Help! Protocol needed for contacting breeders

[Lois]

Hi,

I am a Doodle devotee who is looking for a guardianship arrangement in the Mass/RI/CT/NH/ME area. This is the first time I have ever undertaken this.

I contacted several breeders and arranged with one to set up a meeting in a few days from today. I was very excited about meeting the Dood.

However, I just got an email from that breeder telling me she had heard from another breeder that I had also contacted.

The breeder told me that her time is very valuable and that since I am pursuing other opportunities at this time as well, that she is not willing to schedule a visit for me until I have completed my search.

I feel terrible, as I was not trying to be devious. I sent an immediate apology.

My question is: should I now contact the other breeders to let them know there are others I have been in touch with? What is the protocol here? I sincerely do not want to miss a guardianship opportunity, as I know that Mike and I can provide a wonderful, loving forever home. As importantly, I don't want to offend anyone.

Thanks so much.

Lois

[Nancy - Opal, Meadow & Tariki]

Hi Lois,
Wow what great feed back! I have found this discussion really interesting. I had found a breeder of doodles locally and called as I had never even met any doodles before. I went to her house right after our phone conversation as it turned out she lived 10 minutes away. Once I met the dogs I fell in love and implied that I would be interested in possibly getting 2. Then SHE asked me if I would consider taking a guardian dog. Until that moment I had not even heard of guardian-ing. Ultimately I decided to guardian to really be involved in something - not to mention that the puppy was an adorable 3 month old cream aussi labradoodle. It is very involved and I have to say I struggled a little 'sharing' my dog. But to my way of thinking the relationship has turned out really well and not only have I gained some fabulous dogs, a greater knowledge of breeding/training/diet, I have made a new friend in the breeder.

[Lois]

Hi Nancy,

What a great story. Thanks so much for sharing it.

Sounds like you have a beautiful relationship with the breeder and all of you have gained. Bravo!

:)

[Jennifer Goaring]

This really sounds like the best way of explaining why a guardian program works well.  I was explaining it to my Dad and he said he really thinks it is a cool concept because traditionally breeders have lots of dogs that get kenneled most of the day and don't get enough social interaction so having a program like that seems really smart.  I think so too -- it just makes sense because I do think breeders have enough going on with the dogs they have and puppies and dealing with lots of inquiries and calls and e-mails... knowing a portion of your breeding dogs are being taken care of in loving homes, I would think, is reassuring.

 

I am going to post a new discussion as we are hopefully about to be guardians and I am really excited about it.  This will be our second doodle.  I really appreciate the comments about "sharing our dog" and how that can be different.  The breeder I have been talking to sounds very laid back and friendly.  I don't know if I would do the program if I had to take the dog to a specific vet/groomer/trainer as we already have a vet/groomer/trainer that we like and the breeder does live about an hour away so her options would probably be far away for us.  But she didn't not mention that -- just wants us to feed high quality kibble and some raw (which is exactly what we do already) and get him in some training (which I was planning to do) and keep up with grooming (which of course we would do).