But this is my point, why would you miss out? If a breeder says you can have the pup you choosen then they should stick to that (unless things come to light about the owner, or they want to keep) they shouldnt sell to some one else, why would they, maybe because they were leaving a deposits? In that situation their just out for the money... Personally I wouldnt need to ask for money to secure a pup. I would not put myself in that sort of verbal contract, never.

We've never taken deposits for any of our pups but after the nightmare of our last litter i might consider it next time Ten pups, all had new homes lined up by about 3-4 weeks, 5 of those from our existing waiting list and the others from word of mouth or from our website. Everyone came to visit regularly from 4 weeks of age, some people staying several hours Also had many requests for pics, vids and updates, was like a full time job keeping up with it all Had regular emails telling us who had bought what for "their new puppy" and how excited they were etc etc as you'd expect from any new owner.

By 7 weeks old 3 of the puppy owners had dropped out and another one did when the pup (that they picked at about 3 weeks and named!!) was 8 weeks old, the day they were due to pick it up Thankfully we managed to find new homes for them all by about 10 weeks and it was not too much of a problem. I since found my pics and vids in a couple of these peoples f/b pages and on forums introducing everyone to their new pup AFTER they had dropped out Clearly they were just wanting pictures, or attention. But it was incredibly annoying.

We may possibly as for a deposit for future litters just so that anyone who is just messsing us aroound and isnt serious about the pup will look elsewhere for their puppy visits and pictures. At least if people pay a deposit, odds are they are not just wanting a day out cuddling cute puppies

We've never had this problem before, everyone who has said they wanted a pup turned up to collect it But this last litter was a nightmare. They were not overpriced at all (about £100 cheaper than most equally well bred pups) and were all stunning pups, health tested, registered etc etc. I think we just were unlucky to attract a load of idiots

Sorry to hear you had such a problem. I guess that can be a right pain! One time a lady came to visit mum and her dogs, before mum had done the mating. Incase they wanted to book a pup. They visited a couple of time after that and when the pups were 4weeks old, they visited again to see the only puff male in the litter (its what they wanted) and feel in love with him, Left here and a couple of hours later they phoned to say they didnt want him and wanted their deposit back?? ermm they never gave us a deposit.
Turns out they had actually visited 2 crested breeders and didnt want one from either litter, they had gave the deposit to the other breeder and got confused..
Other breeder doesnt even health test!!!
Complete madness, they seemed to nice. anyway the pup has a perfect agility home. still wish mum had kept him for the ring though

Tbh I don't see a problem with it, if a person sends a deposit to me it shows that they are really intrested, and also a potential owner should have enough trust in who they are buying from in order to be able to send a deposit imo. I will say though I havent paid a deposit for a dog, but I did for Nance my English rabbit from Wales, her breeder had a load of time wastes and a ten pound deposit was used to secure a reservation and then the other fifteen was paid when you collected from the her, with a breeder who I was looking at getting a potential breeding buck from it was again ten for deposit, but twenty on collection, Harmony I just paid fifteen on collection (but if I wasn't so honest I could of kept quiet and got her for nothing as I was talking to the breeder for so long payment was forgotten about lol) but I don't know about deposits for 8 w/o.

But I really do think that its the breeders ethics what matter most, if the breeder was what I wanted I wouldnt think twice if they asked for a deposit.

I did think it was normal to ...i would have paid out right at 4 weeks to secure oz if i had too..

As previously mentioned I dont take deposits, but there again, I dont look for new owners AFTER the pups are born, my waiting list have always been full before a mating has even taken place, some of the families have been on my list for two years before I bred, this gives me a lot longer time to get to know the families, I speak to them regularly giving them updates on proposed mating/expected date, wether the mating has taken place, results of scans and finally how many pups are produced, ALL the families are FULLY aware they may not be successful in getting a pup from me due to unforseen reasons, ie not enough pups in litter, not enough of their preferred sex, once the final number of pups are known I then decide who are the best families to which pups based on my observations of the pups while they are here, the families visit reg until the time for the pups to leave, by which time we have all mutually decided which pup goes where, I spend a lot of time making sure the people are honest/reliable/genuine, hence my reason for never needing to take deposits in the past.

Mo

I paid a deposit for Rio and was happy to do so. The family who were originally having Dandy pulled out on the day they were supposed to pick him up, and so lost their deposit, which I think is their own fault for messing the breeder around. The reason for changing their minds? The breed was too big for them. And that's after they have visited the kennels, been interviewed etc. I think there would be a lot more situations like that if the breeder didn't take deposits.

When I breed my first litter I will be asking for deposits, whether they are refundable depends on the circumstances of why the person would pull out.

Mo,

We have always worked like this and have never had any problems, hence also never having taken deposits. We always have a large list of people before any matings take place etc etc. But for some reason with this litter despite having a waiting list of people who had been waiting some time, we still ended up having to look for homes after the pups were born so i have learned not to rely on this at all!

The same happened with my pugs, had a huge waiting list, some of the people had been waiting for over 2 years since they first saw my bitch in the ring, had regular contact with them in that time, then when i emailed to say she had been mated, several of them had decided to buy related pups elsewhere because they had come up sooner Didnt bother telling us or anything. Very frustrating!!

I have no problem paying a deposit, not sure how enforecable the law is regarding them but to me it shows the breeder I am truly interested .

Some people visit litters and say they are interested, a bit like people who are bored and go house hunting round people's houses, when they have no intention of moving house! it's a day out.

Some breeders puppies are reserved even before they are born and sometimes people drop out at the last minute, which is why pups are advertised as 'for sale due to timewasters'. I think some people will be put off from wasting time if they have to pay a deposit.

I paid a £50 deposit for Poppy, not because I was asked to, but towards her keep until we collected her. It was then knocked of the price, despite her being with the breeder for an extra two weeks, again he would not accept additional money towards her extra keep after her litter mates had left.

I have paid a £100 non-refundable deposit for another dog in the past to a different breeder for a different breed of dog. Unfortunately once we got the pup home, after 3 weeks it was evident that the pup and Poppy just weren't going to get on. I had already had the pup's vaccinations done and microchipped, so I was given half my deposit back, the breeder took the pup back and sound her on, then I got a check for the remainder, but still lost half the deposit despite having forked out for vaccinations etc and giving them her bed, toys etc that we'd bought for her. I was about £250 out of pocket for having the pup for 3 weeks, but that's my fault for spoiling her so much