I thought I had finally settled the "deposit" debate in my own head until today. I used to require a 200.00 deposit to go onto the waiting list and never had any problem with that other than my conscience. It didn't feel completely right to take that deposit before a dog was even pregnant but at the same time, I would not want to plan a breeding without knowing I had some good homes that were committed to purchasing the pet puppies in the litter.

After more than a decade of requiring deposits to go onto the list, I decided to stop accepting them until I had confirmed a pregnancy or at least bred the bitch. So for my litter this year, I assembled a waiting list without accepting a single deposit.

Well I haven't had a litter now in about a year and a half but had one planned for this summer. Long story short it was a miss and I emailed the people on my waiting list to tell them it didn't work out this time but I would be trying again at the next heat. So far today I have heard back from seven people and I have 5 people ask to be taken off the list because they either already found a puppy somewhere else or didn't want to wait another six months, 1 person asked to stay on the list, and 1 said they would look for another puppy but wanted to stay on the list in case they didn't find one before mine was ready. These were all VERY well screened, good homes. I am speechless. How many would have backed out even if the breeding had been successful?

I am wondering if others who do not accept deposits before starting a waiting list are finding the same thing happening to them and even if those who do accept deposits have found this? Is it the economy or is this what you have to deal with when you don't get to screen out the people who are still shopping around before you put them onto your waiting list. I cringe when I think of what kind of pickle I would be in if this litter had happened and all the wonderful families that I have referred to other breeders because my waiting list was already so full.

I do not take deposits at the time of going on my reserve list. Once I breed then I ask for their small deposit and just hold the check till puppies are born and I see what I have.Then if i do not have what they reserved I can just send their check back to them. I have very few people back out over the last few litters no one changed their minds. I see no difference today than 2 years ago. Still good!

In my mind, deposit or no deposit, a year and a half or more is a long time to expect people to wait for a puppy unless it's a show/performance person waiting for a particular breeding.

I make a list, only take a deposit when pups are here and know I have what the family wants. They seem to be so excited to find a litter, but you go back when the pups are here and half of them have found a pup. When they e-mail you they have also talked with several others. I find this more and more being done as of late. We all have web pages, they go out shopping alot. Some hate to wait.

I think people are "more get it now" society. People don't want to wait for any thing. Look at the credit card business.

I make a list but no deposits until after pups are born.

Michelle

Nobody was on my waiting list for this last year and a half. I just haven't had a litter for that long. I haven't had a waiting list this whole time. Just in the last 6-7 months or so.

Generally I have found waiting lists to be more trouble than they are worth. People change their minds, get a puppy from someplace else, just don't even get back to you on a timely basis one way or the other, we just dropped making one all together. We now take a limited number of deposits once we do a breeding and then fill in once the babies are born. I just tell folks that we are planning on doing a breeding somewhere around........, I ask them to check our website and it will tell once we start taking deposits.
This really works well for us, anyway.

What an excellent idea! Thank you Gregg! That sounds like it would alleviate a lot of headaches and save hours and hours of my time. Sometimes the most simple solutions are right in front of our faces yet they escape us. That is what I love about this forum and being able to put a problem out there for people to respond. Thanks so much everyone for your responses and especially to you Gregg for solving my dilemma!

I would never keep people on the hook for that long. I think thats just rude. I take deposits once mine are on the ground.

When I do a breeding I start a list and when they are born, I start calling them. Then I take deposits once the puppies are past their first few days. I keep two back for myself, and sell one off later usually. If I have more puppies than buyers I put an announcement on my website. I don't ever have problems selling them all by 4 weeks of age.

I now do my deposits like Gregg.
However I am considering going back to the way I did it in NY. When i had a litter due I talk to people and put them on a list so I can refer to it later. I give everyone a date several days post whelp to call. (after 10am) It is then on a first call first gets their choice. (except repeat customers who come first). By the end of the week they usually were all sold. I once had a litter sold in 2 hours.
Just a thought.

We did ours similar to Gregg. But I didn't start taking names until the pups were born. I had a few interested, and I called them when the pups were here, but I didn't take deposits until they came and looked at the puppies. These folks were already prescreened by the time they saw the pups.

Again, a year or a year and a half is a long time to wait for a pet puppy. You say you haven;t had a list--just in the last 6-7 months. So they waited 6 months and no puppy and you expect them to wait 6 more for her to come in heat and be bred again and then 9 weeks for pups to be born and 8 weeks til they go home. That's almost a year and a half. I have had people wait for me like that but most do not and I don't expect them to. I refer them to friends who might have a pup sooner. What would a deposit have done? Surely you would not keep a deposit when you had a miss.

Wow,I'm actually kind of surprised. I only take a deposit and never have people back out before the litter is born...you'd THINK with a 0 they would be even more committed, so I'm as shocked as you.

Waiting lists give me a " Warm Fuzzy" feeling but I don't get too excited until the families come out to our home and meet myself and our dogs. Those who come out to meet me and our dogs get put at the top of our waiting list then when the pups are born, I contact all the people on the waiting list and give them 4 or 5 days to get their deposit sent in.

I hate hanging onto people's deposits as it is. I have found myself in a situation where I took the deposit after meeting them..post the pups being born. Then as time goes on, I am finding out bits and pieces of information from the people that sends up red flags. Now, I have either cashed the deposit or I have to figure out a diplomatic way of giving them back their deposit.
I almost would rather not take any deposits at all and just have the people pay me when they come to pick up their puppy. I figure if they are committed to adopting one of our puppies, they will do it with a deposit or without.
We've had some people insist on giving me a deposit once they came out to meet the dam in whelp. I told them I would rather not take a deposit and told them not to worry, they won't lose their position in line for a puppy.
This winter we had a couple come out before I bred our girl. They kept changing their mind on what color they wanted during the course of the pregnancy and post whelping. Meanwhile, all these other families had come out to see the pups and gave a deposit. This couple never did come out again and only wanted to come out to pick out his puppy on the day of adoption. He said he was too busy at work and home to come visit the pups while they were growing up. Finally I gave this man back his deposit and explained that I didn't feel he would have time to put into raising a puppy if he couldn't even drive 20 minutes to our house to make his selection when the pups were 7 weeks old so the other families in line could figure out which puppy they wanted.
One person can really throw you a curve ball during the process of deposits and commiting to a certain puppy.

Lyndy -- I do it the way you do. I take names then call them after the litter is born to see if they are still interested. Yes, many will drop off but I've had people stay on the list as long as 2 years as they want one of my pups and are willing to wait. I tell everyone upfront that pick male and pick female is reserved for me. I don't take a deposit until I'm sure I have a puppy for someone as I only breed once every 2 years or so. (I'm busy competing and having fun with my girls which is my primary purpose for having them so don't want to take them out of competition for 4 months or more to have a litter.) I can see if you were breeding more often that you might take deposits but I know I wouldn't have anything for them for a couple of years and it's not fair to hold on to their money. I've been getting tons of calls (2 today alone) in the past months but no pups here so usually I screen them and pass them on to someone else as I can tell who is willing to wait and who isn't.
Deb

I have not read the other responses to you, so perhaps I am repeating what others have said. I can not even imagine taking a deposit from someone, and then finding out there are no puppies, and then expect these people to wait for another litter. There is no question they would get their deposit back in this situation, unless they wish to remain on a list for another litter. That being said, there is no way I would take a deposit before the pups are born, and alive for at least a week.

I don’t take deposits or even hold a waiting list. I have had too many things go wrong over the years and I find it very stressful when I have a bunch of puppy buyers to deal with when I’ve just had a breeding disaster. I usually wait until the pups are about 4 weeks old and then if I need to I will put the litter on my web site. I also do similar to Gregg and tell inquiries that I’m planning a litter at such and such a time please feel free to call me back if they are still looking.