I guess I'm in for it now..... - Page 14

The day we took Wolf to the vets we dropped $475 & some change. 'course he had to have every thing done, shots, exam. x-rays, stool, & urine exam, bloodwork; and we bought a bunch of heartgard & other meds for him, (he had torn off a front claw which needed a debridement, cleaning, and abx)....so, quite the chunk out of my wallet! But I still use Dr. Sherry at Homestead. I only let Dr. Sherry do the OFA, though. She does not use anesthesia, but still has close to perfect alignment every time! She has the knack! The other vets there are OK, but she is the only one I really trust! jh

Where is Homestead please? I paid more than that to OFA Portia's hips and elbows at Wright's last time.

Congrats on Wolf's Hips Jackie.:-)))

Thank you, Rho, we are thrilled! But we knew he'd be good, didn't we?

Shelley, if you take 209 east to Kresgeville, take 534 north to the intersection with Jonas Rd (you'll see the Jonas Hotel on your right on the far side of the intersection), make that right, the vet is the first building on the right after the cornfield, sign out front says Homestead Vet...phone #570-620-0529...just make sure you schedule it with Dr. Sherry Newell. The other dvms there are, well, I don't care for them. Dr. Sherry puts the films up and goes over everything with you. These guys are tough to get pictures of.....! jh

Puppies are SO wiggly!

Congrats on Wolf's x-rays!

I love this thread!  I certainly believe in responsible breeding, however as accidental breedings go, this is about as responsible as it gets. Two lovely dogs, healthy, nice temperaments, good personalities & health testing done...For companion homes these s/b excellent pups. Your concern with *who* is buying them is a HUGE plus & is my biggest concern with most BB. IF I was looking for another pup I might well be drooling over this bunch (esp since I'm partial to males)

A few suggestions regarding screening your buyers...(Which you've probably already thought of)

1)Where will the pup be kept? Will s/he be inside? Pet buyers that keep 'em outside too often do little beyond feed/water them...& invariably blame the dog when it's a nuisance barker, fence lunger, not house trained!

2)What other pets have they had? Where are they? What happened to 'em? Did they breed them? When? Why? Where?

3)What current pets do they have? Are they certain the current crew will welcome a new addition?

4)Children? How much experience do they have with kids & dogs? Are the kids comfortable with large, powerful dogs?

5)WHY do they want a dog & specifically a GSD?

6)Anyone seeking a 'protective' dog needs to be carefully screened, &/or educated. There are too many dead dogs that inappropriately *protected* their people against the mail carrier, playmate, odd acting but innocent stranger. Innocent people should NOT be attacked b/c there's a plethora of ignorant NervousNellies about.

7)Heed your instincts. Contracts are hell to enforce. IF you feel a potential buyer doesn't pass the sniff test, don't feel obligated to sell him/her a pup, no matter how good the story is. Nice pups are not in short supply. They will find another pup. Let it be from someone that trusts them. Breeder friends who have ignored that inner voice have invariably regretted it.

Prices? You won't easily get what established show/working/companion breeders get. I gave b/w $1300-1500 for my guy from an established pet breeder. $500-800 of that was for the many yrs she's been involved in the breed, defining & working towards her breeding goals. Given all you've put into this, & what truly nice dogs they appear to be, esp with the OFA done, you shouldn't sell yourself short. You should realistically expect more than the average yahoo putting up a sign or advertising in the classifieds.

A realistic selling price in your area might be different than in mine. I didn't see pups below $800 that were from breeders I'd buy from...Most were $1000-1500 in this area. I'm in the Midwest. Other areas of the country were at times cheaper, often higher.

People looking at higher priced pups usually have greater expectations of what they want in a pup.From what I've read here, I think you offer that to a large degree. (Minus experience & being 'established'). I think too, those buyers expect to offer their pup more in terms of training, home environment, health care & commitment. I'm assuming your friend is an established breeder & can probably help with recommendations which should help offset the lack of experience.

Making money is nearly impossible from all I've heard. Should you be so fortunate, & feel uncomfortable with it, donate the money to your favorite charity or rescue.

Have you decided yet which female you're keeping? Both parents are 'natural beauties' IMO. Those pups oughta be knockouts.

Where Jackie and I are located, I'm thinking $600-700. Sables are harder to move than black and tans here in coal-cracker country. I usually only get $800. for pet quality pups, even with titled/KK1/normal parents. Very important to thoroughly screen potential buyer around here too, and floow up to make sure pups are well taken care of.  Lots of bums in this part of the state who think tying a dog to a dog house year-round is perfectly fine.

SS

I am so fortunate, I believe that all but 1, possibly 2 of my puppies are spoken for, all to wonderful folks with experience owning GSDs, who plan on keeping the pups in their homes; all  either have or are giving me vet references. I am only asking $600.00....I agree that folks who are willing to pay more for their dogs are more willing to care for them correctly, but I also know of families who put the welfare of their pets right up there with the welfare of any other member of their family, and that is the caliber of home I am looking for for these little beauties. They are so calm, sweet, already so biddable; if I make a kissing noise at the side of the box they come over, heads up....Preston I am doing the 'Super-dog' stimulation with them...I don't know if that's why they're so easy going, or if it's just the temperment. They are just starting to rough-house with each other, no need to watch TV anymore, we just park ourselves in front of the box & watch pups! Their little barks & growls are adorable!

Oh, how sweet!  Good Job on finding homes for most of them. 

I too am anxious to know if you've decided on which one you will keep.

And last but certainly not least, congrats on Wolf's xray results! 

You should get someone in there with a better camera, I would love to see their sweet little faces more clearly!