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| What color are your Springers? We usually have both liver/white and black/white pups in our litters. Our dogs are usually more white than liver or black and usually have light to moderate ticking. Our dogs have the relatively short, flat type of coat. What color are your Chessies? Our Chessies are usually medium to dark brown and many have a reddish tint to them. We also have occasional sedge and light deadgrass in our litters. How large are your Springers? Males are usually between 40 and 50 pounds and females run between 35 and 45 pounds. Our dogs tend to be somewhat "leggy", but not overly so. We do not have the shorter legged, heavy set type of Springer. How large are your Chessies? Our Chessies tend to be in the upper range of the breed standard or slightly larger. Size does vary considerably in our litters. "Tonka" the bitch we are currently breeding, is on the large side at 95 pounds. "Beau", the stud dog we have bred her to, weighs between 80-85 pounds. We have had a couple male pups from this breeding that exceeded 100 pounds, but our goal is to breed withn the breed standard size wise. Do you remove dewclaws and how long do you dock the tails on your Springers? Dewclaws are removed on both Springer and Chessie puppies when they are just a couple days old. We dock the tails on our Springers "Field Bred Length" (we leave approximately 1/2 of the tail when we dock...we do not leave just a 2'' stub like you see on Springers from Show lines). Do you charge more for "Pick of the Litter"? In a well bred litter, pups should be very uniform. All should be relatively the same size and exhibit similar traits. Pups change from week to week....what might appear to be the most precocious, the largest pup, the pup with the strongest retrieving desire..etc..may not exhibit those same qualities the next day or the next week. Pups go through stages. Many times, the largest pup will develop early and not be the biggest dog in the litter when mature. When I am looking for a pup, I first look at the parents and grandparents. In my opinion (and in the opinion of many long time breeders) those 6 dogs are by far the best indication of what to expect from a pup when mature. I then do some reference checks on the breeder. Is he/she reputable? Will the pups be well socialized before they go to their new homes? If everything checks out....if I like everything I see and hear from the breeder and people who have done buisness with the breeder, if the dogs close up in the pedigree exhibit the traits I'm looking for, I get a pup and I don't really care what pick I have....the only thing I would specify would be the sex of the puppy I wanted. Many people think if they are 6th on the on the list of people who have reserved a pup, that they will be getting the 6th best pup. I can't emphasize enough that this is absolutely not true...if you've done your homework as I've described above, it makes no difference whatsoever where you might be on a list. Also, my policy is that I will not place a pup with anyone that I would not want to have as my own. If I have a pup that I feel is not a representative of the type of dog that I am trying to produce, I will not sell that pup to you. The bottom line is, do your homework and don't get hung up on where you are on a list. At what age can I pick up my pup? I prefer that pups do not go to their new homes until they are at least 7 weeks old. Under no circumstances will I let a pup go prior to 6 weeks of age. Do you ship pups and if so how much does it cost? Yes, we ship pups regularly. Our experience is that the airlines do a wonderful job of caring for the pups we have shipped. The pups handle the trip very well, so there's no need to be concerned about your pup if it is being shipped to you. Costs for shipping a pup does vary somewhat from airline to airline but it is currently running around $175 to ship a pup anywhere in the U.S. Shipping costs (Air Freight Charges) are the responsibility of the buyer, but we do not charge for delivery to the airport. You can either purchase a shipping crate or borrow one from us. How much do you charge for your pups? We currently chage $500 for a Springer pup and $650 for our Chessie pups. We feel this is a very fair price for the quality of pups we produce and we will not be increasing our prices unless we are forced to by increasing stud fees, vet bills, etc. A $200 deposit will reserve a pup and we require the balance due be paid by the time the pups are 4 weeks old. Do you sell pups with limited or unlimited registration with AKC and do you require the buyer to sign a puppy contract? All pups are sold with unlimited registration. The limited registration with AKC prevents the owner from breeding their dog. We feel that people that we place pups with should have the right to determine if their dog is of breeding quality and whether or not to breed it. Most puppy contracts we have seen are a bit ridiculous and probably next to impossible to enforce. What is your guarantee? We guarantee that any dog we use for breeding will be physically and mentally sound. We guarantee that any dog we use for breeding will be screened for genetic eye and hip problems and we guaranteed that the dogs we use for breeding will have proven itself in the field and will not display any undesirable traits that would render it useless (such as hardmouth or gunshyness). We guarantee that every pup we place will be healthy when placed with its new owner and will have received its first shot and will have been wormed twice. How do you determine who gets which pup when you have a litter? Our policy is that our pups are reserved on a first come, first serve basis. A $200 nonrefundable deposit will reserve a pup, and we go by the postmark on the envelope to determine which pick you have. We require that you tell us whether you want a male or female pup when you send in your deposit. We try to email pictures of the pups to the new owners weekly so they can see the pups as they develop. Along with the pictures, we communicate with each buyer regularly about the pups so they can have the information they need to make a decision. We ask that people decide which pup they would like during the 5th week. This way we know who is getting which pup by the time the pups are ready to go. |
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