WELCOME A STRANGER

A POINT OF VIEW BY JUDITH M. STEIN

Could it be that in our desire to sound professional we breeders overreact, becoming suspiciously rude?  Breeders must depend on advertising to sell their puppies, and this means total strangers will call with requests.  Puppy buyers must take the chance they may be contacting unethical people or puppy mills when calling unknown breeders. Who knows who is on the other end of that phone?

As all of us become more aware of the problems we can get into when buying or selling dogs, it appears that the initial phone call between the purchaser and breeder is often more of a confrontation than a greeting. Unfortunately, this lack of trust often escalates after the dog goes to its new home.  Perhaps we all need to examine our public relations with a more objective eye.

For instance, often a caller will confide that the family pet has just died.  “Did you get him to a vet?” is not an acceptable question at this point.  The greatest service a breeder can provide is simply to listen sympathetically and take some time for heartfelt conversation before launching into prices, interrogations and conditions of sale. 

Another turn-off: Puppy buyers are frightened by co-ownership's, contracts, and other “strings” that attach the buyer to the breeder.  Terrible visions flash before the caller’s eye of his beloved dog being yanked back because certain conditions are not met.   “I felt like that kennel wanted to run my life,” one purchaser told me.

Do we get so caught up in our own concerns that we forget to meet buyers halfway?  Most responsible breeders have a list of questions with which they screen their purchaser, but how much information do the breeders offer to potential buyers?  To help educate anyone purchasing a dog is to help improve the breed, whether the person buys a pup or not.  I view this education issue as the single most important public relations act any breeder can do.  Make the education of every caller your priority, and hear the entire focus of the conversation change.

Callers have a right to ask about pedigree, temperament, and health.  You can offer so much more: training, advice, photocopied articles, and magazine photos.  Now, you are an ambassador for your breed.  Now, you no longer appear to be overly ambitious, greedy or calculating.  Now you are helping someone else.

We build our reputations each time we pick up the phone in the name of our kennel. On the other hand, this does not mean we need to lecture callers with whom we do not agree! We can practice the gentle art of saying we have nothing available.

Our ads also set the tone of our relationship with the public.  Leaving out the mention of the guarantee says as much as putting one in.  Know what is important to you, and state it clearly in  the ad. Avoid bragging, buyers need facts.

Finally, we breeders need to keep the real world in perspective.  Our lives may revolve around dogs, but the average person’s life does not.

Once both parties feel comfortable that a sale might work, the breeder should extend the invitation to visit.  By this time the stranger who called you comes to see the litter, you should both feel that you can trust each other.  Most importantly, establishing friendly relations means the owner will have no fear of calling you if something should go wrong after the pup goes to its new home.  This critical difference in making a stranger feel welcome could result in saving the dog you bred. 

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The author, a school librarian from Illinois and has bred champion Great Danes for 21 years.  At this point she is courageously rebuilding her kennel after a devastating house fire that cost the lives of all her Danes and her boxer, she rescued two puppies, but one pulled away and ran back into the fire.
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This article was originally printed in the Gazette in the Point of View and is reprinted here by permission of the author.