This page is dedicated to questions I have been asked
over my 10 years of breeding. If I have missed your question, please
e-mail me and let me know what
that question is and I will try to answer it and hopefully at some time get your
question on my "common questions page". I appreciate your
help!
Terry Warren
This is the most common concern although
only a few have actually asked this question:
How do I know you are a reputable breeder? (not a puppy
mill) One of the quickest and easiest ways to
help determine this is to ask the breeder for their veterinarian's clinic name
and phone number. If you don't trust they are giving you the number of a
licensed Veterinarian, look up the name of the clinic in the phone book or go
to: www.whitepages.com and do a
"reverse phone number" search to see if you come up with the Clinic's name by
the phone number that they gave you. Then, call the clinic and speak with
either the veterinarian or one of his or her staff (letting them know who you are
buying the dog from and asking about their character, the care of their dogs,
and their puppies.) If a breeder is not happy about giving out his
veterinarian's name or says that the veterinarian does not want to be called -
FIND ANOTHER BREEDER. Any breeder should work close enough with his or her
veterinarian that they will gladly give you their office number. And any veterinarian's office should be glad to take the call, even though it might be
one of the staff rather then the veterinarian who will answer your questions if
the veterinarian is away on a call or very busy in the office.
There is a common misconception that it is
better to by puppies from someone who has their adult dogs in their homes:
Do you raise your dogs / puppies in the house?
There is an incorrect notion that
puppies raised in a home where there are only 1 to 3 dogs that they are breeding
have healthier, more socialized puppies. These dogs / puppies may or may
not be receiving as much time, care, or energy as a good breeder gives to his or
her dogs. The responsible breeder has gone to classes, seminars, and meetings to
learn how to better care for their dogs and puppies and will tend to have more
knowledge about the needs of the pure bred dog (health, emotion, and mental)
that they are breeding then will just the average home breeder who only have a litter once in a while for fun.
A good breeder will also normally have more knowledge concerning the care of
their dogs and puppies, more then even the average show breeder or hobby breeder. There
is nothing wrong with a "hobby breeder" - but it will not necessarily make a
better or more healthy puppy.
If you see a breeder who has more then four or five female
dogs - more then likely they will have more then one breeding male. IF there is
more then one breeding male then a person can't really "raise the dogs in the
house" the way someone might think that they do. I've had breeders tell me
that they raise 2, 3, 4 or even more different breeds of dogs and that "of
course" they are all in the house. I just have to shake my head. If
you have more then one male breeding dog, then you can not have them mixed in
with each other. You will have a lot of "mistake' puppies or you will not really
know who the sire is of the puppies. You also can not keep a house clean
the way you need to. I have walked into a house where the adult dogs were
"raised" in the house - I had to walk back out very quickly! It is better
for the adult breeding dog when the they are in an area that is made just for
them with the idea of being able to best care for the dogs. A good breeder will
have done a lot of research to see how they can best keep their adult dogs in a
way that gives them the best care possible, allowing room for play and exercise, and enables them to receive the
socialization that they need. Also any breeder who has more then three breeding
females is REQUIRED to be state licensed. If they are not, then BE CONCERNED. It
is through being licensed that breeders are kept accountable for the care of
their dogs and puppies.
What is a "kennel" dog like as compared to
my "house pet"? This is something I have never been asked, but I was thinking it
might be a help to hear what my mom and dad dogs are like.
My adult dogs are fed quality food - often MUCH
better quality then the average pet owner feeds their dog. They have yearly
shots (which many pet owners fail to give their dogs), and a yearly vet check
(my vet comes out to my kennel once a year for that). They receive baths and are
groomed by me or my helper. They have toys, clean water / food bowls,
have a good place to sleep, have lots of outdoor playroom along with their
indoor areas where they eat and sleep, and have time spent with them every day.
My little moms have times where they are outside their run area just running
around my yard playing and inspecting all around. When these little moms are
outside, if I call, they come running to me as fast as they can, because they
know they will get some "loving". They never stray far from the kennel area,
house or barn with the exception of a few who like to go check out the pond for
a few minutes before coming back into their run. I never have to chase, or
bribe them to come back in - once they have played, they are more then happy to
get back into their "home" area where they know they are always safe.
If, as happens sometimes, one of my adult dogs gets out of his or her pen, I can
be assured that they are going to stay in the area of my house and as soon as
they see me they are going to run right up to me. When this happens, the mom and
dad dogs not out let me know there is something "amiss". They know they are safe
and loved in their home. When my little moms and dads are past their "prime
breeding" age and still young enough to be healthy little pets for a home, they
are given to retired individuals or couples to love on them the rest of their
lives. The majority of my dogs are already house broken.
Another common concern (although not
always asked of a breeder):
What guarantee do I have that I will receive the
puppy I pay for instead of a different puppy or no puppy at all?
You have to be able to trust your breeder. I never want a person to buy a puppy
from me who does not totally trust me. That is hard in a day where there
are so many scams. (We breeders also get scams from
people pretending to be buyers. Some of my "fellow breeders" have lost money
when they have fallen for these scams) You
need to go with your "gut" feeling as there is often a reason for that feeling
- I have also had to go with my gut feeling and have not sold to some people I
don't feel good about.
Also - call their Veterinarian! Don't think any question is "stupid". Ask
a
question to the veterinarian if you are concerned about it. I micro chip all my puppies so
that I can know which puppy is which if they will tend to look very much a like.
I can tell my puppies apart because I am with
them so much where as someone else will look at them - such as a litter of
Maltese - and think they all look the same. It's like a parent who can tell
their twins apart when no one else can. Having the breeder point out something
about the puppy that marks them as different will help you know you have the
right puppy. Or having the breeder give you the micro chip number that the puppy
has will help you know that when you get the puppy you have the correct puppy.
All veterinarian's offices should have a "universal" micro chip reader.
Question:
Does the puppy have a health guarantee? All
puppies should have a written health guarantee that is fair to you and to the
breeder. I personally have three parts to my guarantee that I feel are
important. Please see my health guarantee page to see what my guarantee covers:
http://www.terrystwobytwo.com/images/Health%20Guarantee.htm Every
breeder is different so make sure you understand the guarantee - if you don't
understand it - ask about the part you don't understand. Please make sure
that you do understand the guarantee so you know your options if a puppy gets sick
or has a genetic disorder. Some breeders advertise: "5 year health guarantee"
or "lifetime guarantee": BE VERY CAREFUL! I have read some of these health guarantees that say
they guarantee for 5 years or are lifetime guarantees, and they are not as good as many breeders who give a
one or two year guarantee. (As they will tend to have a lot of "heavy
stipulations" for this 5 year or lifetime guarantee.) Breeders can be very different in how they guarantee,
so do check carefully.
Questions I get about shipping:
I am really nervous about shipping and the
horror stories I've heard about puppies being shipping by air - can you reassure
me that the puppy will be safe. I get this
concern constantly. I can't say about all shipping, but I have been using a
company called Pet Air ( www.flypets.com )
and have had an excellent experience with them over the past 5 years. Pet Air is
a company that specializes in shipping animals. They use all the airlines so
that they can get the best flights possible for the puppy. Since they ship many
animals - mainly puppies - across the United States every week - they can work
with the airlines in a way that the average person cannot. The airlines
will not always treat an individual well if there is a problem with the shipping
of the puppy, where as they work extremely well with Pet Air. I have had some
experiences that my puppies have been taken care of by Pet Air that would have
been a worry if I had tried to do the shipping on my own. My new puppy
families continually make comments to me about how the puppies were excited,
tails wagging, giving kisses and not at all showing any stress from the
shipping. Other's have said that any stress that they saw was minimal and was
not long lasting at all - no more so then a puppy just leaving their home to go
to their new homes when picked up by their new family. I would not ship this way
if I felt that we would have any type of health or safety issue with the puppy.
There are times due to
the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter that I have also needed to use
an "on ground" pet shipper. I have also had very good results from the on ground
shipping, but tend to like the air shipping as the puppy gets to his or her new
home the same day by air, where as it might take 2 to 4 days to get to his or
her new home by the on ground shipper. The on ground shippers do take good care
of the puppies while they are in their care.
Should I get a puppy for a Christmas present for my
family?
Christmas
Puppies:
When
considering bring a puppy into your home over the holiday, please think
carefully about how busy / hectic the holiday will be at your house. A young
small breed puppy is put through some stress in a move. When
moving
a puppy during an active, people filled holiday, you can add more stress to
the new puppy then is good for the puppy. If you are going to be home with a quiet, not so busy Christmas
season, it might work fine to bring a new puppy into your home. But
if you are going to be gone a lot during the holiday, have parties, or lots of
family or friends in, then maybe you would want to have a "puppy package" to put
under the tree to show you are getting a Christmas puppy, but might want to
postpone the puppy coming until the hectic pace of the holiday is past. You want
to provide your new family additions with the smoothest transition possible into
your home.
I will provided a "Christmas
package" containing the puppy's picture, a leash and collar, Pet Superjuice, and a puppy toy for
any puppy that is purchased as a Christmas puppy but that will be leaving after
the holidays.
I hear this question and this statement
from many of the people who e-mail me about puppies:
Why are the other breeders I speak with so rude
when I ask them questions about their puppies or when I ask for more pictures?
(and) You are the only breeder who e-mailed or called me back of around 3, 4, 5, .....
breeders that I've e-mailed.
I'll start with my opinion of the first question.
Sorry to say. there are some "puppy buyers" are just plain rude. Thankfully most are not
this way, but once in a while we (breeders) have a very negative experience with
a potential puppy buyer (my last VERY negative experience was as recently as
05/11/10) that if you do not really really love raising puppies and finding
loving homes for them, you would throw your hands in the air and say "forget
it". I have a number of friends who have done just that! A person buying a puppy might feel that the Breeder has been rude to
them, but more then likely this is a breeder who has been dealing with people
for many many years has just gotten fed up with the many problems and stresses
that some people can cause. One of the most common problems are people who a
breeders might spend hours answering e-mails, on the phone with, or taking pictures for, then
after doing all this, if the person decides not to buy her puppy for whatever
reason, the puppy buyer doesn't have the courtesy to e-mail or call her and say,
"Thanks for your time, but I've decided on a different puppy", or "not to buy a
puppy right now", or "something else has come up", etc. but they just "drop of
the face of the earth". Or like in a few of my experiences they had no
idea that the person that was wanting to buy a puppy from them was just plain
rude and hard to deal with. Here are some personal examples I've had that have
been very frustrating (I am not even mentioning the things that have just made
me down right angry): I get some e-mails asking me to take special pictures of
the puppy or puppies - this is after I have spent time already sitting down and
typing out all kinds of answers to questions - then after all the work (puppies
don't pose) and time of taking some good pictures to send back, I just never
hear from the person again. At least a "Thanks for the picture(s)......"
even if they are not going to get the puppy would be appreciated. There have
been times I've actually e-mailed to ask if they received the pictures and
either was ignored, or just received a "yes" back, without any appreciation for
all I did for them concerning the puppy. Everyone likes some consideration.
The biggest problem a breeder will have that might tend to make them act a
little ruder is when they have had too many people say they want to actually buy
a puppy and say they will put a check in the mail or will pay by Paypal within a
certain time, or they will or have sent a money gram,
or a wire that day - then the person doesn't do what they said there were going
to do. In the meantime, the breeder is holding a puppy and turning down other
families for this puppy while waiting for a payment and then the payment never
comes, nor does an e-mail letting the breeder know a payment is NOT going to
come. I've had this happen too many times. Anytime that happens I will write a
very nice e-mail, just asking if they are still getting the puppy, if not,
that's fine but I just want to know. At least half of the people who
do this will not have the courtesy to give me any answer at all - they just
ignore me even though I have tried to work my best with them. THANKFULLY I have great
experiences with the great majority of my puppy families - they are great people
who have given my puppies very good, loving homes. But anytime you deal with
people you will have some very frustrating (and maddening) experiences. And when we are finding
homes for our precious babies that we have raised up and helped care for from
birth, we want a happy experience, and it is a personal experience for us as
well as for the new puppy family - it's not
"just business" when it comes to our puppies for a good breeder. My
goal is to not to be rude to people but to let the bad experiences just slide
off as far as the way I act with my "possible" puppy families.
Some of these
things have tended to cause me to have certain procedures that I try not to
break. Such as: I will only hold a puppy for 24 hours while a deposit or payment
is being made. If I don't have the payment or proof of a payment coming, then
the puppy is available for other families. Another thing is that I will not
allow a puppy to go to his or her new home without the payment for the puppy
completely clearing my account - That's a lesson I've learned the hard way also.
Also, refunds are always non-refundable unless the vet says there is a health
problem with the puppy. So please - ask all the questions you want to - but let the breeder know, even
should you decide not to get a puppy, that you do appreciate all their help if
they have spent a lot of time with you. Also if you ask a breeder to hold a
puppy, let them know as soon as possible if you have changed your mind for any
reason. I don't know of any breeders who would get mad at this. The breeders I
know would appreciate the notice. Also realize that like you, a breeder might
just be having a bad day or there might be some communication problems.
As far as not answering e-mails. Please give the benefit of
the doubt and e-mail a 2nd time or call a 2nd time. I've had my cell phone not
receive calls due to bad cell service. I've also had e-mails not come it, or
once in a while I either miss an e-mail or have the best of intentions to get
the e-mail answered only to have something come up and I end up getting
distracted, and forget to get to it. The other possibility is the e-mail it's
self. If I get an e-mail with one sentence like "how much is you puppy" with no
punctuation , name attached, etc, then I will not answer the e-mail. I was
taught to write letters in a courteous way and I also expect an e-mail to be
courteous if I am going to take my time to answer. And I WOULD NEVER think of
e-mailing someone without signing my name. When I e-mail back, I want to start
out with someone's name.
There are many more
"questions and answers" that I will get to as I have time.
Please e-mail me
with any questions:
terrystwobytwo@hughes.net
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