We Really Wanted Tink; Our French Bulldog
We started our search a little after Christmas; our quest was to find the perfect addition to our happy home. We started with a list of three breeds the French Bulldog, the Boston Terrier and the Pug. Through months of research we found that there was no question about it, although the search would be long and the price would be high, our choice was without a doubt the French Bulldog. The more we read about this interesting breed the more we fell in love with the French Bulldog. Choosing a Frenchie from the three breeds was the easy part, we would come to find out that becoming the proud owners was much harder than we had thought. We imagined that we would decide what kind of puppy we wanted and then have the puppy within a week or two.
Little did we know our search had just begun. We dealt with multiple breeders in our search for the perfect frenchie however we never quite got the right feeling and I used the words shady many times when describing the breeder and our interaction with them. It seemed the only way to get a French bulldog in CA was to order one over the internet from some remote State in the Midwest such as Missouri or Minnesota. There was no way we were going to throw down $2,000 and wait for our frenchie to travel via a shipping company. We wanted to meet our little puppy and pick her/him out of a litter and be able to see the parents that gave birth to the precious creature but this seemed virtually impossible. Until one day I was searching my usual “French Bulldog in CA” and I came across an ad in the Penny saver with the cutest picture of a pied frenchie and the headline “5 frenchies for sale in Riverside“. I immediately called James and told him to call ASAP (I just had a really good feeling) he called and two days later we were driving to Riverside to meet the breeders and pick out our new little friend. The drive was about an hour and a half but that didn’t matter to us we were just so excited. Originally I had fell in love with the picture in the ad and was set on us picking out that puppy. But James picked Tink when we were able to see more pictures of the rest of the litter. When we arrived to the meeting spot we were welcomed by a very friendly family and 5 little puppies in a laundry basket. After an hour of talking and getting to know the breeder and looking at all the puppies we had fallen in love with little tink. Tink is a brindle female with white markings and the cutest little white sock on her foot. I knew immediately that the pied frenchie in the ad, although adorable had nothing on Tink.
Our drive home flew by as we talked of plans to welcome our new puppy into our home. Although we would not be able to bring Tink home for 5 weeks there was much preparation that had to take place. That same night we went to Target and bought all kinds of puppy treats and even a cute little dress for Tink.
6 Comments
(1) Never buy a puppy / dog from a newspaper advertisement.
(2) Which quality of dog is Tink? Show or Pet! For $2,000.00 a show quality puppy is supplied.
(3) No mention of pedigree and registration to A.K.C.
(4) A quality breeder supplies you with all documentation including health testing by O.F.A. and C.E.R.F. of parents and previous litters.
(5) A quality breeder does not accept deposits on dogs for sale.
(6) Why did you have to meet at a designated location other than where the litter lives 24/7? Only the breeders residence is supposed to be viewed. (Probably hiding something) There you could see the living conditions, Parents of the litter for sale, (The parents are your ticket to see first hand health condition).
(7) Review personal references from previous buyers of her puppies.
(8) Are the parents direct show A.K.C. champions?
(9) The breeder should have asked you alot of information about the upcoming living conditions for Tink.
(10) Contact the BBB for references on the breeder.
(11) It is possible this litter comes from a European, Russian or South American puppy mill, not revealing the parents and 7UP told them so.
Thanks for all your tips you make some good points here are some Q&As regarding your tips.
1) How else would we find out about a frenchie other then local ads. We stayed away from ordering over the internet and having the puppy shipped to us we figured this was safe.
2) We purchased Tink for a companion/pet, 2k was actually in the price range we had seen throughout all sales of Frenchies are we mistaken?
3) The breeder showed us AKC registration papers with full descriptions of the puppies as well as the names of the two parents that were registered to the couple that we purchased Tink from.
4) This was the first litter that the couple has ever experienced. They are by no means breeders for business purposes, just lovers of Frenchies.
5) We were very comfortable paying a deposit and felt this was also our guarantee to obtaining Tink when she was ready to leave her mommy. We were told from many previous breeders that the puppy would be ours but never heard from them again We signed a contact, and also took down driver’s license data to ensure we would not end up the victims of a faulty sale.
6) We have been in constant contact with the breeder and have seen various pictures of the parents through email and when we pick Tink up on May 11 and pay the remainder of our balance we will pick her up from the home and meet the parents of Tink first hand. Our contract also stipulates that if we do not see the parents of Tink first hand or do not approve of the current living conditions of Tink we will not purchase her and will obtain a full refund on our previous deposit. We met in front of a police station for the safety of both parties involved. It was also not safe for the breeders to just invite any ad responders to their house due to the safety of their three children as well as the possibility of theft of their 5 frenchies. We have been invited to visit the house at our convenience to see Tink and meet the parents however we have decided just to patiently wait due to the long drive and our upcoming vacation.
7) No previous references available
8) The parents are just everyday companion dogs, just what we are looking for. We are not interested in putting Tink through any shows, we simply want to love her in our home.
9) The breeder asked us various questions regarding living conditions for Tink before we even met them. They were very concerned with placing all their puppies in a good home and would never considered us if they thought we were not apt. We had multiple conversations with the breeder and even filled out a survey regarding future living conditions before we were even considered.
10) As stated previously there are no references
11) We are certain that these puppies are not coming from any such mill and any doubts we have will be extinguished upon the meeting of the parents of Tink as well as seeing first hand the current living conditions.
Thank you for your honesty in answering the postings questions.
(1) French Bulldog Club of America breeder listing covers all states with approved A.K.C. Breeders. Anyone who sells dogs thru the newspaper are looking to only make money, not improve the breed.
(2) You should have never purchased Tink from this BYB. You contributed to someone who does not care about this breed but only to put 2 dogs together and make money.
(3) Why did you not take the registration numbers and verify them through A.K.C. to see if they are genuine? Which direction of the pedigree was Tink’s parents bred? The pedigree is more important than the A.K.C. Papers. Registration papers are easy to alter!!
(4) Hopefully it will be there last litter. You should have never purchased the puppy. A quality approved breeder does not make a dime on breeding because all axtra funds from sales are put back into genetic testing, research and dog show expenses.
(5) As before mentioned approved breeders do not accept deposits, (They are not in it for money) a relationship developes between both parties and the buyer is then placed on a listing. Approved breeders are trusting working hand in hand with buyers, they want to know more about you. If a breeder does not feel good about a potential buyer they will not sell the dog to you. Breeders do there homework and verify submitted references from buyer.
(6) It is a little late to open the house for you to inspect and it would not make any difference what the conditions were like when you go pick up Tink. You fell for the cuteness of a puppy instead of following the basic guidelines. Approved breeders do not place ads in the newspaper so fear is not there. Approve breeders have state permits to sell which can be checked thru BBB.
(7) The minimum length of experience for Show and breeding is 15 years. No less!!
(8) That should never been bred, Quality breeders find the best champion sired dogs to breed with there dogs, creating better a better litter than the previous. Pre-checked all functions for condition.
(9) If the BYB did not care with the quality of the dogs he was breeding, why would he care about the buyers.
(10) It speaks volumes, what if a puppy from a previous litter had a serious genetic defect? The odds are good one did, that would have been found quickly.
(11) But that is what this breeder you used is! Making the money is all they want to do!
Note: Prior to the purchase of Tink is when your question posted on Craigslist should have been created. “Purchasing a new dog” covers all of the buyers points of interest and answers the tough questions. Not to offend but to educate, this method used to buy Tink is 180 degrees oppisite than what should have occured. I hope Tink will be healthy. Thank you.
Just some information for your very informative buddy Paul Han.. I don’t know what makes Paul the expert in buying french bulldog puppies or any puppies for that matter.. Let us first start with the fact that this is our first litter of puppies and we have had our male and female for over 2 years.. So, yes much research went into our decision to bring a litter into this world of puppy mills, people stealing puppies and all the other horror stories you hear.. From our research, no matter what the background, (which both our dogs come from champion bloodlines and can easily be verified by contacting the AKC) that there is normally one show quality dog from a litter at best and the rest are great quality pets.. With all the thefts of quality puppies in todays society, meeting at a veterinary clinic or somewhere public is not a new or unordinary precaution.. We spent around 2 hours interviewing the perspective new pet owners, and only after we felt confident that Tink would be going to a loving and safe environment, did we decide to go forward with the sale of Tink.. The deposit was merely a way for the perspecive buyers to choose the puppy they wanted with no chance of someone else getting that particular puppy.. Dr. Butchko in Riverside CA, who by the way is very well known for handling the special needs of French Bulldogs delivered our litter and can verify the health and assure that our puppies did not come from anywhere but our home.. Since this was our first litter, I don’t know that we could have provided references, other than our Vet on the health and care we provide for our animals.. I would also like to mention that we got up every two hours to move the puppies from their whelping box to be with the mother to feed, after feeding the 5 puppies, we made sure they urinated and defecated before putting them back in their whelping box to sleep.. As Paul should know, having a litter of French Bulldogs is a lot of work, not to mention the cost of artifical insemenation, the c-section and the follow care that was needed for both the mother and puppies.. I think it is fascinating that someone can make assumptions without knowing anything about the people that they are referring to.. I would also like to mention that my 3 daughters who named the dogs, and hold and play with them every chance they get would not be something that a Back Yard Breeder (BYB) as Paul would term us would do.. Sounds like Paul has a lot of opinions, which as we all know is like (well I won’t say that) but we all have one.. And on a closing note, if making sure that the puppies were not going to be stolen, and meeting in a Police Station Parking lot is what someone who was doing something illegal would do, well, I guess we are guilty as charged.. To the newly adopted parents of Tink, feel free to come over and get copies of the AKC registration for both the mom and dad, contact AKC to verify the authenticity, contact Dr. Butchko in Riverside CA to verify the litter was delivered via C-Section in his office, and come to view the living conditions of the mom, dad and puppies anytime you feel, with or without notice, as on the contract it specifically gives our home address.. Also, if any of the above doesn’t meet your desires and confidence, we will gladly return your deposit with no hard feelings.. We are looking for loving homes for our quality puppies and are none of the things Paul is assuming we are.. But then again, you know what happens when someone assumes..
Yep, it’s the backyard breeder again.. I wanted to announce a feather in the BYB’s cap.. We just sold one of our puppy’s to a very well known breeder in CA and were told that not only were our puppies of great quality, but that the female the breeder purchased is said to be championed within a year and 1/2.. I also wanted to add some additional insight that was gathered from the breeder, who by the way has been breeding for over 15 years.. First of all, it is very common to accept deposits to assure the new parents are serious and to make sure their choice is secured.. I also was informed that because of theft, safety and other things in today’s society, it is not uncommon to meet prospective buyers in a public, safe location and a vets office is often the choice of breeders.. Finally, I was advised that when starting out, advertising in papers, websites etc is not uncommon until your puppy’s are known and you have made enough contacts in order to not have to do much advertising of future liters.. Although people are entitled to their opinions and beliefs, it takes away from the message when it starts to get personal.. I am ongoing in my education in the breed and the do’s and don’ts, and just wanted to add what I have been told be several breeders that I have spoken to.. And by the way, 2 puppies left with several people coming out this weekend to view them.. Back yard breeder, over and out.. :)
Here are some great resources for people looking to adopt a Frenchie from a reputable breeder
http://www.frenchbulldogclub.org/ The French Bulldog Club lists reputable breeders, as does the AKC http://www.akc.org/breederinfo/breeder_search.cfm?action=search You can call one of the listed breeders and find a quality breeder who is breeding to improve the breed and create show dogs. If you can’t find a pup through them (many show, but don’t breed), they can give you leads on quality breeders in your area.
We have discovered an incredible resource in our state through this site.
Many of the breeders we’ve spoken with say that Frenchies shouldn’t leave their parents until they are 3-6 month (erring on the later side).
I applaud your breeder on getting a cesarian (no respectable breeder goes with a natural birth — something we heard from many sources) and letting you meet the parents, but I wish you hadn’t been allowed to take Tink when she was “oh so cute” but maybe not quite ready to leave.