*sigh*

I had a 16YO kid contact me about a puppy from one of my upcoming litters. From chatting with her and her questionnaire, she is a good kid that is sincere, but there is no way I am going to sell a dog and execute a contract with a 16YO kid.

I have contacted a couple good people in her area in hopes that they will take her under their wing and mentor her.

I just can't take the chance with all the changes in life that are ahead of her at age 16.

*sigh*

I agree that a 16 year old can't sign a contract. Are her parents on board to help her? Technically having it be the parents dog, with the possibility of a change of ownership when she's older and settled into a home and job?

When you say "mentor", does that mean she wants to do junior showmanship?

Please look into it further Red. I know how it feels to be young and want a dog. I was sold my first real show dog at 16 and now, almost 8 years later she is still with me competing in agility.

Make sure the parents are behind her and that references check out etc. Just don't overlook the situation because she is 16.

That's sad

I'm with you !!! I only sold through parents .

You go with your gut, red. I can understand your hesitation, not to say a person that age can't do it, but these are your babies and you need place them where your heart feels right.

Im 16 (15 at time) .. Keely's breeder wouldnt have sold a dog to just me, because of my age. but she sure as hell wouldnt have sold her to just my parents either.. lol.. She wanted me to have the dog, so she got mom to sign the ownership papers (Mom was totally onboard)... Dont just cut her loose though because of it. I also know how much i wanted, no, NEEDED a dog..

I think me and keely are doing just fine. Mom really doesnt have anything to do with her care at all. Keely is nannys girl, but moms only good for the lovin' part. I do everything myself (Mom pays for vet, thats it, and quite frankly, i could do that too, if need be) .. If she doesnt get one from an awesome breeder (like yourself) she may turn to a byb/mill in her desperate search for a dog. Which could end up badly. (I dunno if she wanted to show the dog or what. If thats the case she wont go to a byb.) If keely wasnt on a strict spay contract, i would have shown her.

There are other considerations. Altho I did not ask age on my questionnaire (I have changed that now), we were having discussion about other things.

Such as wanting to know about getting POL. (nope, that one's mine), and lack of secure fencing.

I also feel that a person that age should have a parent involved from the start. I sort of feel that I could have gotten into this a lot deeper with her had I not asked point blank about the age.

I am getting her in touch with a good breeder who is in her state, and hopefully not too far away from her. I feel that someone of this age will need a close by mentor no matter what if they get a show prospect dog.

So hopefully it will all end well for her, with her gaining a new good friend who can help her along the road to a show dog if that's what she truly wants.

Good for you Red. To many breeders would just ignore her or snot her off. Sending her off to buy from a BYB.

I hope she gets mentoring and someday a quality puppy.

I totally understand your hesitation, Red.

I purchased Spy when I was 15 and he is doing great and involved in agility. However I know that for many dogs owned by youth it is a very different picture.

Many breeders completely shrugged me off and it really hurt and discouraged me. I think directing her towards a mentor in her area was a great thing to do. If you are still in contact with her, just try and do everything nicely and talk to her in an adult manner (not that I think you won't ). I just remember being in her position and how much I was treated as 'just an impulsive teenager who knows nothing of dogs' and it totally sucked.

Kudos to you for not shrugging her off though

I heard from a very good person in her state today, who also knows another person who will help her as well. I have sent the email to her, so I am sure she will make contact.

Young people are the future of our sport, and this kid is well spoken in email, and has done her homework learning about the breed.

If she wants to, she will be able to go to dog shows with these folks and learn from the ground up, and she will be invited to come visit and see their dogs as well.

If the kid is willing to slow down a bit about getting a dog, I think this will work out great for her.

Red have I ever told you how fantastically amazing you are? Seriously. A lot of breeders would have completely pushed her aside, but you gave her direction. I hope we'll one day see her in the show ring with an amazing dog by her side.

I agree, Skittle! I've been touched by reading your post about this girl, red. You can tell even though you had to make this decision, its not been an easy one to make. I hope this girl listens to you and takes your advice. If so she'll be a great advocate for the breed.

Kudos - I've gotten snubbed by a Dane breeder and I was married, working, we had our own place, already had one dane... but I was 22 at the time
Glad you are pointing her in the right direction.

I signed on to a puppy as the Owner when I was 16. The breeder is a co owner. and my parents going on was not even brought up. I do spend a significant amount of time working with my breeder and such. But she is my dog.

I was a minor when I got Marq. Parents had to sign contract, but I was legal owner, breeder is still co-owner. If there are parents involved and willing to take a dog into their home for life, and the minor sounds responsible enough and is looking into showing, I don't see any need for hesitation. I understood that my parents had to be willing to keep Marq for life in case I was not financially stable enough to take him once I left home, my parents understood this and agreed, and so long as that is in agreement and the parents ALSO fill out questionnaire and "pass".. well, with encouragement you've just helped one more young person become a responsible dog owner.

Had I bought from a breeder, for my border collie puppy, my parents would have had to sign, and were willing, but the breeder talked to me, and both that I talked to really gave me a lot of information, told me who was close and could help me, what I may be able to do to get more involved in herding bred BC's, etc, and let me tell you, I'll ALWAYS remember those breeders in my life as I keep having border collies because they didn't just shut me down, they helped me out, and were even offering to sell pups to me after talking to me.

I, however, said straight from the start that I was 16. I like to be upfront and have people by the end questioning if I'm actually 16 rather then an e-mail that leaves them wondering how old I am, thinking I'm young.

Good for you. I'm glad you talked to her like you did, and sent her on her way to someone who can work with her.

I know if my parents wern't against Rotties, I'd love one of yours! (Dad has this weird thing for Dobes, pits, and GSDs, and just doesn't like 'em, other then our two GSDs)

You also have to remember this is a Rottweiler. Quite different from most sporting or herding breeds in temperament and amount of liability that goes with owning one.

There are cases where I would work with a young person who had supportive parents, such as a Jr. handler, etc. In this case tho, I just did not get the impression at all that the parents were on board.

I am not comfortable taking this sort of risk when placing a Rottweiler, so that's why I felt she would be best with a mentor nearby her who can help hands on.

I bought my first registered Doberman when I was 17. I followed through with showing him at matches, taking him to obedience class, showing him at some real shows (he didn't really end up being show quality), and put one leg of his CD on him. And believe me, I tried for the others!

Certainly, it was a learning experience and here I am now 28 years later still with some dogs from the same initial bloodlines, still showing, still training, still doing obedience trials, etc.

My initial breeder was right in my home town so I was able to go over for lessons in grooming, stacking and filling out a show entry, etc. I'm really fortunate that they mentored us along, met up with us at shows, etc. My first 5 Dobermans came from them over the years. I'm still friendly with them to this day although I've gone in a different direction with breeding.

All that said, I would also be very hesitant to get involved in selling to someone that age. Getting them hooked up with someone geographically closer to them was a good idea. It is a time when they really need hands on help. That would be the best way of making them successful, IMO.

Same here. I purchased Blaze when I was 15. My parents signed the contract, but I am the legal owner via my name on registration papers.

I was extremely fortunate. I also told the breeder upfront in my first email how old I was. I think that is the only right thing to do if you're younger. I also had a mentor -that his breeder knew- that I could go to for anything if I needed help or advice.