Ok, check this out! - Page 1

Got a phone call today from a LEO looking to purchase a puppy that will be trained as a dual purpose patrol dog.  He has a dog for the dept now, but wants his own.  Apparently the department this guy is employed by allows officers to purchase and use their own dogs.  Couple things that has me scratching my head is, first off, he wants a female.  Secondly he want to take the puppy at 49 days old to a trainer to have it evaluated.  He does not want to keep it, just bring to be evaluated and once that is done, he will bring it back to us till it is old enough to leave. Third thing is,  If the puppy shows potential, he asked if we would consider a payment plan until the pup is paid for and he can get it.

Now with all of this said, I want to make it clear that I am not even considering the the option of him taking the puppy at 49 days to be evaluated.  So that is totally out of the question.  Actually the only thing in this entire conversation that could make some sense is the payment plan.  I was wondering if anyone else has heard or done the 49day evaluation and based a decision on whether a pup makes it or not? At that age, I hardly believe that an experience breeder that can recognize potential needs an outside trainer to evaluated their litter.  But I also believe that is entirely too young to make a decision as puppies change all the time.  

Anyone wants to share opinions on this, I would love to hear how you feel.  Please lets keep this nice and clean and respect everyone's opinion and please remember, " Sometimes its better to agree, to disagree!"  

Hmm... lots of red flags but the guy may or may not be legit. I would broach the subject of her being spayed before
he takes her (not that you would/would not do it) just to guage his reaction? I would say that if he wants to have the
puppy evaluated by his trainer, then he should have his trainer come to YOU. A payment plan would be acceptable IF
he did not intend on taking the puppy until it was paid in full.

Being that he has a male, and if that male is set to retire soon, then possibly he is looking for family harmony with the
new dog. More problems with 2 males or 2 females then one of each? I don't know. You need to talk to him further
and find out exactly what his intentions are.

If all else fails, GO WITH YOUR GUT!!!! It's better to lose out on a sale then to find out later on that the puppy is being
mistreated, sold repetetively or used as a breeding machine.

FWIW

Melissa

This sounds very familiar. i had someone call me with similar scenario a few years ago. This was in Canada and I believe he was in British Columbia. I have a friend in corrections and he told me that corrections does not have individuals buy dogs. When I started to ask the guy for references and confirmation from his department, I was called a few names and never heard from him again. Ask if you can call his boss for references, get some corroboration etc.

We had already made the decision not to let this puppy out of our sight until she was at least old enough to go, and with the proper amount of vacs.  I have told him that I want to speak to the person that will be doing the evaluation.  I strongly feel that I can give him an accurate evaluation since this is not my first litter nor my first evaluation.  We do training with our Police dept and I have evaluated many puppies for the dept before.  I will not stop HIS trainer from doing an evaluation, but it will be done on my terms when its convenient for us.  Not on their terms and their grounds.  

I agree, its not about the sale or the money. That means NOTHING to us when compared to the well being of our babies.  We never breed unless we know we are capable of keeping ALL the pups in he event we can not find a home satisfactory to our liking.  

RED FLAG!!! RED FLAG!! I would, at the very least, call the precinct he works for and ask if they use females. I have never heard of a department using females. Around here  they only use males, but maybe in other areas they do. I would check it out very carefully..

Marjorie
http://www.gsdbbr.org The German Shepherd Dog Breed Betterment Registry (a health registry for registered German Shepherds)
BE PROACTIVE!
http://mzjf.com --> The Degenerative Myelopathy Support Group http://www.mzjf.info/hgate Heaven's Gate  

My concern is for my pup........the person wanting to take this pup at this age is obviously not concerned with the pup......first and formost your concern is for the pup and the pup leaving at that age for someone that "might get a pup" and is going for an evaluation - might pan out and might not.........so if the pup doesnt pan out  =she is returned - the person taking her has nothing to loose and you might get a pup back that has been - "damaged = meaning - dropped  or who knows what........... always at my house .... under my supervision.............or not at all!!!!.

yogie

I have tested Pups at 7 weeks, all the time. And using females isn't the norm, but even Greg on here has used them. I would rather take a pup at 7 weeks than 10 or later. I can do more with one pup than the breeder can with 8. At that point, they don't need their mother and how much longer do you want them with the littermates?

 Chaz

in many states it illegal to seperate a litter before 8 weeks....just fyi