written by Judy Doniere

edited/published with permission by Judy Bohnert

Some breeders DO sell their best bitches. We try to take a chance on selling them the very best in our litters. We take care to try to select the right owners for each puppy and we try to remain in constant contact with them. We enjoy their successes even more than if we owned these bitches themselves.

We cannot keep something from each litter. We do try and co-own, in order to continue our breeding program, if we like it well enough. Most times what we do keep for breeding isn’t always the best show bitch in the litter. I tend to like to keep a more doggie bitch as I feel these make very good brood bitches provided they have all the right parts in the right places. Sometimes
they might be a little much in the conformation ring depending on the area in which they may be shown. Not over sized actually but with a little more bone & substance. Naturally this might vary from litter to litter.

Depending on who a potential buyer contacts and what they themselves can offer, many breeders will indeed take you under their wing and let you have one of their best. Having said that, a new owner who is lucky enough to purchase one of these good bitch puppies should listen ONLY to the breeder. They should not take this young puppy to every Tom, Dick and Harry asking for
their opinion. If the buyer wanted the other peoples’ opinion so much, WHY didn’t they buy a puppy from them?

I insist the new owners stay in touch with me weekly. Now it’s easy with e-mail. I want pictures and progress reports constantly. I want to know about anything that may go wrong or that will be something I can help with, BEFORE it becomes a problem.

If I co-own, I let them alone. I don’t make demands on where, how and who shows the pup. I do keep lines of communication open so they can ask my advice and I’m more than happy to give it. I have contracts but find that sometimes they’re not worth the paper they’re written on. I will not take someone to court for not abiding by their agreement. Most times the effort and expense is just not worth it. I simply chalk it up to my misreading the kind of person I’m dealing with. I DO however make certain the home environment is outstanding. If they love their dogs and care for them properly, I feel I won’t have to worry if they decide to welch on the breeding or showing agreement. So far, I can’t think of too many cases of where I’ve had a breeding or showing agreement with someone who went out of their way to purposely take advantage of me. It has happened but that occurrence is rare. The dog world is a great source of communication. If someone is doing badly by one of your dogs, you’ll hear about it the next day if not before.

I’ll take a chance on any newbie who answers ALL my questions on my web site and sounds very good. We then continue communicating before and while the pups are growing up. If I have any my famous gut feelings we simply don’t proceed. EVERYONE was a newbie at some time…someone had to take a chance on them. Buying that ‘best bitch’ CAN be done. Just find the right breeder, be loyal to them and honest with them and stick with them. They may not have what you want right at the time but if you wait and maintain a relationship with them, you’ll be first in line the next time.

THE BIGGEST REASONS BREEDERS MAY BE RELUCTANT TO PLACE A QUALITY BITCH IN A NEWBIE HOME
It is lack of communication, plain and simple. For example:

1.The breeder asks buyers to keep in touch but it ends up being like pulling teeth to get them to do so.

2. The breeder calls to check up on the puppy and the new owner says everything is fine. Later on the breeder finds out that the puppy’s ears are not standing and the owners haven’t bothered to let the breeder know so that she could help them.

3. The puppy won’t eat but you don’t know it until a friend calls you up and tells you the pup looks like a skeleton or you finally see the pup and are horrified by its condition.  When the owners are asked why they didn’t tell you they state that they went to many people and to Vets who all said it was ‘in the line’ or some such excuse like that.

4. The new owners decide, after talking with friends, that they got a raw deal from the breeder who maintained breeding rights and now the new owner insists on full ownership and/or no breeding agreement.

5. The new owner carts the new puppy all over the place asking other ‘newbies’ what they think of the new puppy.  Possibly due to jealousy or a complete lack of knowledge or whatever, the new owner hears things that they don’t want to hear and calls the breeder to complain that the pup isn’t what they wanted and yet they don’t want to return it. They just want to keep it and breed it.

6. Many times a breeder ‘mentors’ a newbie and gives them some confidential information meant for their ears alone and a week later another breeder calls the mentor saying this person is bad mouthing other breeder’s dogs because YOU (their breeder) told them something that should have stayed private.

7. You find out that this person has gone through dogs from other breeders and didn’t tell you.  You think you are the first person they would be getting a good pup from only to find out they’ve gone through a few others and messed up those pups before they even started on yours.

So BEFORE you blame breeders for not allowing their good bitches to be placed with newer people, stop and think about the reasons WHY. If you get to know a breeder over many months or maybe a couple years and if you have done your homework and managed to gain the breeder’s trust plus if you can afford to raise and train a good puppy and you are, above all, a TRUSTWORTHY friend who will listen to the advice of the breeder, I’m sure you’ll end up with a puppy that will be a foundation for YOUR breeding program.