"You Call Yourself a Breeder" Part 1: What an Experience!
© 2004 Maureen Laughlan

The advertisement looks good. You double checked the copy. The layout is a work of art. The pictures are precious. Now you are ready to submit the payment and start the selling process.

Yes, those adorable little bundles of fluff that have been racing through your home, keeping you up at night, tearing up the furniture, eating you out of house and home, and peeing up a tropical storm are finally old enough to head out. Soon they will become the responsibility of someone else. You just need to find the right buyer. Yes, the ad looks good so you must be ready to set the price and let them go.

Wait a minute. You didn't put the price in the ad. Is that important? How much should you charge? After all, there were considerable costs in producing this litter and maybe you should make a little profit. You didn't use your own stud dog this time, so you did have to pay the stud fee. Wow, you sure think the owner of the stud dog charged too much for that one when he wasn't that good anyway. At least they lived near by and that saved you the cost of shipping your girl. Gee whiz, imagine if you had to add airfare and boarding costs into this equation. Wait a minute! What about the cost of food? Those puppies cost a fortune to feed; especially when the dog food was added on the grocery bill, but at least it was cheaper buying it there than from the pet stores. Oh, don't forget to add the veterinarian fees. Weren't they atrocious? Why did the vet have to examine the puppies before he gave them the inoculation? After all, you live with them day in and day out, so you would be the first to notice if something wasn't right, wouldn't you? Well at least they are purebred dogs and that should command a much healthier price that those mutts and cross breeds that the store sells. Here is another consideration. You should at least get more that you originally paid for your girl, shouldn't you? Inflation alone should these babies worth more than you paid for her all those years ago. Oh my gosh, what about the registration fees? The new buyer may want to breed these puppies, and they will insist that you register them. Well you can always handle that problem when it arises. You have seen ads that say puppies that go with breeding rights command higher dollars. Hmm-maybe the registration idea is a good angle.

You should do one last check, of the other ads, to make sure you haven't forgotten anything? Wow! Look at all the nonsense and wasted words in those other ads-talk about more expense! What is all that stuff about temperament, size, health, genetic testing, warranties, intelligence, champions, lines, breed instincts, puppy testing, and qualified buyers. Aren't all puppies just perfect anyway? Clean them up and who would know if they were not great anyway? Aren't they all so sweet and cuddly looking?

The ad just has to draw the initial attention. As soon as you can get someone through the door you know they will be hooked as a buyer. Just bring on the cash and get these hellions out of here!