Emily the breeders of the wonderful gundogs I saw doing a very impressive display in Scotland send their dogs all over the world, not just as gundogs but companions, service and assistance dogs. They are in Perthshire and have the most beautiful fox reds as well as black.
You're right that I probably shouldn't assume that a US breeder wouldn't want a dog going to Germany. I imagine it just depends on the breeder, same as the UK. I know dogs fly in the hold all the time and all comes out just fine. But things also can go wrong and I don't want to start my relationship with my puppy by putting him alone in a scary place where I can't protect him for 12+ hours. It's just a personal hard line for me. Regardless, the main issue with opening up the US as an option is that it's very far away and would be logistically much more difficult to manage than the UK. If not the UK, then Germany (or Italy/France/Austria) would be the next best option for me.
That bodes well for my trip up north, then. If you remember the name of the kennel, could you PM me? Though I think I was able to (maybe) figure it out already due to the magic of Google. Important to keep in mind that I've only run across this issue of "not outside the UK" a couple times - we're not talking a large sample size here. And I do actually really respect breeders who give this as a reason - they want to be able to keep track of their puppies and be close enough to help if any problems arise. I get that!
I had "not for breeding outside the UK" happen a few times, including with "my" breeder, but that's not a problem to me. The worst thing by far is not being able to open lines of communication with them. It's SO frustrating!
Yeah, this is the killer. Coupled with the fact that where I am has zero mobile reception, which means I can't even say, "Please call me back on this number" because I can't receive a phone call, only call out using my computer and Skype. The lead I'm most excited about has been even more daunting. He wants me to text him after dark one number, then he'll text me back to let me know that I can then call him (maybe) later in the evening on another number. I can't text or receive a text without getting in my car and driving down the hill where my reception works again. Seriously, smoke signals would be more effective at this point. And I've got to be honest, I really hate cold-calling people, which has literally been the only thing that has worked. I've been trying the softly-softly approach by first emailing and being super polite (you know, "When may I call on you?" blah, blah) but the reality is the only people I've actually connected to are ones that I've just gotten fed up with and ambushed via cold call. Which I don't think really works in the long run, as it's just awkward for everyone and my story (American from Germany in the UK looking for a dog) sounds even nuttier by phone than in a carefully-worded and explained email. To steal one of your famous words, @snowbunny , I'm a "rubbish" puppy hunter.
Calling first is definitely the way to go. And you're not cold calling - you're not selling anything! You want to provide a wonderful, experienced, lifelong home for a puppy. Any breeder in their right mind should be jumping at the chance. If I had a litter you'd be top of my list!
Thanks, this is helpful for me to think of it this way. But I do feel like I'm selling myself/my qualifications as a prospective puppy mom! Thanks for the ego boost - now if I can just find a breeder who feels the same way.
Thanks - I can ring out just fine, just no one can ring me back. I'm only here until Thursday, though - hopefully my next UK location will be mobile-friendly.
A little update (and promise again that Pongo pics are coming) - I've abandoned my email strategy and have taken to phone ambushes. This seems to work better, so I'm feeling more encouraged. Plus a gentleman with what was possibly a very strong Scottish or Cumbrian accent told me that MY accent was charming. We could barely understand each other over the phone, but it was a lovely conversation nonetheless. But my real update is that I have a date on Friday to go visit Toby (aka Alf), my Bodeguero foster from this spring in Spain. I'm so excited! Happy dance, happy dance!!!
So happy you're going to see him, Emily! Even though he wasn't the right dog for your needs I always hoped deep down that you might end up keeping him
Yeah, even though he's right where he should be now, I also wish I would have/could have kept him. I will always have a huge soft spot for Bodegueros thanks to Mr. Tobes.
There was a quick visit to the Beanwood pack yesterday for supper and cuddles...and err... a NEW game Basically, you all have a cushion...and you sit on it. Benson does everything in his repertoire of tricks to encourage you to unstick from the said cushion. For every cushion lost a point for Benson. The scores as follows Marcus 1 Benson 1, Kate 3 Benson 0, Emily 0, Benson 6! ...or something like that...
In my defence, Benson is VERY good at this game! I'm completely knackered (see how I'm picking up the local lingo?) but just got into my hotel after a wonderful visit with Toby - who I am finally thinking of as "Alf", his forever name. Catriona is a lovely lady, Alf is healthy and happy and I have a new supercrush on their other dog, Toby (yes, that's confusing that Catriona's other dog is named Toby!). I will write more later, but we went for a long walk, all OFF leash and Alf only tried to kill 10% of the bicycles and bite 5% of the joggers, which I thought was rather fabulous progress. He also did great with all the dogs he met, which certainly wasn't a given back in Spain. He seemed more relaxed than he did in Spain, though he is still very high energy and still can be rather cheeky. He wanted NOTHING to do with me, though he eventually did let me pet him and played a big of tug with me. Yes, I was hoping for a warm reception, but I was actually expecting what I received...the cold shoulder. This has consistently happened to me with fosters who were particularly attached to me (and to whom I was particularly attached). Catriona felt badly about it, but I told her my theory: that the dog associates me with change and once they are in their forever homes, they are NOT so happy to see someone who could threaten their place in the family they now love. What I've found is that if I'm able to do a second or third post-adoption visit, then I get the full-on adoration greeting. So that means I just have to go visit Alf again. Of course I took lots of photos and hopefully now that I'm officially on holiday I'll have some time to get Alf (AND poor neglected Pongo) up. On my way to sunny California tomorrow. Straight from the airport to my favourite Mexican restaurant. Chile relleno, mole and pico de gallo...here I come!
