Disclaimer:  As always, in the interest of full disclosure, when you come out to the farm to meet us and size us up, we are sizing you up, too.  We are a small-volume, in-home breeder.  Each puppy has been a part of this family for a time, and as such, even though we are in the business of selling puppies, we don’t sell them to just anyone. We always reserve the right to choose not to sell a puppy to anyone, for any reason.  At this time, we don’t ask potential customers to fill out a lengthy application, but when you contact us, we will be interested in hearing about your experiences with dog ownership in the past, your current expectations for owning a dog, and your lifestyle.  We want to rest assured that people who buy our puppies have the time and patience to raise them well and are realistic about the tremendous responsibility ahead of them.  We are committed to creating high-quality pets for bernedoodle enthusiasts.  As such, all puppies are sold with a strictly enforced spay and neuter contract.   

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Around the five week mark, we’ll begin taking appointments for families to meet puppies when they reach 6 weeks old.  Please come over and expect to spend some time.  Bring any and all questions and feel free to look around, play with puppies and meet our family dogs.  One of the best things we bring to the table is transparency in what we do.  We strive to be an open-book when it comes to sharing what we’ve learned about these dogs and how we operate.  We know, firsthand, that buying a puppy is a huge investment and a leap of faith in the breeder you select.  We offer a three-year written health guarantee, but hope that you will keep in touch throughout the life of your puppy.  We truly value the relationships we’ve made in this business and strive to please people with healthy, happy dogs.  Continued feedback from our “puppy people” is a way for us to gauge our level of success and hone our skills in doing what we enjoy.

 

Puppies will begin leaving for new homes sometime between eight and twelve weeks, at our discretion.  We want to make sure puppies are eating well, playing well, confident, and well-rounded.  Some puppies are more than ready to leave the nest at eight weeks, while others thrive with an extra week or two of more personalized attention as brothers and sisters begin leaving and the pack thins out.  Puppy temperament testing is optimally conducted during the seventh week and is an invaluable tool for matching families and puppies.  Selecting puppies solely on appearance can prove to be huge disservice for both the humans and the puppy.  You want to choose a dog that suits your needs and lifestyle, while honoring its innate personality and tendencies.  Most families are happy to consider our advice.  After all, setting all of us (breeder, buyer, and puppy) up for success is paramount.  Temperament testing can’t tell us everything about what a puppy will grow into, as there are obviously many factors at work once a pup leaves the breeder, including socialization and environmental influences, but it can give us all insight into the personality traits that may make one puppy a better fit for one family than another.  A high-energy, assertive puppy may not be the best choice for a family who wants a mellow couch potato or who already has a dominant dog that’s used to being king of the hill.  Likewise, a lower-drive puppy that lacks motivation may not be the best fit for someone who dreams of doing dog sports with their companion.  As anyone who has known a dog before can attest, they are as varied as we are in their predilections!  By taking into account what we learn about each dog through puppy testing and observations of their first two months of life, we can all make more responsible, informed decisions about which home suits which pup, and vice versa. 

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To be clear, however, this is not to say that we necessarily make the final call on which puppy you get to take home.  Your spot on the reservation list will still ultimately dictate the order in which you may choose your pup, but we hope that you will take our recommendations to heart, as it will optimize success for all of us.  A breeder is like a puppy matchmaker in many ways!  We are the first to get to know your new best friend, and serve as a valuable resource for guiding your final decision, if you will permit us.  Finding the right balance is key, and these things generally sort themselves out in the end and everyone walks away pleased with their choice. 

 

Once you leave with your pup, we try to make the transition as smooth as possible and are always just a phone call away if you need advice or just some reassurance.  Bringing home a new puppy can be both exciting and terrifying at the same time and we want to support new owners so that the experience is a positive one for both you and your new puppy.  Please always feel free to contact me if you have questions about crate training, grooming, appropriate toys and chews, anything that arises.  I may not have all the answers, all the time, but I will always try to help.  I try to keep tabs on all of my “puppy people,” at least through the initial transition.  I try to check in without being pesty, as I know, some families want to just hit the ground running and I certainly don’t want to be the “puppy police” or a nuisance.  However, for those of you who are interested in keeping in touch, I am always happy to help in any way that I can!  When I don’t have puppies on the premises, I enjoy hosting playdates for my past puppies.  I also like to host grooming workshops periodically if you are interested in learning how to groom your dog yourself.  I should add...though I am not a professional groomer, keeping my pack looking and feeling their best often feels like a full-time job!  I’m always happy to show what I’ve learned.  I also do raw food clinics, for those who are interested in learning more about the way we feed our dogs.  I can’t overstate the value I’ve seen in feeding biologically appropriate food!

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Week six is an opportunity for people to come, meet the pups in person for the first time, and begin getting an idea of which one suits them best.  Final decisions will be made after puppy testing and we will start making plans for them to leave the nest. All of the puppies will be examined and cleared by our family vet around this time, as well.  

 

Deposit to hold your space on the list is $300, and as expected, your deposit will be rolled into the final purchase price of your puppy.   

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Deposits are non-refundable, unless I wind up with more deposits than I have puppies.  Since we are dealing with nature and cannot always predict how things will unfold, if you are on a list and we are unable to provide you with a puppy, either because a pregnancy did not take, or there were fewer puppies born than anticipated, your deposit will be returned, or, you may elect to apply it to a future litter.  If you decide to commit your deposit to a future litter because we don’t have enough puppies to go around, we will offer a 15% discount for your trouble.  Additionally, you will be at the top of the list for that next litter. 

 

If you aren’t able to get your choice of color or coat quality, and wish to apply your deposit to a future litter, you will be given preferential pick over new clients for that litter. 

 

**A lot of people are concerned with the issue of non-refundable deposits.  Although the deposit is technically “non-refundable,” in certain circumstances, I will choose to refund it if it is early on in the litter, and you decide that I just don’t have what you want.  This generally comes down to color choice or coat features.  I generally have advanced genetic data on individual coat types within a week of the pups being born, and understand that hypoallergenicity is crucial to some families.  Regarding the issue of color, I should reiterate that making decisions on color alone is a mistake, but if color is an early dealbreaker, I will consider a refund.  I should add that experience has now shown me that the people who are the most fixated on their color and gender choices before the pups arrive, are often the ones who choose a puppy that is nothing like the one they’ve been dreaming of, so please, keep an open mind!

 

Deposits are fairly standard in this business, but if you are concerned, just give me a call and I will delve into the matter in more detail.  The purpose of the deposit is to encourage early commitment on the part of buyers and to incentivize buyers to see that commitment through.  Knowing that puppies have secured a reliable, quality home early on is paramount.  The older a litter gets, the more reluctant I am to refund, unless another suitable home can be found in a timely fashion.  This is rarely an issue, but needs to be said.  Refunds are at our discretion, but we are not in the business of getting rich off of puppy deposits, and we understand that life happens. I certainly don’t think it’s ethical for a customer to walk away from $300 without any exchange of good or service.  At the same time, if you court a puppy all the way to the finish line and then back out, that is relevant, as well.  However, to be clear, refunds are at my discretion.

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We offer a range of pricing options, as well as payment plan options.  Like you might expect in any business, we try to keep an eye on the bernedoodle market in real time and adjust pricing accordingly.   

 

We always encourage visitors here!  This gives prospective buyers the opportunity to get to know us, visit the farm, and meet our dogs.  Seeing the dogs in person gives you a good idea of their relative sizes, builds, and coat colors and textures so that you can begin to anticipate your preferences regarding your ideal bernedoodle.  You will also be able to look at photographs of past litters and get a close-up look at the parent genetic panels.  Plus, it gives us the chance to talk to you about your expectations for dog ownership and to get to know you a little bit.  Please give me a call if you’d like to come by.  I also host open houses from time to time, depending on whether we have a litter in the home.

 

At this time, we do not ship puppies.  Pick up is in person, only.  It’s difficult enough for us to let a puppy leave with you, the new owner…for my part, I can’t bring myself to hand a puppy over to a courier who is usually transporting numerous other pups.  I want my dog to have undivided attention when it leaves, and a courier generally is not able to offer that.  I worry that it’s a stressful way for a puppy to leave the nest, and also an opportunity for puppies to contract gastrointestinal illnesses. In certain circumstances, either I or our trainer, a most trusted friend, will bring your puppy to you, but that depends entirely on our availability.  If you elect to have your puppy delivered by me, it will generally only be sometime after ten or twelve weeks, after all pups have left the nest.  There is also an additional charge for this service, based on airline pricing to your destination.

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Please never hesitate to call with any questions that arise along the way.  I try to be available to help in any way possible during the buying process and beyond.  So far, we have genuinely enjoyed the relationships we’ve built with the people who have taken our puppies home.  I am always grateful for the updates, pictures, and visits and try to be a helpful resource if I am able.