Should we sell or giveaway our puppies?!?

Question

We rescued the sweetest yellow lab on November 4th. She had been dumped off out in the country at my brother-in-laws where he kept her for two months. He was going to take her to the pound so we said we'd take her. THE FIRST WEEK WE HAD HER ... we took her to the vet for shots and asked if she was pregnant (her nipples looked slightly swollen) but, the vet said "no" she wasn't pregnant. Well, now SHE'S OBVIOUSLY PREGNANT and due any day. We can say with much certainty that she was impregnanted by my brother-in-laws Golden Retreiver that isn't neutered. We don't want to keep the puppies and were figuring we'd just give them away but, I got to thinking...if we just give them away to strangers I'm sure we'll get every "tom, dick, and harry" over here trying to accept one...people who don't realize that puppies turn into adults. Well, I'm wondering if we sell them if we'd have more serious people coming to adopt them....what do you think? BTW: she's getting spade ASAP afterwards!

Thanks everyone! I am going to charge...probably 50-75 each. I guess I just felt kinda bad about charging and making a profit since I KNOW there are already TOO MANY dogs being bred as it is and I'd appear to be one of those money hungry breeders.
I'll probably look into a lab rescue just in case some don't sell.
I'm just anxious to see my new grandchildren though!! lol
Although, I'm also anxious to get this over with so I can have my Baby (that's her name!) back to myself!

WE DIDN'T SPADE HER ON DAY ONE BC THE VET SAID HE WANTED TO WAIT. I KNOW, I KNOW....it didn't make ANY sense to me---after all, don't they basically spade anytime whenever they're at the pound and going to be adopted? I also said I wanted her to be checked for heartworm and he said he wanted to wait till the spring when he spades her. This is a reputable (sp?) vet in my area. Also, he said to wait till we test her for heartworm before giving her heartguard. It all sounded really weird to me but, I assume I don't know anything about dogs and he's the one with vet schooling.
Seriously, folks...I wanted her spade ASAP and started on heartgaurd. I don't know. I guess my fault was not asking the vet enough questions when I originally thought things didn't make sense.

Answer 1

Don't just give them away. Anything for free never means as much as something you have paid for even if you have only paid a little. Charge the cost of the first shots plus $20 or so more to go towards getting the female spayed once the pups are gone.

Be sure to interview potential owners in person. If they have had pets before make sure to check with their vet how they cared for it in the past.

Hope all goes well with the birth.

Answer 2

Giving away puppies almost always ends badly for the pups. Unfortunately, in this society, people value things they have to pay for far more than things they can get for free. While it's true that people may pat hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a dog and still abuse or neglect it, people that can get a dog for free are 9 times out of 10 more likely to not take proper care because they didn't have to make any sort of financial investment in the dog to begin with.

You need to charge at least a nominal fee. Asking for at least the cost of veterinary care for the pups (first shots and worming) is reasonable. Or call your local shelter and ask what their adoption fee is and match that.

Contacting a local purebred rescue is also an excellent idea. While their focus is purebred dogs of their chosen breed, I don't know of any that aren't willing to help place mixes of the breed they serve. Most rescue groups will at least do a courtesy listing for you where they list the puppies on their website as available through a private owner. If you are willing to pay the cost of first shots and medical care/feeding for the pups most rescues would probably even "take" the pups and handle applications and adoptions and consider you their foster home.

Edit: Don't worry about feeling guilty about "making a profit" on the puppies. At $50-75 you won't even break even for the amount of food you need to feed mom while she's preggers and nursing, let alone food and first shots for the pups. As for your vet, I might still consider getting a new vet. Not because of the whole pregnancy snafu or not wanting to spay her (honestly, spaying a pregnant dog is a much more difficult surgery and carries more risks than when they aren't pregnant). But because of the heartworm. If your dog is older than six months, there is absolutely no reason to wait on testing her for heartworm and no reason to wait on starting preventative. In some areas heartworm is less prevalent and in areas with cold winters it may not be necessary to stay on heartworm preventative year round for the risk of heartworm. But with the unpredictable weather patterns we've had lately it is a good idea to stay on year-round heartworm. Plus, most heartworm preventatives also treat several common intestinal parasites that AREN'T put on hold when the cold weather hits. Even if you decide to stick with this vet, you should insist on the heartworm test. It's a simple test that requires a small amount of blood...there's nothing about it that would put a pregnant dog at risk.

Answer 3

You want to sell them as opposed to giving them away. Free puppies can end up as bait for dog fighting or sold to labs for experiments. Or they end up with people who do not have the financial resources to properly keep a dog.
Best bet? Find a non-euthanasia all breed rescue to help screen adopters and place the pups appropriately. They will usually take care of worming and shots and all that.. Although these are mixes, they do come from 2 pb dogs, so a golden or a lab rescue would probably be happy to help you place them as well as the mom.
Just search "lab rescue + your area" things should pop right up!
After the litter is grown, please get her in to be spayed. Most humane societies have low cost spay neuter clinics or certificates to help with this sort of thing.

Answer 4

Good for you for spaying. You can do a few things - but be sure to get to the vet for your dog's care, and then have the puppies cared for (deworming, shots etc). Then, have the puppies speutered. Keep track of your medical bills and charge that much for what each puppy cost you at the vet.
Sometimes, people don't want $$ for the pupies they need to adopt out, but to keep the scary bad people away who sell puppies to medical labs, they ask for proof of donation to animal rescue. Petfinder.com will have additional help for you as well, and you can post the litter up there when they are about ready to go. You can also get tips for screening potential adopters. If they are unwilling to go to a training class as a condition of adoption, for example, then you should move on. Good luck!

Answer 5

You might see if you can't get some help from a dog rescue. I am involved in a lab rescue, and we often help owners in your situation. We will do courtesy listings on our web page or help screen applicants.

If you go it alone, I don't think you necessarily need to charge for the puppies. One way of weeding out bad owners is to ask for references. You could make them fill out a short application - listing their vet and two references - as well as asking if they'd be willing to let you come to their house and find out where the puppy is going. This will usually weed out the bad owners immediately. And a vet can tell you a lot about the quality of the owner.

I know this is a lot of work for one person, but it'll give you a lot of piece of mind about where all those sweet puppies are going. A rescue might be able to help out though. It helps that they are two "good" breeds - we accept lab mixes into our rescue program all of the time.

Answer 6

Get them their first shots and get them wormed. They must be at least 8 weeks old before they go to new homes.

Charge a small adoption fee such as $50-100 to ensure the puppies get a good home.

Get a vet reference, or reference from the people who want to adopt a dog. Check the people out. Make sure that they understand the responsibility of a puppy...

Answer 7

I would recommend contacting a rescue group. Tell them you're willing to foster the puppies until they can help you find them good homes. They usually will take care of finding homes and medical issues with the pups. They may even help you with spaying the mom. Also, they usually make sure the adoptive owner has the dog spayed or neutered when they are old enough. The hard part for a lot of groups is finding foster parents. If you can take care of the pups until they're big enough to go to someone else, they normally are happy to help with the rest of it.

Answer 8

I agree with the first post, post them for sale because its a mix breed and you dont really know the health of the parent line charge a small fee. I really hate that about people they always want you to give them someone but when its not a puppy anymore they dont want them. I have 4 Yorkies and would do anything to protect them. I originally breed my female and my male yorkie from two different litters to raise yorkies to sell but I feel in love with her pups and now we are a family of 4. I promise if she get's preg again I will sell them, fingers crossed. But back to your problem if they want a dog then they should be willing to pay something for it. If you give the dog to someone who is so broke they just want a play mate for their kid. Then you can almost bet the pup will never go to the vet. I am huge animal lover, mostly dogs and I perfer yorkies because I too love Puppies but I hate the puppy stage and my 2 year old female is 4lbs. Sorry when we talk about dogs mine always comes into play. I wouldnt try to make a large adoption fee for them but I would at least charge as much as you have in them. I do not know about where you live but here in Florida to sell a dog you must get a health certificate which at any regular vet will cost you a small fortune, if thats the case in your area you may want to give them away. But if you have a vet like we have here that does high volume pets, he sees 200 dogs a day and if he doesnt do anything to your pet he doesnt charge you anything the health certificates from his place cost 28.00 per put and they get there first shots. I got to watch and help my Yorkie have babies so if you have any questions feel free to ask. It was beautiful. beadsanmore *yahoo

Answer 9

Mixed pups are hard to sell. However if it's the mix you suspect it might help.
Not sure you'll be swamped by people if you say "free".. pups and kittens aren't that easy to find homes for. Either way, ask questions to be sure they're getting good homes.. if they have fenced yards, if anyone will be home, or if they'll be alone all day (not good). Take some good pictures of them early on (even before adoptable age) to aquaint your friends and coworkers with them so the word gets out they'll be available.
ps - your brother kept her for 2 months.. he probably knew she was pregnant which is why he was going to take her to the pound.

Answer 10

i think you should sell them you are absolutely right most people who are serious about caring for a puppy are willing to pay a good price for them. May be you can advertise them as selling for a good price and then if they really seem like they are genuine people who will properly look after the pup you can may be say you can have it for less. But i am definately with you when you say giving them away you will attract any tom dick or harry lol