Advice Needed

[~Jilly~]

Hi everyone,

I've been contacted by a breeder this morning who has a pup available!

BUT, I'm trying to keep my sensible head on and not get too excited.

It is very early days, I haven't spoken to the breeder directly yet (only by email) so this is first impressions only but I feel this is a very good breeder and one I would want to deal with.

The down points are -

the timing is not exactly as we'd planned - the pup would be ready about 10 days after we get back off holiday and about 3 weeks before my brother's wedding. This isn't a major problem but would need some working around.

and

the pup is not our first colour choice - again not a major issue as we would prefer to ensure we get a healthy, happy pup.

I feel like we've got 3 options

1. Leave this alone completely and wait for something else to come up (I have been in contact with a couple of other breeders who have recently mated their bitches and are waiting to find out if they are pregnant, there is a possibility of other colours from these but obviously no guarantee). The downside of this is we may not get one of these due to waiting lists and may then regret not taking this opportunity with what we believe is a very good breeder.

2. Contact the breeder by phone (she's asked me to do this if we are interested) and find out more about her/the pup and just see what happens from there. I figured that even if we found out more or even visited and then decided not to go ahead we would at least know where we stand and may be better guided in future, i.e. know what to look for etc. BUT, I don't want to waste the breeders time and I don't want to see the pup and fall in love with him/her.

3. Well I suppose the third option is to go for it but we'd have to start with 2 and see what happened.

What would you do?

[Georgie]

I don't have any advice or anything, but Bailey was our second color choice (he's a blue roan and we wanted a gold originally) which made us hesitate, but we love him now and if we were to get another, we'd definately go for a blue roan. I would probably do option 2, then 3, if you'd been waiting a long time for a cocker. If not, wait a little bit instead of going for the first thing, there might be something better.

[~Jilly~]

I don't have any advice or anything, but Bailey was our second color choice (he's a blue roan and we wanted a gold originally) which made us hesitate, but we love him now and if we were to get another, we'd definately go for a blue roan

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Hi Jordy,

thanks for that.

The available pup is a blue roan and our first choice would be orange/lemon roan but they are harder to find.

Trouble is, they really are all lovely, it's almost a negative that there are so many colours lol.

I'd be perfectly happy with a blue roan it's more the timing.... I'm fine with it because it's not really a major problem, we can just work around it. Hubby doesn't seem so sure, it's quicker than he thought it would be but then in all honestly it's only about 3/4 weeks earlier..... think I need to work on hubby, I'd like to go with option 2 possibly leading to option 3......

Watch this space

[Georgie]

I'd be perfectly happy with a blue roan it's more the timing.... I'm fine with it because it's not really a major problem, we can just work around it.

Bailey's timing was also a problem, as we were going to Spain for a holiday just before, and didn't want to leave him with someone else, practically as soon as we'd got him, so we picked him up about a month later. The timing you said seems OK to me, but then, I obviously don't know your other plans.

Out of interest, how long have you been waiting for a puppy to come up?

Good luck with whatever you decide,

Jordan

[~Jilly~]

I'd be perfectly happy with a blue roan it's more the timing.... I'm fine with it because it's not really a major problem, we can just work around it.

Bailey's timing was also a problem, as we were going to Spain for a holiday just before, and didn't want to leave him with someone else, practically as soon as we'd got him, so we picked him up about a month later. The timing you said seems OK to me, but then, I obviously don't know your other plans.

Out of interest, how long have you been waiting for a puppy to come up?

Good luck with whatever you decide,

Jordan

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Well the timing was more an issue for hubby just because it was an initial shock I think, because we were expecting to get one mid/end June when I rang him to say one would be ready early/mid May I think he was just surprised and went 'oooh, it's a bit early'. In reality it's only about 3/4 weeks and the only thing that's happening afterwards is my brothers wedding but he doesn't get married til 3.30 so it'll only be a matter of hours and my sister in law will look after him/her so it's not that big a deal really.

Discussed it with hubby when he came home last night (I'd also phoned him to tell him while he was at work so that's probably why he was a bit 'ooh, don't know') and we decided to phone the breeder as she'd advised. I had a long chat with her and she seems really nice.

Long story short, we're going with option 2 and we'll see if that leads to 3 or not! We're going up to see them next Saturday when they'll be 2 weeks old, can't wait. She emailed me a piccy and I keep looking at it thinking 'one of those could be our baby' and getting all soppy lol.

We haven't been waiting all that long for a puppy, it's just important to us to find the right breeder and we've found that a lot of them have only 1 or 2 litters a year and some have quite long waiting lists.

[Pipers Mummy]

Gilly - in an ideal world you would find a puppy that was the colour of your choice, with the health checks and at the time you want it.  BUT.......as we all know things don't always work out the way we plan them  

Personally, health checks and reputable breeder would take prescedence over colour..........and anyway blue roans are GORGEOUS        But then I would say that wouldn't I as I've got a 22 month old blue roan daughter so I'm biased  

Good luck and let us know how your visit goes - you must be so excited  

[~Jilly~]

Gilly - in an ideal world you would find a puppy that was the colour of your choice, with the health checks and at the time you want it.  BUT.......as we all know things don't always work out the way we plan them 

Personally, health checks and reputable breeder would take prescedence over colour..........and anyway blue roans are GORGEOUS        But then I would say that wouldn't I as I've got a 22 month old blue roan daughter so I'm biased 

Good luck and let us know how your visit goes - you must be so excited 

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I completely agree with you. health checks and reputable breeder have got to come first.

Having said that I don't feel like I'm 'comprimising' or anything, I love blue roans too and having seen pup's mum and dad (in photo's) I think dad is gorgeous (blue roan).

I think it was just the first book we bought we saw an orange roan and thought it was lovely but then nearly every other photo we've seen (of a whole range of colours) we've said are lovely, lol.

I am excited, can't stop looking at the picture

[Dunton4]

Hi Jilly,

We had similar timing issues when we got our Tilly.  We had planned to get a puppy after our summer holiday, and, having done lots of research, I knew it was a good idea to contact reputable breeders early, so I 'phoned a breed club secretary well in advance of our planned time.  Well, you've guessed it, she knew of a puppy with all the right health checks ready then and there (even my daughter's preferred colour choice   ).  Although we were dead keen for a puppy, we too were a bit, ooh, bit soon...and hesitated for a few hours.     Then decided that this was a well-bred puppy from extremely reputable breeders who had done all the relevant health checks over many generations, so we went for it and the rest, as they say, is history   .  

Tilly went to stay with my mum for a week whilst we were on holiday and although she was only little, she had a ball.  I am convinced that this early experience of being without us for a week helped Tilly to be as sociable as she is now.  She goes to stay with a variety of people I trust whilst we can't have her with us and really looks forward to it, barely a backwards glance to us, and no pining for us when we are away   .  She is, of course, deliriously happy to see us again when we pick her up   .  I have concluded that actually, I need her rather more than she needs me      ::  .  

I would agree with the other good advice given here.  Timing issues can be worked around, but the benefits of a well-bred puppy from a caring breeder are priceless.

Good luck with your pup   .

Sue and Tilly

[~Jilly~]

Thanks Sue,

your reassurance has put a big smile on my face!

I'm just too excited now and need something to calm me down

I actually think that going on holiday in the middle of the 'waiting' period will help, I should imagine it'll help the time to pass more quickly

Thanks everyone for your invaluable advice (as always!)

Jilly x

[Georgie]

Have a great time on Saturday How exciting. I remember being like that with Bailey. Beware: You can't sleep the night before, even if you don't know if you'll get one.