Using a Broker - Pros and Cons - Page 2

I have a few minutes and thought I would write a little on the subject. When considering a dog purchase, bear in mind what you are about to do will be with you for the next 10 or so years. That's longer than many marrages. Put some effort in it. Don't buy a dog from a picture unless you got your spouse from a picture and are happy with what you have. When you buy an animal, you buy much more than just the animal. You buy the breeders breeding program, their reputation, their ethics, their show results and their advertising campagin. Look at these too as they are a part of the dog. A simple rule of thumb. Know what you want and make sure the person you are buying your dog from can deliver. There's no guarantee you will get exactly what you want, but, if you want a dog to compete on the field or dominate the show circuit and the person you are about to get a dog from has never delivered that type of dog before.....chances are you will not be the first. There are many 8 week old puppies sold as VA candidates to people dumb enough to believe they may one day be. Unless the person you are dealing with has sold someone else a pup and supported the pup to VA status......I would really be concerned about the persons ability to deliver. Here are a few suggestions I have to those looking for an animal. Your first obstacle is to realize no animal is perfect. Some are closer than others. VA2 dog is not perfect because he's not VA1. VA1 dog is not perfect, just listen to what everyone has to say about him after the show....Once you accept you will not have and canot find the perfect dog. You will be closer to finding the best dog for you. Knowing what you want, why you want it, and how much it should cost takes time. Homework in the beginning pays off in the end. It takes a plan! If you hava an untitled dog that you plan to show. Their show carear stops at two years old unless they are titled by then. If you have never titled a dog but taught your last dog to chase tennis balls....chances are you will not title your dog. If you do not have an accomplished club with a qualified helper that has a proven track record of titled dogs....Chances are you will not title your dog. Chances are you will be posting a request looking for a trainer in Germany to title your dog. Chances are by the time you run your ad looking for someone to send your dog to, your dog will be too old to really title. Unless you have an exceptional dog. Titling a 2 year old dog starting from scratch is a loosing plan. You now have a pet.

(Con't. Part 2) There are excellent breeders in the US and Germany that have good dogs. When they sell the ones they don't want (as everyone does)you still get something good. (I have for sale the VA6 male. He is from my kennel. Meet his VA3 son from my kennel also. I can sell you the father as his son is better for me.) There are others that are honest people that think they have something good but just don't know what they have is not really that good. (This is Malimute! He will be the next VA dog in 2 years he simply has to be!His father was VA in a european country. He is schutzhund something and breed rated. There are 17 VA dogs in his pedigree. His mother is right here. I bred her myself. See how nice and behaved she is. She's good with kids too. Isn't he is just the best little German puppy to be born here in the US you ever saw!!!!) There are some that have crap and peddle it as if it really is worth what they are asking for it. ( Litter from VA,VA,VA,VA!!!!!!Come and get it before they are all sold!. Send deposit now! Use Pay Pal to ensure your next superstar is not sold to your neighbor that just called me 3 minutes ago!!! This is a litter from one of Germany's best sieger breeders. There are 2 sieger males and a female available. Pink papers! Hurry, Hurry, Hurry! All warranties and guarantees apply $4,500.) Translated this means. There's a good breeder that produced a decent litter. He kept the best male and 2 females. There's a few pet quality pups left with defects that knock them out of the show prospect catagory. I can pick them up for 500 each. I'll put them on the internet for 4,500 and someone will like the pictures enough and believe what I tell them enough to pay that much for a pet quality pup that's imported with pink papers.

Hi Molly, I did not realize I could not put the URL for Sonja on this board. So if you would like Sonja's email or site email me, mine is listed. Thanks Mike moderator, sorry for the misunderstanding.

I had a very poor experience importing both of my adult dogs from Europe - and that was working a "reputable" local breeder who acted as the go-between. One was “titled” which turned out to be nothing more than writing on a paper (knowing what I know now I believe he never set foot on a trial field) and the other has several health issues. My advise is that since you are new (as I was 12 months age) go with a US bred dog to get your feet wet. I've only been in this for a year, but think I am correct in saying between shipping fees, potential paperwork issues, the locality of someone to pursue legal action against (if things go bad) and the ability to go see the breeders operation, dam and possibly the stud you will be much better off. Without a strong and very honest advocate the chances are pretty high you'll get screwed. It is my FIRM belief that most dogs/pups imported into the US are being dumped here as they couldn't come close to cutting the mustard in the EU. If you've got someone who has strong contacts in Germany, goes over yearly (at least) and imports their OWN dogs from there you might have a chance - but why bother when there are just as good of dogs here without all the trouble of finding a good prospect without the potential for trouble? Another thing to consider is that most American breeders give hip/health guarantees - while most Germans (maybe none) do. There is something romantic about importing dogs - I did for both of mine when I was new/uneducated - now I consider it an expensive, risky, unnecessary process that is 99% or better to cost you more than buying in the US and 99% likely to provide you an inferior deal with a BIG potential for not getting what you pay for and no legal alternatives if that happens. Also, I may be wrong here - but I think the whole "protection dog" thing is a misnomer - and even if it isn't, due to the prey component of almost ALL modern sport training practices there is almost zero correlation between what happens on the field and what might happen on the street. I am new to the dog world and am sure that there will be those who disagree with me – but you chances are VERY high that titled or not most dogs are unlikely to protect you in a real world confrontation. The ring sport dogs (dominated by Mals) might – but that is due to huge about of effort put into “real world” scenarios and unscripted decoy performance on the field. Shuctzhund (again this in my “newbie” opinion) does not train or prepare dogs for real protection (regardless of what the exercise *might* be called) but only identifies dogs with the genetics that with the proper training *might* be able to do real protection. I could be wrong on this – but I’d say that it might even be dangerous (to the helper) to dual train a dog in both protection and sport. You are than relying on an animal to discern which is which in a given situation. That leaves the potential for the dog not performing when you need it most (real world) or over performing in sport and hurting someone. Police dogs would be the exception to this – but they are worked/socialized 8 hours a day and are in a different class due to this extra training. I know someone who I'd trust to help me find a German import if you REALLY have to go that route. I'm not sure if he'll be interested due to the work involved, but also know he'll tell you everything you need to know about both options. Please email if interested. -Calvin

Dog1, basically good post, but according to that account any pup other than what a breeder holds back for themsevles would be a faulty pup. That is not the case. Fact is that every breeder, regarless where they are located will keep what they consider best if they keep any. That does not mean everything else is faulty pet stock. Also 2 years is by no means too old to SchH title a dog. Not everyone aims for a VA and top show carreer. They may want a nice dog for their own breeding program and enjoy showing their dog in youth classes up to their second birthday, may want to see what the dog produces before they spend the money for titling, luckily outside of Germany they can do that. In fact many dogs benefit from the added maturity. Most working line dogs in Germany do not have a title by the time they are 2, many never see a trial until age 3. Certainly not pets then. Calvin - of course SchH is nothing in comparison to the real life. It is a sport that simulates standardized scenarios so that every dog can be compared on that similar preformance. Considering todays legal situation you better not have a dog that has been trained on a man anyways. You are not police, who is out to actively get that crook, you may be allowed to defend yourself in ceratin situations, but from a legal POV the dog better not be much more than a deterrent. Regardless - crook comes with gun, gun goes pop, dog dead, where is your protection now? Same goes for knife wielding, baseball bat clobbering, drug crazed thug. No dog regardless how tough is ever a match for that unless you happen to have a gun handy yourself to assist your dog with. It is after called SchH sport, not home protection guarantee. The home protection thing is something thought up by crafty americans who promote SchH title = protection dog. Everyone in Germany knows that is bunk and noone in Germany would ever tell you that a SchH dog is a trained home/personal security dog. Also, when dogs are for sale in Germany they are for sale to everyone, including fellow Germans. It is foolish to believe that in Germany people set out to sell/dump certain dogs just to foreigners. First who puts the money on the table is usually the one who gets the dog, regardless where they live. So at best it is equal opportunity dumping ;o). When purchasing a dog you always need to ask why that dog is for sale, because there is of course always a reason why the owner is not keeping it. It is important to learn to ask the right questions and check the dog and check for the right things. If you cannot do that yourself you need someone to do it for you, like a reputable importer. If the person importing the dog for you sits in the US, like that local breeder, and has no one to check the dog in Germany, then you might as well do the transaction yourself. This only works if you have reliable sources in Germany.