How do you choose buyers for your puppies?

[ursula wilby]

This thread is semistarted under the heading of "How popular is the Irish setter..."
But I feel this is such an interesting subject that it realy should have its own heading. Personally I welcome buyers that live in flats. Mainly becourse anyone living in a flat with a livley setter definatly NEEDS to activate that dog. Take it to training classes, tracking-groups etc.
Owners with fenced in gardens can easily fal in to the trap of "just letting it out in the garden" instead of taking the dogs for walks or training.

I also want to see a solution before I sell the puppies as to the workinghours of the owners. Four hours alone is my absolute maximum when it comes to puppies and young dogs.
We have "kindergartens" for dogs here, and if you can not work around those four hours, with the help of friends and relatives, I want to know that the dog is in daycare at least during the hours that exceed the limit of four.
We also have a Kennelclub recomendation of four hours being the maximum to leave a dog alone in the home. Mind you, that is just what it said= A recomendation.
Apart from that, my main object is to find loving permanent homes. All shows, compertitions etc will be a bonus. I try not to push buyers (other than very gently).

[ursula wilby]

Great to read your reply Wendy, especially when it comes to the littermates to the same home. Although I seem to take it one step further...:-))
I do compete a lot and work with all my dogs so perhaps our way of looking at things are very similar due to that? I also want all dogs to be PETS first and anything else second. I have not come across it so much in setters but certainly in other breeds like German Shephards etc. People will turn up with one young dog or puppy after the other, until eventually they find one that is considered good enough for what they want. These "not so good"-dogs normally reach the age of one year before they are discarded and another one is bought.
So my standardquestions to anyone wanting to buy a puppy is first and formost:
1. Have you owned a dog before?
2. What happenend to that dog?
If they tell me some story about how they have had a dog (or several), but could not keep it becourse it jumped on people/chased children/was untrainable....well they dont get a dog from me!

[Kristina Brannlund Westin]

I don´t mind to selling puppies to someone who never owned a setter before. If I feel that it is an active family and who is serios I dont mind. Personally I wouldn´t allow a younger ones to take over the leadership from an older dog, but that is me and if it´s right or wrong I dont know, but me as a packleader will always support my older dogs.

Kristina

[ursula wilby]

I dont mind selling to buyers that have never owned a setter before. In fact I have sold plenty of dogs to people that have never had a dog before. It all depends on the individual. I have found that the absolutly best "new" dog-owners are the ones that used to compete/keep horses but have now given up and want to have something that is easier to handle. Any good rider seems to be a great dog-person as well. Even if this is the first dog they have. I have quite a few ex-horse-owners. Give them a try!
As for the leadership being taken over...I feel the same as Kristina.
I always gang up with the old ones.
And if there is a leadershipchange, it is only due to the old dog HANDING it over peacefully.

[pia vilppula]

Hi! My first setter was a rescue dog and i was lucky to have him for 7 years, then he got old and sick so i had to put him to sleep and that was the worst thing what happend in my life....:(((( (still miss you Nemo...)
He was my first dog and a rescue dog and he was a lovley and kind dog, but he was barking when i left him alone and acting strange in some situations.... (i was working full thime at that time) and i didnt know anything about dogs so i i read about some dogtherapy and then i went too see one, just to learn some about dogs and how to read and activate them and that helped cause i started to train him and do lots of things with him and he became such an easy and lovley dog...so easy to handle. A had a dogsitter also, a young boy (scoutboy) who helped me for 4 years before i moved away from Helsinki and he was superb....thank u Timo :))).....

I was without a dog for one week and i just felt that i cant be without a setter, just had to get one....and then Tabu came....:)))) he is 6 years now and i´ve been i single mother for over 4 years.....i work only 7 hours/day (dont want my son or dog having too long days at home or at kindergarden), i trained Tabu alot when he was young (even fieldtraining) and i still do things with him, we live in a flat, we are taking long walks 3-5 times/week , i have a dogsitter whos helping me when needed and i think that my dog is really enjoying life and that his very happy. Hi is so kind, funny, easy to handle and a great guy to own...

I was lucky when i started to show him to get to know lots of breeders, very very nice people and lots of them turned out to be really good friends who i can call when needed (any questions at all) so a big "thank you to all my setter-friends" in Finland and even from Sweden! I wanna have 1-2 more setters but i also know how much i can take so i just have to wait until my loving son grows up a bit (his 6 years old now). Dont want anyone to suffer in my small family. Even know that lots of breeders are ready to sell me a dog at anytime...;)))))))...and some have offer me some...

Mayby i say with this is that single parents or anybody can manage really good, even alone and i think that its depense how you are as a person...My "guys" are the most important for me and i want both of them to be happy, and once you take a dog you have to be ready to do things cause they dont learn if you dont learn them...and give them time...for me my Tabu, and hopefully my "others" dogs in the future are familymembers....and i give time...lots of time cause dogs are important in my life....

Have a nice weekend......:))))