1. Getting Great Homes
Finding Quality Buyers for Your Puppies

2. Where will your pups do best?
Breeding Success is Not Just in the Rearing, It’s in Your Placements
Where will your pups do best?
You can raise the best litter ever but if you do not place them in the right homes, neither your pups nor their owners will thrive. Your first step in placements is thinking about the kind of homes your pups will do best in:
quiet pet
active pet
families with children
couples without children
working (hunting, herding, etc.)
therapy
competition—conformation, agility, obedience, etc.
Or are you likely to get pups that might fit in a number of these homes?
Will your pups thrive in the country or the city? Are they likely to do best in cold climates or warm or does it not matter?

3. Example--Our Plan Your plan is likely to differ but you need a plan!
The vast majority of our pups do best in working/competition homes
A few will thrive in active pet homes; none will do well in quiet, sedentary pet homes
Within working/competition homes, we know we will get a range of quality from pups that are likely to succeed at the National level to those who will be great “starter” dogs for someone getting into dog sports.
Your plan may differ completely from ours. The goal isn’t to match anyone else’s plan, it’s to formulate your own based on the temperaments, natural ability and conformation of the parents and relatives, as well as your goals for the breeding.

4. Sources of Prospective Buyers
Referrals from people you trust (the Best!)
Your website (second best)
Word of Mouth
Breed club puppy referral programs
Specialty websites (for example NOT puppy.com)
Reputable dog lists
AKC.org

5. Our Process Email Response From Us Initial Contact from Buyer
More About Us
Buyer Application
Our Reference List
Initial Contact from Buyer
Completed Application from Buyer
Application Review
Commitment!!
Accept deposit
Add to Gaylan’s Yahoo List
Meeting or Phone Call
Reference Checks
Referral to other sources

6. Step 1: Initial Contact from Buyer
preferred
90% of contacts are not appropriate homes
saves us tons of phone time
Phone
Expect to spend a lot of time educating
Visitors
Never allow strangers to visit before you have vetted them!
We prefer contact because 90% of people who contact us are not appropriate homes for our puppies. Phone calls take hours since we end up spending a lot of time educating, sending to other breeders, etc.
We NEVER allow strangers to visit our home before we have vetted them to avoid Animal Rights probes and to protect our dogs.

7. Step 2: Our Email Response
We back:
Additional info about us
Buyer Application
pet
performance/ breeding
Intentionally long with open-ended questions
Our Reference List
All of these are on your webpage as examples
We information to buyers because we want to ensure we are in communication with our owners. Phone calls become overwhelming if that is the only way to communicate with 8 to 10 to dozens of owners. So we force connections.
Our response to their first query includes:
1) Additional information about us, , our breeding philosophy and the litter’s sire, dam, relatives, expected health and temperament.
2) The appropriate buyer application, either pet or performance/breeding
3) Our reference list, which is made of people who are willing to speak to our reliability and our dogs’ quality. We ask our references if they want to receive or phone contact and only provide that info to buyers.
Our application is intentionally long and has open-ended questions about important issues to us. EVERYONE fills out an application, even if we know them and even if they are the top in their field. If buyers are not willing to fill out the application, are they committed enough to us and their dog?
We also use our application to clearly outline our expectations of buyers. For example, all of our owners must do health clearances on their dogs when they turn 2 at their expense. They reiterate their commitment to this in their application.

8. Step 3: Buyer Returns Application
Buyer returns their completed application
Snail mail
Fax
We follow up with really good prospects if we don’t hear from them in a week
We let other prospects drop off the list

9. Step 4: Application Review
We review application for completion and “correct” answers
Some answers make a home unacceptable
“I want to stud out my dog”
Some answers require clarification and/or education during our “meeting”
“I plan to feed Kibbles and Bits”
Some answers help me match pups to owners
If responses are acceptable, we schedule a phone call or meeting
If responses are not acceptable, we kindly say no

10. Step 5: Reference Checks
Before meeting or talking to anyone, we check references
form letter
Accept either phone calls or s in return
Form letter is on your webpage
Two key goals:
Would they sell a puppy to this person?
What kind of puppy will fit best?

11. Step 6: Meet or Call Only now do we schedule a meeting or phone call
Meetings preferred but not always possible
Goal:
Get to know each other
Decide if we like each other
Answer any questions
Get a rich description of dog’s home life and kind of dog that will fit best
Now that I know this person has the chance to be an excellent fit for one of my puppies, I schedule a meeting or phone call. I meet with people in my area and talk by phone to those far away.
The goal of the call is to get to know each other and decide if we like each other. More important to me than people liking my dogs is that they like me and will stay in touch over the years. I want to be part of their lives for the life of the dog so I can share information, health updates, etc.
I also want to answer any questions they have about anything—the puppies, parents, placement procedures, feeding, vaccinations, and so on.
Finally, I want to build a rich description of the dog’s home life and what kind of dog will fit well with this owner.

12. Step 7: Commit At end of phone call
Decide if I want to commit a pup to them
Find out if they want to commit to this litter
If yes,
Accept a deposit
Add them Yahoo group
Get their desires
Sex
Color?
By the end of the meeting or phone call, I have decided if I want to commit a puppy to this buyer. If so, I ask if he/she thinks we are a good match.
If so, I immediately accept a $250 non-refundable deposit. After all of this effort, I want them to stop looking for a puppy and I want to know that I have a qualified home. My deposits are refundable only if I do not have a puppy of the sex and quality that they want when the puppies are 8 weeks of age. You can hold deposits until the pups are born and you have an idea of the sex split in the litter. Personally, I deposit them so I know that the check isn’t going to bounce. If it does, I remove the person from the reservation list immediately.
In return, I bring them into the family through our Yahoo group. Even if the family is small, creating a Yahoo, Google+, Facebook our other group will go far to build a community among your owners AND help you in communicating with them easily. This increases their commitment to you and your pups, too.
I also get their desires regarding sex and other traits. I try to convince people not to commit only to one sex without good reason. If they have another intact dog or are breeders, sex desires makes sense. Otherwise, I try to convince them to take the best puppy for them. This gives me more flexibility in placements and increases their odds of getting a puppy.
I do NOT accept color reservations, although many breeders do. They will make your life difficult. It makes me crazy that people want a blonde golden rather than a golden with the temperament that will fit best into their lives.

13. A Few Details How many reservations to take?
Typically more females than males are born (49% males, 51% females)
Litter sizes decrease by:
breeding type
Natural breeding > AI > Surgical
Age of bitch
Quality of semen
Breed of dog

14. Our Reservation Protocol
Average litter: 7.85 pups, 51% bitches
Natural breeding:
10 reservations, 6 bitches and 4 dogs AI
8 reservations, 5 bitches and 3 dogs
Surgical
5 reservations, 3 bitches and 2 dogs
Despite all this, there are litters of all boys . Do your best and adapt once the pups are born.

15. Questions?