Does anyone know of a nice and "to the point" link for people to read prior to visiting litters? Looking for something that outlines how long visits should last, rules for children, and if they have other dogs w/ them or at home, etc. I just hate to act like the police but it seems like common sense and courtesy has gone out the window.

I usually outline my expectations in an e-mail as I'm I arranging the date/time for a visit. Wrote something up once and just copy and paste. Really stress that children will not be able to hold the pups unless they are sitting down on the floor, etc.

I like to see families come cold with out instructions. That give me a view of what they are all about. Anything I can use to know who these people are and if they are the right fit for one of my puppies.
I leave my house dogs out when they come in so I can see how everyone reacts. If kids scream and parent panic, maybe they should get a hamster.

I am laughing at Bonnie's "maybe they should get a hamster" :).

After having too many families stay over an hour, I now give them 1/2 hour time slots to choose from. If they are here still towards the end of the 1/2 hour, I take charge and try to finish up the visit whatever the purpose may be.

Had a family come and meet pre-bred mom recently. They kept asking the 18 month old to "pet doggy". I told them he was very obedient (because he was) and that at least he was not afraid and that he'd bond to their puppy but not to our dog. I then asked if they had any other questions as I walked with the sweet little boy towards the door.

My hubby says to take charge and give closing statements to the conversation, such as, "Feel free to e-mail or phone with other questions." Or "It was very nice meeting you, I think you'll make a wonderful puppy family, etc." While standing and slowly walking in the direction of the door.

For us as breeders, litter visits may be somewhat routine but not for new families. They hopefully only purchase a pup once every 10 years or so. Therefore we have to provide structure and guidance with their visits. It's a good time to see if they'll follow our advice or not.

My only instruction is that I ask they do not visit any other litters or dogs before our visit. I explain that the pups may not have immunity yet. As far as the visit, I plan for an hour or so. It gives the kids time to warm up and misbehave- I get to see how the parents are with the kids. I only show the pet pups to them and explain how many people may be in front of them for a pick, or I show them two or three and say the others are spoken for. I have an 8x10 "puppy rug" in my kitchen- if everyone sits, I know they are truly dog people! If they rush to help with any puppy accidents, I know they are keepers!

I don't see why some breeders feel the need to rush their puppy buyers. For me, they are going to be the families taking one of my babies. I want to take my time and get to know them in person before I let one of my pups go to them. I have made some really good friends over the years from people who bought dogs from me and have many return to me when the first dog they bought has passed on.

However, I pre-sell most of my puppies after spending time with my puppy buyers on the phone or through email. So basically, I don't have people walking through to see the puppies and then leave to go shop around. When my puppy buyers come to visit it means they are coming to see their puppy. This is where I watch the puppies and how they interact with the people. It gives me a better idea of which pup will be the best match. Sometimes, the puppy will pick the family.

If I had a breeder "rush" me with a visit, I'd definitely go elsewhere because I'd feel like I was inconveniencing the breeder. I certainly would not want to "inconvenience" that breeder later on should I have questions later. I'd also feel that if they are such busy people that maybe their puppies aren't getting enough socialization as well.

I guess everyone breeder is different with the way they want to handle their business. I've always enjoyed puppy buyers and have never felt the need to rush them off if they didn't leave within a certain time frame.

With a litter 2 years ago, puppy families spent an average of 2 hours per family visiting. It got to be ridiculous. After 1/2 hour or so, they are no longer asking about puppy, health, etc. it got to be general chatter as they sat and played with all the pups in our familyroom. Their children were playing with my children in the rec room, etc.

I could only fit in 3 families a day - and that took 6 hours. Sometimes you have to set limits. I had interviewed all these families before their arrival. They were buying a pup but just settled in for a long social visit. Guess I was too friendly. There is a happy medium.

I've always tried not to rush people but I too have found I'm being too permissive, and it becomes a weekly visit. If you've got 7-10 puppies, that is a lot of time spent entertaining and cleaning. I always make sure my ground floor (which is my dog's living area) is presentable should they need to use the bathroom etc. I'd also like to address things like leaving the other family pets at home (I'm a little worried if that family frequents dog parks etc) or just being around strange dogs prior to the visit. Had one sister to a buyer get out of her car with a dog in her hands! Yikes. Sorry... but I don't know what kind of owner the "lookie lou" is.

And I've had child relatives of buyers come and be too rough and too pushy w/ the pups. It's just not fun to have to correct people's children but I do anyhow and them am stressed about it for the rest of the day. I just don't understand parenting anymore.

I have a "puppy open house" around week 5 or 6. I have a bleach pan at the front door for shoes, everyone washes their hands, and younger kids have to sit down to hold a puppy. My open house lasts all afternoon on a weekend day, say 1-4pm. Puppy people are welcome to come and stay the whole time, or just a quick visit. My puppy people get to know each other, and I get to watch them interact with the puppies when they think I am not watching. Several of my puppy people have made friends and schedule play-dates and puppy Kindergarten together. It's a tough few hours, but the puppies are tired after, and everyone gets to come meet the babies. I make sure I have at least one of my kids, or my husband, or both here to help me. The next time they come over, it is to pick up their puppy.

Gosh, I like the family visits. One couple who had a puppy from the previous litter and was getting another stayed with us from Atlanta over Thanksgiving and cooked Thanksgiving dinner because I was sick. I even had a family visit on Christmas Eve and New Year's Day for the current litter. For this litter we had one family who had a child in a wheelchair come nearly every weekend for about an hour. They drove an hour to get to our house with their 3 children.

Wee usually have someone coming every weekend after the puppies are about 3 weeks old. These families often become our friends and visit subsequent litters. I encourage it. I allow people to walk dogs on our farm. We also have people coming to the farm before we have a litter to see our dogs.

I use the time when people visit to educate people about puppies. I love teaching the children (we don't place puppies in families who have children less than 6 years old). I don't allow anyone to bring dogs until the puppies have had their 12 week vaccinations but I do allow people to walk their dogs away from the puppies on our farm (we have 35 acres and trails along the river that borders our property).

I also use these visits to decide which puppy best matches the family and to socialize the puppies to the new people. I warn people that things may not always be perfectly clean at my house, but I do use the visits to motivate myself to clean up the house if I can.

I don't mind people who have paid for a puppy visiting as many times or as long as they want. I just treat them like family.

I also do a 'puppy open house' when the pups are 5-6 weeks old. This is only for families that passed my initial screening and have put a deposit on a puppy. Lasts about 3 hours, a bit hectic but worth it. After everyone has played with the puppies we go through my puppy packet. They take that home and have 2 weeks to go through it and ask any follow up questions.

An additional thought based on some of the suggestions - EVERYBODY has to sit on the floor to hold a puppy when they visit my litters. I've seen too many close calls when an inexperienced adult almost drops a puppy that suddenly starts to wriggle.

Puppies can be slippery little devils and I don't want one accidentally dropped on the floor from a height of four or five feet.

I'm on the same wave length as Kate about this. I find that becoming friends with my puppy buyers is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a breeder, welcome visitors and, as a single person living in the country, depend on them to help socialize my puppies. (I also send out a campus-wide email for people with kids who want to visit and usually get 5 or 6 "takers".) Of course, I seldom have more than one litter a year and try to have that litter when I will have time to handle the visits, so the puppy visiting is not as big a problem.

I also seldom have casual shoppers- that does get to me, to spend an hour with someone looking at my 4 week olds, answering many questions, and then discover when they are leaving that they are planning to visit somewhere else that has a puppy ready to go. Those people hardly ever come back. But someone who is committed to my litter is a different matter, and usually the litter is spoken for fairly early, so I don't worry about the people who are just looking too much.

I learned from Ginger Campbell to let the people see the puppies and mother, visit with them a while, and then let the adult dogs in to watch reactions.

I just love AnnaH and Breeder's Puppy Open House idea! I am going to try it with my next litter. Just another blessing from this wonderful forum.

I do love getting to know my families and do answer many questions via e-mail. However, with a large family and extended family myself, I just can't give hours upon hours to each family. I think each breeder's personal life is what makes the difference. When I'm sick, there is plenty of family or friends who will bring a meal, when my back is out, they come and vacuum, and our holidays are spent with family. Our many friends and relatives love coming over to socialize pups, so we do not depend of puppy families for that either. In spite of that we have bonded to a few of our families - especially those who have our dogs as service dogs and we encourage questions and photos via e-mail which we get years later.

Very good tips here. I agree-- I may try to use the puppy open house idea also, but question, doesn't that get a bit crowded if you have 7 or more families (even single/couples)? I've had 2 puppy families visit at once, and that wasn't bad but don't know that I'd want all at once. Or do you schedule in slots?

I am single, with no outside help, and have other activities such as my work or training functions to work around too, so this may work better for me to set 2 weekends aside at 5 and 6 wks (7 wks doesn't work well since we are doing structural and live pigeon evaluations w/ puppies. I keep a puppy diary for each litter too so the families can follow their development from week to week. I think that helps since many of my buyers may live 150 miles away.

Agree on the floor sitting rules too. I have had puppies dropped (by a kid who was told he had to be sitting) and other close calls. It's hard not to get stressed out sometimes. I too don't sell to families w/ children under 5 typically.

Summer litters are the best for visits, I arrange for all deposit families, to come on the same day , same time. I have a 10 X 10 pop up set up in the back yard, lawn chairs spread out around it, puppies playing in their x-pen , and a small grooming table set up close by.
All families play with the litter , children are OUT SIDE , puppies are placed on the grooming table by me each individually, and its all over in a couple of hours. Everyone asks their questions, and when I anwser them , I speak loud and clear, so it is a one time asked question. Everyone gets their puppy fix, puppy families leave happy and satisfied. They also get a "tour" of the kennel facility, and can meet and greet the adults after puppy playtime . I bake cookies and serve lemonade, it works. Remember "breeders" without these lovely families we could not find homes for our pet puppies , we need them .

That'd be part of my problem here. I have fall/winter litters mostly. My driveway was covered in ice until just a couple days ago... I think I'd have to serve hot toddies and cookies! But hey, that's an idea. ;)