I am a private responsible breeder…I have not bred or sold a litter in almost 10 years plus moving from my well established area.
I had word of mouth customers and my Vet was a huge help. The kennel whose studs I used also sent me customers.
We have moved 50+ miles away and into a new state.
Were did you look for your puppy??
Where do you advertise??
talked to people at trials who had dogs I admired about where the dogs came from. Most responsible breeders don’t advertise anywhere nor do they need to.
I am not active any more since we showed our Chessie @ the National 3years ago.
If I had that type of social network to fall back on I would.
the breeders I did business w/…the who was a mentor passed away, the other moved her kennel and is down sizing and a totally diffrent bred genra’.
The stud dogs owner was some what helpfull since he is very popular.
But not having a social network here isn’t helping. I still go 1+ hour back to my old vets office for non-emergencies.
In this economic climate actually everyone is either not breeding much or have scaled down.
What’s the question?
Are you getting back into breeding? Or are you looking for a pup?
If getting back into breeding, a small polished website is nice but not necessary (sometimes it’s nice if someone has heard about you through word of mouth but wants to see some photos and get additional info without having to call or visit - can save your time too). Beyond that, I think wendy is right that it’s good to be out and about and doing well at shows.
Can you join the local breed club? Or training club? I’ve gotten all of my labs from the same breeder since 1982 (college bud), so I’m no help, though she has a website, and I got my new Jack from the web (w/reccommendation from someone), so you might do up a website.
What’s the question? Where is anyone else advertising or shopping
Are you getting back into breeding? Carefully 1 litter so far
Or are you looking for a pup? No
If getting back into breeding, a small polished website is nice but not necessary (sometimes it’s nice if someone has heard about you through word of mouth but wants to see some photos and get additional info without having to call or visit - can save your time too). Beyond that, I think wendy is right that it’s good to be out and about and doing well at shows.
We never showed our other dogs except the 1 male, and his breed I never breed since its to fraught w/ its own breed issues.
I have a lovely professional webbsite for my horses but haven’t added the dogs to it.
I was testing the waters since I had been asked about breeding the one bitch since I bought her. Her older sister we already spayed.
We selected a very popular local stud whose get are well recieved. But I just don’t travel in the same social circles where his get is well know.
I probably have answered my own question and can resource myself.
I was just interested to see w/ the advent of the internet if othyer availed to advertising sites.
[QUOTE=judybigredpony;5687997]
I am a private responsible breeder…I have not bred or sold a litter in almost 10 years plus moving from my well established area.
I had word of mouth customers and my Vet was a huge help. The kennel whose studs I used also sent me customers.
We have moved 50+ miles away and into a new state.
Were did you look for your puppy??
Where do you advertise??[/QUOTE]
We were looking for a German Shorthaired Pointer for quite some time, using internet, AKC, going to breed shows etc. But it was only after seeing Carlee show and win the 2005 Westminster Kennel Club that we went straight to her breeder. We were blown away by Carlee and delighted to find our forever puppy there, now a beautiful 6-year-old. :yes:
Many of the “private responsible breeders” I know - don’t advertise.
They list a litter announcement on their website, but most of the puppies have been pre-sold by carefully screened buyers that are active in the breed and sports in which they are active.
If I am a buyer looking for a dog, I go to the events that I am interested in. I talk to people. I find out who the good breeders are, whose dogs are doing what, and who is responsible.
I then do a little internet research first. I check the breeders’ dogs’ health records and reports with whatever organization (OFA, etc.) I do some internet searching on the dogs themselves. I do searching on the breeder. If someone has mentioned them in a message board or on another website, I want to know what it says (good or bad.) I talk to trainers familiar with the person’s dogs.
If I like what I find, and I like what I see, I contact the breeder. I am clear and concise in exactly what I’m looking for. I provide a brief background on myself and my experience with the breed, and I invite he/she to contact me by “one of the following means:” e-mail, telephone, or meet in person.
We go from there, and yes, if it’s not a rescue dog, these are the things we do before contacting a breeder. It may seem like overkill to some, but it seems normal to me. We will also travel up to 8 hours for a suitable puppy. I know some people travel cross-country, but it’s not feasible with us and our schedules. Traveling an hour plus to your regular Vet is no problem. We travel almost two hours for ours since he was the only Vet our rescue girl didn’t freak out with.
Has the network of breeders/handlers really changed that much since showing your dog 3 years ago?
[QUOTE=TexasRose;5688124]
We were looking for a German Shorthaired Pointer for quite some time, using internet, AKC, going to breed shows etc. But it was only after seeing Carlee show and win the 2005 Westminster Kennel Club that we went straight to her breeder. We were blown away by Carlee and delighted to find our forever puppy there, now a beautiful 6-year-old. :yes:[/QUOTE]
Who WASN’T blown away by Carlee? I’m not usually a GSP fan, but she was phenomenal! Such poise and movement - wow.
I think you need to rebuild your network.
Find the breeders and such in your area and make contact, meet them at functions, join their clubs.
If you have successfully shown on a larger stage, I am sure the aficionados will have heard of you.
good luck (sux to have to start from scratch)
Well, I think if you are willing to put yourself out there via Facebook, website and via old connections, that will most likely suffice.
I have friends who purchased a Parti-Poodle from Arizona and had her flown to Virginia - because they wanted a puppy from a particular breeder.
Another friend did the same with an Afghan hound after his had passed away. He contacted breeder who was no longer breeding, but she passed on info for a breeder in CA who had one of the offspring - so he had a puppy shipped from CA.
Of course, I found my dream dog locally and all the others are rescues. I fell in love with the Aussie bitch that the shavings delivery guy had - she came out with him and was just about perfect re Aussie characteristics with a great work ethic. Took 3 years, but I finally got the perfect puppy from one of her litters!
Why not reestablish your connection with your old network? Fifty miles is practically next door for people who are looking for a quality dog. Pups from my breeder’s last litter are scattered from Arizona to New England to northern Canada.
As someone who purchases from responsible private breeders (my Ridgebacks are from Oakhurst), I would not even consider purchasing from a kennel that advertises. A kennel that can’t place puppies from the waiting list should not be breeding, IMO, and probably does not have anything I would want.
Get out, show, join the local club. If you had good customers before, they’ll come back–I don’t consider distance to be a deterrent in the least when purchasing a new dog.
This is the breeder I’m about to get my 3rd dog from:
http://www.cedarwoodkennels.com/
As far as I know this is the only “advertising” they do. Everything else is word of mouth and previous owners.
I agree - private and responsible should be pre-selling pups before breeding. And doing it to better the breed.
I’m confused, you said you haven’t bred or sold a litter in 10 years in your OP but now you have a litter?
[QUOTE=HydroPHILE;5688138]
Who WASN’T blown away by Carlee? I’m not usually a GSP fan, but she was phenomenal! Such poise and movement - wow.[/QUOTE]
Wasn’t she incredible, just took my breath away!! :yes:
Now a days 50-miles is a hop-skip-and-a-jump. 
We were living in Virginia, the breeder was in Kansas, and we learned that another couple were flying there from Philly (Pennsylvania) to pick up a puppy from the same litter so they agreed to pick up our puppy and fly back with the both of them (brother and sister). We met them at the Philly airport and 6-years later we still keep in touch… well, brother and sister do via email on holidays and birthdays! :lol::lol::lol:
[QUOTE=Simkie;5688193]As someone who purchases from responsible private breeders (my Ridgebacks are from Oakhurst), I would not even consider purchasing from a kennel that advertises. A kennel that can’t place puppies from the waiting list should not be breeding, IMO, and probably does not have anything I would want.
Get out, show, join the local club. If you had good customers before, they’ll come back–I don’t consider distance to be a deterrent in the least when purchasing a new dog.[/QUOTE]
This!!
We found our dogs’ breeder via word-of-mouth, 14 years ago; she vetted us pretty thoroughly then. :lol: We love that she really cares where her dogs go.
She doesn’t advertise anywhere (that I know of), just has a very nice web-site and campaigns at AKC shows - any and all puppies are spoken for well before they are born.
Besides campaigning her dogs/bitches, she has at most one litter a year, and breeds only to improve her lines. She’s also mentored several other breeders who seem to share the same values she has regarding dogs. She’s an experienced and willing resource for anyone who has one of her dogs - pet home OR show home.
Perhaps that is why she has many loyal customers all over the country. 
I helped two friends recently get new AKC puppies. (I suggested mutts as there are so many but they wanted purebreds. That’s fine. To each their own)
I ran them through the AKC Breeder puppy search on their home page.
http://www.akc.org/classified/search/index.cfm
Both had lovely homebreds with fantastic lines and full clearences within a week.
~Emily
I was a small private breeder of Labs many years back. I also had a mentor - a neighbor highly respected in the breed - she suggested I apply for breeder referral status through the AKC national club for the breed - it required several referrals, and there were not that many breeders listed - even for NY State. But I had dozens of calls. Many calls also came through her, and also from the owner of the stud if I went elsewhere.
I sometimes drove fairly far for the right stud, but also had buyers from all over the Northeast - I’m upstate, but many were also sold to buyers from NYC, as well as Mass, VT, and CT. I interviewed prospective buyers at length and met them in person. If something didn’t feel right, there were others.
And all dogs were sold on limited registrations so that they couldn’t legally be used for breeding unless I signed off on it. And I also did hip, elbow and eye clearances.
I loved those times - a great substitute when I couldn’t own a horse as my son was small. I can still smell the mashed kibble, remember weighing each pup on the food scale during the first week, and the nail polish to keep them straight! One dear owner used to send my girls flowers on Mother’s Day!
The only thing I am sad about is that they changed the standard, and so many labbies are now tiny in comparison. But that’s another argument for another board!!:eek:
We got a puppy last fall.
I was looking for OFA hips, elbows, CERF eyes and heart (given the breed). I also wanted to meet the parents.
If I was going to pay money for a dog, I wanted to make sure those bases were covered. I don’t so much care about showing and such. Or even registration as I don’t really buy into that.
But I DID want to make sure that the health stuff was covered.
[QUOTE=judybigredpony;5688075]
We never showed our other dogs except the 1 male, and his breed I never breed since its to fraught w/ its own breed issues. [/QUOTE]
Wait… what? Please tell me I’m misunderstanding this, because I thought you just said you’re breeding dogs that have never shown? While it needs not be in the confo ring to me breeding dogs s the same a horses, they need to prove their worth in competition before passing on their genes…
Please tell me the I’m misunderstanding what you were trying to say here…
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