How can I can I politely refuse to sell someone a puppy?

Question

Recently my dog has given birth to nine puppies, and ever since word has gotten around, I have had so many people hounding me about "saving them one". Many of these people have been known to neglect animals in the past. I want all of the puppies to have a loving family. Please tell me how I can politely tell these people no without offending them, and also how can I go about making sure all my puppies are placed in loving homes?

Answer 1

If you're not comfortable telling them "No, I don't think you would provide the appropriate home", tell them that you already have homes in mind for all the puppies. It's not really a lie - you DO have homes in mind for all the puppies. You just don't know where those homes ARE.

With regards to placing the puppies (and PLEASE don't let them go until they're at least 8 weeks old, and preferably closer to 10-12 weeks!!), look for homes that have securely fenced yards, someone with experience with the breed, if they already have pets - are the animals up to date with their shots, and do they get regular vet care?

Also, please spay your dog so you don't have to worry about placing any more puppies. There are already millions of dogs killed every year in shelters because there aren't enough homes for them.

Another option is if your pups are purebred (or predominantly one breed), contact a breed rescue group and ask them if they have families looking for puppies and if they would be willing to take your pups and place them. Consider making a donation to the rescue group to do the placement for you - they will generally be thorough in screening homes. You may be asked to foster the pups until the rescue group finds homes for them. Some rescue groups may be willing to help you with that.

Answer 2

I would tell the person or people that you don't want to have a puppy that they a re all spoken for. As for placing them into loving homes, you need to screen the homes. Here are a few questions that I use when I have a litter due.

I always ask for references from the buyers. I also always call these references.

I also require a letter from the landlord if they do not own their own home.

I make sure that they have done their research on the breed.

I question them on how they plan on house-breaking the dog.

I find out what other pets are in the home and how they plan to introduce them.

My most important question is who would be their primary vet. I contact the vet to make sure that they actually use the vet.

I also make the new owners sign a contract that has them agree that they will not make the puppy a "breeder". They will keep the puppy as an indoor pet. They will also NEVER turn the puppy in to a pound!

Finally, I actually micro-chip all of my puppies and register the chips to myself so that if they ever get turned into the pound, I am contacted and will take legal action.

Good luck! If you have any more questions, or would like to see my contract, e-mail me and I will send it to you.

Answer 3

Contact a local rescue group in your area and ask if they can give you the questionaire that they use to determine if placement is acceptable in a particular home. I had a rescue get one of these to me when we had a stray we needed to place. It was really good and had a rating system to help you determine if the home would be appropriate (i.e. fenced yards verses apartments). I'd say the more "picky" a questionaire is, the better chances you have of placing in a proper home. Ask a few different rescues for help as not all are as "picky" as they should be when placing.

What ever you do, screen the people really well and keep in touch with those that take a puppy so that you can check up from time to time to ensure good care is being given. Ask for vet references, as well as others. I would also consider spay/nueter certificates if your vet will do something like this. The people pay for it when they take the puppy and it increases the chances that they will follow thru with it, since they've already shelled out for it.

You have the right to turn ANYONE down for a puppy that you choose. REPUTABLE BREEDERS do it ALL THE TIME when they don't feel their breed would be appropriate for an interested party. There is nothing legal about it and they CAN NOT sue you. If you don't feel it's a good home, don't let them have a puppy, period! You want to do what's best for the puppies and placing them in good homes should be the first concern. I wouldn't worry about the feelings of others... guilt and giving in to them, could send a puppy to a bad home.

Answer 4

Say they need expensive vet treatments and tell them you'll need them to commit a lot of money up front...that should stop them.

Or say that others have already paid for them

Or that you promised them to someone else/family member.
And if someones really insistent lay on a sob story about how your friends dog has died and she fell in love with the very last one you had available, and it would just break her heart if she were to lose this puppy...

Or you could say that there has been such a responds that you need to go through an application process to be more fair.
Ask for the persons full identification and what vet they will use for he continued care of the puppy. Ask for references from vets. If they don't want to give the info, red flag right there. If a person has never taken a pet to the vet then you can bet your new puppy wont be going either. And check these references!
You don't have to ask yourself, type it up and make it look official and just hand it to them. I had to fill out a similar form to adopt an abandoned bunny from the local petstore.

When adopting our cat, the shelter asked for our information and even came to see our house. We had no problem giving references, as we are responsible and take our pets to the vet whenever needed.

Call up the local animal welfare people and find out if there is a way to see if people have histories of harming animals.

Answer 5

Txharleygirl1 is very correct with her answer above. Especially,
if this is concerning purebred, or almost purebred puppies.
I breed German Shepards. My dogs have great bloodlines
and a lot of people want to buy puppies.
I usually sell 1 or 2 litters a year. Like you, I worry about the babies and want to make sure they have great homes.
But, there are legal concerns too. You can't just turn people down for any old reason and expect to get away with it, for long.
I have an application to buy a puppy. It requires Name, address,
phone. Landlord's name and phone (if any). Name of Vet they will be using and phone. Name, address, phone of 6 references.
I call landlord and ask if he/she allows pets. I also call vet's number (to make sure it exsists). Then, I call each reference.
I usually ask how they know the potential buyer. I ask if they know if the potiental buyer has any pets. If so what kind. Are their pets well taken care of ? If no pets, do they feel potential buyer would be a responsible pet owner ?
I don't care if the potential buyers have a fenced yard or not.
I know some very good dog owners that do not have fenced
yards. I didn't for a lot of years. I don't care if the potential buyers have children. I personally believe that all children deserve to have a dog as a pet. I also do not care if the potential buyers have other pets or not. (It's nice if they do, but not essential.)
I also do not care if the new owner want to breed their new dog.
In fact, I hope they do to carry on a great bloodline.

Answer 6

Even handpicking all the new homes , you are not likely to find all good ones. The best you can do is make sure you see all the homes, become acquainted with all the people, reserve visiting privileges, maybe even borrow a questionaire from your local shelter to see all the questions they ask before adopting. You could sell the puppies rather than giving them away, this is usually easier than giving them away as people will perceive them to be more valuable. People who buy dogs usually take a little better care of them. And as far as telling people no without offending them, you will have to lie. Tell them they are all spoken for.

Answer 7

tell them that you do not have available for them. If they push the issue, then you can tell them that you have some concerns with the past way they have treated their animals.
That is your RIGHT and responsibility as a pet owner to make sure these pups get good homes. Thank you for being that way!! TOO many people just see the $$ signs in their eyes and dont really care.

Dont listen to the stupid people telling you that you can get sued. Sure they "could" take you to civil court but there is no way these people would win!!! These pups are basically your property.. you can do what you want and sell them to who you want.

Answer 8

You have the right to place a puppy or not to place a puppy with whomever you choose. What you should do is tell each person that you will put them on your list along with everyone else and as you see the puppies grow and learn their personalities you will match them to the people on your list according to the circumstances of each family...for instance... kids or no kids in the family..other pets in the family etc.

After you figure out who is suitable for each of the pups and let them go to their new homes, let them know that you would like to keep in touch (they will not be offended, they will look at you like a concerned grandmommy) If you ever see neglect or abuse with any of them you can confront them politely, or do as i did 4 years ago. I found out that one of my pups was being left out in a kennel in bad weather with no shelter. I was in shock, i went to check the situation out that day... they were not home and there was this poor dog standing in her kennel on nothing but ice, her feet were frozen and she had no food or water or anything to protect her from the freezing rain. I opened the kennel door, took the dog out, put her in my van and took her home. I left a note on their door to say that i dropped in to visit and seen they were not home but noticed the poor dog outside freezing so brought her home with me(the note really wasnt that nice). I had no idea they would be like this or i would never have let a pup go there...you never quite know how someone really does treat an animal unless you check it out for yourself, they may sound like the best doggie parents ever, and they might have all good intentions but may end up like this. I ended up keeping the dog for 6 months before a found an extra special home for her.

Good luck and screen your people, but as you can see there is never a sure fire way to know for sure how good or not good the home will be, that is why it is so important to check in with them....and you as the breeder always have the right to take a dog back. Sometimes you might make an enemy or 2 but its worth it for the sake of the dogs, its the responsibility you must take when you decide to bring these little puppies into the world.

Answer 9

'I cant believe that a lot of people would say for you to lie...and that the puppies are spoken for. There your puppies right now and there's nothing wrong with refusing someone-especially if you believe they wont be cared for. Why not draft up an application asking specific questions like pet-finder or other breeders do?-if you feel comfortable enough to do house visits to prospective owners than do that. It may deter some people? Just a thought. Follow you heart and have these innocent puppies placed in a loving home.

Answer 10

Maybe you could go with something on the lines of "what happened to your last dog" or someone told me you would not give a puppy the kind of home I was looking for. Our coonhound had 12 pups this past summer (she is since spayed) but we asked for $30 for each. That weeded out some of the weirdos and it was really cool to see parents bring out there kids and pick one out. You could see that some of the kids saved up this money and would take the care seriously. Hope this helps!