Us, breeders are a special species…we put a lot (if not most) of our time, money and soul into our
dogs and puppies. I’m talking about the reputable breeders, the ones that care deeply about the
breed, their dogs and offspring. The ones whose care go beyond caring for a puppy until it is sold. For
such breeders, the ultimate wish is to find a perfect lifelong home for each and every puppy they
breed.
That’s why we put a lot of emphasis on finding the right owners for our puppies. Not every puppy is
right for every home, especially when it comes to a breed as versatile as Australian Shepherd. We
take A LOT of our time to get to know our potential puppy buyers and try our best to match the right
puppy with the right owner. It’s always a pleasure to read a well-written and thought-out puppy
inquiry from a future puppy owner that has done his or her research about the breed.
Here are some DO’s and DONT’s that you can follow when contacting a reputable breeder:
DO’s:
- Introduce yourself and your family: your lifestyle, home, job, etc.
- Write about your previous experience with dogs, we love to hear about that!
- Let the breeders know the reason why you’ve chosen this breed.
- Show some knowledge about the breed you are buying – especially about their temperaments. We like to see the future puppy buyers who inform themselves about the breed’s temperament, its needs, characteristics, etc.
- Tell about your plans with your future puppy / dog – what kind of activities you’d like to do, if you are considering breeding, showing, etc.
- Let the breeder know about your preferences and wishes for your future puppy regarding the color, gender, show quality, if you want to breed your dog in the future, etc.
- If a breeder has a puppy questionnaire available, do fill it out.
- Be polite.
- Be patient – we breeders usually have a lot of work, so it might take a couple of days, even weeks to get an answer.
- Do let a breeder know if you have placed a reservation for a puppy with some other breeder. It’s always best to have the open cards and be honest.
- Be honest. If you only want a blue merle puppy, politely explain that you are interested in a blue merle puppy with a suitable temperament, if there should be one available. If you tell a breeder that any color of puppy will do, and then not want a puppy of another color when the time comes, you may put a breeder, who has perhaps turned away other potential buyers, in a difficult situation.
- Be prepared to answer some questions once the breeder has responded.
DONT’s:
- Don’t let your first or only question be: »What is the price of a puppy/dog?«
- Don’t reserve a puppy at multiple breeders without telling them that you are also looking for a puppy
- elsewhere.
- Don’t demand a puppy like: »I want a blue merle girl, with both blue eyes, naturally short tail and with lots of tan.« While I do understand preference for color, keep in mind that firstly, the temperament is much more important then the color, and secondly – such combinations of traits are quite rare and a puppy that loosk specifically like that is only born once in a blue moon.
- Don’t be disappointed if a breeder doesn’t have the right puppy for you at the moment. Usually, us, breeders do not have puppies ‘on stock’ and you will probably have to wait for one.
- Don’t be rude.
- Don’t write one e-mail, and copy paste it to every breeder there is. It is nice to see a personal, well written e-mail.
And always remember, no matter which breed or dog you are buying or adopting: do your research,
choose a reputable breeder and be patient. Good luck!
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