Two Sides To The Coin - Page 1

On this forum we occasionally hear of unethical sales practices of certain breeders.  Some buyer complaints are due to lack of sales contracts or a poor incomplete contract because the breeder is ineffective as a businessperson.  Some buyer complaints are due to dishonest or self-serving breeders who manipulate the buyers by presenting a false air of knowledge of the breed and authority.  Yes unethical breeders are out there.

But there are quite a few very sleazy or flaky cusutomers out there too who try to use and manipulate ethical, honest breeders who have well established kennels and who have attained good reputations for excellent breeding practices.  These custromers should be referred to as the unethical, and there is a wide spectrum here just as with unethical breeders, ranging all the way from outright con artist, scammers and thieves to self-serving ignorant, flaky folks who can't make up their minds about what they want and are game playing time wasters.  Like the case I have discuissed lately on this forum with the customer who was a federal agent with a uniform and a gun threatening and terrorizing an ethical breeder to steal a puppy and then hacking her computer and telling her so, and then cyberstalking her to keep her from telling anyone.  This is the worst end of the spectrum.  Some unethical customers are nice folks but just naive, self-serving and flaky or unable to make decisions or amke and maintain commitments, they just don't know any better.

I have been told by more than one honest ethical breeder with a very good reputation, that they require a significant non-refundable fee to reserve a puppy from an upcoming litter or any dog purchase.  This helps minimize time lost with flaky customers because it requires a decision by the customer and a commitment to proceeed.  If the customer changes their mind or circumstances change, then so be it, but the superflakes are usually unwilling to pay a non-refundable fee up front.

I have also been told that by some ethical breeders that they set their prices higher to cover a warranty that they truly will back up, and to cover their higher costs from using higher quality, more expensive and healthier, more vetted dogs for breeding, all the training involved to get their bitches and dogs breed certified and titled, and their commitment to use the best feed and provide the best, cleanest kennels with the best hands-on care.  In my view these breeders whether they are WL or SL are worth their weight in Gold.  Hat's off to all of them that make the breed great.

You have hit the nail on the head....

Problem is, most people want to sympathize with the customer. They feel that the breeder is the one making money, so they must be the greedy one who is out to screw people. My fiance and I buy and sell horses, small time hobby, as well as breed GSDs occassionally, and it's the same for both. Some people just have this negative attitude towards anyone selling anything....I believe they feel like we are "making a killing" or "using animals to make a living"...I'm sure we've all heard these sorts of comments before.  The truth is far from it though! The horses cost us a fortune just to own, feed, and care for. Sometimes we make our money back, plus some profit, but that only makes up for all the others that we lost money on! All in all, we are lucky to break even. But we enjoy doing it. It's fun going horse shopping, training, riding, and showing and developing a green horse to his fullest potential, then finding it a home where it's next owner will appreciate the work we've done. We are far from "horse traders" or dealers, who often deserve their bad rep, as do many "dog brokers." Regardless, it seems that people, to some degree, have a negative attitude towards anyone who sells, no matter how hard you work to do the right thing and maintain a good reputation.

No matter what the situation may be, many people, who do not breed and/or know much about breeder practices, will always tend to take the customer's side. I firmly believe that very specific, properly worded contracts are a must have, for any transaction. They don't always prevent bad mouthing from an unhappy customer, but at least they prove what the agreement was and that you are in the right, to those who care. As they say, it's impossible to please everyone, so you might as well just please yourself....unfortunately, things don't work that way, and no one would stay in business long with that sort of attitude, so we have to try to get along....