Breeder Not Happy With My Questions

[Roova]

I can't seem to start a new topic in the breeder section so sorry if this is the wrong place.

Although I LOVE French Bulldogs, I’m never going to be able to afford to add a second one to our family. There's nothing I'd love more but I just don't have $3000+ I have been doing some research on other breeds and contacted a local breeder. She said she had photos of her dogs and would email them to me. I asked if I could send her a checklist with questions (which I developed after reading different suggestion on DOL). She said absolutely.

I didn’t receive a reply for more than a week and half so sent an email asking if my original one was received.

Tonight I got an email basically saying she was surprised at my research questions as she isn’t in the habit of putting her personal information out for anyone to read. She said I don’t have anything to hide and I’m sure you’re a nice person but I really don’t know you. She went on to wish me success finding a companion for my dog and as a new family member. All very nice but she’s obviously not happy to sell me a puppy. I’m disappointed she didn’t choose to fill in the questions she was happy to and leave the others but too late now.

Now I’m worried my questions are too much and I would hate to turn off other breeders as this breed is relatively rare and she was local to me which would have been so lovely. I know I’m a bit over the top when I start researching something but I figure if I’m going to hand someone $1000 or more, I would like to know a little about the puppy I’ll be getting.

Following are the exact questions I asked. I’d love to shorten it but they all seem so important! I’d love feedback on which ones are over the top as I’ll chop them out!

Breeder questions:

How many ** do you own?

How many years have you had them for?

What clubs are you a member of?

What do you like about the **?

Why do you breed?

Parents of the pup questions:

What Health checks have the parent had?

What score did they get?

Is there a score or just a pass for breeding?

What is the temperament of parents?

Why did you choose that dog and that bitch to produce a litter?

Do the adults get socialisation with other animals, eg horses, cows, poultry, cats?

How do they cope meeting different dogs? Different sized dogs?

What level are the parents at showing wise?

Is their height and weight within the standard?

Have the parents had a litter together before?

How did those pups develop temperament wise?

Do you have much contact with the pups once they’ve left?

Have any of the pups been shown? What results have they achieved?

Do you know the age the parents or grandparents of the parents lived to?

Puppy questions:

How are the puppies raised (outside, inside, combination?)

Have they been exposed to household noises, eg vacuum cleaners, tv’s, pots/pans banging, people talking loudly

What age is the puppy released to its new owner?

What health checks have the pups had by this time?

What socialisation will the puppy have had?

To people? To other animals?

Is there any type of health guarantee or recourse if future health/genetic problems are found?

How much is the puppy?

Is the puppy on limited or main registration?

What documents come with the puppy? Registration, Vaccination, microchip, pedigree, diet and care sheet

Is there a deposit required? How much? At what age? Is the money refunded if the sale doesn’t go ahead?

Will there have been a vet check of the puppy before release?

Is any extra training done with the puppy whilst socialising?

If kept crated/penned was there a separate area for toileting?

What have they go to the toilet on?

Are they currently playing with kongs or chew toys?

Thanks for any and all opinions and feedback

[Cosmolo]

My goodness thats alot of questions! Its also a bit formal for my liking- question after question listed instead of a sentence like "I am looking to buy a puppy that has had good socialisation prior to rehoming and it would be great if you were happy to provide any information regarding the way you generally raise your litters". This would cut out about 10 of your questions!

I will see if i cn find the first email i sent to a breeder. Remember that alot of the questions can be answered in the second or third contact- first email should have the crucial details in it- the must haves for you AND information about you.

Here was our first email-

We would like to make an enquiry with regards to acquiring a male, broken or rough coat Jack Russell puppy at some stage in the next 2 years. I realise this may be a while away but we would like to start our research now!

We are professional dog trainers www.underdogtraining.com.au and currently have 4 dogs of our own- all medium/ large dogs who are friendly and social with dogs and puppies of all sizes. We are looking for a small and robust breed with high drive who can fit with an active lifestyle, hence looking at a JRT. We do not wish to show or breed.

We work varied hours but are in the fortunate position of being able to take our dogs with us on many occassions so none of our current dogs are left alone for long periods of time. Our dogs are a huge part of our life and we have no other pets (except turtles in an aquarium!).

I would really appreciate your answers to a few questions we have-

When is your next litter due?

Do you allow potential homes to select their own puppy or do you choose for them?

Could you provide an approximate price for your pups?

Could you tell me what the temperaments of your adult dogs are like?

How do you raise the pups in the first 8 weeks- what do they experience and where are they kept?

We can be really hard to catch via phone so an email reply if possible would be great. Please let me know if you require any further information about us.

[BJean]

I can't seem to start a new topic in the breeder section so sorry if this is the wrong place.

Although I LOVE French Bulldogs, I’m never going to be able to afford to add a second one to our family. There's nothing I'd love more but I just don't have $3000+ I have been doing some research on other breeds and contacted a local breeder. She said she had photos of her dogs and would email them to me. I asked if I could send her a checklist with questions (which I developed after reading different suggestion on DOL). She said absolutely.

I didn’t receive a reply for more than a week and half so sent an email asking if my original one was received.

Tonight I got an email basically saying she was surprised at my research questions as she isn’t in the habit of putting her personal information out for anyone to read. She said I don’t have anything to hide and I’m sure you’re a nice person but I really don’t know you. She went on to wish me success finding a companion for my dog and as a new family member. All very nice but she’s obviously not happy to sell me a puppy. I’m disappointed she didn’t choose to fill in the questions she was happy to and leave the others but too late now.

Now I’m worried my questions are too much and I would hate to turn off other breeders as this breed is relatively rare and she was local to me which would have been so lovely. I know I’m a bit over the top when I start researching something but I figure if I’m going to hand someone $1000 or more, I would like to know a little about the puppy I’ll be getting.

Following are the exact questions I asked. I’d love to shorten it but they all seem so important! I’d love feedback on which ones are over the top as I’ll chop them out!

Breeder questions:

How many ** do you own?

How many years have you had them for?

What clubs are you a member of?

What do you like about the **?

Why do you breed?

Parents of the pup questions:

What Health checks have the parent had?

What score did they get?

Is there a score or just a pass for breeding?

What is the temperament of parents?

Why did you choose that dog and that bitch to produce a litter?

Do the adults get socialisation with other animals, eg horses, cows, poultry, cats?

How do they cope meeting different dogs? Different sized dogs?

What level are the parents at showing wise?

Is their height and weight within the standard?

Have the parents had a litter together before?

How did those pups develop temperament wise?

Do you have much contact with the pups once they’ve left?

Have any of the pups been shown? What results have they achieved?

Do you know the age the parents or grandparents of the parents lived to?

Puppy questions:

How are the puppies raised (outside, inside, combination?)

Have they been exposed to household noises, eg vacuum cleaners, tv’s, pots/pans banging, people talking loudly

What age is the puppy released to its new owner?

What health checks have the pups had by this time?

What socialisation will the puppy have had?

To people? To other animals?

Is there any type of health guarantee or recourse if future health/genetic problems are found?

How much is the puppy?

Is the puppy on limited or main registration?

What documents come with the puppy? Registration, Vaccination, microchip, pedigree, diet and care sheet

Is there a deposit required? How much? At what age? Is the money refunded if the sale doesn’t go ahead?

Will there have been a vet check of the puppy before release?

Is any extra training done with the puppy whilst socialising?

If kept crated/penned was there a separate area for toileting?

What have they go to the toilet on?

Are they currently playing with kongs or chew toys?

Thanks for any and all opinions and feedback

haha Whoah

sorry, if I got an email like that -

I'd send you a nice tata, thanks-for-coming email also.

Do you know how long it would take to answer all those questions properly?

Best to try telephone and ask maybe two questions from each section.

Then at the end of the phone call, ask if it is okay to ring back in a few days and ask some more.

...

NB: A lot of the questions, infer there is a supposed right answer

or that you have an opinion on what is the right answer.

Eg: "Why do you breed?"

I mean what type of answer are you looking for there?

I could say, because I'm a nutcase

but mostly this type of question is value based

and at the end of the day, who are you to ask me why I breed.

Edited October 27, 2011 by lilli

[~Anne~]

I agree that it is far too many questions all at one time.

Select only one or two from each category and ask these to commence the discussion. If you like the answers, then you can lead into more questions.

[persephone]

LOL!

I can understand why she had her running shoes on .

Maybe start off with asking just a couple of questions.. and then try & do it by phone..when conversation can lead in different directions?

[Dju]

That is a crazy huge list of questions. I agree with Lilli, some things are just like.. not your business. At the end of the day, you're looking to get a healthy, well-socialised puppy. Every question that addresses stuff other than this is pretty much irrelevant (especially like "Have any of the pups been shown? What results have they achieved?" and other stuff like that). It's off-topic, I asked my breeder for eye and hip/elbow scores, asked what the parent's general temperament was like, and that was about all I needed to know. Of course I found out a lot more than that because we chatted on the phone instead and she gave me a lot lot lot of information about her dogs but yeah, if you're looking for so many answers, pick up the phone, don't make her answer a survey.

A breeder once said that it was a privelige for the buyer to get a puppy from her, not a privelige for her to sell a puppy to some particular buyer, and the list comes off as.. a bit.. idk, cold, ungrateful? Like she's just another breeder on a list of breeders to you, and not a breeder whom you're actually keenly interested in.

Does she have a website? More often enough, breeders have websites and a lot of the questions you have can be answered by a few minutes clicking on a website.

[Brennan's Mum]

Yikes, I'm not a breeder but I'd be a bit put off by all those questions in a first enquiry.

[mollipop]

I think that is way too many questions and I don't see how some of them would affect whether you want to buy one of their puppies.

How would you feel if you got a questionaire like that to see if you were a suitable owner for one of their puppies??

[Bundyburger]

That is way too full on for a first email, as Cosmolo said, you can easily get an answer for a lot of those questions in one sentence, without seeming to be over the top. If I were a breeder and recieved an email like that, I would probably say thanks but no thanks. I can't think of anyone who'd have time to sit and answer that many questions. By all means ask questions, but you're buying a puppy, the breeders don't need a spanish inquisition!!

[Roova]

Yep, over the top..thats me! I have to be very detailed at work and unfortunately it often carries over to my person life.

It started out so small but every time I read the Dog breeds 101 someone would suggest another question so I added it to the list.

I did have a good conversation with her first and she said send the questions through via email as she'd have more time to answer them (I did warn her there was a few of them). I had them in a table spaced out and it didn't look quite so harsh (well so I thought).

I guess I also thought I was being responsible rather than cold and unfeeling She does have a website which I liked, hence calling her, but it hasn't been updated for a few years so I wasn't sure where she was at with breeding or showing. Definitely back to the drawing board to cut out at least half the questions. Thanks for the feedback.

[Baileys mum]

I also think that is way too many questions, & personally I would be very put off if i received an enquiry like that.

If i get a puppy enquiry, I usually reply back with a link to my website...I tell the person if they are still interested in getting a puppy from me after they have seen my website, then they are welcome to give me a call for a chat, as I prefer to have a conversation with a potential puppy person, rather than emailing back & forth.

There's no way I would sit & answer a survey like that....it would take up way too much of my time.

Edited October 27, 2011 by Baileys mum

[Gayle.]

if the breeder has a website, you might find the answers to a lot of those questions there. And the rest could be answered in general conversation. I had a half hour chat with a breeder on the phone one night last week and he answered a lot of those questions without me even asking them. While I think it's a bit full on, I've seen similar from breeders to potential puppy buyers though, and from rescue groups to potential adopters. So it works both ways....while the breeders and the rescue groups want to ensure they're selling to the right people, buyers have a right to ensure they are buying from a reputable source.

[JulesP]

If I got that list of questions I would say bye bye to you as I would think that you might turn out to be too high maintenance!

Phone the breeder and explain that you thought you were doing the correct thing but realize that you may have gone a little over the top in your enthusiasm to do the right thing.

[Shazzapug]

I like the "About the puppy" questions but the about the breeder, way too personal. But I can see where you are coming from as $3000 is such a lot of money to spend on a dog. I dont know where you live but if you had a nice phone call with a said breeder you may be better asking if you can go to a show they are showing at and get to know her that way.

[BJean]

Yep, over the top..thats me! I have to be very detailed at work and unfortunately it often carries over to my person life.

It started out so small but every time I read the Dog breeds 101 someone would suggest another question so I added it to the list.

I did have a good conversation with her first and she said send the questions through via email as she'd have more time to answer them (I did warn her there was a few of them). I had them in a table spaced out and it didn't look quite so harsh (well so I thought).

I guess I also thought I was being responsible rather than cold and unfeeling She does have a website which I liked, hence calling her, but it hasn't been updated for a few years so I wasn't sure where she was at with breeding or showing. Definitely back to the drawing board to cut out at least half the questions. Thanks for the feedback.

Sorry I'm just thinking of your possible day job :D

If you really like this breeder, I think JulesP's advice will repair the damage

As a breeder, my first requirement is repertoire with the home

and much of that is based on their person.

If you are a perfunctory robot you cannot be a person; puppies require a fluid common sense environment and the intuition of a person

[Esky the husky]

I think you can still salvage this is you're really keen.

A few too many questions as a few others have pointed out.

You could condense the subheadings down into a question each.

For example that last section could pretty much be covered by "how are the puppies raised?"

Some will have that information on the website, some may have a 'generic email reply'.

If the answers left out something I needed to know, I would ask in a follow up.

[*Lolapalooza*]

Perhaps ring her and tell her you have realised that your questions may have been a bit OTT, chances are she may be happy to give you a synopsis over the phone.

Edited October 27, 2011 by *Lolapalooza*

[Clyde]

Wow, intense!

Good on you though for putting so much thought in to it

The breeder probably needed a stiff drink after reading your email

I agree with JulesP, try and salvage it by emailing her back and explaining you've been chatting with other doggy people and you realise you maybe have gone a tad overboard.

[Ozstar]

As a breeder I would much rather answer those questions over the phone.

Try ringing the breeder again, stike up a conversation and throw a few of the main questions in and go from there.

By email it does seem very clinical and also there is always the thought that you may be a shonky and pass the answer on to someone (there are a lot out there that would do that sort of thing, sad but true ).

Leanne

[suziwong66]

Perhaps you need to make this a more human experience? Yes, you are entitled to know some information about where a prospective puppy comes from and how it will be raised, but if you don't give the breeder some sense of who you are, they are less likely to connect with you. They need to get some sense of who you are to make a decision about the puppy they are finding a home for.

Try and repair the relationship if you really want a puppy from this breeder. Your questions can be presented more casually in a phone conversation; you can follow the general 'dot point' format of them but keep it casual; less overt.

good luck

Edited October 27, 2011 by suziwong66