Waiting to hear back from breeders...

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We only had one negative experience in the breeders we've visited so far, and I'm not sure I'd even qualify it as negative. The breeder just seemed to take it personally that I thought the dog she'd offered wasn't the one for us. All of the other breeders have been very open and willing to talk about their knowledge, experience, etc. I can't imagine any of them resenting the fact that we're looking for a very specific dog to fit into our family.

Sada seems so lonely today. :( I hope we find a playmate/brother/sister soon. I can't trust the dogs at the dog park to be gentle enough to her, so she continues to try and make friends with our cats. Haha.
 
Chins-n-Sheltie said:
Sada seems so lonely today. :( I hope we find a playmate/brother/sister soon. I can't trust the dogs at the dog park to be gentle enough to her, so she continues to try and make friends with our cats. Haha.
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Ugggh... you're breaking my heart!! When I was in search of a puppy I was in contact with a woman from the WA State Sheltie Club. She put the word out for me in NW WA. She might be able to put out the word for you in Eastern WA, so it wouldn't be too far of a drive for you.

If you're interested, send me a private message and I'll give you her email address.
 
I know you want to find a puppy quickly, but if you're still looking in a few months, these shows that will be close to you might be a good place to meet breeders.

Greater Spokane Shetland Sheepdog Club, April 9 & 10
Spokane DTC Property
2620 Locust
Spokane, WA
Web Site:http://www.gsssc.net

Ephrata-Moses Lake Kennel Club, April 16 & 17
Grant County Fairgrounds
Moses Lake, WA

Palouse Hills Dog Fanciers, Inc., April 22 & 23
Nez Perce County Fairgrounds
Main & Second Bldg
13th St & Burrell Ave
Lewiston, ID
Web Site:http://www.phdf.net/

Lewis-Clark Kennel Club, Inc., April 24 & 25
Nez Perce County Fairgrounds
Main & Second Bldg
13th St & Burrell Ave
Lewiston, ID
Web Site:http://www.lewis-clarkkennelclub.com/

I don't know which breeders you've already contacted, but because Phebe came from a breeder in Boise, I know a few in that area that you may want to consider. I'll send you a private message with that information.
 
Chins-n-Sheltie said:
We have been in contact with a few different breeders, mostly via email, and at this point, I haven't heard from any of them in about a week and a half. My last email, of course, was asking for phone numbers so I could get ahold of them to arrange a time to meet them. So-- what's your usual experience with breeders? It is just weirding me out that we were emailing back and forth religiously, then all of the sudden, they vanished. 1. I hope they're okay-- and 2. I hope they get back to me as I sit here wondering how long to wait for them!

I figure it's rude of me to just move on to talking to other breeders, but I'm not sure how long I'm supposed to wait without finding other options. Opinions? Experience? Am I psychotically in a hurry here? I have the patience level of a two year old, so it is DEFINITELY possible.
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You haven't heard in a week and half? LOL, I contacted a few breeders last August, was told by one that there "might" be a puppy that would suit me during the winter if I could wait. In November, when the female was definitely pregnant, I emailed again, and got the reply that there may not be a pup for me from this litter after all. The litter arrived in December, and I haven't heard anything yet. Like you, I'm wondering if I should give her a nudge, or start looking elsewhere. There must be a fine line between proving interest, and being too pushy. Being patient is definitely not easy.
 
When we were looking for our pup, we researched local breeders, and found only one that currently had a litter available. We contacted her and had a constant dialog up until it was time for puppy selection. We initially had our hearts set on a sable boy. We had 2nd choice and there were three boys available for companion homes, 2 color headed whites and a regular sable. When we me the breeder in person, the sable boy was already spoken for, and we could only choose between the two color headed whites. One was very very hyper, and humped my wifes leg (at 7 wks old!), the other one the breeder said they were a little concerned with as he might be hard of hearing (was very happy she was open an honest about this as we were leaning toward picking him). My wife and I went home and I read up on the difficulties of raising, owning and training a dog with a hearing deficiency, we decided not to get the puppy.

After 3 or 4 weeks talking to this one breeder, we felt like we came to a dead end, and had no other options or alternatives. When we called her to tell her that we decided not to get the puppy from her, she was very understanding. She saw that we were dissappointed, and said that she knew of another breeder who also had a litter of blue merles and gave us fer friend's contact info.

Although we had our hearts set on a sable, we just fell in love with our blue merle boy when we first met him.

I would say, keep your options open because not everything works out as planned. If you are dealing with a good breeder, then they will be looking for the best possible homes for their pups and part of that is having people who are completely happy with their puppies.

We found a really great breeder. She invited my wife over a month or so after we brought Bailey home so she could teach my wife how to properly groom Bailey and how to set/glue ears, etc. She also invited us out to a couple shows to learn more about showing dogs.

Also, I don't it's bad to be a little pushy or ask a lot of questions, it just shows that you are interested, and want to know as much as you can about the puppies.

Good luck
 
I just find it frustrating and odd to be having a conversation back and forth, then never hearing from them all of the sudden. I wonder if my email program has gone on the fritz...

We almost made a break-through, but now again, we're waiting to hear back from everyone. Maybe I'll just skip email altogether and start only calling breeders with phone numbers! I always wonder which way people prefer to be contacted, and some breeders are kind enough to state it on their website.

In the meanwhile, Sada has had to make due making friends with a german shepherd who has a five foot tongue to lick her face with (she gives me the most horrified looks!).
 
Success!

We discovered a lost email between us and the first breeder we were talking with. We had decided we really couldn't do a baby puppy at this moment and it just happened she was deciding to place one of their breeders, a 5 yr old tri.

Now, of course, I had to get over my image of "blue only"!, but we were lucky enough to welcome Fly to our home. Here's a link
http://pics.livejournal.com/stinchfldwoods/pic/00006ge5/

Check out our new girl!
 
Congrats!

It looks like Fly is certainly making herself right at home. Don't feel too bad about the blue thing. A tri is just a blue that missed out one the merle gene. :wink2:
 
Chins-n-Sheltie said:
We discovered a lost email between us and the first breeder we were talking with. We had decided we really couldn't do a baby puppy at this moment and it just happened she was deciding to place one of their breeders, a 5 yr old tri.

Now, of course, I had to get over my image of "blue only"!, but we were lucky enough to welcome Fly to our home. Here's a link
http://pics.livejournal.com/stinchfldwoods/pic/00006ge5/

Check out our new girl!
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Adorable! How are she and Sada getting along?
 
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