If you have a bitch owner who has contacted you and is planning 2-3 months in advance of wanting to breed to your boy, do you agree and confirm to a breeding with the bitch and breeder that far scheduled out or do you wait until it is closer to the breeding time to say yes, my stud dog would be available then?
I mean who knows what one may be doing in 3 or 4 months from now, so it makes it hard to commit to a breeding that far in advance, we might be gone at shows or on vacation et. al. How do you other stud dog owners handle this situation? Not sure how to respond, but feel it is too early to commit that said stud dog will be available 3-4 months from now due to show schedule or vacation. TIA!
When you agree to the breeding, it means that you approve the bitch. if later the dog is not available for any reason, then you have no control over that. it happens all the time.
I have not seen it a lot in show kennels recently, but there used to be a policy of "booking" a stud service. If you accepted a booking, the dog was guaranteed to be available at a set time. This is regardless of your plans, other breedings that come up, etc. Even though it may not be what the bitch owner had in mind, your best policy is to explain what you are agreeing to and what you are not. Basically, you accept the bitch based on information provided, but do not guarantee the dog will be available when she is in season.
Booking a stud dog shows me that the bitch owner have planned this ahead of time. I like to plan a little ahead of time and choose my stud early rather than just "15 min to Christmas" JMHO
it has been my experience ( which isn't much) that most stud do owners are ready, willing and able to ship from any where the boy is, be it at a show, loaned whatever. They bend over backward to get the goods to the girls. They have it down to a science.
