Breeder Questionnaires

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#21
Oh yes, I would also like the third the word document too, anyone could very easily copy-paste it into an email, and then there's no annoying third party site either who could possible malfunction and loose emails or send you a lot of spam.
 

noludoru

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#22
Is everyone in your household in agreement with adding a dog to the family?
Not picking on you, as I understand why this question is asked, but it drives me crazy.

My boyfriend isn't the biggest fan of dogs. If we lived together, he would not be thrilled with the idea of me getting another dog - but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. It would be my responsibility, not his. As long as I added a non-drooler to the household, it wouldn't be something that would stress our relationship to the breaking point or something - he just wouldn't be the one going "YAY MORE DOGS."

When I lived with my parents, my dad was not on board with getting a dog. At all. We argued and argued over it and finally gave up when he agreed that he would at least not complain about me bringing one home. Now, several years later, after I've moved out? Guess who calls me at work to tell me how much he misses Middie, and asks when I'll be dropping him off again for a couple days. My parents even considered getting another dog. :yikes:
 

Kilter

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#23
I do ask the fence and house question, but it's mainly 'do you rent or own' and 'do you have a fenced yard or dog run'. Renting is the main concern, in that they need to make sure it's ok to have a dog there, and make sure they aren't going to do what many do and dump the dog because they can't find a place to rent with them in a year.

The fence just so I have an idea of what the situation is, a smart person would have already thought of that and had a solution and likely would put that in their application. But if they live in the country and have no intention of doing a fence, and assume the dog will 'learn' to stay in the area around the house, then they're not getting a border collie from me.

I also ask if they plan to have children in the next 15 years, simply because some people don't get the concern there, and some think 'hey, we'll be having a baby in six months, let's get a puppy now' which of course won't work. Like other dogs, it's better to have some space between baby and puppy if possible.

Color of dog, you'll get the best pick for your home, but if you don't care what color it's different than 'really want a merle' and then there's the 'I want a split face tri with one blue eye and one brown eye and prick ears'.

All concerns, even the color if it comes up, are things to bring up and educate the person with, even if they don't like it.
 

Kilter

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#24
Not picking on you, as I understand why this question is asked, but it drives me crazy.

My boyfriend isn't the biggest fan of dogs. If we lived together, he would not be thrilled with the idea of me getting another dog - but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. It would be my responsibility, not his. As long as I added a non-drooler to the household, it wouldn't be something that would stress our relationship to the breaking point or something - he just wouldn't be the one going "YAY MORE DOGS."

When I lived with my parents, my dad was not on board with getting a dog. At all. We argued and argued over it and finally gave up when he agreed that he would at least not complain about me bringing one home. Now, several years later, after I've moved out? Guess who calls me at work to tell me how much he misses Middie, and asks when I'll be dropping him off again for a couple days. My parents even considered getting another dog. :yikes:

I know someone where that did come up though. The husband came and talked to her, did all the contact, filled out the forms.... and so on. When asked he'd say his wife was busy, then she wasn't feeling well, then oh, she didn't like big dogs AT ALL. It wasn't a toy breed they were going to be bringing home, but the well educated man seemed to think his wife, who liked little dogs (to look at really), would fall in love with the cute puppy and be fine with being home with the pup on her own all day and when he traveled. So, the breeder said she HAD to come to see her and meet the dogs and chat before going any further. Wife came, sat on the couch like a stone, totally scared of the dogs and admitted it wasn't her idea, and she was assuming she could leave puppy in the crate all day and just view the pup from 'afar' sorta thing. They got their deposit back.
 

Romy

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#25
I also ask if they plan to have children in the next 15 years, simply because some people don't get the concern there, and some think 'hey, we'll be having a baby in six months, let's get a puppy now' which of course won't work. Like other dogs, it's better to have some space between baby and puppy if possible.
Just to address this real quick, this is why it's not always right to generalize. We got Strider at 9 weeks old when my daughter was 2 weeks old and it worked wonderfully. I'm really glad his breeder didn't see a problem with it.

Kaia's breeder placed her litter and handled the puppy buyers. She has a questionnaire with basic stuff on it like people posted on here.

And color isn't a huge deal to me, if someone has a preference that's fine. It's not the priority by any means, but if there's a tri puppy and a red puppy that both would fit their homes and needs perfectly, and they prefer a red, I wouldn't have a problem placing the red based on preference.

Some day I may get more into zois. If I do and have a website, I'll probably have a questionnaire, but emphasize that there are no right and wrong answers. That every puppy is different, and it's just to help determine which puppy and home are the most ideal fits for each other.
 

noludoru

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#26
I know someone where that did come up though. The husband came and talked to her, did all the contact, filled out the forms.... and so on. When asked he'd say his wife was busy, then she wasn't feeling well, then oh, she didn't like big dogs AT ALL. It wasn't a toy breed they were going to be bringing home, but the well educated man seemed to think his wife, who liked little dogs (to look at really), would fall in love with the cute puppy and be fine with being home with the pup on her own all day and when he traveled. So, the breeder said she HAD to come to see her and meet the dogs and chat before going any further. Wife came, sat on the couch like a stone, totally scared of the dogs and admitted it wasn't her idea, and she was assuming she could leave puppy in the crate all day and just view the pup from 'afar' sorta thing. They got their deposit back.
Situations like that are exactly why the question gets asked. (And I'm a little amazed at that dude's lies. I've always been honest of how everyone in the household feels, at least.) But in my experience it can turn out well. I don't think it should be a deal breaker in every case.
 

Rach

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#27
I don't mind filling out Questionnaires. I get a bit irritated when asked if I have a fence in yard. Not that I don't understand the reason behind it. We have a run that can be put up if needed. However, I feel that when I say no, I don't have a fenced in yard that I'm automatically disqualified from getting a puppy. We do not us underground fences, nor do we have a fence up. What we do do is place hundreds of white flags around our property and boundary train. Our dogs are never outside alone, regardless of weather conditions. If they have to go potty someone goes with them. We train our dogs to know how far they can go and have never lost one due to not having a fence. I just feel that it CAN be an unfair question.
 

Oko

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#28
The 'will you have a child in 10 years' Qs really, really weird me out. Not everyone plans their life out that far in the future, really.
 

Kilter

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#29
If someone was pregnant but said 'I know it's hard to have a puppy and a baby but this is how we'll deal with it, then I'd be fine. It's more to make sure the people have thought things out and realize that they aren't going to be dumping the pup in a month, year or decade because they start their human family. Seen it happen too many times.

Fence, same thing, you don't need a fence, but how will you work that out? Chain the dog up, put out some snowfence and hope the dog knows to stay in it? Leashwalk and supervise? Invisible fence on a baby puppy?


With anything it's how they answer and so on more than what they answer, unless there's a huge red flag in something they say or do. For a while I know a lot of golden breeders asked if they knew anyone with an intact poodle, or what they thought of goldendoodles, because every other person wanted to get a golden and breed doodles.... sigh.
 
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#30
Fence, same thing, you don't need a fence, but how will you work that out? Chain the dog up, put out some snowfence and hope the dog knows to stay in it? Leashwalk and supervise? Invisible fence on a baby puppy?
Sorry, I don't mean to go off topic, but I read that and had to laugh out loud! We have a section of 3' high chicken wire around some garden boxes, and for the life of her, Enda wont go over it! And yet, some how, that's where her ball ends up, at least once every play session. Nope, wont go over it, so she run as fast as she can around it, and around and around, maybe stop and bark, paw/dig at the fence, until someone comes to "rescue" it. :rofl1:
Every dog is an individual, I don't know still as I would trust her the same at an outdoor venue off leash with orange snow fence around the ring though.
 

meepitsmeagan

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#31
I personally prefer to just shoot a breeder an email. Because I'm young and have moved around quite a bit in the past year, I just think it is better to email so that I can actually explain that I know what I'm getting myself into.

Though, if I don't see a questionnaire, it makes me wonder if they are reputable. I'm strange...

I don't like finance questions. I don't like age questions. I think things should be taken case by case.

I don't know if this helps at all. Haha.
 

monkeys23

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#32
Sorry, I don't mean to go off topic, but I read that and had to laugh out loud! We have a section of 3' high chicken wire around some garden boxes, and for the life of her, Enda wont go over it! And yet, some how, that's where her ball ends up, at least once every play session. Nope, wont go over it, so she run as fast as she can around it, and around and around, maybe stop and bark, paw/dig at the fence, until someone comes to "rescue" it. :rofl1:
Every dog is an individual, I don't know still as I would trust her the same at an outdoor venue off leash with orange snow fence around the ring though.
Thats so cute of Enda!

Even if I had a well fenced yard, which would be really nice, I'd still have to supervise their yard time 100% because they are what they are. And yard does not = exercise for them. Scout would probably be okay with some yard play and a short walk for a couple days, but Lily would start chasing her tail and having spastic husky zoomies with that little exercise. Weirdo, gotta love her!
 

Southpaw

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#33
I don't mind filling out Questionnaires. I get a bit irritated when asked if I have a fence in yard. Not that I don't understand the reason behind it. We have a run that can be put up if needed. However, I feel that when I say no, I don't have a fenced in yard that I'm automatically disqualified from getting a puppy. We do not us underground fences, nor do we have a fence up. What we do do is place hundreds of white flags around our property and boundary train. Our dogs are never outside alone, regardless of weather conditions. If they have to go potty someone goes with them. We train our dogs to know how far they can go and have never lost one due to not having a fence. I just feel that it CAN be an unfair question.
But just because they ask the question doesn't mean there is a right or wrong answer. You can say "no, I don't have a fence - but this is what we do...." and explain the setup. Sure, some breeders might think it is "wrong" that you don't have a fence, but then I'm sure there are many others that don't really care about a fence.... they just want to know how the dogs are safely contained on the property.

Also, questionnaire or no questionnaire, if a breeder feels that strongly about puppy buyers NEEDING a fence, I would think the question would come up eventually anyway (and this could be applied to lots of things, not just fences!).
 

spiffy

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#34
I'm all for answering questionnaires. In fact, I like and respect a breeder that requires potential buyers to answer questionnaires. It shows that the breeder is not one that will hand over the pup at the first sign of green bucks. Questionnaires will allow a breeder to screen buyers and to weed out unsuitable would-be dog owners.
 

YodelDogs

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#35
I'm all for answering questionnaires. In fact, I like and respect a breeder that requires potential buyers to answer questionnaires. It shows that the breeder is not one that will hand over the pup at the first sign of green bucks. Questionnaires will allow a breeder to screen buyers and to weed out unsuitable would-be dog owners.
This assumes that the breeder has no further contact other than a questionnaire with a potential buyer. I would not consider a breeder like that to be responsible.


I have always done my screening over the phone. I have a conversation with the potential buyer, interjecting questions as part of the conversation. The conversation not only serves to screen but also for the potential buyer and I to get to know one another. I take notes and the second (and third, and fourth, etc) time I speak with the potential buyer, I slide in some of the questions I already asked. It allows me to see if they "trip up" and I catch them in a lie. You can't catch a liar with questionnaires alone. My method has never failed me in the 20 years that I have been a breeder.
 

rosalie

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#36
being a breeder i like have the questionaire, although i call mine an application, it is a faster simple way to get information on a potential buyer, and help match them to the right puppy based on what they are looking for, life style ect. I find it much simplier than email, even though i will resond to emails as well
 

Kilter

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#37
The thing I like about the questionaire is I then have the 'basics' that I want to know down in one spot and I can keep that on file. There have been many times I've gone to a friend's house who has been breeding for years and she'll have a folder for each puppy owner that is waiting for a pup in a litter, with her notes on the top, and then we go through the pups and their temperament tests and notes and those files to decide who goes where. It's great to do phone interviews but it can get confusing with keeping track of who said what - I'm not that fast of a writer.
 

frostfell

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#38
Omigosh this is like the greatest topic ever. Iv been going back and forth with myself on if Im going to have one or not, and I think after reading a bit, I will. If anyone sees this can you please email me a copy of yours that I can pick over and get ideas from? [email protected] thanks!
 
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#39
I can't say I've ever got a dog from a breeder I needed to fill one out for. I know it's different for everyone, but I'm very involved with what we do, and thru that I get to know a lot of breeders. There really isn't a need for a formal questionnaire as we know each other already. If there were things we didn't like about each other, our relationship probably would have ended long before the idea of placing a dog or giving one a home was ever possible.

It's how I plan on doing it from here on out.
 

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