IS this fair

[neilmc1977]

we have wanted a cocker for some time now and decided to go for it recently,unsure of where or who to buy from we contacted the west of england cocker club asking for a reputable breeder to buy from and was given one. we went to see the puppies and they were all lovely and the breeder couldnt seem more devoted to the breed.
Altho the breeder said we couldnt actually pick a puppy as she hadnt decided what she wanted from the litter yet and she would pick one for us?
we didnt ask how much etc till we had seen them and were told £700 plus £25 first injection which although was a little more than we thought we decided to go for it as the dog had dna and eye tests we thought it worth the bit extra the other factor is we wanted the puppy at ten weeks rather than eight so we can both be home over the xmas period to settle the puppy in to its new surrounds etc.  we were told this was fine and that we would have to pay for the puppy's food for the couple of weeks over and also a further £25 on top of the deposit for its second injection which seemed reasonable.
ringing earlier this week to check the progress of our puppy and finalise about picking it up we were told that the breeder wants another £100 for the food and keep of the dog for the extra time. is this a reasonable amount ? it seems an awfull lot for two weeks?puppy food and milk i dont mind paying if its a fair price but its less than a week till we pick our puppy up and i'd hate to think i was being ripped off as we've bought everything for him named him etc and i'd hate to think i was being emotionally blackmailed out of a further £100
thanks

[*Lucy*]

Sounds a little steep to me!

[Annette]

Sounds unfair to me. I am no expert at all and if any of our breeders come on and say that this is what they do, then I will bow to their greater experience of course.

I think your breeder is on the make.

I don't think our Buddy's breeder charged us for any of the extras, not even the microchip.

[neilmc1977]

yes if its a fair price then its no problem hes not microchipped either

[leisl]

All sounds very dubious but not sure where you stand on this one.  No help I know but I agree, it doesn't seem fair.

[*Lucy*]

Welcome to the forum by the way!!  

You will have to post pics of your little man ASAP!!

[michelle123]

£100 for food - what on earth is she feeding it.  Puppies dont eat a great deal at that age - a huge sack of the dearest dog food is no more than £40 and that would last months.  

Most *good* breeders honour holidays etc so I would say that this is no different.  Also a *good* breeder would also want the pup to go into an environment where you were around - like the siutation you are describing.

I am just wondering whether if she was left with a couple of pups from a litter, whether the price just increases as the days/weeks go by.  

Not sure what to suggest really, sorry  

Welcome to COL by the way - you will find a wealth of info and advice and we are all dead friendly 

[floydlennon]

our breeder kept our wee guy till he ten weeks old as we wanted to get him when david was on holiday and she didnt charge us a penny she enjoyed her extra wee bit time with him

[claireandmartin]

  welcome to the forum
i think it is very steep to be honist , i have had zak 3 weeks now and im still only half way through the first bag of food which was 10 pounds from the breeder??
surley the breeder would be happy and keep the pup till you are both home for a few week constantly for the pup to settle in ?

[neilmc1977]

thanks for the help so far she did make it clear that we would have to pay but i thought well a pup how much can it be i was expecting £20-£30 its really tough were really excited as are my parents etc but im quite stubburn ive paid £200 depsit and £50 for the injections i just dont know what to do pay up or cut my losses 

[Nicola]

Hi and welcome to COL  

This sounds quite unreasonable to me as well, puppies don't eat a lot and even a 15kg bag of food which will feed a whole litter of puppies for a very long time is going to be £40-50 at the most. Paying for the vaccinations is fair enough but I would definitely question the breeder about this other £100. Finding a good home for their pup should be more important to them than trying to charge you another £100 for a bit of extra food.  

Rodaidh (working cocker) was 6 months old when I got him and he was £600, if I'd got him at 8 weeks he would have been £400 so his breeder charged an extra £200 for an extra 4 months of care including vaccinations and some very basic training (sit and lead walking but that was it).

Ask her about it - you may find that if you stick to your guns she will be reasonable with you rather than lose the sale altogether 

[neilmc1977]

Thanks for the advice sorry my first couple of posts have to be so negative hopfully i will have some more positive input into the forum in the near future
I think i will have to give them a call tomorrow and see how shes came up with this amount and where i stand

[Nicola]

Thanks for the advice sorry my first couple of posts have to be so negative hopfully i will have some more positive input into the forum in the near future

Don't worry about that, the good thing about this forum is that people are always there if you need advice, which we all do at times! 

[Michele]

On the times I have kept a puppy for new owners beyond 8 weeks old all I have asked for is the cost of the vaccinations.

£700 is towards the top end of the price range for a pup anyway, and I'd be interested to know how this breeder arrives at these extra figures. 

[Cob-Web]

Molo stayed with his breeder until he was 10 week old due to a family wedding commitment; he was the last of the litter to leave, and she took him for his first vaccination (I paid the bill when I took him for his second) and he lived as part of her family for the two weeks he was there as an "only pup" 

She didn't ask me for extra payment..........and tbh, I wouldn't have be happy to buy a puppy from her if she had asked for more than a token amount   

The breeder you describe seems unduly worried about making money....no matter how well bred her dogs are, this isn't the sign of an ethical breeder, imo