I had a phone call yesterday from a woman about my breed.

I dont have any puppies but i often recieve calls asking for advice: where to purchase a pup, the breed itself and other issues etc etc. I didnt get the right impression from her and wouldnt have sold her a pup myself. She kept refering to the breed as a french bullmastiff which annoyed me slightly after several times of her saying it so i corrected her but she still couldnt say dogue de bordeaux. She had a GR of 9 and 3 young kiddies. She wants a bitch and had been trawling the free-ads and had spoken to a few people with dogs for sale. Credit must be given as she was doing her homework but still i dont think the breed was for her. She asked about the breeds tendancy towards agression and i said its the same as any breed of dog really, but socialisation and training is a must and since you have a male already you would be better off having a bitch. Even though there is a large age gap, after my experiences with Mase and Rio im very cautious. She then went on to say she wanted a bitch because they are smaller, and she doesnt want to get dragged around, i then said my bitch is 63kgs so if you want a smaller dog get a different breed.

I asked her if she was wanting one soon, she said in about a month. I replied most breeders have a waiting list so if you find a breeder with puppies readily available then that might not be the best place to get one from. If they are over 8 weeks and if not sold, why not sold? She needs toi see the parents and shes better off getting a puppy with toddlerd and small rodents about. She told me about the people she had phoned about the adverts and non of them seemed decent and she stressed that it must must must be KC reg. I then asked if she was wanting to breed, she was at least one litter and her friends done it with a bulldog and another friend with her GR, so she has experienced people around her (meaning shes seen some and wants some). I said to her your lucky if you make any money on your first venture if you do it right, '' im not doing it to make money'' yeh whatever i thought. So i rounded off some numbers my £1000 stud fee that resulted in no puppies, the costs if c-section, hip scoring, rearing each puppu, vaccinations and chipping for each pup, wormers puppy packs, you know the rest. Trying my damn right hardest to put her off bcause to put it bluntly so was in it for the money. I then went on to explain the consequences of not doing these health tests, and a person i know quite well who didnt listen to my advice and bought a pup from someone. This dog has an enlarged heart and cant be walked and wont see his 2nd birthday. My battery went and that was the end of that. But i hope i got through? who knows

We can only do our best at trying to weed out the insuitable, can't we? I've made a few mistakes over the last 19 years in my breed but have learned from each one.

People will go and get what they want, whether it is the right breed for them or not. Unfortunately there are people who only look at the £ signs, not at the breeds best interests. Education is far the best way to go, but will they listen? In my experience, no. They always know best. Don't they?

i feel this will allways be the case ...ppl only want to hear what they want ....

You can only educate and i applaud you for trying, if it got through to her then good, thats one person who may rethink the ides of breeding. She called for advice and that is just what she got from you and lets hope if she calls other breeders they will same the same thing.

I too hear "i have a french mastiff", i know what they mean but guess they just can't pronounce the correct breed name for them, even if they got it wrong, at least they would be trying.. Or just shorten it and say a DDB..

I agree with everything you say but dont agree about the suggestion that if someone has puppies left they are not worth considering , I think with the financial situation as it is there will be the odd puppy left with a breeder and also the possibility of puppies being run on before the breeder chooses which one to keep so in that sense you could end up with one of the top puppies out of the litter.
In my breed most people dont advertise and it is word of mouth .

> If they are over 8 weeks and if not sold, why not sold?

A fair question, but many of us deliberately run 2 or 3 pups on

>She needs toi see the parents

No.. she only needs to see mum with pups.. most breeders travel hundreds of miles to the stud..

>and shes better off getting a puppy with toddlerd and small rodents about

Now this REALLY confuses me.. are saying that those of us with no toddlers or rats etc. are not the sort of people to purchase a pup from?  can you explain please.. and also explain, if you can, why you would say something like this to anyone..

I have to say kay i wouldn't sell to anyone with small children. My breed is just so big and clumsy they easily knock small children over just by turning round or with a tail. The only exception i would think about is if they had danes for many many many years and was very experienced in which case they would already know what to expect.

I understand what you are saying Mahonc, but I think its a bit much to tell people only to buy from breeders who have small children or rodents.. There are many excellent breeders out there who have no children, whether by choice or not, and I think its an insult to those of us who dont.. regardless of the breed..

We as breeders have a choice in whom we sell our pups to, but we do not have any right to dictate to people what personal backgrounds they should purchase from.. WE have a duty to expain the breed, the pitfalls, and the health requirements.. but to judge a breeder for personal choices is just uncalled for..  regardless of the breed

And what really bugs me more, is when someone who keeps dictating and ramming health tests down peoples thoats.. have not done the health tests themselves.. now That is something that we should be making the public aware of!

but I think its a bit much to tell people only to buy from breeders who have small children or rodents..

I read it to mean that the buyers that had small toddlers and rodents should buy a PUPPY, not an adult.

>I replied most breeders have a waiting list so if you find a breeder with puppies readily available then that might not be the best place to get one from. If they are over 8 weeks >and if not sold, why not sold? She needs toi see the parents and shes better off getting a puppy with toddlerd and small rodents about

The opening statment already states the person was looking for a pup.. the above statement is about what type of breeder to purchase a pup from.  Nowhere in the OP does the purchase say she has rodents..

I took it to mean the buyer had small children and rodents. I hope it wasn't about the breeder, blimey i dont like either and certainly wont be getting rodents or small children. No thank you. Ha ha

the above statement is about what type of breeder to purchase a pup from.

No, read it again:
If they are over 8 weeks and if not sold, why not sold? She needs toi see the parents and shes better off getting a puppy with toddlerd and small rodents about
she's advicing against buying anything older.

> She needs toi see the parents and shes better off getting a puppy with toddlerd and small rodents about
>

Where does it state that she has toddlers and small rodents.. 3 kids yes.. nothing about toddlers..

OK.. reading it half a dozen times.. I can see what you see, but still reading it as the breeder.   A pup run on till 12 weeks is still a puppy..

Now I have read it a dozen times lol.. and even more confused.. I do see what you and Mahonc originally said, maybe its just the way its was written..

To be honest what a breeders or owners circumstances are re the household occupants is irrelevant.

When I bred my first litters the socialisation aspect with children was easy as mien were small.

They are grown up and have left home, so I now have to actually make an effort to socialise with small children, as my household is less frantic than of yore, but on the flip side pups probably get the same attention but more of it from me.

After owning four generations of the breed a friend of mine (she was my first ever puppy buyer and a Friend ever since) bred her first ever litter in March.

She devoted herself entirely to the litter and despite living alone they were the most well cared for and socialised pups ever, if the mountain won't come to Mohamed then Mohamed went to the mountain.

They were taking daily trips in the car from 4 weeks, and it was very noticeable what great travellers they a re since going to their new homes.  Contrast with me where only car trips mine had was after leaving me,a nd my own had to practise with trips on the bus so they didn't show me up when I got lifts to shows with friends.

The important thing is how they are cared for and socialised. A potential owner can ask about this, have they been exposed to children, men, cats etc.  Does the breeder take steps for ongoing individual socialisation appropriate to the pups age.  so a pup over 8 weeks would already be going on trips away from home, over 12 weeks should have been started on short walks/lead training etc.

She needs toi see the parents and shes better off getting a puppy with toddlerd and small rodents about

I think the OP meant the caller had  young children.. and she advised to buy a puppy , as she had children.

i think if you read it again, and pay particular attention to the "with" , it will read differently!!

Although, not sure why it should be  a worry, if the breeder still had pups left.. sometimes it just happens... every breeders worry, even if they have planned litters, and waiting lists.

I know someone in my breed, (very well respected) and she has two girls left,  from this litter,   she wont let them go to anyone, so until she finds the right homes, they stay put..

i said to her she is better off buying a puppy not an older dog because she has small children and pets. therefore socialisation for the small animals and a pup can grow with her kids.

The people on the free ads with several pups 14 weeks old and plus is more likely to be that they cant get rid, not so much because of the financial climate. I know there are good breeders about struggling but these examples were not so.

She needs to see the parents was a comment to the older pups that are 10 months old etc that are no longer with the breeder, so she can gauge the temperaments and of course its unreasonable for her to travel to see the stud if its hundreds of miles away but if local or the breeder owns the stud then i dont think its too unreasonable to view, especially with young children and i giant breed you need to know the genetic temperaments.

she said french bullmastiff which is wrong :D

Now that has been explained more clearly, it makes much more sense,

I was wearing my narky knickers on last night

Does your breed club hold a puppy register?

It has a breeders list but not a register as such. CD is probably best place to look really unless you are in the breed and know other breeders, but then you also know the stories and facts about some of these breeders so i suppose its a minefield wherever you go. Trust your instincts and your gut feelings and fill your head with the knowledge of what good breeders are like and the questions to ask, and know when to walk away.

Wonder if she will get a bordeaux or another GR.