Breeding Contracts

[summercricks]

I was wondering if I want to breed my dog in the future only once or maybe possibly twice should I get a contract for those puppies. This is no where in the near future but was curious on what those that only breed a couple times do.

[marbury]

I'm not even going to touch on the question of whether or not you *should* be breeding your dogs, I'll leave that to other folks. But if you find yourself in the position of needing to responsibly place puppies it should ALWAYS be done with a very tight contract, one that has provisions to ensure that there is no breeding done with the puppies (spay/neuter contract or other methods) and that the dog can and will be repossessed if the buyer attempts to re-sell or mistreat your pup. Be ready to have the entire litter back in your lap in a worse-case scenario; if you can't imagine having a house with 14 adult returned GSDs then that will feed right back into the 'should you breed your dog' question.

[summercricks]

ok thank you I was just wondering. Breeding her is a decision I will make down the road but I was just wondering if that is something I should have if I ever do breed her.

[Liesje]

If I were to ever breed my dog(s), my "contract" would probably be nothing more than a written bill of sale, mostly for my own record-keeping.

[Lucy Dog]

As a breeder, what would you like to include in that contract? Anything specific or are you just trying to look more official?

[Castlemaid]

Originally Posted by cliffson1

Sounds to me like the OP has an open mind and is willing to listen to experienced people's opinion - these kind of posts don't help in anyway and can be quite insulting and demeaning.

[summercricks]

Just to make sure the puppy is being taken care of and record keeping. I never bred anything more than a litter of coonhounds before and I had nothing more than a bill of sale but coonhounds and GSDs are two total different types of dogs and for the most part different but great people.

[Lucy Dog]

Originally Posted by summercricks

Just to make sure the puppy is being taken care of and record keeping. I never bred anything more than a litter of coonhounds before and I had nothing more than a bill of sale but coonhounds and GSDs are two total different types of dogs and for the most part different but great people.

The best advice I can give you is that most educated puppy buyers are probably looking more at the dog (pedigree, health checks, titles) and the breeder's experience and expertise than a piece of paper with a few signatures at the bottom.

[4TheDawgies]

I think contracts are extremely important! I can't tell you how many people get MAD though that someone would dare put a contract on a dog. Some people even refuse to buy a dog they are attached to because of it.

Those are people you don't want to buy your dogs anyways.

I think if you don't have experience breeding shepherds you should consider that they are a very complex breed with many things that need to be evaluated and tested before you even consider breeding a dog.

I would recommend you look into the things that you should do and test for in your dog to prove it has the "goods" to be breed worthy.

[martemchik]

Yeah a contract is a heavily United States type of thing where everyone wants a warranty on everything they buy, so breeders made contracts that would guarantee the dog's health. Most buyers (even novice ones) will look for a contract with a breeder since many breeders offer one and if you call 5 different breeders you're bound to run into at least one (if not all) that will offer a contract guaranteeing something. So, in an open market, the contract looks like a benefit to have for the buyer. On the breeder side, there is usually something in there about abuse and the breeder having the right to take the dog away, and then if for any reason you can't take care of the dog, the breeder gets the chance to take it back and find it another home.

What you have to ask yourself is how involved do you want to be? Will you take the dogs back if anything happens to the owners? Are you capable of taking care of that many dogs? Do you want the legal liability that comes with having a contract? If you don't want all that headache, then don't provide a contract, but that will show potential buyers that there are other, possibly better, breeders out there and who knows if they would purchase from you.

Breeding is complicated, but the economics behind it are even more complicated. The price, quality, contract/guarantee, and future liability is so intertwined that its not just thinking about a contract, but everything that comes with it. For someone that plans on only doing 2 breedings, how will you replace a puppy if it develops HD or another genetic disease? There are so many more things to think about when it comes to breeding, you should really meet a breeder and get some advice from them, or go through a "breeding cycle" with them and see everything that happens from planning a litter, to having a litter, to always having responsibility for that litter (10-14 years).

I'm not saying that a contract is required, but in my mind, most responsible homes will expect one in this day and age. And when they can go 10 minutes away and probably find a breeder that offers one, you have to ask yourself why would they pick your puppies?