'Where did you get them?'

Laurelin

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#1
Do y'all get this question? I get it often enough and I am still not sure what they're asking. I'm talking about random people at parks and stores and things like that, not 'dog people'. Are they asking if I got them at a store or a breeder? Breeder names? I typically answer 'A breeder in Texas and a breeder in Oklahoma.'

I never know what to say to that question. That and 'how much did they cost?/Were they expensive?' Which I also get a lot.
 
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Toller_08

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#2
I get that question a lot. My answer is always just "a breeder here in the city" if they just as "where did you get your dog/s?". If they ask who, then I tell them where. Normally I'm asked in doggy places though.

Sometimes though I've accidentally asked people where they got their dogs (when I see Tollers or Dobermans), and what I mean to ask is who they got their dog from just out of curiosity. Especially when I see a really nice example of either breed.

When people in non-doggy places ask I again just tell them "from a breeder here" and leave it at that. Sometimes with Dance I get "you can get those dogs here?!" like she's some rare commodity or something haha. To which I tell them that yes, there are lots of breeders of her breed all over Canada and the US.

People sometimes ask me their cost as well and I tell them they were over $1000 just because I don't know why they're asking. Maybe they're genuinely interested in the breed and want to know what they cost on average. I don't know. I've gotten told I could've got a better deal on a Doberman before though lol. Sometimes depending on the person if I get a bad feel for things I tend to just kind of avoid that question too.
 

RedHotDobe

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#3
I get asked that. When I respond with "A breeder in Illinois" they usually just give me strange looks like they can't figure out why anyone would get a dog from that far away, lol.
 

stardogs

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#4
Try having a dog from Canada when you live in NC... I haven't had the question asked much but when I have I get lots of funny looks. The Customs guys didn't understand it either when we drove up to get Aeri and we got pulled over for additional screening!
 

Shai

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#5
I'll occasionally get asked by the general public where my dogs are from, but I don't think I've ever been asked about cost. For Mira I say Minnesota, for Webster I say he came free with a bag of dog food :p, and for Kim I say Petfinder.

Probably 95% of the time, though, when someone asks where my dogs are from it's a dog sport person and they are asking about Mira. So the "general public" scenario isn't really that common.
 

Equinox

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#6
I get asked this a lot by random people we encounter (I've actually never taken Trent anywhere near dog people before). Since Trent's breeder is local, I tell them "he's from a breeder in Salem", because I'm assuming everyone knows the state's capital. A lot of people who ask start off with a story about how they used to have a German Shepherd dog, too, and how great their dog was. I figure they may be wondering if he is from the same breeder or keeping breeders in mind for future reference... or they may just be flat out curious. I almost always ask someone where their German Shepherd is from when I come across one. I'm a creeper :p

I think I was asked about Trent's purchase price once or twice when he was a really young puppy, and I didn't mind telling them the amount. One lady who asked had a dog pass away recently and was legitimately wanting to get another.
 

Southpaw

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#7
I just say "a breeder in X City". Most people just say oh okay and leave it at that, so I don't know if I actually answered their question or not lol. I don't know why people ask in the first place. If I see like, a border collie that I really like I will ask where specifically that dog came from. Cuz maybe I want to get a dog from the same place. But generally I don't really care if someones dog is from a breeder or rescue? Lol.
 

Laurelin

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#8
I get asked by dog people too (not the price though) and I get that and give breeder name usually. I assume they mean to ask what breeder they're from. But I also tend to assume dog people are more knowledgeable and are genuinely curious/interested. It's the general public that I'm not sure what they're actually asking. Are they asking breeder name or store/breeder/rescue? Usually when I say breeder they look at me funny.

This last week I was at the park and a lady came up and that was the first question out of her mouth. But she didn't seem that interested. I'm wondering if she was thinking they were from the local pet store that sells puppies. They have papillons disturbingly often.

I get asked 'Were they expensive?' more often than actual price. That's a horrible question though because I have no idea what 'expensive' is to them.
 

monkeys23

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#9
People seem really surprised for some reason when I say I got Lily at the shelter. *shrug*
 

milos_mommy

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#10
I ask this of other people, sometimes - but usually I don't just say "where did you get her", I say "was she a rescue?" or "did you get her from a breeder?". So yes, I usually mean breeder/rescue.

No one ever asks me about my own dogs, but people have asked me about dogs I walk or sit for - in that case I usually say "she's not mine, but she was a rescue dog" or "she's not mine but I believe her breeder was upstate"
 

stafinois

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#11
I get it a lot and just give the state name that they came from. I get asked about price as well. Then they go on to say Pits are great and it's all in how you raise them, or tell me about their childhood Boxers and GSDs. Oh well.
 

Flyinsbt

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#12
I say yes, they are expensive, and that their breeder is in California. Which is technically sort of true, though I actually bred both of them, they have a co-breeder who lives in CA. I think if I told these people (just random people in a park or wherever) what a pup of this breed typically goes for, they'd keel over in shock.
 

Catsi

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#13
Yes I do. I use it as an opportunity to warn people against bybs and purchasing a dog when you don't know the full history, didn't meet the parents etc.

Grace is the family dog from a BYB. She turned out wonderfully, both in temperament and health (generally, bar cruciate ligament that required surgery) and knowing what I know now I thank my lucky stars nearly every day.

Abby - goodness I was so naive when I bought her. I honestly thought it was all in how you raised them. I thought that breeders were fairly similar - except that some bred show dogs. :eek: I fell in love with a photo and that was the end of it.

As I became more addicted to dogs in general - behaviour (through necessity really, having a reactive and highly strung dog of my own that I didn't know how to best manage/handle), training, health etc, I became more aware of ethical breeding issues. Temperament and health and how to best mitigate potential disasters is something that I really care about. Until I had a dog with 'issues', I thought dogs were all the same and it only mattered how you bought them up. :eek:

I'm not saying my inexperience did not contribute to how Abby turned out either. There are things I'd do differently and I would have addressed issues sooner rather than later. I really try to use Abby and our story to promote ethical breeding and rescue when I can, to anyone who is interested. Seeing that the message is coming from someone who didn't done the research and didn't 'done the right thing', I hope that when I speak to people I can connect with them. I don't know everything. I've learned a lot and dogs and dog people can teach you a whole lot if you let them!

Thankfully for us it all worked out ok in the end, but I'd so much rather that dogs didn't have to suffer and that no one had to deal with the heartbreak of struggling with and possibly losing a dog through temperament or health issues.
 

CaliTerp07

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#14
People ask me all the time. I ask people often. It's VERY common in NoVA to have rescue dogs, so it's a popular question--basically, "did your dog possibly come from the same rescue as one of my dogs?"

When people ask, I say she came from the Alexandria shelter. 'cause she did :D
 
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#15
I don't know that I've ever been asked that that I remember. I think if you don't have a purebred dog around here, people assume they came from a shelter or rescue group. Occasionally when I start talking about Squash's mom/litter people get a look on their face like "not.... rescue?" but rarely actually ask about it.
 

Red.Apricot

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#18
When people ask at dog shows they get her kennel name, when they ask in real life they get the city.

People who ask how much she cost usually get told 'quite a bit.' I'm not comfortable talking about that with strangers.
 

Rach

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#19
We occasionally get asked about price on Godric and where he came from. With Tulip I get asked "What kind of dog is that?"
 

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