Adoption & Shipping Processes -
(Details on placing a deposit are further down on this page. Thank you.)
On Initiating Adoption Process -
Question : What do you need from me now that I've decided to adopt one of your puppies?
Answer :
1. Your $150 deposit....(See more about how your deposit works for you on page entitled "Deposit Details".)
This insures that the puppy will be held for you until he/she is old enough to leave Mama. This may be done online with an invoice we can email to your email address whether or not you have a PayPal account, or you may decide to mail a check/money order to our address. If this is your method of payment, we are willing to hold your puppy for you, while we wait for the mail system to bring your check. This means that we really need to know when you have made your decision for sure. Otherwise we wouldn't know to hold your puppy unless you have let us know that you made a definite decision to adopt. Keep in mind that in fairness to everyone, we will not hold a puppy for you until we either have a deposit in hand, or arrangements have been made for the deposit to be paid.
2. Your Name, Address & Phone Number.....
This is the information we need for our records that will be used for the health certificate that our veterinarian will fill out once he has given your puppy a complete vetcheck. This information is also required by the airlines in order to book space if we are making flight arrangements for your puppy to fly to you.
3. Your Nearest Major Airport Name.....
For flight arrangements......It's also helpful to have a second choice if that is available. This would be for in case we couldn't arrange to have the puppy flown into your first choice of airports. This isn't usually an issue though.
Questions
In Regards to When Puppies can Leave Here
& How Shipping Works
Question : At what age are the puppies allowed to go to their new families?
Answer :
All of our puppies remain here with their mama and their littermates until they are 8 weeks of age, per state regulations. Even though they're eating dry puppychow at 6 weeks of age and basically weaned, they must stay here until 8 weeks of age. It's the same whether flying to their new homes or just being picked up in person by car. The law is the same for both and therefore we are careful to comply. Keep in mind we don't have a choice to make an exception. Thank you for your understanding.
Question : I live too far away to pick up my puppy in person. Explain how shipping works.
Answer :
We welcome you to come to our home to pickup your new puppy but in cases in which that is not possible, we offer you the option of shipping....flying the puppy to your local airport. We offer shipping for $299 USD, within the lower 48 states. The price in shipping varies in that it is based not only on the size of kennel but also the weight of the puppy. Some have interest in knowing that in many cases the airlines will allow us to put two puppies in the same kennel either for the same price or just a fraction above the price of one being flown to his new home.
If you would desire to have your puppy flown to you, we are happy to do all of the flight arrangements for you. In order to make reservations with the airlines, they require that the name, address, and phone number of the pickup person be provided. They use this personal information on your end of the flights, to verify that the correct person is taking the puppy home. I of course would need to know what airport you need him flown into.
If you are considering purchasing a puppy and having him flown within the next couple of days, say to use as a gift, keep in mind that the sooner we reserve space, the more likely it is that I can make it happen in the time frame you have in mind. Once the flights are full, one just has to take the next available. It costs nothing to reserve the space or to cancel if it's not needed afterall but it's impossible to make space appear when it's all spoken for. Also, depending on the airport, some airports only have one airline that flies in with pets. Of course in a situation like this, it's even more likely to fill up quickly.
We purchase the shipping container and it may be used after you receive your puppy, as a pet carrier for your puppy's use for travel or as a crate to sleep in. We also see that the puppy gets all needed papers to fly with, from our local veterinarian.
We freeze water in the water dish, so that as the puppy is in transit, he is able to have water as it thaws. We also supply a ziploc bag of puppychow, which is taped to the outside of the kennel, so that the airlines personnel can feed the puppy during layover. We fill the floor of the kennel with shredded newspaper and make it as comfortable as possible for our little babies. We even shampoo the puppies before we leave for the airport. Not only does that make them smell nice, but it also relaxes them and they usually sleep all of the way to the airport! =)
If your puppy is flown to you, the necessary papers will be attached to the pet carrier in the common "plastic sleeve" that holds the shipping papers. In there, you would need to look for an envelope with the following from me - any registration papers, any receipts, copy of the health certificate, and the puppy shot/worming record.
We are willing to check the possibility of shipping internationally to where you reside and letting you know what the cost will be and what it would involve. It does vary from country to country. We have flown puppies into Canada several times. We regret that we are not able to ship to Italy, the Bahamas, Hawaii, Germany, or the United Kingdom.
Question : Alright, but I've heard horror stories about the shipping or flying of pets. Could you tell me what your experience has been in flying these puppies? Is it truly safe or is it just made to sound that way when there is real danger to my puppy?
Answer :
Yes, we feel confident that it is safe for your puppy to fly with the airlines that we fly our puppies with. When first starting out, we thought that all airlines would have the same standards and safety rules in place for transporting of pets. Very quickly we found out that "all airlines are not created equal"! We never have lost a puppy during transit due to it being sent to some other destination by mistake, or lost it due to sickness induced through the flight, though we have flown well over 200 puppies up to this point! But we have found that there are the top 2 to 3 carriers that have the best set up, for instance shorter layover periods and more flight options. Also we have found the same airlines to be the ones that rarely ever, make any changes to the flight schedules, which is very important when you've taken off work to pick your puppy up, to say nothing of added time to your puppy's transition period. For these reasons, and because we fly scores of these little babies out month after month without complaint from our customers that have to work with the personnel on the other end, we pretty much stick to the same two carriers...Continental & NorthWest. They simply are hassle-free and extremely safe. This is very, very important to us as I simply would refuse to fly these little babies if I knew that there was risk involved. I couldn't live with myself if I purposefully sent these precious little bundles out, knowing that they would be mistreated and would end up getting sick. No, sir! That is not the way I am, thank God!
Also, since these airline personnel know us from seeing us week after week, they give us special privileges. For instance, though food is to be taped to the top of the crate in a ziploc bag in the event that transit is longer and they need to feed the puppy, it is never to be placed in the kennel since 9/11, due to security measures. This makes perfect sense really. BUT....these workers know us and allow us to place a pile of puppychow in the kennels right before we check them in. We really appreciate this because it helps the puppy to feel that everything is alright. They're eating the same food they have been used to. Many times as they're taking the little carrier away, we can hear the little crunch, crunch, crunch of a contented little puppy. We really appreciate being allowed this privilege and I'm sure you feel better knowing this as well.
These airlines also offer you a confirmation number where you can even track your puppy in transit. We've found it to actually work. Yes, I'm confident that it's a safe experience, even though I admit that I'm rather picky with my little puppies. I've had dozens upon dozens of good experiences so I feel completely comfortable with this process.
Deposit Details
Attention : Notice Updates Below, in lilac, black and dark green type. Please Read Before Placing A Deposit. Thank you!!
We accept deposits both on puppies that we have available at any given time and on upcoming litters.
This helps us to decipher who is really planning to adopt our puppies. Otherwise we could hold puppies for individuals that actually haven't made their decision to adopt. This would be unfair to any one else that may want the puppy and be turned away because it's thought that Person A is definite, when in fact he isn't.
This also insures that the owner-to-be is guaranteed a particular puppy, or priority in choosing his puppy. This is how it works.
If it's a particular puppy that you place your deposit on, that is the very puppy you are guaranteed to receive. If placing your deposit on a puppy choice, that numbered choice will be held for you until the litter arrives. For instance, if you're the third one to place a deposit on a litter, you will be the third one to choose from that litter.
Within 24 hrs. of the arrival of the new litter, I email notification to those that have deposits in that their litter of puppies has arrived. I take pictures of the new litter so that these individuals can also see the new little guys and gals. Even though it's limited how much can be seen at that time, you can clearly see which puppies have more white, etc. I give the information on how many boys and girls we have, when the puppies will be old enough to go, etc.
Then about a week later, I take updated pictures of each puppy individually. At that point, generally the choosing of the puppies begins. I would then have the puppies labeled as Female #1, Female #2, Male #1 and so on. I email the list of those that are on the waiting list so you know where you are on the list and how many are to choose before you. When I get an answer back from the first person as to which puppy they have chosen, I tell the next person it's their turn to pick and so on.
The priority is always given in the order in which the deposits came in. This is the most fair way we know to do it as the person that's been waiting the longest has the most puppies to pick from. If you should be further down on the list and you only have a couple of puppies to pick from, you have the option of sliding your deposit to the next litter so you will have more to pick from. Since we always have puppies on the way, it shouldn't me more than a 2-4 week wait.
*The deposit required is $150. There are two ways to pay it....
1. A money order may be mailed to our personal address listed on our "Contact Info" Page.
2. I can email you an invoice to your email address, that I will design through PayPal. You do not have to have a PayPal account in order to use this option. You would just go into the email and click to pay this invoice. When it gives you the option of going to your PayPal account to pay this, there will also be an option below that, in much smaller print, allowing you to just "Pay with Credit Card". If you go that way, you don't have to have a PayPal Account.
If you choose to mail a deposit in, let us know that so we can be looking for it. Also, this insures that the puppy choice will be held for you as we're waiting on the mail system. If you would rather pay online with a credit/debit card, let me know you'd like to have an invoice sent to your email address and I'll be happy to take care of that for you. Whether you are paying by mail or online, I will email you when I have your payment, so you'll know that I've received it. The balance is due either at the time you pick your puppy up or the day before your puppy is placed on the plane to fly to his/her new home with you.
*Explanation of why our deposit is now $150 instead of $100 (Added 1.25.08)
We fly more of our puppies with Continental Airlines than any other airlines. They do a wonderful job and we fly dozens of puppies out without a single complaint. That is phenomenal!
Continental has informed us that their rates have changed as of January 16, 2008, and it is now just as expensive to fly with them as the other airlines. In fact on some sizes of kennels, they are even higher. That's too bad, but I can understand that with the price of fuel at such a high price!
Here's the bad, bad news, Continental is also going to change how they do the reservations bit, as to changing of the date or cancelling, etc. Up until this point, one could make reservations with them up to 365 days in advance, and if one needed to change it to a different date, or say change the pickup person's address, there was no additional charge. Also, one could cancel without any penalty. The beauty of this was that a person could plan way out in the future and in our case make it much more worth our going 260 miles one way to our airport. If a change came up, we could call in and have them do the adjustments. This option was not available with any other airline because depending on which one they will not even make your reservation until 1-9 days in advance. It was so nice to be able to make plans a month or 6 weeks out and put a whole litter on a particular flight leaving Omaha.
As with most good things though, there were those that abused "the system". Because of this, Continental is making big changes. They've explained to me that many breeders, because of how smooth this worked, would call in in advance and reserve whole days' worth of reservations, or a good many at least. They would give what they call "dummy addresses and phone numbers" just to hold all of the space. Then IF their puppies sold, then they called in and changed the info to what was needed. They said that what happened was that many of the slots were not needed, and the breeders would not bother to call in to cancel their reservations. Therefore, the space was kept for people that never appeared, and no one else was allowed on, that was needing to go, and Continental would lose thousands upon thousands in a day. I can see how that could be. The hard thing is there are those of us that weren't operating that way, but of course we have to come under the new guidelines as well. Here is what they say will be changing.
They charge $100 for a change to an existing reservation for a human passenger, and they said that now it's going to apply to the live animal reservations as well. Also, they said they're still deciding if there will be a penalty for cancelling, but it's very probable. Also, in order to place reservations in the future, the person calling in, whether breeder or private individual, will have to submit his credit card info, so that if he doesn't show up, he still has to pay for the space that he had reserved.
Here's what we're up against.....the $100 deposit we required before will not even cover our loss if someone chooses to back out after we have placed a airline reservation for their puppy. Also if they need changes done, again, the money will have to come from somewhere. We will just try to be very careful to know that a specific flight plan works for the person before we ever book it, but it is important that the person we are making the arrangements for understands that this should as much as possible, be the way he expects for it to be. I think that's understood, right? Also, if we get left "holding the bag", then we'll have $150 in there to pay what we need to to the airlines, without having to pay for that which we weren't responsible of doing. I appreciate your understanding and welcome any questions. Thank you!
Important.........Please Note!! (Updated 9.8.07)
We have been forced to take another look at our "Deposit Policy". Here is what we've been faced with. Though we always do our utmost to have no losses whatsoever, in light of having close to 20 females bearing young, occasionally we lose a puppy or two. Sometimes we'll lose one during delivery, or it may be that one be such a small runt that though we handfeed him around the clock, we may still lose such a one. We don't like this, but in reality it does happen from time to time, though not often.
Also, we've found from our experience that it's extremely difficult to save a puppy that may get sick if he's under 3 weeks of age. Though we don't fail to try and give it our best, no matter if it's even just a few hours old, they are so tiny and dehydrate so quickly that it's very challenging. Then there's the situations where you have a weak or sick puppy and though you feed it every 90 minutes in just the right way, a major organ gives out and the puppy is lost. This is always hard on us and an emotional situation to have to wade through. I cannot explain how disheartening it is at times when you've worked with a puppy, sometimes for over a week, through the day and night, just to lose it. But we have saved many a puppy and we will continue to always give each one the very best chance it can have to survive. There is no way to know for sure which ones will make it. Our vet says that no matter what, when there's life there is still a chance that a puppy will pull through. There have been ones that I just "knew" there was no possibility it would get better, but I tried anyhow, just to find that the puppy was able to recover afterall! Many times it's simply the Lord answering prayer. We'll do our best, but He's the Creator of all. He can do what we can't do. :o) This is always our strength.
I'm mentioning all of this for a reason. Though we enjoy what we do with these little babies so very much, I have to admit that the load gets quite heavy sometimes. Especially in the loss of sleep, night after night. In order to have the health to continue to do as we are, I must do what I can to allieviate all unnecessary stress or I won't be able to continue to bear up under all of the responsibility. As it is, the hours are so long it amazes me. I love it though, so don't take this as a complaint. Here's what's been happening. Because of the waiting list of those waiting for puppies, usually when a litter arrives the puppies in that litter are spoken for almost immediately. I usually have individual pictures taken in a week or less and everyone knows which puppy is going to be theirs. Here's the problem. If a puppy gets sick or is even just a weaker puppy, you can lose them within hours. Sometimes, in spite of everything, we'll lose a puppy and then someone's sweet little baby that they picked out is no longer available to them. This hits people very hard and we understand that. Commonly, when someone loses their puppy(though it is still here and in my possession, and is going to be for weeks yet) I receive unreal heat and accusation over this. I've been told that they're going to see to it that I'm shut down, or that their family is standing behind them and they're going to see this through in court, etc, etc. I can not bear this strain. I know that it isn't guilt that is rightfully mine, but it still takes it's toll as I'm already trying to deal with the loss of a little one that I've spent hours working over. I do get attached to these little babies and when they pass on, as unbelievable as it may sound from a breeder, I commonly brush away tears and find it very sad. To then have people tell me that basically I'm the cause and the reason why a puppy got sick, or couldn't get well, I can't express what it is like. I realize that I can not continue to bear this. I care very much for people and their feelings and therefore when this happens, I feel like I've failed someone.
We have considered saying that we will no longer receive any deposits and will just put the puppies up for sale at about 4 weeks of age and it would just be on a first-come-first-serve basis. But then for those that are willing to wait for a coming litter, it does seem that they should have priority, especially those that are offering to send a deposit in. This has been quite a dilemma. We've decided therefore to give the following approach a try. If this isn't successful in relieving the pressure, we'll be forced to quit taking deposits as stated above. Here is how we'll do it at this point.
We will accept deposits on puppies just as we have in the past, but here are a few changes.
First of all, we will send a picture of the litter to those that have placed deposits when the puppies arrive. At one week of age, we will take individual pictures of the puppies and the selecting of the puppies will be done then according to priority. At 1 week of age the risk of sickness, etc, should be pretty well passed. If you choose to place a deposit, you are doing so knowing that yes, your place in line will be held so you still have priority in choosing. But in placing a deposit you will also be saying that you understand that this is with the understanding that we cannot guarantee that every puppy will be available for selection from a particular litter when the 1 week of time is up. Usually this will be the case, but we cannot control every single thing that could possibly happen. We sure do give it a try though!
Not everyone has added such pressure on us and we want to pause and say thank you to those that have hurt with us and not condemned us. We've needed your support and understanding.
So, it's up to you. If you want to have priority in choosing at 1 week of age, and realize that it's with the understanding that this is your puppy, unless something beyond our control transpires, that's great. This will insure that you'll have more to pick from than someone that doesn't place a deposit. In a small litter or when a lot of people are waiting, it could even mean if there is a puppy for you at all. But.....remember that other than giving it our best, we cannot guarantee that every single puppy will live. Sometimes a puppy may be born with something going on internally which cannot be seen. These are the ones that tend to be lost the first 3-4 days. We will continue to give it our best, but we just ask that you believe that to be so if you're going to place a deposit. We really, really do appreciate your understanding.
If something should happen to the puppy of your choice, we will offer you a refund, a choice of a different puppy, or to "slide" your deposit to an upcoming litter.
If you have questions, please ask. We have nothing to hide. It's just a matter of living a real life. Thank you.
Please Note......Your Deposit Is Exactly That.......
Agreement Money on the Puppy Adoption Deal.
(Added March 13, 2008)
Please read before placing deposit. Thank you.
The deposit is just that.....a deposit on the deal. This means that you're truly expecting to go through with this agreement, or you expect to forfeit your money you've placed on this deal.
We are asked this question time and again, "If I place a deposit, can I get it back if I find another puppy?" We understand the issue of money, and what it costs to live in our day, but we want to say that you should view this as your deposit....your agreement money. It should be thought of as, "If the fault lies on my side and I want to pull out of the deal then I lose my money."
We make exceptions only in these two cases.......
#1. You have placed a deposit on a particular puppy, and for some reason some unforeseen problem arises, such as an illness. We would then let you know and offer you a refund, if you wouldn't want to wait the time it takes for the puppy to recovery, or some such situation.
#2. You have placed a deposit on particular upcoming litters, making it clear that you're looking for a puppy with particular characteristics, such as one with lemon coloring, or green eyes. I'm careful to take detailed notes so that it's clear what you're expecting for the deal. If in a reasonable amount of time, a puppy fitting that description does not arrive, I see that as no fault of your own that I can't come up with what you have requested. In a case like this, I would also offer a refund.
We have found that when an adoption agreement falls through, almost everyone has requested their money back, if they choose not to go through with the agreement. There are reasons even such as, "We've spent much over Christmas and have bills.....we want our money back." I sympathize with how heavy the financial load is as we understand it all too well! The problem we're running into is this......many times, the deposit money has already been invested in vetcare or such for the doggies and we can't just real simply hand money over just because it's requested.
I desire to be fair and honest and will endeavor to run our puppy business that way, but please understand that in placing your deposit, you understand that it is non-refundable, except for the above 2 reasons. Thank you.
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