Personally I would not want a ready trained puppy....Part of getting a new pup is the fun in training it and building a bond with it....
To me this is an easy option for people who want a puppy, but cannot be bothered training it.....

I think Helen raises a good point, in that those of us who rescue dogs don't get that early bonding either. Blondi came to me in May of this year as an 16 month old dog, and yet I love the bonding that we have had since that time.

So, I certainly don't feel that you have to have the bonding from pup time onwards to enjoy a loving and lasting relationship with the dog.

My concerns are more on the training side. For starters, without training them myself, I could never feel comfortable that they were trained kindly and fairly. I wager that anyone reading this forum can get a dog to comply with any instruction, but the method(s) used might err on the "forceful" side. That is not to say that Steve Harper uses anything but kind methods, but I would never know.

Further, I really do feel that a huge bond is created through the actual training process. In fact, I don't think that bond can be over-stated. Whether the dog is 18 weeks or 18 months. During training, the dog learns your parameters, your nature, and so forth. You, in turn, learn the dog's temperament, character, its likes and dislikes. In essence, you really get to know one another, warts and all.

Lastly, there's the drive side. This always concerns me. When your business relies on turning out well trained dogs there is added pressure to get results, perhaps at any cost. After all, it may determine how much food is on your kid's plate next month. With that, comes extra pressure. What happens to the dog if he finds it can't be trained to a satisfactory standard, for whatever reason?

Overall, I think the intention is good, and indeed even welcome for many. But there's something that makes me feel uncomfortable about it, though I can't quite pinpoint it.

Edit: Actually, scrub the drive part. I just read that he also holds socialisation classes, and so I must assume that helps keep the business afloat too. I have to say that by his website, I do like his apparent honesty, about his age, experience, etc. He's also not hiding behind a flashy website, it's just seems to be a very much "what you see is what you get" affair. I like that...