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Why do I have to sign a contract?
The Sales
Contract is in place to protect three parties...you, us, and
most importantly, your puppy. The reason that we have a written
contract is so that we remember to discuss the points that are
important to us and to ensure that we are in agreement about these
points. The reasoning behind many of these points is
discussed below.
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What is the difference between
a Show/Working or Companion Only prospect?
A Show or
Working prospect is a puppy that has the potential to compete in
either the conformation ring or various working venues. A
Companion Only puppy is one that has a fault which precludes him from
being exhibited for one reason or another. Often, these faults
are small ones...incorrect dentition or a cosmetic fault which is
undesirable in the show rings...and will not adversely affect your
pup's life.
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What important points am I
agreeing to when I sign your contract?
Some of the
important items that you will be agreeing to are that you will give
the dog proper care... feeding/housing/veterinary as well as
socialization and training; that you will keep in touch with us
throughout your dog's lifetime and alert us to any health or
temperament issues; that you agree to do certain health screenings
when your dog is an adult and that you agree to either prove your dog
worthy prior to breeding or spay/neuter if it is not breeding
quality. You are also agreeing to remain in good standing with the
AKC and CKC. Most importantly, you agree to never sell or give
away your dog...it must come back to us should your circumstances
ever change.
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What guarantees are you making
to me?
We are
guaranteeing that you are purchasing a registered purebred dog with
the parents that we have stated have produced him. We are
guaranteeing that the pup arrives to you healthy and well socialized
and that we have done everything in our power to determine that he is
the right match for you. We are stipulating that, in the event
that your dog develops a heritable health or temperament disorder, we
will refund a portion of your purchase price or offer you another
puppy at no cost. Most importantly, we are guaranteeing that we
will be there for you, whatever your needs may be, and that, if
something happens to you, we will take care of your dog.
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Do I have to
give my puppy back in order to be offered a refund or replacement puppy?
No. If
you were the type of person who wanted to give your puppy back, we
probably wouldn't have chosen you for one of ours. While we
would gladly welcome back any pup that we've helped bring into this
world, it has never happened. By the time a disorder is
diagnosed, you will likely have had your pup for some time. It
is in the pup's best interest at that point to stay with the family
he has grown to love. We will honor the contract and be
thankful that you will continue to love him for his entire lifetime.
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Are all items
non-negotiable? For instance, I do not have a fenced yard...
No, not at
all. Some points, such as the item about the fenced yard, are simply
there to remind us to discuss them with you. We are open to
reasonable discussion about any number of contract items and tend to
be fairly flexible. If you have a question, just ask!
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It says that my dog must be an
indoor companion. Can't I build a kennel outside?
The
Rottweiler is happiest when he is with his family. He is people
oriented and is not well suited to life in a kennel. This is
especially true in the case of our dogs. We raise pups
carefully to ensure that they will be the best possible
companions. To this end, we choose owners who also want to
share their lives with their dogs.
An outdoor
kennel or fenced yard is important, however, it should not be used
for primary living quarters. Left to his own devices, the
Rottweiler will become bored and destructive. He will also
develop bad habits, such as barking or snarling at passersby.
It is important that you are alongside your pup during his
development and adolescence to ensure that he does not develop these
bad behaviors.
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How do we choose the puppy's name?
Each puppy
name must begin with our kennel name "Esmond" as a
prefix. From there, each litter will be assigned a letter...ie.
our first litter was the "A" litter, next was "B",
"C" and so on. Within those parameters, you can
choose your pup's registered name as long as it is one that hasn't
already been used or one that exceeds the AKC/CKC
guidelines. We can send you suggestions if you are having
a difficult time choosing a name. Registered names must be
chosen prior to the puppy going home.
You may call
your pup anything you'd like. Some registered names relate to
the call names... for instance, Esmonds Supernova is called
Nova. Some are random. You can choose any call name, but
again, we try to avoid ones that have already been used within our
breeding program.
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When it says that I agree to
feed your recommend diet, does that mean BARF?
Not
necessarily. We wean pups on a raw diet and would like each
owner to at least listen to our reasons why. However, we are
realistic in understanding that this diet is not for everybody.
If you do not want to continue with a raw diet, we would be happy to
work with you to determine a diet that will best suit your pup.
In these cases, we suggest that you provide us with some of what the
pup will be eating at home so that we can acclimate him to it while
he's still here. See How Pups are Reared
for more information.
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Why do I have to go to
obedience classes? Can't I just train my dog at home?
It is very
important to have a full understanding of the state of our breed in
today's society. Each and every Rottweiler needs to be properly
socialized and exceptionally well trained, even if it's never going
to make it to the show rings.
For this
reason, it is important to take the pup to formal classes, even if
you are an experienced trainer. The advantages of training in a
class setting are many, including teaching your pup to focus on you
in close proximity to other dogs and people. We suggest
starting with a puppy socialization (ie. "puppy
kindergarten") and progressing from there. It is a good
idea to continue with formal training classes well past your dog's adolescence.
We need to
train our dogs with one simple fact in mind...that every person who
ever meets them while we're out and about may someday be asked to
vote on whether our breed should be banned. "Pets" are no
longer just pets, they are ambassadors for our breed.
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Do we need to aspire toward a
CGC? My trialing plans go WELL beyond that!
Yes, we are
aware that by the time you contact us, you have very likely trained
dogs well past the CGC level. However, we wrote our contract so
that we could use one document for all prospective owners, regardless
of experience level. If you'd rather earn a UD than a CGC, you
won't hear us complaining!
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Does "will not promote
aggressive tendencies" mean I cannot compete in Schutzhund?
No.
Schutzhund is a three phased sport which emphasizes control. We
encourage our owners to become involved in various dog activities and
this is no exception. We do however, recommend that you
research schutzhund trainers carefully before considering protection
training. We also suggest that you establish your dog's
proficiency in both tracking and obedience prior to starting bitework.
We do not
recommend doing bitework with young puppies, or dabbling in any type
of personal protection training. We do not place pups for use
in guard work.
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At what age am I required to
spay or neuter my pup if he is a Companion Only?
If your pup
is rated Companion Only, we ask that you spay or neuter by 18 months
of age. It is up to you whether you'd like to have this
procedure performed earlier than 18 months, however, we do not
recommend spaying or neutering prior to six months as studies have
linked early spay/neuter with osteosarcoma in our breed.
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If I want a dog for Working
only, do I have to show in Conformation?
No. We
put Show and Working prospects into the same category because we
believe that the working dogs need to be just as correct in structure
and temperament (if not better) than the show dogs. All of our
Show/Working pups are placed as Working prospects first and
foremost. We will provide you with a detailed assessment of
your pup's strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the various show
and working venues and will help you further evaluate him as he
matures. For those who have what it takes to excel in both
arenas, we can help you balance out the titles on the back of their
dog's name with a Championship on the front if it is something you
desire. If not, we will continue to support you in your working endeavors.
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What if my Companion Only pup
matures into a dog with show potential?
This
happens. We've more than once placed a puppy as a
Companion, only to see it later finish its Championship. In the
event that your pup matures into a dog that exceeds our expectations,
we will help you to show him should that interest you.
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Why do I have to complete
health clearances for my dog if I'm not going to breed it?
You came to
us in the hopes of finding a well bred, healthy pup. In order
to offer you that, we needed to make good Breeding
Choices. This means that we compiled information not
only for the pair that we were breeding, but on their ancestors and
siblings. In order for us to continue to breed healthy dogs, we
will need to know how your dog fared in this regard and require that
all dogs...both Show/Working or Companion Only... be screened for
hip, elbow, cardiac and eye disorders.
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Why
do I have to meet all of those criteria if I want to breed my
Show/Working prospect?
Again, you
probably came to us because of our strict adherence to proving our
breeding stock (again, see Breeding Choices).
The goal of every breeder is to improve future generations. It
would not be worthwhile for us to make such careful decisions if we
were not prepared to ensure that you will take equal care in breeding forward.
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It says that you're allowed to
use my dog at stud. What If I don't want to breed him?
We do
reserve the right to use your dog at stud but would only do so if he
has already been deemed breedable by you as well. We would
never force anyone to breed their dog if that is not the right choice
for them. In reality, it is rare that we end up using males
from our own program, as it is often their mother, sisters etc. that
we are breeding during that male's lifetime. Sometimes we will
ask to collect and freeze semen from the dog (at our own cost) for
future use. Again, this is only in the event that the owner has
shown interest in breeding the dog. In both cases, this is only
for our own use, and we would never sell the semen or stud service to
an outside party.
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If I breed my female, do I owe
you puppies from the breeding?
No. We
have never contractually asked for puppies back from a breeding.
In many cases, we offer assistance to the bitch owner who in return
offers us a puppy, but we do not demand this. In the event
that you breed your girl and offer a puppy back to us, we would only
take it if we were prepared to keep it for its lifetime either in our
home or on co-ownership within our extended family. We do not
agree with breeders asking for puppies back and then selling them to
outside parties.
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Can I sell or give away my dog
if it doesn't work out or my life changes?
No. As
breeders, it is our responsibility to know where our pups are at all
times. If for any reason you cannot keep your pup, he/she MUST
be returned to us. In the event that circumstances are outside
of your control, we will work to rehome your dog with an owner that
will keep in touch with you.
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If I am considering a co-bred
litter, will the breeder use this same contract?
You will
have to discuss this with the co-breeder. Normally, those who
we are co-breeding litters with usually use either this contract or
one that includes many of the same details. In the case of a
co-breeding, be sure to clarify which breeder you will be signing the
contract with (ie. who will be backing up the guarantee). In
most co-breeding cases, you will be offered Support
by both breeders throughout your dogs lifetime.
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