Deposit

Nudibranch

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Has anyone paid a deposit before seeing a pup? I know all the alarms sound about scams and dodgy breeders but this is a bona fide show breeder. I've checked out the prefix, show results and so on, and she will send a receipt by return. Pup will be kc registered, chipped, first vaccs and wormed etc. I'm visiting at the weekend and expected to pay the deposit then but I think they're expecting it beforehand. Yay or nay?
 

{97702}

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No way would I pay before even seeing the pup! If I liked the pup and was happy with everything then might leave a deposit if it was a popular/uncommon breed - it’s just like selling horses, you get all sorts of people giving you the run around.

Having said that, my mum has never asked for a deposit in all her time breeding, but she generally has a waiting list a mile long..... and I’ve actually paid in full for a pup before I saw her let alone picked her up, but that was because she had been recommended and ‘certified’ if you like by a trusted friend who was well renowned in the breed 😄

ETA - I would expect the things you list from any breeder as standard incidentally
 
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Blazingsaddles

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Has anyone paid a deposit before seeing a pup? I know all the alarms sound about scams and dodgy breeders but this is a bona fide show breeder. I've checked out the prefix, show results and so on, and she will send a receipt by return. Pup will be kc registered, chipped, first vaccs and wormed etc. I'm visiting at the weekend and expected to pay the deposit then but I think they're expecting it beforehand. Yay or nay?

No. KC breeder or not.
 

gallopingby

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Is she an ‘assured’ KC accredited breeder? It’s really difficult selling puppies to people you don’t know, many top breeders have long waiting lists and can pick who they sell to, also people say they want a puppy and then don’t turn up so wasting everyone’s time. If you’ve spoken to her several times on the phone and are aware of her success and follow up as a breeder then best to do as required assuming you really want the puppy.
Is it a rare breed puppy? The assured breeders scheme ensures the breeders really know what they’re doing! As above l would expect all the things offered as standard.
 

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In all honesty assured KC breeders mean nothing - I know of many in the breeds I’m familiar with who I would never dream of buying a puppy from, it’s a shame the KC ever came up with the scheme IMO as a lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon as a way of ‘reassuring’ the puppy buying general public that they are legit. Which sadly isn’t always the case.
 

spoo

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I have paid a deposit before seeing a pup. In fact before he was even born, just to secure one of the litter and then I went and picked which one I wanted. I would expect pup to be microchipped as is the ‘law’ now but even puppy not having it’s first jabs wouldn’t put me off. The initial 2 injections have to be the same brand, and chances are, if pup has its first injection but you have had to travel and pup is out of your area you will struggle to find a vet who stocks the compatible vaccine for the 2nd shot.
 

gallopingby

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In all honesty assured KC breeders mean nothing - I know of many in the breeds I’m familiar with who I would never dream of buying a puppy from, it’s a shame the KC ever came up with the scheme IMO as a lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon as a way of ‘reassuring’ the puppy buying general public that they are legit. Which sadly isn’t always the case.
Maybe it depends which breeds you’re looking at! There are additional ‘tags’ or boxes that are useful to know about which should at least give an indication that the breeders have some experience and are prepared to offer a back up / support if required.
 

Kaylum

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I would want to see the pup. No way would I out a deposit down without seeing one. Would also want to see the mother and what temperament she has.
 

Clodagh

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I would only pay a depsoit in seeing the pup, but if it was a dopg I really wanted I would be there ASAP to hand it over, by the weekend they may all have gone.
 

palo1

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I paid a deposit (10%) once I had met puppies and their mum. It was as much for my reassurance as anything and a signal of commitment to purchase to the breeder. However, the puppies were from a rare breed, I drove miles to see them and was assisted in finding a litter by the breed secretary/puppy co-ordinator so it felt very legit! I was offered a much less desirable puppy if I was prepared to pay a deposit prior to viewing. I wouldn't have gone for that though.
 

Clodagh

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So if your the first to put a deposit down does that mean you get first pick?

I can't answer that, but I have been on wait lists for the three older dogs and the breeder was having one from each litter, so they had first pick. The breeders then recommended to us which pup they felt would best suit us and we chose on that basis. So with Tawny we were first on the list and had first pick of the bitch pups, my son chose her although the breeder recommended her sister.
 

CorvusCorax

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This is what I was wondering really....

It's a bit niche, but these people drive to Germany to use really good dogs, spend a fortune on training, titling and breed surveying breeding females to make sure the pups can do absolutely anything, wherever they go in the world, all boxes ticked, then potential purchasers say the pups are too expensive and go for something cheap/local and then complain later when they can't use the good breeding dogs in Germany or make big competitions/grades. Sigh. They get more interest from the USA, South America and Canada than in their own back yard. Ok, rant over lol. Having said that it's a small world and it's easy enough to check things like temperament etc as everyone knows everyone else and there's always someone to give you a steer, plus they make nice videos ;)
 

paddy555

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Has anyone paid a deposit before seeing a pup? I know all the alarms sound about scams and dodgy breeders but this is a bona fide show breeder. I've checked out the prefix, show results and so on, and she will send a receipt by return. Pup will be kc registered, chipped, first vaccs and wormed etc. I'm visiting at the weekend and expected to pay the deposit then but I think they're expecting it beforehand. Yay or nay?

I would pay provided I was prepared to walk away and lose the deposit. I paid a deposit for a GSD before the bitch was even on heat. It was a bitch I especially liked, local and I visited the owner, trusted them, saw how previous litters had been raised, pedigree and health checks etc etc and was happy. Sadly she didn't get in pup and I got the deposit back with no hassle.
For my final attempt I visited the breeder whilst the bitch was in pup, we made sure we liked each other, studied the bitch, it's home, health etc etc and agreed to a pup. This was a definite agreement, I would get a pup not necessarily of my choice but I was on the list for one (provided of course there were sufficient) I visited when they were around 2 weeks old, I was given a choice of 2 (there was a long waiting list) and paid a deposit. Our only disagreement was that I refused to have a pup that they had vaccinated and for this reason had mine at 7 weeks.

So in my case my deposit was safe however I so very nearly fell for the 2nd line of your post. Found a breeder, checked out everywhere etc etc as you have. There seemed on the face of it no problems, what could go wrong? It all looked very nice (unseen) spoke to them and they were lovely etc etc. Got ready to go for a visit where there would have been cuddly puppies that I could have come home with. Then I saw a post on the internet from someone who had purchased a pup. Contacted her and realised I had so very nearly made a terrible mistake healthwise. Did a lot more research of every dog and bitch the breeder had and realised things were not as they had seemed. Went back to the breeder with this who was not quite so nice by now when I started asking the real questions. This was the third breeder I discarded. My experience made me extremely wary of any breeders. Based on my experience I would never even think of a dog from a breeder unless I had visited and totally checked them, their kennels, home and their dogs out, seen pups from previous litters, checked out the health from many generations back and probably a million other things.
Good luck with your pup.
 

Kaylum

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Not wanting to start any massive off topic debate, but why not vaccinated by the breeder?
Because some of them pretend to vaccinate. I much prefer for our vets to do everything. You have come back then.

My neighbour bought a doberman that had been vaccinated but ended up with parvo and it hadnt been vaccinated. Black and tan dogs are especially susceptible to parvo.
 

Clodagh

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I had chosen my own vaccination schedule with my vet. Secondly because with a partially vaccinated pup your own vet may use a difference vaccine and some have had to start all over again. Spoo's post no 7 refers.

Fair enough, thank you for that. My vet has always matched the first vaccine if I give them the details when I book the pup in, but I do see that if not possible that would be an issue.
 

Clodagh

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Because some of them pretend to vaccinate. I much prefer for our vets to do everything. You have come back then.

My neighbour bought a doberman that had been vaccinated but ended up with parvo and it hadnt been vaccinated. Black and tan dogs are especially susceptible to parvo.

I've been thinking about this and it is doubly awful, firstly that the breeder lied but a registered vet must have forged the vaccination certificate. I hope they got struck off, do you know what the outcome was?
 

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I’ve never known of a reputable breeder who has “pretended” to vaccinate - didn’t the puppy purchasers get the vaccination certificate??!

If it’s a BYB or a puppy farmer.... say no more ☹️☹️
 

Kaylum

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I’ve never known of a reputable breeder who has “pretended” to vaccinate - didn’t the puppy purchasers get the vaccination certificate??!

If it’s a BYB or a puppy farmer.... say no more ☹️☹️

Not sure it was a few years ago now. It was around the time when breeders of puppies were importing them from Ireland and they never vaccinatied them and saying they were KC registered. They were but with the Irish Kennel Club. There was a big police investigation about it as lots of puppies died from parvo.

I say around that time but I dont think hers was one of them that was imported.
 

Kaylum

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I've been thinking about this and it is doubly awful, firstly that the breeder lied but a registered vet must have forged the vaccination certificate. I hope they got struck off, do you know what the outcome was?
Her dog died. No sorry the owners said they had been vaccinated and gave her a fake certificate.
 
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