What to say when contacting a breeder?

All going well I hope to be looking to get a puppy towards the end of the year, and I have been looking at different breeds and doing some research and I'm just curious what you would say in an introduction email to a breeder?

Tell them about yourself, your lifestyle and your experience with different breeds. If you work,your arrangements for the puppy when you're not there for instance

We just said we were thinking about buying a "x" breed of dog as a pet and would it be possible to come and talk about the breed to get an understanding of what they are like to live with.

Anyway that is how we went about it apart from talking to a lot of people who already owned the breed at dog shows etc.

In our case 40 years down the line we are still good friends with the breeder and having moved close to where she lives again been to see her which was so nice.

First of all we went and got an "interview" with her even though she said she had no puppies for sale. After a long talk she did actually have puppies and said we could have one

Another thing I do is ask them if they would like to come and meet the girls, if they are too far away I try and find one of my current owners, or another breeder, who is within striking distance to them. My owners love doing that as well and I get a report back from them as to their feelings on the suitability of the potential owners,as they don't feel they have to be on their best behaviour with other people as they may feel they have to be with me.I always ask the people if they have any questions,which they should have. I've had people who look totally blank and have very little to say,and are also not able to interact with my girls, and I know that is a disaster in the making,and they are not the right types of home for one of my puppies.

As an initial enquiry not knowing whether they had pups or not this is what I put when I was seeking my first Pug

Hi I wonder if you could tell me if you have a litter planned in the near future?

I have been searching for a while but struggling to find a breeder with pups planned that puts health testing at the forefront.

Jess at Silverbriar pointed me in your direction, I know her from a dog forum, and you seem very local to us as we're in Romford.

We have no plans to show or breed but health is our major concern.

Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated

Thank you

Obviously lots more emails and phone calls followed but try to keep it simple and to the point if you want an answer, especially if they don't have surplus pups, and don't wait till the pups are on the ground get in early.

Tucson didn't come from that breeder but one she referred me on to. It took me two years to find Tucson in all.
With Phoenix I'd spoken to her breeder at length while searching for Tucson, phoned on the off chance and she had one girl she was planning on keeping but had decided to let go, all done and dusted within the week.
Teddy was a resale, bloody fools, handed over the dosh and he was mine.

I personally asked them about health testing, and how often they breed.

After that I asked about how there pups are raised.

Then I generally asked them if they have any questions they would like to asked about me.

If there first or 2nd question is about money or payment method, I politely scratch them off my list.

After that if I'm still interested I asked about visiting to see the parents.

A lot of people can have all the right answers, but seeing the parents and where they are raised for the first 8 to 10 weeks speaks volumes.

Pedigrees are a bit funny as I know a couple breeders whose dog are from fantastic lines and in a couple generations have produces horrible pups because they had no clue what they are doing.
Also know 1 hobby breeder who's dogs are not from anything special pedigree's, who has produced fantastic dogs, and has produce several show dogs, we just disagree on his contract so doubt I every get one of his pups.

I started off by introducing myself, and then went in to greater detail in what I was looking for at the same time as complimenting the breeder on their dogs. Then the breeder took it from there and we went back & forwards asking and answering questions etc.