The Haven Kennels Puppy Purchase Process
You have made a well-thought decision to bring a German Shepherd puppy into your home. And you would like to get a Haven Kennels German Shepherd. Thank you as I always take that as a compliment and an honor. You have made your decision and now I have my decision to make – whether you are the right home for one of our babies. These aren’t just puppies to Doug and I. These puppies are members of our family! We are there when they are born. I sleep on a cot in the puppy room for the first six weeks of their life to make sure our German Shepherd puppies are well socialized and are safe from any harm. A lot of things can happen to puppy in those early days. A mother dog can accidentally lay on a pup injuring it or a pup can choke on something. We are there 24/7 to make sure the puppies are okay. Rarely will we have a puppy ready for you immediately. All of our litters have waiting lists, and the wait can be a long time (sometimes up to 2 years) so if you want to have a puppy right away, we may not have one for you. And to be perfectly honest with you, that is the case with most responsible and ethical dog breeders.
The Price of our Puppies
The first thing you need to know is the price of our puppies – $2500 – $3500 depending on the parentage. I make no apologies for the price of our puppies nor do I negotiate price. A lot of work and expense goes into producing puppies of the quality that we offer. If you feel the price is too high, that is your choice. A $600 German Shepherd puppy advertised in your local shopper newspaper may seem like a bargain but could be a heartbreak both financially and emotionally in the future if its parents were not tested for health concerns. The choice is yours, but do your homework and choose wisely.
To download your Haven Kennels Puppy Application, click here.
Approval of Your German Shepherd Puppy Application
All our potential owners have to go through the same thorough vetting process. The first step is to fill out a puppy application. Please be candid and honest in filling out the application for your Haven Kennels German Shepherd puppy. Your application gives me a lot of information about what you are looking for in a puppy. An informative application aids me in choosing the right puppy to go to your home. I do not allow people to choose their puppy. I have over 50 years of experience in dog training. I have been breeding German Shepherds for service dog work for over 25 years. I carefully watch those puppies from the time they are born and by 6 weeks old I have a very good read on their strengths and weaknesses. When you talk to owners of my previous litters you will find that they are very happy with their dogs and that is because I placed the right dog with the right family.
I take great care when I process a puppy application. Trust me, I thoroughly check you out before I allow you to have one of our puppies. I will be calling your vet and local dog officer. I will talk to whoever you put as a personal reference and be asking them lots of questions about you and any dogs you have or had. I will even take a look at your home on Google Maps to see if it fits my standards for an appropriate place for one of our German Shepherds to live. To me it is not about selling dogs but instead finding the perfect home for one of these puppies. If you buy a puppy from Haven Kennels, you will hear from us at least once a year as I check to see how our babies are doing. I love to get emails and pictures of them as they progress through their lives.
Once I approve your application and I am sure that you are who you say you are, I will talk with you on the phone. I’ll be asking you lots of questions and I hope that you have plenty of questions for me. I will also give you contact information so you can call some present owners of Haven Kennels dogs so you can hear firsthand what their experience has been with their dogs and with us as breeders.
A Deposit secures your German Shepherd puppy
When you are ready to make a commitment to getting a Haven Kennels German Shepherd puppy, we will ask you for a deposit on the pup in the amount of $500 – $750. Our deposits, like most breeders, are non-refundable, except under one circumstance. We will refund your deposit if we cannot provide you with a healthy puppy, meeting the criteria you expressed in your application, within 2 years. We require the 2 year period because a lot can happen in the attempted breeding of a female dog. Female dogs can have split heats, hormonal imbalances, or even skip a heat. Deposits can be taken on specific littler ($750) and we only take 4 deposits on any one litter even though there may be more puppies produced. If you do not care about specific parentage, we will place you on a chronological reservation list with a deposit of $500. We list planned breedings on our home page so you can make a selection if you want a pup from specific parentage. Occasionally we will have quality puppies available from the use of our stud dog, Baratheon von Haven. We are very careful about who we breed our boy to so you can be reassured that one of his puppies are of the same quality as the puppies born here in our kennel.
Once in a while, we will have an adult female dog that we are retiring from breeding. These dogs will be 5-6 years old, neutered, and will be trained and housebroken. The price of a retiring female is $800. It is not very often that we have a retired breeding dog as we tend to not be able to give them up emotionally but we can only keep so many dogs, particularly German Shepherds as they require individual human companionship on a regular basis. These retiring females are a great choice to go to families with small children as they are very tolerant and gentle with kids.
If you have any more questions that this page doesn’t answer about purchasing a Haven Kennels German Shepherd, just drop me an email at thehavenkennels@gmail.com.