No Home checks done by breeders - how many do actually home check?

Can I ask all the breeders here how many of them do a home check before letting a pup go?

I dont mean this as a judgment, I'm just interested.

When I got my boy, I made a phone call. Asked if there were any pups available round about Nov as my son wanted to buy me a dog for xmas. (to my mind this is not the best time to get one) the breeder told me she had two litters and another due in a couple of weeks! I'm talking about boxers.
I asked if she had any whites and she had three. Two males and a female. I said I wanted a male and she described them to me. I went to see them at four weeks and chose my Blue.
I was never asked had I had a boxer before, did I have a garden or anything.
I know I'm ok but she didn't know me from Adam.

I think this is a reason so many people end up trying to rehome a boxer. They dont realise how energetic they are or how big they grow, that they need companionship and are not a good breed to be left alone.

I understand alot of people live far away from the actual breeder, but a network could be set up. Or do you think I'm an idealist?
I saw an advertisment in the paper last night for another breed and it stated that no pup would go to a home without being checked out first. I must say I was well impressed!

I think you are an idealist
Rescues tend to homecheck, breeders tend to vet homes by asking lots of questions of the potential new owners and sussing them out that way.
Of course you do get some breeders who do do homechecks, but this is not always practical if the buyers are coming from some distance away, I have sold dogs all over the UK and to Ireland, if I had to go and check all those homes I would never have enough time to clean out my kennels, walk my dogs etc. When you have been a breeder for a while you get to know the types of people who do not sound suitable for your puppies within a few minutes of speaking to them on the phone. Call it a kind of instinct if you like, a 6th sense for whos genuine and whos not.
When I am selling a litter of puppies out of every 50 phonecalls I get only one or two will be suitable.
I have had people come to view puppies and not be entirely sure which puppy they want, or if they want a dog or a bitch or whether or not their house/garden will be big enough etc and do you know what I do? I send them away empty handed! I have done this quite a few times and dont hesitate in doing it if I think its the right thing to do.
I had a man came to see my pups the last time I had a litter and he was very pleasant young man when he got here he seemed overwhelmed at the size of the puppies and said he wanted a smaller type of staffie, I told him that was what he should buy, theres no point selling a dog to someone if their heart is not really in it.
I think years of experience helps you to deal with the many different people who will want a puppy from you, some will promise to come at a certain time and then never show up, the old timewaster, the way i see it is its their loss not mine, If they cant be bothered to go and see the pups they cant want one badly enough.
If you ask most breeders you will find that they ask questions and vet people in that way, but it is not always practical for breeders to homecheck. I suppose it could be done if there were volunteeers who wanted to do it who lived in the area the homecheck was needing to be done, but then you will probably find that the hatred of rescue people towards breeders tends to mean they would not want to homecheck a home if it was for a breeder, they would rather do it for a rescue dog.

In an ideal world that is what would happen. Rescues can probably do it because they only rehome within a certain area, and often have volunteers to help out. In my breed there are so few breeders out there, and none locally to me that there was little chance of a breeder managing a home check. Instead he invited us down to his house for a good Q&A sesssion , and we had plenty of phone contact. He also stressed that any problems we call him and he would have Olive back if needs be. He also invites potential owners along to Breed Days.

Edited to add: We probably wouldn't pass a homecheck from a rescue, we live in a tiny one bedroom house (Olive sleeps in our room), and we have the tiniest garden on the planet with only a four foot fence onto a main road .

I feel some rescues (again please not use of word some )
can be overly strict with their rehoming rules.
I read on another forum about rescues not rehoming with children under 10 and not to homes with laminate flooring and also some rescues will not home 2 bitches together ?????
I wonder if these rescues manage to find homes for their dogs at all?
I think rescues have to have rules in place, but to use common sense and good judgement and to be flexible depending on the individual home and persons circumstances. At the end of the day, getting a good home for the dog is the main priority. I wouldnt care if the person lived in a flat, a mansion or a teepee, so long as they could love and care for the dog properly, thats all that matters IMO.

Hi Jacquie
i vetted all the new owners for my pups via the phone and email, then each of them paid me a visit (all apart from one where it was not possible due to different country) All but one of the owners are perfect for the dogs, and i was more than happy with them when they visited me, one even travelled 6 hours to my home (in the summer peak holiday traffic) from cornwall just to visit, they had to return home and then come again 3 weeks later to pick the pup up, we have since visited them at their home whilst we were on holiday there.
(the one that was not perfect was the abroad one but thats another story that i do not wish to go in to )
another of the owners is a member on here (joining since having the pup) and she is lovely.
I am in regular contact with the others and i am still more than happy with them

Hi Jacquie You don't specify rescues but breeders in your question. Not wishing to be difficult but I don't think homechecks are of much value at all, you may get a superficial view of what a place is like but that gives very little indication of what a home is really like. I will give you an example. Home A) Someone who lives in a small flat, has one small child but is at home all the time, trains the dog, grooms daily and goes for lots of walks. Home B) Lovely big house with garden, no children, person out all day and dog locked alone most of the time, no grooming or training given . On a home visit you would probably say ok to home 'B' but not 'A' and don't expect 'B' to say they are out all day people lie when it is in their interests, they wont say 'o yes the dog will be alone all the time' . No amount of home checks will prove the suitability of a person to own a dog. I think I could probably learn more by watching the person with the dog/puppy and talking to them than seeing their home . As I said in a previous thread, when we sold dogs to people it was made quite clear to the purchasers that they were lucky to get one of ours, the dogs carried and would always carry our good name and therefore represented the kennel, and the dog should never be sold to a third party but would be purchase back by us if there was any problem at all.

Lets face it homechecks are not always possible.When I brought my first elkie I was told I would have to visit at least once before I was allowed to buy.
I think if you are a dog lover you can tell when someone is too...by the way they react to your dogs,by the answers to the questions you ask etc. I would be concerned about someone who turned up and was worried about the hair on their clothes ,about a dog jumping up or getting licked.On the other hand someone who turned up and sat on the floor with the pups and 'enjoyed' them would be a much better prospect.

I can totally relate to everything you say Archer, I must admit when I was selling a previous litter I had a few couples turn up wearing the most ridiculous clothes for going to see a litter of pups!! The men are usually well dressed, designer tshirt/shirt etc and the women, well some of them defy belief! Ive seen several turn up wearing short skirts and all dolled up as if they were going out clubbing I mean, its nice to look nice, but if your going to see a litter of lively 8 week old pups, why get dressed up as though your going for a night on the town? They also sometimes bring their children which are also wearing brand name clothes and dressed ready for a photo shoot I mean whats that all about? Has anyone else experienced this?

I watched the reactions as the pups pawed, clawed and tried to climb all over them. Some of the people showed obvious signs of "oohh dont get my nice clothes all dirty"!!! and those people were not what i would class as suitable owners. Pups make a mess, they get dirty, if people cant handle that on their first meeting, it probably wont improve once they get the pup home!

I now tell people over the phone to wear old clothes if they want to come and see the pups, and to expect to get mucky, and chewed and licked if they choose to wear sandals or 3/4 length trousers
I over emphasise the fact that this could happen, in the hope that it will put off anyone who is a bit scared of getting dirty pawmarks on them, or their fingers nibbled. And sadly, this does put some people off - but hey, again, its their loss!!!

When I go to see a litter of pups, I wear old clothes and the first thing I do is get down in there with the pups and play with them. When I see people doing that, to me it says they are a dog lover and wont mind so much if their puppy chews or makes a mess while its growing up

my breeder did a lot of digging around about me asking joint people we knew about me and my situation which of course i didnt mind but she didnt come to my home. i think advice should be given and a good breeder would definitley talk to potential pup owners at length but i am not sure a home check would acheive that much. i nice house and garden doesnt necessarily make a good owner

Breeders could ask for Vet References from potential owners of the pups.

When someone comes to a rescue to get a dog rather than go out to buy a puppy that says something in itself, rescues do ask the questions that will show how sincere people are and if they understand what taking on a "rescue dog "really means, we then home check and ask all the same questions again to see if the answers differ, we will do spot checks, people know this and while I accept nothing is fool proof, rescues do take more care in who they place dogs with, RESCUES DO NOT PROFIT FROM DOGS BREEDERS DO!
We don`t rule out people who live in flats, we have just rehomed to a flat because this family offered everything that will benefit the dog,


I am not stupid i realise there are people who come to Rescues in hoping to get a cheap dog/pup but these people usually don`t have an understanding of the "Rescue" process and unlikely to agree to HC etc so lets not get into that one
Just like all Breeders are not the same nor is Rescues and it saddens me that both cannot work together to benefit the dog

yvonne