Yes, Suze, I do blame the buyers as well as the sellers. Do you think I was treated
differently when I went looking for my first show quality Cavalier? I wasn't - and I
came from an extensive and successful background in the dog world. None of the
Cavalier people cared...when I went to my first club shows I felt like I had a sign on
me that read "AKC person." I didn't have such a sign and was, in fact, very happy
that the breed was NOT recognized by the AKC. In time I think most people accepted
that. The club thing is not an issue with
me.
It was difficult to get a good puppy in the States then, and it still is. But I
do not believe anyone is forced to enter into the kind of contracts wherein the
breeder gets a bunch of money up front and then dozens of puppies back, with the buyer
paying stud fees and all expenses, etc. There are alternatives...as Dave proved, and
as Lauren Nikaci proved as well. I don't know how far those two individuals searched,
but they did do some searching. (Just using them as examples, there are undoubtedly
others around who refused to buy dogs
with strings attached.)
As you said, when you begin you don't always know what direction you will want to
head in insofar as pedigrees and bloodlines are concerned...therefore, why would a
person without that kind of knowledge be so set on buying from a particular person or
kennel that they had to sign their lives away just to get a dog from the "one and
only" source? It might be different if, after a few years, the buyer realized "oops,
I've made a poor start, what I really want is dogs like Whoever has....." and then be
willing to give up autonomy over a dog
just to have the bloodline or a particular dog. But to do so in the very beginning,
especially with someone who is virtually a stranger, well, the saying Caveat Emptor
is well founded, isn't it?
Yes, almost all my Cavaliers leave here with a contract...and the terms are
discussed with the buyers in detail beforehand. I did sell one on trust with a verbal
agreement and a handshake, and that arrangement has gone down the tubes as far as I'm
concerned. I sold a show-quality bitch for a pet price with the agreement that I
could purchase back a puppy at the same price...that one is lost to me forever, I
fear. My fault, her gain.
Some people also let you have the dog and later you find out that they have all
sorts of requirements that were not mentioned up front. Those people wouldn't dare
have a written contract.
If the terms of the contract require giving up control of the dog the buyer is
spending money on, then the buyer shouldn't buy it. If the buyer just has to have the
dog, then whose fault is it that they signed the contract?
You won't get a lecture on patience from me--I'm the most impatient person on
earth, as the people who know me well can tell you. However, as a dog person I stand
by my opinion that if you sign a contract, you ought to read it first, and if the
breeder isn't truly selling you the dog then it is your fault, not theirs, that you
went ahead with it. I adore my dogs, every one, including my funny little pets that
can't be shown or bred, and yes, I have them. Like many Cavalier owners, I have too
many dogs, too. But I don't have any, not one,
that I owe people puppies back on, and the only dog I know of that I have any right to
puppies back from is one for whom I GAVE a dear friend a co-ownership. She didn't ask
for it, either.
You asked if I wanted people to shop for bargains, and I don't know where you came
up with that idea.....I did not discuss money at all. My point is and was that it is
wrong to blame only the seller......contracts are signed by both the seller and the
buyer. The buyer has to take some of the responsibility for entering into a contract
that is basically a pyramid scheme. Obviously, not everyone breeding Cavaliers sells
them on those terms, and equally obviously, not everyone buying Cavaliers buys them on
those terms. Yes, there are people
who only sell that way, and so long as people keep buying from them, they'll continue
to do it. If there's no market for puppies sold with major strings on them, then
those people will either stop breeding so much (because the people who breed the most
are the ones who sell that way, usually) or stop selling with all those strings.
It's no surprise to anyone that I have very strong opinions. I believe that it is
possible to purchase wonderful Cavaliers without signing away your rights to do with
them as you will.
As far as mentoring goes, I mentor people and I have been and still am mentored by
others...one's choices of mentor (god, I hate that word) should be very carefully
made. It is difficult to try to help someone who is constantly arguing about
everything.
Peggy
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