# Will your Breeder take back your Dog?



## Megora

Yes... all the breeders we've dealt with except the first (he was a byb) had it in their contract that their dogs would come back to them. 

I'd prefer not to mention the kennel names.


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## Ninde'Gold

It was never discussed, but I am assuming no. Honestly, if I had to give up my dog I'd place him with a family member over the "breeder" anyway.

This forum has opened my eyes widely to how to research for a good breeder, I feel confident that my next puppy is coming from a great place  

Tucker was my first dog ever (never even had a family dog growing up) so I have learned A LOT.


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## HiTideGoldens

Our two have that clause in their contracts. Our third potential puppy has that in the agreement as well. I think it's very important for a breeder to take responsibility for all dogs they have brought into the world should their owners not be able to/not want to care for them anymore.


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## AmberSunrise

Casey came from a PetStore so, no there is no contract.
Faelan has the return to breeder clause (Windrush Goldens).
Towhee has the return to breeder clause (Sunfire Goldens).

While I sincerely hope I never have to use the clauses, I know for a fact that Lisa and Barb would be knocking at my door if need be to make sure their dogs were properly cared for and while they might let family members keep Towhee or Faelan, I know they have taken dogs back without qualms as needed. 

Casey BTW will be loved by my brother if anything happens to me; and the brother who is in my will might have an argument with the brother I live with about taking him (Casey hangs with the brother I live with until he leaves for 2nd shift work and they adore each other) LOL - they would work it out, I'm sure.


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## Shalva

All of my breeders would take my dogs back in an emergency no question asked.... I will take back (and have taken back) any of my puppies... no questions asked.


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## Sally's Mom

Every dog that I have purchased has that clause. And to date, I have taken back 3 dogs... and quite frankly, they ended up in better homes the second time around(Game Boy has one).


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## Sally's Mom

And I might add, that I am grateful that that clause was honored by the first owners. Not everyone would've been as honest.


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## Gwen

Sally's Mom said:


> And I might add, that I am grateful that that clause was honored by the first owners. Not everyone would've been as honest.


I know of a breeder who co-owns all of her puppies to avoid any transfer of paperwork to another without her consent. This breeder is also very concerned about any of her puppies ending up in China!


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## Pemphredo

MY puppy was a $20, "buy 1 get 1 free", oops litter, BYB puppy. They just wanted the litter gone. there was no contract at all. I know though I will in the future be getting another GR and it will be from a good breeder I will have researched FIRST. You live you learn.... How ever my puppy may have only cost me $20 from the "breeder" but the vet bills have added up to WAY more then that just to get her healthy. SO......


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## Jamm

Well Gwen you know my breeder  So yea we have the same agreement with Joey. If we are unable to care for him, she will take him back and find a new home. BUT THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN<33


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## ILoveMyGolden

Yep, same with us! Fin's breeder would take Fin back no problem if we have a short term emergency, vacation, or permanently.


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## Debles

Both our breeder's have that in their contracts. Huntleigh and Sandhill's. I also know Sasha's sire's(Stoney) owner Pat Quinn would take Sasha if something happened to us.


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## Red the super dog

i voted not sure, only because if there was a defect with our dog, she would 100% take him back, no matter how long we have had him.. like if in a year it turns out he has 1 kidney, ect.. but as far as returning him if we just didnt want him any more. i dont know. we didnt talk about it. or if we did, i just dont remember. i looked over the contract and i dont see anything about it.
i do know if we needed her to board him she would, she boards the dogs she "made". i could call her to ask. she said i could call her with any questions, or just to say hi and tell her how our puppy is doing.
my breeder was Tranquility Golden's, in Georgetown NY. she is an awesome lady and i would 100% go back to her to get another dog. all of her dogs are so beautiful and so well taken care of, and she is a beautiful person too.


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## Megora

One thing I meant to add, but there may be some breeders out there who have this in their contract - but they never keep in touch with the owners. Or they themselves are so loose with how they place the dogs, that... probably would lead to the these owners giving their beloved pets to rescue groups instead of going back to the breeders. 

It's something I've been thinking about as far as Jacks' breeder. I liked them and felt comfortable buying a puppy from them. And I must emphasize that they were a cazillion times more organized and efficient than the hobby breeders we got our previous two goldens from. 

But they did not really screen us when we bought Jacks. My mom and I volunteered all the information that we felt was very important for the breeder to know and would help them guide us to the right litter. They did not make us fill out any questionaires, they did not take down our veterinary contact information... none of that. 

It was fine as far as buying a puppy from them because we knew we were good owners and we wanted Jacks. But I would be completely sick and terrified handing my dog into that situation. 

It's a moot point because I would never ever ever ever surrender any of my animals. That would be akin to carving out my heart and trying to walk away without it.


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## BajaOklahoma

The friend who helped me find both Bennett and Banker passed away this Fall.
She has/had two Goldens who were to stay with her son, in her house. Maggie was 14 and beginning to fail, Maestro is 5ish. 
Maggie's breeder tried to enforce the contract requiring her return, which the family did as they tried work with the breeder. The breeder was going to keep her in a kennel, far from her life as a spoiled/beloved Golden with my friend. It was a long two weeks to get her back home. She passed away in her sleep this Saturday.

This really made me rethink the contract I have with my breeder. I plan to talk with her soon about this. My children are grown and are wiling to take care of my herd - and I am leaving a trust for their needs to paid.


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## Gwen

Jamm said:


> Well Gwen you know my breeder  So yea we have the same agreement with Joey. If we are unable to care for him, she will take him back and find a new home. BUT THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN<33


Yeah, Connie!

Hey, Jamila, you might join a group of worshipers who travel to China and want you to take Joey because he looks like a tasty morsel :doh::doh: Connie would not let Joey go to China  lol


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## Riverangel

My breeder would have taken River back. Unfortunately she passed away when River was just over 8 weeks old. I guess this makes that part of my contract null and void. No worries here...River has lots of family to spoil her as much as I do if anything happens to me.


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## Oakley&SegersMom

My question is purely one of ignorance, so please no offense intended. When you speak of " the breeder" is it exclusively in reference to the person who owns the mother of the litter? Carol


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## CarolinaCasey

Our contracts states the breeder will take back the puppy at any time, for any reason.


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## Deber

Yes for our female (it is in our contract), but because we are older I typed up a Clause that states if we cannot care for her our younger daughter would take her first. No for our male. He was from a family breeder (1 litter for grown children) and the contract is minimal. 

Strange in that the breeder of our female e-mails regularly and seems to eagerly want to know how she is doing. Males birth family has not answered any of my e-mails, nor asked about him when we see each other.


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## AmberSunrise

Oakley&SegersMom said:


> My question is purely one of ignorance, so please no offense intended. When you speak of " the breeder" is it exclusively in reference to the person who owns the mother of the litter? Carol


Traditionally yes. The contracts are usually with the owner of the dam. However, my Faelan's breeder is also the owner of my Towhee's sire and she also stays in contact with all of the owners that she knows of her dog's pups.

And, the breeding contracts that I have had stated the stud dogs' owners wanted to know who the pups were, who owned them and that they (the stud dogs owner) be added as a return contact if the need ever arose. in the puppy's contract.


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## Gwen

Oakley&SegersMom said:


> My question is purely one of ignorance, so please no offense intended. When you speak of " the breeder" is it exclusively in reference to the person who owns the mother of the litter? Carol


The breeder, as listed on your CKC registration, is the one who has the mother and sells you the puppy. The bitch might be co-owned meaning that both owners would have to authorize the registration of the puppies with CKC. No offense taken!


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## Mileysmom

My breeder has this policy but Miley would never go back to her. I co-owned her with Beechwood Goldens and sadly found the breeder to be uncooperative with me both with giving me Miley's clearances and when she was returned to me she refused to pay for a vet bill that was included in the whelping contract. I also know she took back a pup diagnosed with "awful" hips then turned around & sold it to another person. Her breeding practices lately are not worthy of me referring anyone to her..it was very devastating for me to see & find out the truth of this person who I totally trusted and later built many 
new relationships with several woman who purchased pups from her. I have made it a point to keep in touch with 4 of the people who purchased Miley's pups & so far..so good.
And I spent many hours researching AKC breeders to choose the best one possible and just because they are listed and belong to the Golden Retriever Clubs pls dont think, like I did, that they are "good" breeders. Most are....some are not.


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## Sally's Mom

Mileysmom,
So sorry to hear that. At least Miley is loved by you!


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## Jige

Yes I have that agreement with my boys breeder if my son and sister can not care for him if I should die or something. BaWaaJige came from TopFilght Kennels in WI.

I was just talking to my sister about this the other day. I told her that if something happened to me to please put Vendetta down and if you feel you can not take care BaWaaJige he is to go back to the breeder.


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## Dexter12

Our breeder said that if we ever couldn't take care of Dex for any reason, they'd take him back 100 percent and help rehome him.


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## cgriffin

Yep, have a clause in the contract, that the breeder/owner gets contacted first if trying to rehome the pup. But, I would never ever part with any of my dogs for whatever reason.


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## goldensrbest

Would you honor the contract, if you had to give a dog up, if you did not trust your breeder?


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## MikaTallulah

I have lost contact with Cozy's breeder she relocated due to family illness but contract said in would need to. Unable to find Buddy's breeder.

I did write with all of Cozy's puppies in the contract they would come back to me if unable to keep.


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## MikaTallulah

goldensrbest said:


> Would you honor the contract, if you had to give a dog up, if you did not trust your breeder?


Why would you purchase from a breeder you don't trust?


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## Wyatt's mommy

Our first golden......yes. Second no. However he would not have gone back to the breeder. He would have stayed in our family. And being co-owned would be out of the question. My dogs are family members not a piece of property.


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## cgriffin

Good point, my dogs would go to family if anything ever happened to my husband and I. They are not property to us either. So, I would not honor the contract, but I am not in contact with my breeder anyway. 
My point earlier was that yes, I have a clause in the contract. But, the only way my dogs could not be with me, would be, if I died.


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## goldensrbest

mikatallulah said:


> why would you purchase from a breeder you don't trust?


 i did not know him,at the time.


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## mooselips

Yes, if a catastrophe happens, our Bridget can go back to the breeder.

She is Judy Mervar, from Mervar kennel in Youngstown.
I trust her to look after my Bridget if something should, (God forbid) happen...


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## Megora

Just to show the flip side of this, I was sitting down and talking to somebody at obedience class last night. She owns a dobie - sweetest little girl. I noticed that she's been very protective of this dog and will not do anything in "open" with her. I asked her why, assuming that it was hip dysplasia. 

From what I gather from our conversation, this woman was the breeder of the dobie. She'd placed the dog in what should have been a good home, but as it turned out the owner took on longer hours at work and the dog spent the majority of her developing time sitting in a crate. This would be 8+ hours just sitting in a crate all the time instead of being out and developing muscles and strong bones.

The owner reached a point where she realized that she was not a good home for this dog and returned her to the breeder.

When the breeder got this dog she was a complete mess and in bad shape. There is something wrong with her back and it's pretty advanced. Worse than that, she was undersocialized and fearful of everything when she came back to the breeder. 

This breeder is an accomplished trainer and managed to get this dog back to the point where she has more self-confidence and gets on fine with people and other dogs. Last night at class, for example, she really was flirting with my guy. He loves being sniffed and licked by other dogs and stood there soaking it in as she snuffled his ears and licked his face. <- From the sounds of it, she has come a LONG way since she was that gangly gimpy dog who would walk around cowering and defensive. 

^ I do think that this is why the "return to breeder" clause is there, and definitely if that were my guy's breeder - I would not be anxious about his welfare giving him back to her.


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## Capt Jack

Indian Neck Kennels-As matter of fact I spoke with William a few days ago.When I told how I got Jack (Craigslist I didn't know any better at the time) he was furious at first.He said the puppy should have come back to him.But after we talked for about 20 mins. he said he could tell he had a good home. I told him if he got any older pups back to call me.


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## MikaTallulah

goldensrbest said:


> i did not know him,at the time.


How do you not know the breeder if you got a puppy from them ?


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## goldensrbest

MikaTallulah said:


> How do you not know the breeder if you got a puppy from them ?


 Simple, they live in another state, we did phone calls, e mails.


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## MikaTallulah

goldensrbest said:


> Simple, they live in another state, we did phone calls, e mails.


Oooh. :doh: Now I get it. You bought site unseen-Literally

I'm too anal for that to ever work for me. I would always fear the worse.


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## cgriffin

When I picked out my golden pup Toby in 2003, the breeder told me about a dog that was returned to her after 8 years. She had sold the pup to somebody who had promised to show him. These people apparently had health issues to deal with and gave the dog to somebodyelse instead of back to the breeder. Well, the new owner of the dog tied him to a tree and left him there for many years. When something happened to that owner, family members stepped in, found the paperwork on the dog and contacted the breeder. She gladly took him back, had him treated for heartworms etc. I guess this is another case where the contract clause comes in handy and that is why this clause is in contracts.


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## Aislinn

Neither of my Goldens could go back to their breeders, Katie's a rescue and Dakota is pretty much, too. With my own litters, not Goldens, I require any dog not kept by the original buyer must be returned to me. I also require Christmas cards with pictures. Most of my buyers have sent yearly pictures, which I love and it's a way to keep in contact. In twenty years I've had three dogs returned. One just died today. He came back from an experienced obedience person who used too harsh a method on him, even after promising not to. (He'd been pointed and was to have been shown as well.) I gave the dog, then a year old and afraid of his own shadow, to a young college girl who had grown up doing 4H and then to herding and obedience. She worked slowly with him, regained his trust and put a MACH on him.


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## NancyLu

*Will breeder take back dog*

My breeder had it in her agreement but when my GR developed HD at eight months she hedged. She did say she would take her back but my attorney told me that she would probably put her down. It was a moot point because I was so in love with her that there was no way I was going to give her back. She was a part of our family!!! No regrets here!


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## Phillyfisher

Yep! But she will never get him!


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## SterlingValleyGoldens

Any reputable breeder should have it in their contract that they will take a dog back for any reason. This would be a huge red flag to me if they didn't!


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## Luci

Yup! Heather (Arcane Golden's) would take Lucy back in a heartbeat. Helps that Lucy looks like her momma quite a bit and has an awesome personality to boot!  lol, but that's neither here nor there, she would take Lucy back if we needed her to or any other pup she's bred. Heather has taken dogs back and helped to rehome them as needed.


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## janababy

Our breeder is even told us that if my Husband and I transferred ownership to one of my children, she wanted to know about it. She wants is on record where the care lies for her dogs. She also works with golden retriever recovery, and has seen too many horrible situations with dogs that are not properly looked after.


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