Would you - Page 1

not buy a puppy/adult from a certain kennel if they had a large amount of dogs?

what do u consider a large amount of dogs ? 5 , 10, 15, plus 2 litter could make it look like large but the first on the list is the reputation of that kennel or breeder and the references that kennel or breeder can give you. In order to show people what u have bred over the last say 6 years u may need to keep a pup from each litter especially to show people the different colors like Sable, Bi or Blk & Red and to show the working skills also at different levels. Not all people that breed and have 12-15 dogs plus a litter or two need to be banned because someone THINKS" that is too many dogs. They have a goal if they are legit and until u investigate and visit and obtain their vets name and a reference list then none of us can say I would not. I sure dont want to be judged by someone elses Image , good or bad. If u are a well advertised well known for you proghenies in the WGSD or SV or USA clubs and have 15 -20 dogs with a good recommendation , why would you not want to buy a dog from them. I have kept 4 dogs from my first foundation bitch and sire and never bred any of that litter, but to use them for working in the club and watch their development and their habits and one of my fabulous male I used all over as a Demo dog. Everywhere I went people wanted to know :"can we get a pup out of that male" My answer was never bred HIm", I never bred out of the foundation until the third litter I kept a female and the fourth litter a female and two males who are now the ones I went on to further the goal I had. I know a lot of kennels excellent producers that have lots of dogs and lots of employees to take care of their kennels and Jane Stephenhagen was one of my most favourite. She has made me laugh so many times when I was stressed over something and I still owe her a bag of Lemon Drops> She had at one time a kennel in Germany at the same time she had the one here. She is now at the horse races enjoying her crowns of years of hard work, I know she had more than I could count and of course she is not a kennel to take lightly anyway.

I'd most likely buy a dog froma big kennel, but I don't think I'd want to sell them one.

My main concern buying a pup from a large kennel would be if it had been properly socialized. Not that that would stop me if everything else was OK

I havent got anything they would want from little ole me Blitzen, .

autobahn, I would not exclude a kennel due to size alone... If this is all they do they have all day to spend with they're dogs. Smaller breeders, potentially spend more time individually however some are more responsible than others, and some have more time to offer than others. I think my choice of kennel's to purchase from or not to purchase from would be more so made up of several factors. reputation cleanliness of kennel's/dogs quality of dogs temperaments breeding program/goals/standards and so on. contracts/guarantees (very important to me anyway) I would want the breeder to spend time with me, I would want to purchase from a breeder who would encourage me to succeeed with this dog to it's and my fullest potential, and have that breeders support and knowledge available to me. Most important I want a breeder who WILL spend the time with me that I need to be successfull with my new puppy. I want that breeder to be honest enough with me to tell me, that puppy is cute BUT that one is too low/high drive for your needs, wants, desires. I want a contract that protects me and my puppy and YES my investment, Refundable deposits are rare but they do exist. Breeders who take pups back and breeders who do not are about 50 50 I would guess from the responses seen here anyway. These are MY wants/needs from a breeder I would wish to purchase from, YOURS are your own, You are the only one who can decide what you want, but small kennel vs. large kennel I think is an unfair split starting point. I've seen some super dogs come from both large and small operations. Hope this helps some :-) Good luck finding your new family member/working partner !!

oh ya, and it always helps in my OP anyway if you can go see the dogs and the breeder yourself, Meet all of the dogs, not one or two, not just the parents, Meet all of the dogs on the property will give you a much clearer picture of the temperaments !! I personally would be very cautious of any breeder that would not want me to meet all of they're dogs.