What to ask puppy buyers?

I have a general idea of what to ask puppy buyers when they are considering buying a puppy, but I was wondering what you guys usually ask them? Especially for people who want full akc! What are some things that you ask them?

I get right down and personal with them if they are asking for full AKC if I don't know them.....and I tell them right off the bat that I don't like to give full rights to people I don't know!! As some of you know....I am very picky!!
#1~How many dogs do they have?
#2~Where are they kept?
#3~I want their full name, all phone numbers & address!
I look them up on white & yellow pages.com and make sure everything matches and I pull up their homes on satelite and get a birds eye view of their home!
#4~I want their vets info and permission to call and ask about them!
#5~I want to see pic's of their dogs and pedigrees!!
#6~I only let the best of the pups out of the litter go to a breeder, so if the pup they want isn't nice enough in "my opinion" I tell them I won't give them full rights and that I have the right to change my mind at any given time before they take the dog home with them!!
#7~I email and talk to them on the phone for several days or wks if possible before making any decisions on breeding rights!
#8~I trust my "gut feeling" 100% and I go with it!!
I really do drill them about anything and everything I can think of about them, their breeding program and if I am unsure, I will co own the dog til I feel comfortable with them to release full rights to them.

I hope this helps somewhat....I know there are a ton of things I ask...but right off hand I can't think of them all.

Thanks Mrs. Karen!
It helps.

I actually had one person be taken aback about everything and how I drilled her and after she thought about it.....she realized that she really wanted to get to know me and learn from me!! We are now friends and she is always asking me for advice!!

Admin wrote:I get right down and personal with them if they are asking for full AKC if I don't know them.....and I tell them right off the bat that I don't like to give full rights to people I don't know!! As some of you know....I am very picky!!
#1~How many dogs do they have?
#2~Where are they kept?
#3~I want their full name, all phone numbers & address!
I look them up on white & yellow pages.com and make sure everything matches and I pull up their homes on satelite and get a birds eye view of their home!
#4~I want their vets info and permission to call and ask about them!
#5~I want to see pic's of their dogs and pedigrees!!
#6~I only let the best of the pups out of the litter go to a breeder, so if the pup they want isn't nice enough in "my opinion" I tell them I won't give them full rights and that I have the right to change my mind at any given time before they take the dog home with them!!
#7~I email and talk to them on the phone for several days or wks if possible before making any decisions on breeding rights!
#8~I trust my "gut feeling" 100% and I go with it!!
I really do drill them about anything and everything I can think of about them, their breeding program and if I am unsure, I will co own the dog til I feel comfortable with them to release full rights to them.

I hope this helps somewhat....I know there are a ton of things I ask...but right off hand I can't think of them all.

I kinda do the same as well. I think you have to go with your gut instinct as well.

Facebook is also good for getting a feel on people...that is of course if they didn't already contact you from facebook I once had a woman contact me wanting a chocolate boy with full rights, and I even drilled her with all kinds of questions and everything seemed to be checking out great....that was until I found her on facebook, and saw she had a website. I went to the website and found out she bred chiweenies and it said right there on the website she was looking to add "rare colors such as chocolates, merles, and fawns in the future". I emailed her back and told her I didn't support designer breed breedings and that I didn't feel right selling to her....of course she said I was rude and all that other stuff, but they are in fact your babies that you have to worry about and be responsible for. I always ask to see their website to see if I can feel what their motive/goal is for breeding, and I straight out ask them what their goal is. If I don't feel their goals are what they should be in breeding then I turn them down. I also ask where they keep their dogs. I like to send my breeding dogs to homes where they spend the majority of their time in the home with lots of interaction with people. I also look up their name in the location of where they live in the animal abuse database: http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/home.php

Admin wrote:... if I am unsure, I will co own the dog til I feel comfortable with them to release full rights to them.

I've only sold two puppies, one to a pet home (I LOVE her family) and one to a show home. I had someone interested in a show quality pup and she backed out as soon as she saw my co-ownership contract-and I had offered to negotiate if she didn't like some of the stipulations. "Too many rules" was what she said. In other words, she said all the right things about showing, but didn't intend to back it up. I ended up selling a different bitch to a different show home and she had no problem signing the co-ownership contract. She'll get full ownership of the bitch when she finishes her, and if she's not able to after sincerely trying, I'll still sign her over. My contract is fairly tough, but I'm fair. If I really feel someone did their best to live up to the contract, I'm willing to waive requirements, but I don't want someone pitching an untrained dog into the show ring a few times and then whining "I tried!" and expecting to get out of the contract.

Thanks guys!

Yes co ownership is a downfall to many people, I have had good and bad experience with it! If someone outright refuses it, then I have a tendancy to think they have "not so great intentions" with the pup!!
I however, have no issues buying a puppy from a breeder and co owning it til they feel comfortable in giving me full rights. But I know I have good intentions and do my best to live up to the breeders requests!

You are getting lots of ideas Jami.

There are few people I would consider selling outright to, without a co-own contract (I mean very few-as in, I could probably list ten people and that's it). I feel like if nothing else, it makes the expectations on BOTH sides clear. I don't want misunderstandings and almost all of my clauses are effective unless my expressed written consent to waive that clause is given. As I told my co-owner, I know what it's like to drag a bitch around the ring who hates it, and you can't win with that. But I showed Millie for a year and a half almost solid, without a single point to her name. I truly gave it my best, and if she does that, and I'm okay with the studs she's choosing, I'll sign over ownership. I have complete faith in her, especially now that I've seen how seriously she's taking it. Having a contract isn't for people like her. It's for people who lie to get what they want, so that you have a way to protect your name and reputation when you really need to.

Would you have them fill out a puppy application before the pup is born? Like say they wanted to be on the waiting list, would you ask them to go ahead and fill it out or wait?

I have mine fill them out before the pup is born if they are wanting to be on a waiting list....that way when the pup is born and they are ready to place a deposit and you ask them to fill them out if you don't feel right with the answers on the application and you turn them down it isn't wasting their time. Plus, the spot on your waiting list could have been filled in by another person who you did feel comfortable with

For the most part my application is the only way to get in touch with me. I don't have my emaill address on my site. I find i am able to almost entirely avoid one liner e-mails this way. Only people seriously interested in a puppy will even bother to contact me once they find filling out an application is the only way to reach me. I do still get e-mails sometimes from ads i have posted. But i direct everyone to my application if they want to talk puppy.

Kaleena wrote:For the most part my application is the only way to get in touch with me. I don't have my emaill address on my site. I find i am able to almost entirely avoid one liner e-mails this way. Only people seriously interested in a puppy will even bother to contact me once they find filling out an application is the only way to reach me. I do still get e-mails sometimes from ads i have posted. But i direct everyone to my application if they want to talk puppy.

Yes I forgot about that. On my website on my contact us page I have the puppy application. I have on there as well that I will not even respond to emails that do not include my puppy application if they are interested in a puppy, and that all questions on the application must be answered. If people contact me via facebook I usually just message them a copy of it to fill out or direct them to my website for it.

D&A Mini Doxies wrote:

Kaleena wrote:For the most part my application is the only way to get in touch with me. I don't have my emaill address on my site. I find i am able to almost entirely avoid one liner e-mails this way. Only people seriously interested in a puppy will even bother to contact me once they find filling out an application is the only way to reach me. I do still get e-mails sometimes from ads i have posted. But i direct everyone to my application if they want to talk puppy.

Yes I forgot about that. On my website on my contact us page I have the puppy application. I have on there as well that I will not even respond to emails that do not include my puppy application if they are interested in a puppy, and that all questions on the application must be answered. If people contact me via facebook I usually just message them a copy of it to fill out or direct them to my website for it.

I used to drive myself crazy replying to all the e-mail from people who I would never know if they were seriously interested or not. Now, I have a word document saved on my desktop with my generic reply to those one-liner e-mails as well as answers to common questions. That way I don't have to re-type the same information over and over and over...and over and over. But people also are not intimidated about making that first contact. Most of the time, the second contact I have from a person is my puppy application.