Buying a dog from Germany - Page 2

Puppyprice in Germany 600-800 € (even for a double V-A combination), puppyprice in the States 1500-3500 $. Just wondering where you get ripped off?

Hey Sumo, since u are( i just read the other thread)allready in the game, i bet u know what to look for. At least i think u have a pretty fair idear. Still, i will hold my offer up, if u need assistence, it will be a pleasure to help out if i can. ;-) Regards Ulli Dresbach

Anybody wanna buy a bridge?

Little Boy, 800 Euro currently is 960 US-Dollars!! With banking fees, let's assume $ 1,000 (easier to calculate). To this, add the transportation cost. You will either pay somebody gas money for driving the puppy to the airport or PetAir or Gradlyn Kennels to pick the puppy up. When, the shipping charges and the crate. Or, if you don't like to buy 'the cat in the bag' (old German saying), you will fly over to pick the puppy up yourself.I am trying to book my 8 year old daughter right now to fly over and see her grandmother. The cheapest tickets for the summer (after the Soccer World Championship) are $1,200 plus tax, currently priced about $ 900. When, you need a rental car and hotel accommodations and and. It is a simple matter of mathematics. Hopefully, the puppy will be healthy. Even if you have a guarantee for a replacement, how are you going to get it without adding more costs? A reputable U.S. breeder will live up to his guarantees as stated in a contract, but any puppy over $ 2,000 is definitely overpriced. But that is my opinion! Chris

Makgas, What I have in my kennel or how many of them are imports or titles and how many I titled I really do not think that is the point, but since you asked I have a total of 9 dogs and 5 imports and 4 with titles 2 I trained and titled myself. Idz, we are taking to the WDA national in April. My point is that there are a lot of dogs that are in the states that are very good and there are also a lot of pups, which I have on the ground now that have 2 very good titled parents. Yes, I sell them for 1500.00 but that also includes shipping, health cert. and crate. Like someone has already said if you by a pup from Germany you pay that by the time you get the pup. What is the difference by buying a pup in Germany with titled parents of buying a pup from the States with imported and titled parents? I may be slow but I just don't get....... We have stopped buying dogs from Germany there are a lot of titled dogs for sale here. I am not trying to put any breeder down in the States or in Germany, I do respect the honest person, I have plenty of friends in Germany that do good business. Beleive this or not but the Germans believe that the Americans are very rich, my freind says they think we have money laying in the street, and they have realized that we buy all of dogs from them so the price has tripled and you get the pick of the pick of the pick. We found a stud for a friend of ours and the German kennel wanted 25,000.00 for the male. Our freind bought him but what is that saying for the business....Could I sell my stud for that NOT in America, but if I was in Germany I could and he would be the same dog. Sandra......

Oskar1, No, I am not blaming anyone, I'm saying from expericence. If a kennel business does honest business then what are the worried about. Sorry to say that I do not know every kennel in Germany. I think you took offensive, becaues when you talk about some, somehow that refers to everybody and that is not the case. When you go to Germany to get a dog they do not take you in the kennel and say pick one. They bring out the dog and say here he is...There are alot of people that will not let you in there kennel. So if anyone does not know the kennel they need to take someone with them. There are good honest people all around the world and there are some that will really stick to you that is just the way it is. And when you buy a dog from Germany and you go to the airport to pick it up, take it home and the dog is not what the owner said it was WHAT are you going to do, they have your money you have a dog, get your money back NOT!!!!give you another dog YEH when hell freezes over... I have been there... The American will pay big bucks for their dogs, so why wont we pay big bucks for the same dog in the States??

Thanks everybody for your invaluable comments. Thank you specially to Jantie, SGBH and cybervision for saving my expense on vaseline and treatment after that. I very much appreciated that. It is rather harsh way but nevertheless effective to warn somebody from getting cheated. Thank you Oskar1 and Gooner for you kind advice. I have read replies from both of them few times now. And the replies are very balanced and imformative. There is no exaggeration and there is correct assessment of the situation. We need people like you on this board so that a beginner like us will get the correct advice. K9chess has asked why not buy from USA. He is right one can get a good dog in USA also but buying a GSD from the Mecca of GSD is something different. Even our outlook changes when we see a GSD from Gemrnay. Thank you again to everyone for enriching my knowledge.

From what is written here it seems surprising that any GSD that has ever left Germany was fit enough to survive or reproduce or show... How did all those good dogs that foreign kennels are promoting and breeding with ever make it out of the country? Sumo, according to your original message you seem to be going for am impulse buy which is never a good thing. If you need help finding out what would be a good choice for you at this time and why, contact me privately.

It all depends upon your relationships with PEOPLE. I had a "friend" who arranged a dog purchase for me. Everything was a lie except the pedigree. Scorebook, photos - description of dog,etc. Dog got off the plane and I knew it was not the dog whose photos were sent. Oh well - too bad. Another friend whom I met in Europe has been very very honest and fair and I get what he tells me I get. It is all about WHO you deal with and who knows who. You have to network into good people or just be lucky in picking someone to buy off of who is honorable. I was not lucky the first time I imported a dog [working line,not show]. Yes, prices are more here. People expect GUARANTEES which are far more extensive than in Germany!!! Teeth, testicles, hips, elbows, coats, temperament for work, etc. etc. It is costly for us to buy breeding stock from Europe and bring it here. It is more costly to train and title dogs. There is a cachet that if the parents are from Europe, they must be "better". Not always true, but it is an ego thing to have an import. It all depends upon the individual and their program, not where the animal was born.

I in no way want to disparage or besmirch the Germans. I also do not want to insinuate that Germans are not honest. I have never had the experience of dealing with a dishonest German. EVERY dog I have ever owned has comed from Germany or is the progeny of those dogs. I have NEVER had a bad experience, not one. I will ALWAYS get my dogs from Germany. But I know enough to feel comfortable going to Germany based on my expectation of the dog, and my years of experience getting dogs from friends in Germany, to "step into that world". Normally the kind of post Sumo initiated, preceeds a post that winds up on the board 6 months later, laden with tears. Tens of thousands of dogs are imported every year with no problems. You never hear of a one of them. But based on reading the posts on this board in the past, with as much indecision that I saw in the original post, it just did not look good for the "home team". Stephen