Quote: aimee pochron

Phaedra, I'm curious what did the breeders include in the extened or better guarantee? I am pretty sure that crates are not rented, maybe the breeder would loan one for shipping. Then you'd have to pay to ship it back, probably not economical. Good luck with the puppy quest!

Well, it did vary from breeder to breeder. One had a normal price of $800 - no guarantee, $1500 full genetic guarantee. Another offered to change the hip/elbow guarantee from 12 months to 24 months for an extra $300. Similarly, another offered to change the guarantee from just hip/elbow to all genetic problems, for extra $. These were all good breeders with quality pedigrees.

I've actually chosen a breeder (Vom Gipfel in California), the litter is due the first week of September!

here is his pedigree

I'm half tempted to go over to my K9 officer nieghbor and see if he'd let his Dutchie out for stud. Either Erika or Roxie, but I think Erika would be the better choice. Sell the pups to some sport guys/gals

All kinds of breeds for pennies on the dollar at the local SPCA or regional breed recues.

Much better option. Save a life and no red tape

I totally support rescuing dogs. All of my dogs have in fact been from shelters. However, I personally have had heart-wrenching experiences them. One was rescued from a puppy-mill, died suddenly in the night at 3 years of age. Another (the rescue begged me to 'try' him out - it was a small organization and they were out of fosters), I learned after the fact, had been raised by his mother, with the rest of the litter, until they were 5 months old. They lived in the forest in north Ontario, with no human contact. I kept him for a year... a very long and trying year. I eventually gave him to a lady who lived very close to where he was found (I lived in downtown Toronto at the time). She had ample property, and proper insulated kennels for him to live outside, and participate in sledding. My most recent dog, who just passed away, I adopted at about 9 months old, while I worked at the humane society. He had many health problems, including moderate HD at only 9 months (severe by 4.5 years). It is a very sad topic for me, and I recently posted about having to put him down at only 4.5 years old, in the tribute forum.
Although I loved all these dogs, and was especially attached to Toro, none of them had the temperament to do any substantial work with. Also, I do believe a lot of Toro's health issues were due to irresponsible breeding.
So, while in an ideal world, I would only own rescue dogs (and this has been my belief in the past), I feel at this point I need to try a different avenue. I have also never had the pleasure of raising a pup right from 8 weeks of age...

 Quote: phaedra rieff

I have also never had the pleasure of raising a pup right from 8 weeks of age...

Very fun! I also had not had that pleasure until Zuki. It is a lot of fun and they are so cute!

Phaedra very good stuff. Sorry about your loss. I was reading your post about about the price range of 1500-1800. That is is the same as the breeder i picked out. I read there was something you didn't like. If it happens to be the breeder I'm using I would like to know. This is the first pup i will be buying from her. You can message me if you would like. They might be 2 different breeders.

Also Phaedra I was told around 200-300 for flying the dog. Plus crate and heath certificate.