Be patient, they might not know what or why they are asking these questions but want to appear knowledgeable and responsible. Listening to a customer’s questions can provide valuable insight about who they are as well! They may seem more focused on price and convenience vs a good breeder-customer relationship, or they may simply admit they are inexperienced and haven’t had a puppy in years! Below is a list of popular questions an adopter may ask, and it is good to be prepared for what they expect you to say!

Can I meet the parents?

Your customer expects you to say ‘of course’ every time! Have the mother presentable and easily accessible if your customer waits to ask about mom until they are at your home. If you own the father do the same for him, if not explain that he is not your dog and that he lives at another family’s home. Do not simply say ‘no.’ Do you do health testing?

If you say yes, be prepared to share the health testing results with the customer. If you do not have health testing done on both parents consider investing in this, it could be a reason why a family goes elsewhere! If you want to learn more about genetic health or color testing feel free to contact me with questions!

Do you offer a health guarantee?

Be informed about the laws in your state! The PA puppy lemon law states all breeders must offer a 30day guarantee if the puppy was not vet checked within 21 days of sale. If you go above and beyond by offering a longer health guarantee this is something to point out!

How long have you been breeding?

The customer is really asking if you have experience with dogs, and if you are qualified to be raising their future family member. Keep this in mind if you are just beginning to raise puppies! Openly share your experience and anything else such as memberships with professional organizations to prove you are reputable.

Will you take the puppy back if we are unable to keep it?

This is a tricky question, and one I like to answer with another question. “In what situation would you as the new owner feel the need to return your puppy?” Many online resources claim that every responsible breeder would willingly accept their puppy back home for any reason, at any time. I fully disagree with this claim, as accepting a return puppy into your kennel again can pose a major biosecurity risk to the dogs you currently own. By allowing a customer to insist you accept the puppy, would be choosing to please the customer over protecting the health of your current dogs. Distance is another factor that can make it virtually impossible for a puppy to return home to the breeder… Who pays return delivery? Consider adding a disclaimer to your health guarantee stating there may be situations where you can not physically repossess a puppy. Offer to help advertise the puppy from their location and encourage them to reach out to their local vet, groomer, and trainer, to network a new home for their puppy. 

A responsible breeder has the obligation to make sure that their puppies are in a safe home at all times of their life, but when an owner adopts a puppy, they are committing to the same obligations, work together with your customer to do what is best for the puppy.