Happy ending, thank God.

I had another person, in the 80's, come with her husband to buy two young females. As I helped them load the dogs the husband snuck into my house and stole back the money.  I couldn't prove it but the cash in my desk drawer was gone. They bred the both the girls (13 and 15 mos old). 11 and 13 puppies,  and then brought the girls back, still lactating, demanding a refund because they SAID their hips were not good. I took the girls in the house, slammed the door in the assholes' faces so hard it broke the window next to the front door. They sold the girls' pups, all with litter-back agreeements, breeding them at about a year old for generations..., The girls' hips were FINE BTW, passed OFA Good, but neither had had any socialization, just puppy ovens, so I had to work with them for months, spayed both before finding them good forever homes. They were both very well-bred females, but pretty screwed up by the time I got them back. That couple is still breeding dogs in CA last I heard. I saw her at a couple of trials a few years later, but she never had the nerve to confront me again.

My contract is now 3 pages long and I follow up on all my pups every couple months or more for their entire lives. Still, I often shed a tear or two of worry every time anybody pulls out of here with one of my dogs, hoping and praying I made the right decision.

SS