Internet Sales - Page 1

IMO The internet is opening up a new world for the GSD breeders. We all talk how the GSD has changed over the last 40 years but it will be interesting how it goes forward. The internet is allowing huge numbers of new breeders to get into the game. Now almost anyone can sell and ship worldwide. Will this be good or bad?

Ranger, Any Internet buying certainly poses some sort of risk to buyers. My concerns have always been with adult dogs as to why they are being sold, and what are the reasons behind this.

I agree and think that many breeders use even this site to find buyers for their lesser quality dogs and ones with undesirable traits. Almost twenty years ago when I became interested in GSD's it was hard to find good breeders and I do so basically through word of mouth. Today, with limited knowledge it would have been easy for someone to suck me in and make a sale to me. You see literally thousands of breedes now and all these pups will be directing how the GSD develops.

True enough, Mike. The more a given market opens up, then the more opportunity there is for scammers to exploit the unwary. On the other hand, the internet also provides a lot more opportunity for buyers to perform good due diligence - you can ask for video from a breeder, email judges to ask their thoughts, or even ask questions here (sometimes at your own peril!). I look at it this way: years ago when I wanted a pup, I basically was limited to newspaper and magazine ads, and probably would have had to spend months figuring out how to find one overseas and import him. This spring, the internet made it possible for me to know of a pup available from a breeder I admire, whom I wouldn't have had a clue about how to contact ten years ago. I was able to research the pedigree and ancestors to aid in my decision. And when I decided to buy the pup, the internet certainly made every aspect of the transaction easier: no long distance phone charges and worrying about what time it was in Germany, all of the information contained in our email communications could be printed or saved so neither party could become confused over what had been agreed upon and screw things up, etc. Other than my bank's cluelessness about overseas wire transfers that forced me to send payment via Western Union (which took all of 15 minutes at my local supermarket), I was able to do everything else by email. Frankly, I liked that - it saved me many many hours. So from my perspective, the good outweighs the bad. No matter what the market is, if there's money to be made then there will always be scammers out there taking advantage of rubes. But while the internet certainly gives them greater opportunities for ripoffs, it also creates a much wider and diverse market and greater opportunities for buyers as well as sellers.

You're opening up a big can of worms with this topic-- Well I'll start off the dscussion. Don't have time to really contemplate too much, but my first thought is that so many more litters will be bred with the availability of a bigger market. The same stupid, uninformed buyers are out there--and this will lead to astronomical amounts of rescues. Pictures look cute--but tell little. We have a current thread on cowhocks alone--are pictures of these puppies ever taken from behind to observe if there might be a problem? There also seems to be such a big market for anyone to jumpstart a quicker way to become a breeder--import the pregnant female. These females range in age from 2-6&7 years of age. Of course, I'm going to take the moral issue here first---when these 6 & 7 yr old females should be getting a chance at retirement, the greedy breeder now sells her off to a foreign market, with no assuredness of where she'll end up. Maybe, before the internet, she would have had a better chance of becoming someone's pet in a nearby town. (Yesterday, 4pack and I were discussing a 7yr-old female that she had imported. The dog didn't arrive healthy, and loaded with issues--She decided to 'do right' by the dog, and give her a home. She realizes that the female might end up being kenneled for the remainder of her life, otherwise. (When did importing pregnant females become so popular?) Then we have the thread on Derrick and his import. If there had been more 'hands on' evaluation of Derrick and the dog--he wouldn't have been continually complaining, and I wouldn't have been wondering about the dog's present status. The internet allows people to make too many mistakes. Those are my initial thoughts---sorry, I see they are all negative. Later, I'll come back with some positive ones---the first being, we're here discussing this topic.

Hi there, Yup, i believe it was hard back then, to get the right contacts. On the other hand i believe, the deals done back then, were no different from the ones done today over the net. One thing that dramaticly changed is, that aparently the ethics changed. Or maybe not, back then you just did not hear about them ! I am having a hard time with all this garantie this, garantie that, i like it if i can take the word and know it will be backed up. But i admid, hard to find these days, afterall one can write and place annomousely on the net ! I do not believe that there is more usage of the net, to sell lesser quality dogs. These dogs were also sold 20 years ago, without the net. Sadly enough, not all of the 20 000 whelped pups can be of outstanding quality, allthought, the idear is nice ! I wish all of you a paecefull and merry Christmas & and a lot of succes with your dogs in 2007 ! Kind Regards Ulli Dresbach

LMH, good post. I'd also add to your list of the negatives, the breeders who pass off breeding stock known to produce health issues like epi, HD, seizure activity, allergies, torsion, bleeding disorders, heart problems, and so forth. I doubt any are saying why these dogs are being exported to the US and other places. Every time I see that a top dog has been sold out of his/her country, the first thing I think is - Hmmm I wonder what health issue(s) he or she produced. What I really ask myself is why are WE so gullible? These dogs are for sale for a reason and most times it's not to give him a better home.

OK.. Good posts.. Where does this lead? IMO Internet is good in the sense that I think it will allow more choices for serious people wanting good dogs. I think these type people will start dictating the market to a higher degree. More and more people are getting educated now. I think you will see more and more people wanting the better nerves too. Pretty dogs will always be popular but health and nerves/temperment will be more in demand.

LMH I agree with you too..good post. Hopefully we keep this civil (speaking to myself too)as I would like to hear what alot of you think. Without a doubt the GSD will continue to change but the interent has opened up this new world(which I like) that has to have an huge impact. I also keep going over the pros and cons and how this will have effect.

On the upside we also have the ability to research and learn. Greater quantity of dogs to choose from, not stuck settling with breeders down the street. Having access to the videos of dogs performing has got to be my top positive. I don't travel abroad to watch dogs compete and don't want to rely on 2nd, 3rd ,4th hand info, months after the event has taken place. It's much easier to compare many breeders dogs and their policies and guarentees. I just recently saved myself a plane ticket by finding a helpful breeder who sent me video of each pup, every week so I could make my choice that way. I also find it a good thing to hear the bad dealings with breeders.