Purchasing dogs sight unseen

[Miley's Mom]

Hi! On the conversation of buying a puppy, I always read/hear that you should never buy a puppy sight unseen, particularly over the internet, from people and dams/sires you've never met. On 20/20 there's been shows about dogs arriving, hopes are high, and then something is wrong, and even with a guarantee, you've already become attached to to the dog. And it seems anyone can make a flashy website.. and most of the internet sellers don't want you to come to their homes (due to germs). Then the whole idea of paying a deposit for a dog you've never seen. I understand from what I've seen on the net that this how pups are being sold. Is this how these dogs are purchased/sold due to it being a "seller's market" and it is just what people have to do? Or, are most people accepting this as a way of buying puppies, contrary to "what the books say?" Please don't take offense, I am just trying to understand. I have one labradoodle I bought "the old fashioned way", going to the breeders' home, playing with all the puppies, and making my pick. However, I want another...and can not see myself buying a pup any other way.

[annabelles mom]

I got Annabelle from a breeder about an hour from me and I have gotten all my dogs the same way so I can't help on getting a pup sight unseen

Good luck getting your new puppy

[Tink]

I sell my pups through my website, allow visitors to come see them if they choose to, and do accept deposits on pups to reserve choice from a litter. I currently have all but one pup reserved with a deposit on a litter that's 4 weeks old, and have 2 deposits for a litter that's due on the 27th.

I personally like to see the pups and parents, so know how you feel. I will allow people here to do that too, but most are several hours away and choose to put in a deposit before they come to make sure they'll be able to count on having one of the pups even if they don't have time to visit right away.

I send the buyers weekly updates on their chosen pup so they know how they're maturing, but fewer than half actually come see them prior to picking them up. That's the buyers choice.

[cocoandjane]

Well,

I understand your misgivings....
but, I will say that there are soooo many
very, very reputable breeders out there....
of Labradoodles and Goldendoodles and researching
over the internet is a very valuable tool.
It cannot be the only tool, however.
Word of mouth, references, phone calls can
and should all be included, I think.
I have read entries on this forum for over a year now
and know that I would trust many of the breeders that post here.
I say "many", as opposed to "all" because I seem to have
gotten to know some more than others, is all.
You have to do the homework and in the end....
you buy from who you are happy with.

Like absolutely ANY type of business....
you will have reputable, honest, and considerate people
working in a field and you will have the dishonest, crooked folks
who muck things up for everyone.
Puppy mills and pet stores I would definitely stay away from.
There are many threads that describe the difference here....
To be afraid to buy from someone who has a website
is understandable....IF you don't look further into things.
The breeder of one of my dogs sells to local
people and ships to people far away.....
she only advertises on the web and through word of mouth.
She has a wonderful operation....gorgeous healthy dogs
with such great temperments....
I know for a fact she isn't the only one !!!
She does allow people to visit and
many times to choose their pup. many other breeders do, too.
I understand the reasoning behind those that do not allow
the puppies to be visited, etc.
If you have never witnessed a puppy with parvo....
or seen a whole litter die from parvo
(one of those horrible 'germs,"~ then you can't completely
understand why they choose to protect their dogs that way
....they aren't willing to take the risk, and I don't blame them....)
Have you read the contracts and applications
and health guarantees on many breeder sites?
You can begin to really get a feel
for those you would like to look into further by doing that.


20/20 needs to do another show about the good breeders out
there who use the internet as a vital part of their business and
about the immensely happy people who have bought
one of their dogs, sight unseen, or otherwise!!!!

(I didn't taken offense at your questions at all.....
I hope I have alleviated some of your concerns....
Or taken the edge off, at least.)

[Tink]

I have to agree with Jane. If you're dealing with a reputable breeder, you shouldn't have to worry.

[Lucee&Rusty]

We bought our puppies over the internet from a breeder.
We wanted a puppy for a set time (to line up with leave and holidays)
Our closest breeder was at least a full days drive one way.
I did a lot of research and searching of breeders websites and picked one
that I thought was producing puppies of quality. There was actually a breeder
who is a lot closer and cheaper but the site smacked of puppy mill.
We actually paid three times the price of the puppy mill site for each of our
puppies.

We only got to see the parents via photos and the same with our puppies.
Our puppies turned up each time happy, healthy and beautifully socialized.
It would have been nice to be able to visit the parents and puppies but our breeder
was approx 1800kms away.
Sometimes there is no other option but to buy over the internet and hopefully
like in our case it all works out great!

[Sam]

Sam is the first puppy I bought and as there is only one breeder in Western Australia, I bought Sam from a Queensland breeder's website. There was quite extensive email and phone conversations before I agreed. I figured that you get a "feel" from talking to someone on the phone. When it came to decision making time, I figured that if I wanted the puppy, I would have to risk it. Sam arrived when expected and he's just the most precious little puppy. Having said this, I think I was really lucky. As always, buyer beware.

I bought Maya from a breeder in Canada. She was a "left over" so I didn't put a deposit down before I saw the pics of the litter. When I was looking for a dog I stumbled upon the North American retriever (goldendoodlexlabradoodle) and at the time there was only one breeder that I found that had a litter coming. So I watched her website and she posted pics weekly of the pups and the first week I fell in love with yellow ribbon girl. I checked back every week and when yellow ribbon girl didn't get snatched up and she and a one litter mate were the only two left I emailed the breeder just to see. My breeder ended up calling me to tell me more about yellow ribbon girl and that's how Maya came to live with me.

I didn't put down a deposit since I got Maya after she was born and ready to leave her Mom.

(PS There was nothing wrong with Maya even though she was one of the last pups. She was one of a litter of 11 so there were more pups to sell and I think it was meant to be that I became her Mom)

[L's Mom]

My first doodle was purchase off the interenet sight unseen. I live in GA, and the breeder is located in TX. Though the breeder does allow visits, I did not go. Instead, I had many conversations both with the breeder as well as other people who got pups from her. He arrived and we have been very happy.

My second doodle was purchased here in GA, and I have had, and continue to have many many conversations with the breeder. We were able to visit the site, many times, and see all of her breeding dogs as well as pups. I must admit, there is something more reassuring when you are able to visit the site to see with your own eyes how they live, but buying a pup sight unseen from a REPUTABLE breeder, seems to work out great too.

[mtd885]

If you check the archives you'll get a ton of info. Abby came from a Mother and Daughter "Premier Breeder" (puppy mill) in Guelph Ont. She had a bunch of medical and social issues. Caveat Emptor! BUYER BEWARE!

[NurseLeslie]

I had this dilemma before we got Calvin. I had been on multiple websits 'researching' doodles and breeders for months. My husband insisted that we NOT get our pup from the internet. His reasoning was sound. He wanted to meet the parents, see the pups, see the environment they were raised in and see the interaction between the dogs, pups and people before we could pick. He also put a rather strict price limit on what we could spend. This presented a problem, but the search continued...I finally stumbled across an ad for doodles from a breeder only 15 miles away! We had already decided that we wanted a cream or reddish doodle and these pups were all black. We decided that we would just go see the pups and make sure this dog was what we wanted in the first place.
When we got there, we walked up the path and were met by 11 of the cutest pups I had ever seen running towards us.. Their parents came out to greet us and we never heard a peep out of any of them.
Needless to say, We could not resist those chubby, hairy, wiggly beasts and we picked Calvin out as the one we wanted. The rest is history.

Good luck! I believe if it is meant to be, it will happen...
Leslie

[deepnite10]

my first glimpse of Toby was on puppyfinder..the breeder was across the country so there was no chance of seeing him or his parent s first hand..

but, after several phone call s and email s we made arrangements to
have Toby sent to us on a very rainy night in jan..into SFO..

[Henry]

We found Henry online through Kijiji. It was our first dog and we were pretty naive about what questions to even ask. The woman we bought from turned out to be a small backyard breeder and Henry's mom and dad were her family pets. She was a ten hour drive from us so we didn't visit the puppies, we just said we wanted a male with a good temperament. She delivered the pups to people as she lived in the middle of nowhere.

We've been very lucky because Henry is the best dog ever. We ended up driving through the interior of British Columbia last summer and actually went to visit her and met Henry's mom and dad and an older sister. She lives on a huge property and has horses and about eight dogs - all family pets.

I think if we were to do it again, I would go with an established breeder - after all the info I've read on this site about health checks etc. But to make a long story short....buying online sight unseen worked out great for us.

[Jac]

I can't add more...everyone has covered this perfectly.
Bottom line is work with a reputable breeder and if you trust your breeder, you will probably get the most wonderful pet!
(I bought breeding dogs sight unseen over the internet, four of them...I could not have selected better myself...breeders know their dogs!)

Okay, I can add something...good breeders do not want to place puppies in homes where they will not bwe loved or cared for...if your breeder doesn't make a good fit withyour family, the puppy will likely suffer. No reputable, loving breeder wants that for their pups.

[blueteal]

I sent a deposit for Denver sight unseen from my breeder who had a website on-line. We had many e-mails back and forth for quite a while .
She is about a five hour drive away from my house and we were
more then welcome to come and check everything out if we wanted
to, but I was very comfortable with her, as she answered all my questions
to my satisfaction. The other part I loved was once the puppies were born, we received a ton of pictures and weekly updates and more pictures.
plus info about their temperment testing, just very informative......
This breeder delivers the puppies to an area that is
convenient for her customers which for me was about a 25 minute drive
and meeting her in person confirmed everything I already felt and seeing
Denver for the first time just melted my heart..............I talked to a couple of other local breeders on line and was not confortable at all
with the answers they had given me so make sure you get your
questions answered .............and do not be afraid to keep asking.