I was advised a while back to take deposits in check form but to ask for cash on puppy pick-up day because of the property laws that govern puppy sales. No one has ever had a problem with my request for cash -- until today. I had sent an email to people coming next week to pick up their pups and, included in that email was a note to bring the balance of what they owe in cash. Well, one man hit the ceiling and emailed to ask if I had problems with unhappy buyers who put stop payments on their checks when I sold them problem puppies. I was dumbfounded. He said he felt that I was questioning his integrity by asking for cash. I emailed back and told him that our contract will protect him but all I have for protection is that cash payment. Well, he's still mad and frankly I'm mad too now and am thinking of selling his puppy to someone else. Have any of you who ask for cash on pick-up day ever run into someone who literally refuses to give you cash? We're in a stand-off right now. TIA

I don't require cash for pick up - but all of my buyers (in the past couple years, in light of the economy) have brought either cash or a bank check to pick up their puppies, voluntarily. I would consider it a "red flag" and tell him to forget it!

Give him back his deposit and end your relationship with him. You will be very sorry if you do not. Find the pup another home. His distrust of you will not end here. Tell him thank you, but no pup! NEVER ignore your gut feeling or your intuition! EVER! By the way, I also require cash on pick up day. I was burned once, but never again!

As a puppy buyer myself, I don't see anything wrong with you asking for cash. I have paid cash without being asked to do so, I have also paid by bank check without being asked. I don't want the breeder to worry whether the check is going to bounce while they are getting ready to hand over my puppy to me. Once I did pay by personal check, but the breeders were also pro trainers and comfortable taking checks from customers.

If he can blow up on you for something little then what is he going to do if down the road the puppy gets sick, whether it has anything to do with your breeding/care. He either has a huge excess of pride, or writes bad checks, no fun either way.

Thanks for your replies. They helped to bolster my courage to email the man and his wife (they were playing good cop and bad cop with me)just now and tell them I'm going to have to place the puppy elsewhere because of the lack of trust we've obviously developed toward each other. I'll return their deposit in the morning. I am so relieved I did that. I couldn't stand the thought of that little girl going home with them. Thanks again.

I think you're doing the right thing. He sent up a few red flags. You're probably saving yourself grief in the future.

I have a funny feeling you haven't heard the last of him even after you refund his deposit. Make sure you do it by check, the same way he paid you with a notation it's a full refund. You have the right to sell to who ever you want to. He gave you a good reason for a mind change.

I do the same as you, checks for deposits and cash on pick up with no one ever complaining. I know many breeders have never had a problems with checks but why going looking for one?

I would refuse to discuss the matter further. He did finger pointing and it cost him a pup. Let him find someone else to take his check. Those are your rules, I see nothing wrong with them as these are your pups until they leave you.

Good luck with him. I would let your local breeder friends perhaps in your club be aware of him.

Cash or PO money order only I talked with a gal for two years before I bred my first litter and she sent a personal check for deposit and I took a check for final payment. I get a notice that her final payment bounced, so I investigated into her deposit check and that too bounced (I did not reconcile statements at that time). It cost me as much to get the puppy back as the price of the puppy to get him back and she worked for her ppolice department. My biggest concern was if she did not have the cash to pay for the puppy,m how on earth would she pay for a health issue that arose....

CASH or USPS money order only. You are only protecting yourself. If he had nothing to hide, he would not have anything to complain about. You are protecting your puppies as well as yourself!

Make sure when you send the deposit back you send it certified mail so you have proof it was delivered. I always require cash for final payment and they are told this when they give me the deposit and sign a paper agreeing to this and that I can return the deposit at any time.

I would also keep any and all correspondence between you both as well, print out emails, the email you sent that asked for cash at pick up day, a copy of your deposit agreement, receipt for the deposit, dates, anything else you can think of. I also take a check for the deposit when the puppies are a few weeks old. I cash deposit checks a week or two before the puppies go home, after we have had a good chance to get to know each other. This way, if I have to return a deposit, I just return their own check to them. I will take a check for final payment, but they have to send it to me, a week or so ahead of pick up day, so it clears the bank before pick up day.

You will be glad you stuck to your guns, good for you!

Sorry, but I have to disagree with all here.

I have been taking checks from families for 40 years now on puppy pick up day and have NEVER had a bad check. If you are so concerned, I guess I would question your screening practices before deciding whether to place the puppy with xyz family. I, too, would be offended if I were the puppy buyer as I would think you would already have a relationship with this person prior to pick up.

When you dump this guy, please give him the link to my website. I'll be more than happy to work with him.

Signed - Someone who knows there are still honest people in the world!

Michael

I accept checks and paid by check when I purchased my first puppy. If a breeder does not trust their puppy buyers enough to allow them to pay by check, then why sell them a puppy at all? It seems a strange way to begin what should be a long-term (for the life of the puppy) relationship.

Rarely will people pay me in cash. I've been accepting personal checks for 14 years now and never had one bounce. I was super paranoid about checks bouncing with the first litter that I asked for their Driver's License to make a copy and staple it to their check. After the first litter and no bounced checks, I stopped worrying about it. I do make a practice of telling families that my puppies are all microchiped which leaves a nice paper trail should someone decided to give me a bad check. Most people laugh when I tell them this but I am sure it plants the seed that it wouldn't be a wise idea to steal this ladie's puppy by writing her a bad check.
Here's a chuckle, I had more problems with parents writing me bad checks when I ran my daycare business. Why in the world would you write a bad check to the lady who is taking care of your beloved baby or toddler ? It's because of these experiences that I started off being paranoid about families writing bad checks when they bought a puppy from us. All the Labrador Loving folks came through all these years and restored my faith in man kind.

I agree with Michael completely! By the time puppies go home, I feel like I really know the whole family. Most families have been to the house at least three times and bring extended family as well. I don't take deposits either. It's all based on trust and each others word. When the day comes for the puppy to go home, there are lots of hugs exchanged and the money is the last thing I worry about. I haven't been breeding for 40 years, but I too have never been burned and if that day comes, I would be more concerned about the puppy than the money anyway.

When I purchased a puppy from a good friend several years ago, I paid him the majority in cash. Part of the reason was convenience for me and the other part was possible convenience for them.

I also worry Heaven forbid our checking account doesn't balance well enough. My husband is happy if we're within $100 of where it should be. I'm not and want it to the penny. What egg I would have had on my face if we were $100 or more off and the small check I wrote bounced causing fees' for my friend.

I think some of you are forgetting the screwings that occurred, brought up on here about a year ago by a breeder. So if a breeder can deliberately bounce checks, puppy buyers can even accidentally.

Everyone needs to sell their pups whatever way they're comfortable with. I don't touch puppy monies until I'm sure all deposit checks have cleared. Some come in later than others. I then pay the household checking back for all the money for stud fees', progesterone levels and other larger costs it helped pay for if needed.

I have never let a vehicle leave with a signed title on a personal check, I'm not going to allow a healthy pup I love to do so either.

I have only had a problem once w/ a check bouncing, ~2 yrs ago, and it was w/ a lawyer! LOL, did we have fun w/ that one! . Ends up he had had a laptop or something stolen and the checking acct that he wrote the check to me on had to be closed, but his wife forgot and wrote the check. I've never had a "real" problem in 16 yrs or so of breeding.

I have to agree with Michael too. I have never had a problem with taking checks from puppy buyers and I too feel like we are friends by the time they leave with one of my babies. I think it would be insulting to ask a friend to bring cash to pay me. Sending an e-mail stating you are to bring cash on puppy pick up day smacks of commercialism and just because you don't get a complaint from other puppy buyers doesn't mean they aren't feeling insulted or thinking less of you. They might just have decided to bring the cash rather than risk not getting their puppy. Just leaves a bad taste.

Big deal they wanted their puppy buyer to bring cash. Why should it be a problem?? If they are writing a check then shouldn't there be enough cash in the bank to cover it?? Shouldn't cash and check be the same?? If someone gets offended because you want them to bring cash instead of write a check why wouldn't red flags go off?? If they have the cash in the bank then getting it to pick up the puppy should be no big deal. The red flag was because it was a big deal. Everyone has their way of finalizing with their puppy buyers. No right no wrong way.

This thread comes as a real surprise to me. I guess everyone must do what they feel comfortable with but, as Michael said, screening is the most important part of selling puppies.

What amazes me is that people today write cheques. With internet banking available, banks no longer issue cheques where I live and I haven't owned a cheque book in well over ten years. My bank accounts and post office account are controlled through my computer and, with the click of a mouse, I can transfer money. This means that nothing can bounce ever - you can't transfer what you don't have. I have never taken a deposit on a puppy. Buyers either come spontaneously with the cash or I give them my post office account number and they transfer it. No expenses incurred.

I think the main thing here is she found out this is the wrong guy if he gets his feeling hurt so easy. Most ask if I want check or cash and I say checks are fine. Over 25 years only one check had a problem. But I remember someone on here saying get cash. You can't go with all you read on here. I agree, get to know the familys. But think if she wanted cash that was okay to ask. Don't send him to me.

I ask for cash too. I have heard stories about checks bouncing and when a dog is out of your hands, it's GONE. I didn't want to risk it. That said, I certainly never said anything to the folks that didn't read my email or deposit receipt stating I wanted cash and presented me with a personal check. I haven't had one bounce yet. I also don't breed enough to have this be part of a business. I have checks made out to me personally, not my kennel name. Cash is nice, it goes in the pocket.

I do think the man getting upset at the request is a red flag. I has nothing to do with anything, it's how you want your money. If it were a PROBLEM for him, I am sure he could have asked you and you would have said a check were fine if he didn't approach the deal like a red-faced idiot. I bought a puppy with a credit card check once; I called the breeder and asked if it was OK, did she mind, No she didn't. But for the guy to be mean about the whole thing is crazy.

This response alone is enough for me to change my policy; I will now be asking for cash also.

I let them know when they give me the deposit in a check that final payment must be cash so there are no surprises. I do trust my puppy people but why even put myself in a position I do not have to be in. And I have been burned, by someone I knew well for over 10 years, someone could be a great home for a dog but unless you have access to their financial records when it comes to money things could be different especially in these times.

Sorry, Cash only for the final payment for me, too.
If you claim your dogs on your taxes as a business, that might be a different situation. But for the average hobby breeder who breeds once or twice a year, get cash.

Sorry Michael, but you aren't in California anymore. WELCOME TO NJ. I always do EXTENSIVE SCREENING and Interviewing. I lived in NJ for 50 years and did Credit & Collections for a living. I am hard to dupe. My recommendation is that you always get cash when you hand them the puppy. I even know of a couple of breeders who sold a show puppy to another breeder and their check bounced.

It just isn't worth going through the all the bad feelings and the legal mess to get your money.

I too will take a check as a deposit but balance is due in cash when puppy is picked up along with the individual AKC registration app signed over.

Having worked in our family business since 1971, I know how hard it is to collect on a bad check. You have to file it at the courthouse in the jurisdiction where the check was presented and good luck trying to get someone from out of the area (which may be out of state) to show up for their court date. And even then, when they are ordered to pay including court costs... well you might as well just kiss the money good bye. Had a guy bounce a $250 check one time (and these are people driving new $38000 pick-up trucks... we make/sell truck caps, so you just never know), court ordered to pay and make $5/week payments to our business (all handled through the probation office) and we never saw one payment! Probation office didn't seem to care either and did nothing when we notified them that payments weren't being made.

I just won't take the chance, cash only on puppy go-home day.

Actually, there is a wrong way and I will preface this my saying that I have no problems paying in cash if someone tells me up front. After visiting a litter and deciding on a puppy, my husband asked the breeder about the price and whether there was anything else she needed. No. We continued on as we were vacationing further south and were to pick up the pup a week later on our way back home. When we arrived, the breeder told us she wanted cash. It was a Saturday, we were out of state, far from home, and the banks were closed! She sent us to an auto teller somewhere. As we drove along,the niggling little doubts about this breeder surfaced and I changed my mind. We drove back and told her we no longer wanted the pup. Asking for cash at the last minute was the final straw.

We too own our own family business for over 40 years. Cash means someone wants to put it right in their pocket. Let's not beat around the bush.

I live in NY but I don't think it matters what state you are in.

If a puppy buyer gives me cash I am happy but I do not ask for cash. I will take their check.

I used to get my dog food from a big distributor. The first few deliveries I had to pay in cash, after we had established a relationship I could pay by check. I doubt they were just pocketing the money, it was about them not wanting to get a bad check.

Excuse me, could you be a bit more clear on what you are implying with this statement and how you know that for a fact to be able to make such a blanket statement, "Cash means someone wants to put it right in their pocket."

So you won't accept cash at your family business because it could look bad?? We accept cash, credit cards and checks at our family's business... but what does that have to do with anything??

Exactly. I should say that I've had families come back for a second puppy, people who stayed in touch regularly over the years after they got their first puppy, and I did not hesitate taking a personal check when they came for their second puppy... so yes, I have made exceptions such cases.

The post about "putting in their pocket" got me laughing here as I wonder whose pocket they think the money should go into! Just too funny. Also, if I was concerned about the appearance of any "impropriety", I would never have placed 2 puppies over the years with a family where the husband was/is an IRS agent, another a repeat home where the husband is a CPA, and another a NY judge!

My first litter went home 3 years ago, and when I told a breeder friend I accepted payment via paypal, she was flummoxed and upset that I would do that.

She went on and on about how these people wouldn't be able to afford emergencies, wouldn't treat ailments and thought of the puppy as a commodity...after listening to her rant for a half hour go on and on, I informed her that a) I trusted them and that b) they were both surgeons, and I was sure they had the money.

I also accepted checks.

If for a moment I thought that any of these people were going to 'grab the puppy and run' then they wouldn't have got one, and that doesn't just imply that their check wouldn't clear.

Having money does not mean they are not going to bounce a check. My friend just went through this with a puppy and someone who was extremely wealthy, had a house on 5th Ave in Manhattan and also in upper crust Westchester. Their check bounced, said they would put another one in the mail which never materialized and it was not until she had her lawyer call them that they finally sent another check. And this was a friend of a friend.

I would never have placed 2 puppies over the years with a family where the husband was/is an IRS agent, another a repeat home where the husband is a CPA, and another a NY judge

Did you collect sales tax from this IRS agent and then pay it in on your quarterly return? Do you collect and pay sales tax?

Care to explain why you would not have? Do you think it would have created a problem for you??

The second paragraph of your post doesn't even warrant a civil answer.

Huh? That was a quote from your post--who said I would not have?

So I take it you do collect sales tax and file it quarterly. Good Val.

You did in your reply!!!

And if you DID intend to credit it to me as quote by me, GO BACK and read MY post in it's entirety. Please don't take things out of context which can misconstrue. You omitted the preface, "Also, if I was concerned about the appearance of any impropriety, I never would have..." so you totally changed the my post and credited to me is what you are now admitting!?

My, my what a tangled web we weave. Ok..I've had enough. Just glad to hear you collect and pay sales tax Val. :-) You're on your own now.

We take visa or mastercard on our terminal so its always been easy for final payment of cash or credit card. Also, we collect sales tax as it is the law. We have never had a problem with collecting sales tax and I dont understand how some of you are risking having to come up with all the sales tax you nexer collected. All it takes is an audit and the AKC will be the papertrail. They might ask to see the invoices for all the pups you have registered with the AKC. Whats the rational to not collecting sales tax when its the law?

You go Valerie! I credit you for using your name when half of these people don't read properly. I stopped using mine a couple of years ago after the same was done to me. They open their mouthes and insert their feet when they constantly misconstrue or change what you say.