I am wondering what you all do for deposits on an upcoming litter?

How much do you collect, in what form, and why?

When do you collect/cash checks and why?

Is your deposit refundable or not and your reasoning behind that? And are there any circumstances in which you would change your policy?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I don't take deposits. If a person changes their mind, they're the last person I'd want to force a puppy on for the sake of money. I take names, keep a list and let people know when I've made my decision on what to keep for myself and what to let go to a pet home. If they're still interested and pass "inspection" then we're all happy. Otherwise, the puppy is for sale until the right family comes along.

We took a $100.00 deposit on all puppies. All puppies were pre-sold, can't remember one in over 20 years that wasn't. Prior to then we had a few that we did not pre-sell.
Checks or cash, did not matter. We figured that the new owner was having to trust us and we should trust them, never had an issue with checks.
We "said" we refunded 100% for no matter what reason up until the baby was 5 weeks of age, in fact we refunded 100% period. We did not want one of our babies going some where there was second thoughts.
Our mentor basically had this policy, we followed suit until we retired the 1st of this year. It served us well.

Exactly Gregg! I take deposits on all of my puppies and they are fully refunable, any time, no questions asked. Like Gregg, they trust me and I trust them. I want our families to be ready for one of our puppies and if their circumstances change,we both move on. I treat families looking for a pupppy how I would like to be treated. I am fortunate to have always been able to place my puppies. A deposit is no guarantee that I will have a puppy for a family (litter may be too small), it just allows us to stop interviewing families for an upcoming litter until after the puppies have arrived. My goal is to find great families for those puppies that I do not run on and to make the experience of getting a puppy a really good one. Word of mouth referrals are worth a lot.

Refundable deposits here too. I take a deposit once I know a puppy is available for a family. It suffices for proof that they are serious and I don't have to look for another family for that pup. I haven't had to refund yet. I HAVE had plenty back out at the point where I wanted a deposit, and that's just fine with me.

We also took deposits once we determined puppies were on the way. On a single color litter we would take 2/2, on a black/yellow we would take 1/1/1/1. Almost always is worked out.

I have to see this from another perspective. My time is money. The deposits are to hold the puppy yes, but not to force the people to buy the puppy.
If they want to walk away from our puppies, it is ok, but they have to pay for my time. I spent a lot of time speaking to this people, screening, reading questionnaire, etc.
No, my deposits are not refundable. It seldom happens, but when it has happened, I kept the $200 deposit.
If they want to get a puppy later, I honor it.

I certainly can understand your position. As with many things there is no one right or wrong way of doing things, everyone must find their own way that they are comfortable with.

In some states, once you accept a deposit, or cash the check, you have now entered into a "contract".

I take deposits around 5 weeks or so of age. This way, I know if I have the color-gender they desire, unless I only have one dog/bitch puppy in the color(s) I desire. In this instance, I keep them on my list, and let them know if I have a puppy available after my final evaluation.

I will refund a deposit for (almost) any reason, I do not want to hold their money hostage, nor do I want my puppy to go to a home, just because they paid a deposit already. I will hold a deposit if the family backs out at the last minute, but even then, I usually refund them after the puppy is sold.

I agree to a point and have rarely had it happen. As you said, you don't want to force someone to take a puppy. We all do alot of work we aren't paid for when having a litter though.

If I have another family I already spent my time with sitting on a waiting list, why not refund the deposit from Family A if I have Family B accepting A's puppy? I did my *work* already. I don't use questionnares. I use email, phone and then a meeting at my home because I don't ship, ever. Yes, it's time consuming. The problem for me is when I have turned away others which I don't do anymore. I keep a list of non-deposited potential buyer families. I explain to them that someone may back out and I may not keep all the puppies I've reserved. I usually have several on list B usually.

If I need to find another buyer, screen them thoroughly and spend additional money on vaccinations, 2nd vet health certificaesm, food and other things for the pup, then I probably won't return a deposit.

I only ask for a $200 deposit per pup for many years and not until they're born and appear healthy. My next litter the deposit is going upwards to double as some potential buyers will reserve a pup at 2 different breeders not worried about $200 each, losing 1 deposit. It's usually a "I want a particular color of yellow" issue which I prefer not to work with.

I'm doubling my deposit to $400 which is 25% of the full purchase price. I think it will eliminate the families that will hold a pup at more then 1 breeder although it only happened to me once many years ago. I have heard of it happening to others, even in recent months. It will also make the family think carefully before about the pup before leaving a deposit, knowing they could lose $400, not *just* $200.

Much depends on the reason they're not taking a puppy last minute. If it's a vacation that was unplanned and came up suddenly, I don't refund or offer to puppy-sit. They should have thought of the possibilty before going on a puppy hunt. It's a small world and we get to hear other's stories and buyers names.

Forgive my stupidity, what do you mean by 2/2 and 1/1/1/1??? Sorry....

No problem........:o)
2/2 = 2 boys/2 girls
1/1/1/1 = 1 black boy/1 black girl/1 yellow boy/1 yellow girl

I agree. I always felt that even accepting the deposit check in an implication of a contract; if the relationship goes sour, you could put yourself in a sticky spot.

I take deposits of $200 in check form as soon as mom is bred. I first interview family and check references (vet) if they have or have had a dog in the past. Deposit is refundable if gender/color is not produced. I do not cash the check until the litter is on the ground. I mail check back if color/gender is not available.

I refund only when someone else has replaced their deposit. Have only had to refund once when a job transfer fell through because I interview on the phone extensively.

In the past, I took deposits only once pups were born, but have found better buyers now when I start at breeding time. I feel less pressure to accept someone who just sounds OK and can wait for perfect families as there is lots of time. I use to have pups around still at 10 weeks when I think they should be bonding and beginning training. Now all pups are spoken for by birth.

In the past, when I just kept an "interested" list without deposit, families were scared they wouldn't get a pup in the end and went elsewhere before pup was ready to go home. The deposit helps them to know that there is indeed a pup saved for them. Just how it works for here. Sounds like other approaches work well also.

My pups go home at 8 weeks but I'll keep pup until 10 weeks if there is a vacation issue. After 10 weeks, I charge $10/day if they are on vacation and cannot get pup. This works great as I don't want a new pup boarded out and good families can still get a pup that is ready during vacation time.

I don't take deposits until after the puppies are born. This way I know how many puppies I have available boys, girls and colors. If a potential puppy owner is willing to wait in good faith then I gain confidence in them to be committed to the puppy. I wait until after the puppies are born and then I ask for half of the purchase price of the puppy as a deposit to hold the puppy. This is not a small amount for the deposit, but if they are serious about buying the puppy and paying the price then what is the problem with getting half of the total price as deposit. It also gives them time to pay in two payments. If for some reason things go sour, I return the deposit. Although, I tell them their deposit is not refundable this way they need to be sure they are really ready to get a puppy. So far this has worked for me. I have had people back out just like anyone else, but before a deposit was taken and I have never kept a deposit without the puppy being purchased. However, I have returned a deposit on a puppy who turned out to be a show prospect that I have decided to keep.

I can say "ditto" to almost everything "Breeder 4" said. I have a waiting list and notify everyone of upcoming puppies along the way. I don't feel comfortable taking a deposit on puppies who aren't yet here (counting "chickens before they're hatched"). A 50% deposit is a sizeable amount of money and people don't tend to make that commitment unless they're serious.

Last year a fellow, referred by another breeder, kept promising to send a deposit, called frequently with issues about delivery (I had agreed to meet him), his "pick", etc., and I got a bad feeling. I let him know I was declining to sell him a pup the same day his deposit finally arrived (which was immediately returned). He threated to sue for breach of contract, and I told him to go ahead.

.....and I'll take checks for all deposits (plenty of time to clear before pups go home) and will take checks for final payment unless 1st time buyers out of town. I've never had a problem with this - but I do like cash!

follow breeder 4 almost to the tee.
has worked well for me for decades.

I take checks for deposits because like Marti said the check has plenty of time to clear, but cash only on puppy pick up. I placed a young adult one time with a check deposit and I let the new owners take the dog. That was the last time! Their check was no good. After several telephone calls and busting there chops, I finally got my full payment for the dog. It was not worth the headache. My thought is if they have the money in their checking account they can easily go and take it out of the bank. I don't want to deal with all the hassles.

I take deposits to hold a pup. It is refundable unless they back out at the last minute. This has only happened once but I had to pay for the pups next set of vaccinations, feed her, house train etc. Had her till she was 5 months old (that $100. deposit did not really cover it all but it helped) (I now take $200 deposit)

To me keeping a deposit in that respect is justifiable.

Had a buyer bounce a check once and it was hell to get paid. THerefore, I want cash on pick up