Hi

I've recently had a litter of puppies who are all reserved!  But I'm getting a lot of enquiries about exporting them to Bermuda!  I've never had people calling to make these kind of enquiries for previous litters......  Does anyone know if this is some kind of scam, I would never allow any of my pups to be exported, I just wanted to know if any other breeders have seen an increase in these requests.

Thank you x

I had two one from a woman wanting one for her kids and another wanting one for a pet, they were both from hotmail accounts, I am always wary of. replied back for both of them asking questions and for a telephone number (not that I had any intention of exporting one) and have heard nothing back from 9 weeks ago suprise suprise. A scam I think

I think they're scams as well, my sister had quite a few enquiries asking her to export some pups from her litter a while back, I don't understand how they manage to scam you though??

I agree.  Scam.  I just delete these enquiries now.

I had this when I had my last litter. The 'lady' supposedly from Bermuda was wanting a puppy for her husband as he had always wanted one of the breed. She seemed very nice I have to say but it become quite obvious she was not genuine after a few emails back and fourth. I think it is just one of those scams where they send you all the money through but with what appears to be a bank error and a lot extra which you then kindly return. Unfortunately the payment never actually went through to you in the first place and you find you are thousands of pounds out of pocket

Yes I think this scam is similar to a car scam that was hitting the Isle of Man, they would send a cheque and it would appear as cleared in your bank account however the cheque was fake & would take a few days for the banks to figure out, but by this time you would have shipped the car over to the UK or Ireland & lost out, I know of a few people who fell for it! I never did, it was too good to be true!

Thank you Gemma and Jewel, now I understand

Hi, i have had a lady contact me from Bermuda she purchased a puppy last year from England and would like a puppy friend for her, the lady is willing to pay for the puppy through paypal and has sent me pics of her family, house and dog, etc and seems to have a nice life out there. Do you think this is a scam, if so how do they manage to scam us ?? Many thanks

In 30 years I've never been tempted to export a dog to someone that I didn't know. 
It can be hard enough sorting out problems in this country if they arise later without trying to help your dog overseas.
Unless it's part of a longterm breeding plan, I can't see any reason to subject a dog to export travelling as a pet.

I have had these emails too, I'm not interested in whether they are genuine or not, they are not getting one of my puppies for all the money in the world!

> if so how do they manage to scam us ??

See Gemmas description above.
Pretty sure it will be a scam but, as the other posters, would not consider ever exporting a puppy to strangers or even someone I knew come to that unless there was an extraordinary reason.

Having imported a dog I wouldn't totally discount out of hand, and talking to a chap on the plane last week end he's imported dogs without meeting the breeders, but the query I had from Brazil I said come over and meet me and I'll think about it!  I was introduced via someone I know to an agility competitor in USA, who then introduced me to a breeder, I went over to collect him in the knowledge if they didn't like me I wouldn't be bringing him home.  I'm imported in January from Germany and flew over last week end to meet the breeder.  I wouldn't accept anything other than cash transfer with plenty of time to clear or cash from Western Union or similar.... the latter was how I paid for a dog hotel in France. 

Maybe i'm being to trusting but the lady from Bermuda has emailed me everyday asking how the pups are getting on etc, she seems like a nice lady and she assures me she could give a puppy a loving home, i've spoken to the shipping company which she has used before when she exported her last puppy which reasured me too. I cant see how they can scam you if she pays by paypal as its suppose be secure. Apparently, there arent the amount of breeds over there and people are starting to want dogs which arent the the norm. maybe i'm just a sucker for a sob story tho....

> maybe i'm just a sucker for a sob story tho....

No sob story would ever, ever lead me to take a chance with one of my precious puppies.

with due respect we all take a chance with every puppy we sell, however much you vet someone there is always a chance they will turn out not to be who or what they say or we think they are ! That unfortunately is the messed up world we live in.

There is always the chance but considerably less of a chance when you can at least actually meet the person, I would say. 
Further more, the general understanding with responsible breeders is that you would undertake to have a dog back if the new owners circumstances required it and that would be pretty impossible, particularly from a country where quarantine would be an issue.
Lets assume this is not a scam.  What do you know about animal welfare in Barbados should anything befall the owner?
In the UK any endorsement against breeding will be something of a deterent for those that wish to use a dog for back yard breeding but would it be so in Bermuda or do dogs that merely look pedigree sell well enough, particularly if they are a breed that has seen an "increase in requests".  Now that's something that should ring alarm bells too.

>with due respect we all take a chance with every puppy we sell, however much you vet someone there is always a chance they will turn out not to be who or what they say or we think they are ! That unfortunately is the messed up world we live in.

But you stand far more chance of actually trying to sort things if problems arise in this country.  If things go wrong abroad, your poor pup suffers.  I do know people who sell abroad.  And do so because they can sell at an inflated price.

You would never get a pup off me to export.  Not in a million years.

I have exported and the price has always been the same as here. 

The extra costs would all be linked to additional expenses, the shipping and import requirements.

>The extra costs would all be linked to additional expenses, the shipping and import requirements.

Not everybody is as straight as you Barbara.

> I cant see how they can scam you if she pays by paypal as its suppose be secure.

IF you were doing this then a bank transfer would be preferable - that way there is no issue involving 'charge backs'.

You sound as if you want to believe her and you are considering it... 

If she has already bought a dog from this country, why don't you ask her for the breeder's name and talk to them.They might be able to give you a lot more information as to whether this would be a good home.

Well if you think she is genuine and considering letting her have one of your puppies, are you going to insist on meeting her before its time for pup to go? Afterall if she is genuine she should have factored in that she would need to visit breeder.

One of mine is going to france, there is no way on earth I would consider sending a pup abroad or to any home for that matter without first meeting the prospective buyers.

I have spoken to the shipping company who is owned by a lady who is a Crufts judge, she knows the lady from Bermuda, has met her and the lady has used the company before. She tells me that they ship a lot of puppies to Bermuda and it is a lovely country to bring up puppies. Apparantly they have very strict breeding laws out there.

Are you not going to meet her then?

I thought all the pups were reserved?

Bermuda is on the PETS travel scheme, it is very American, has an Active kennel club.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda

"Bermuda (officially, the Bermudas or Somers Isles) is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about 1,030 kilometres (640 mi) to the west-northwest. It is about 1,373 kilometres (853 mi) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and 1,770 kilometres (1,100 mi) northeast of Miami, Florida. Its capital city is Hamilton."

If I was considering exporting to someone I didn't know personally or wasn't known to someone I trust, I would ask them to send me references from their Vet, canine clubs they belong to, and any canine contacts they have here (such as their other dogs breeder).  I would prefer they came and took the puppy back with them, and in fact it may actually work out cheaper to do this as the dog would go as checked baggage rather than Cargo and often this plus a cheap air fare work out less than shipping.