Where does the buck stop! - Page 6

I somewhat disagree, Susie, but I see what you're saying. The issue I see is MANY buyers, as a matter of pride, do not want to call that breeder and tell them they can't handle that dog or whatever it is that's causing the dog to lose its home. They can dump them at a rescue pretty anonymously and not have to feel that the breeder is judging them, making them feel guilty, etc. They need to be persuaded to call the breeder, especially in cases where there is no problem with the dog. 

Quote Hundmutter,  ( sounds great )

But she DID give a signed-by-both-parties contract that said
"Any problems or if for any reason I can't keep the dog, I will contact the breeder first";
cos then she would know and could help, by taking the dog back or
talking the owner through alternatives or helping with rehoming
somewhere else.

Sounds good to me, although you can´t force the owner to do so.
As soon as he left your property with his new pet and you got the money, the dog belongs to him - if he doesn´t call you and the dog ends up in a shelter there is no legal right on your side.

I realise that Susie - and so did Ronnie - but I think maybe Jen is right about
buyers being too embarrassed to contact the breeder - especially if they know
they cocked up in some way !  But it used to fit with the "stick the papers in a
drawer and forget 'em" mentality, too, don't you think ?   She often used to find
out anyway, cos all her pups were tattooed in the nest.

Having worked in and amongst shelters and rescues for many years, I've seen several  purebred ,papered dogs turned in by people who have been refused by the breeder. Giving the benefit of the doubt to the breeder I would contact them and was told by many they could/would not take the dog back. The dogs were then spayed/neutered and adopted out as pets without the papers.

On the other hand, I've had people wanting to turn in their dogs because they were afraid to contact the breeder, worried what the breeder might say or do to make them ashamed for not being able to keep the dog. Worried that a simple situation might be blown out of proportion and they might be bad-mouthed by the breeder or made an example out of publicly.

The sad thing is that unless the majority of people out there change & become more responsible & own up to their choices(good or bad).....nothing will change.
There's not a lot of owners  whom are forthright enough to contact their breeder & face the music of having to get rid of their dog. That's one of the main reasons that dog gets dumped at a shelter. The owner can do it without having to explain anything to anyone.
I will always, no matter the reason, take back one of my dogs. Even if it's a rescue I helped rehome & not from my own breeding. Once an animal has lived at my house, it will always be welcomed back.

The sad reality is that we live in a disposable society.  Paper cups, plastic silverware,  even many automobiles if they have problems aren't worth fixing back up.  Any one who has worked at an animal shelter will tell you they have to put down many, many, good dogs.  Around here the ones that are put down that are in bad shape or aggressive are actually a low percentage of the total.  I know when I was working at the one here in Tallahassee, I quite often felt that I was euthanizing the one at the wrong end of the leash.  Back when I was working out there the Local Humane society had oversight of the shelter, so anything that had any kind of Bull mix in it could not be adopted out and was put down automatically.  In order for there to be any kind of solution, all of mankind would have to come to an agreement about how to think on all related issues.  I'm sorry but I just don't think that is going to happen any time soon.  The best that we can do now if for each one of us to analyze our self, and our way of operating.  Try to educate others, and that is about all we can hope for.

Jenny: "They can dump them at a rescue pretty anonymously..."

But this would be much more difficult with a microchip, and the knowledge, that they have to pay for the care in the shelter until their pet found a new home.

As a sidenote I´m glad to hear that all parties involved do take the responsibility for the dogs they bred.

TH - and I've known dogs that end up on Rescue where the owners hand
them in saying "The breeder won't take them back" and then when someone
in Rescue contacts the breeder they find out the buyer NEVER ASKED.

Not trying to say its all down to the buyer, just pointing out that often breeders
do try to get it right but their trust can be abused too.

Ok let me pose it this way:

                                                      You have a wonderful litter of pups 4 years ago you advertise and sell the litter to what you feel are good homes. (Return to present day) "Phone Rings"   Ring Ring Hello breeder x here ( or anyone else who has answered here)  What you have a 4 year old dog in your shelter that has a chip listing me as the breeder of this dog, okay it was a surrender(or stray or ect...) you say it,s got 4 days before you have to put it down_____________________________________________________________.


I,d like you all to finish this scenerio for me if you would. 

And lets say the shelter is farther then you want to drive. Please be honest.

Susie, that's only good if the buyer doesn't change the microchip registration. I try to have myself listed as the 2nd contact on all mine, but if they were to change that down the road, I'm not sure there is anything I can do about it. This is where trust is so important. Weasels will always be weasels when they want to do something sneaky, and many people do NOT want to listen to the breeder's guilt trip about them dumping their dog. I would be as nice as I had to be to get a dog home safely. 

I had a buyer run into hard times w/his work schedule and home situation. Times are tough. He had to take on another job to pay bills, or maybe it was a lot of overtime. I don't remember now, but he's a single dad and he needs his job. The dog was not one that was easy for a stranger to manage and the child wasn't old enough. So, the option was to have the dog sitting in a kennel all day and most of the night, or rehome her. She had 2 pups at the time this all happened. He called me quite apprehensive that he was considering rehoming her. I knew he was worried about what I would think/say since he knows how I am about this kind of thing and we talked frequently. I immediately said "I want her! I'll buy her! Pups too!" and I could tell he was relieved. Now, this is a dog he could have easily sold for a decent amount of money. I thought it only fair to pay him for her since he would be paid for her if she went anywhere else, but I would have no idea what happened to her. I said I would take the 2 pups, too, and we made the agreement that he'd keep her another 2 weeks until I could drive out of state and meet him. I trusted him to keep her, and he trusted me to come through and come get them, and pay him for them. Why should he lose money because of circumstances beyond his control? This wasn't a case of someone who just didn't care. All involved got wonderful homes and buyer and I keep in touch to this day and I update him w/pics. Shit happens in people's lives. I try to never reward irresponsibility, but I don't feel that a buyer KNOWING they can call me is enabling them- I see it as removing that roadblock (shame) that may prevent me from knowing one of mine was turned into a shelter. JMO.