Adopting Sheltie rescues are really competitive. Any advice?

Yep, sables are my favorite too.
My impression is $1,000 for an 8-year-old might be high. However, keep in mind a breeder might want a higher price to ensure a good home. I am sure the fact that the dog is a champion is nice... But, I bet she will require the dog to be fixed.

My Logan was a Champion and the breeder let me have him over another breeder who would have used him for stud. He was 6. I told the breeder I would give him a great retirement home rather than making him live in a kennel.

Talked to the breeder if you really like her. She may work out a deal with you. Most reputable breeders will allow a return if for some reason she does not work out.
 
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$1000 for an 8 year old dog is excessive. That is considered a senior dog and they can be much harder to rehome for a variety of reasons. As someone suggested you may want to talk to the breeder to see where this number comes from before walking away completely. Perhaps the excessive amount is to keep away people who are looking for cheap dogs. Don't be surprised if they are serious though.

Overall our experience with the breeder network was amazing when we looked for Annie. Even people who didn't have dogs, reached out to other people they knew to help us. I was very impressed with the community of people. For the most part the breeders we spoke with who had dogs older than puppies to adopt were great. Even if they weren't a match they were glad to talk and again some of them referred us to other people they knew who might be a better fit.

We did run into a couple of breeders with older dogs that were in my mind very unrealistic about their expectations for placing their dogs at rather high prices. While there dogs may at one point have been show quality the people they were looking to place them with would no longer be able to show or breed them and therefore were primarily looking for a good house pet to enjoy. The focus seemed less on the reality of a good home for an older pet they no longer wanted to care for as they wanted to focus on the dogs they were breeding and showing and more on recouping some of the costs related to previous care of the dog they wanted to place. The two who wanted high prices for the dogs also insisted the buyer would pay for spaying which only increased the unrealistic expectations of what a buyer would pay for an older dog. My husband and I thanked them politely and kept making calls. It took us longer than we wanted but waiting for Annie was the best decision we could have ever made. The breeder we got her from clearly made placing Annie in a home a priority when it was clear Annie wasn't going to be the show dog she had hoped.
 
Hi ladies!

Thanks for the advice! So this breeder is really reputable. A couple of breeders who responded or called me back referred me to her, unaware that I was already talking to her. One of them said they would have charged about the same or more for an 8-year-old, retired show dog. So far, I don't think we will match because it's a high price like you say and I will probably be heartbroken in about 4-5 years. I will still meet the dog in case I love her and also to network some more. You're right about the networking! Some breeders are already forwarding my info or putting me on a waitlist. I narrowly missed out on a few that met my criteria (not sure how much they would have cost though). I'll try to cast a wider net this week and hope I get one within the year.

When you say they weren't a match, did you mean their personalities or their appearance?
 
We had 2 great rescue experiences and one fail due to temperament. At that time we knew we were losing our older dog and the younger was not the kind of dog who could be an only dog she needs a companion. So compatibility, the ability to get along with other dogs was one of our top priorities along with health, etc. That was where the third rescue failed. That experience taught me a few things about it being ok to ask questions and push for answers when there is something that doesn't feel right/sit right. You are adding a new animal into your family and it's important to address anything that comes up that isn't what you want.

That isn't meant to be vague but sometimes stuff is obvious that it won't work, we had a breeder try to push two retired senior Shelties at a very fair price with the idea 2 were no more trouble than 1. We already had 2 and couldn't fit 4 in our car. That was an easy no. I remember as our search for Annie dragged on reading an email wanting desperately to say yes but there were just nagging doubts after speaking with the breeder and DH that made me say no. I really wanted a dog but it wasn't the right match for us.

It was hard but having made the wrong choice once I'm a huge advocate of trusting your instincts and doing the hard waiting.

I
 
Thanks. I'm glad you found Annie!

I met the breeder who's really sweet. Her older dogs are lovely but she had younger dogs too and the visit confirmed that I gravitate towards them. Also, ouch regarding the price. She and another reputable breeder charge $2,000 for companions. I can afford it though but it still stings a bit. I'd also still like a 1-5 year old but unfortunately, there's not a lot of Sables in general so I'll meet the puppies and see if I still want to wait for an older one to come along.
 
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