We were told she would settle quickly and she did, on the second night, in a crate, without a sound. Two years on she is exactly the dog we were described on the phone. That is the part that impressed me most, honestly. Nothing was oversold.
Reviews
What families tell us afterwards
The part we care most about is the message that arrives a year later, when the novelty has worn off and the dog is just part of the household.
We had never owned a dog before and we asked a lot of stupid questions. Every single one got a proper answer, usually the same day, and twice we were talked out of something we wanted. A breeder who tells you no is worth ten who tell you yes.
This is our second, six years apart. The reason we came back is that when our first developed a limp at fourteen months, we got a phone call back within an hour and honest help, at a point where there was nothing in it for them.
Michael asked more questions of us than we asked of him, which was not what I expected and was completely right. He wanted to know how many hours the house was empty. We told him, and he suggested we wait for a different litter. We did.
Wonderful dog and an honest process. My only note is that we would have liked more photographs during the wait, which I did say, and which I gather has since changed.
I wanted a calm dog and I said so. I was steered away from the puppy I had picked out from the photographs toward a quieter one from the same litter. Best advice I have taken in years.
The written guarantee was in our hands before any money changed hands, which we had not experienced before. We read it properly. It says what it says, with no clever wording.
She was brought to us by a nanny who had clearly done this many times and who stayed until we had her settled. She arrived tired and fine, and she slept through the first night.
He is the calmest dog at the park and people ask us constantly where he came from. The honest answer is he came out like that, and I think that is down to how the first eight weeks were done.
I wrote a year later with a question about his coat blowing and got a long, patient reply the same evening, from somebody who had no reason to bother. That is the whole review really.
Lovely puppy, lovely process, and a fair price that was on the website from the start rather than something we had to ask for. The wait was longer than we hoped, though we were told that upfront.
She is four now and has not had a day of trouble. I still get an email every so often asking how she is doing, which after four years says everything about why we chose this place.
Checking us
How to check any breeder, including this one
Reviews on a breeder's own website are written by the breeder's own customers and published by the breeder. That is worth something, and it is worth less than people think. Here is what we would do in your position, and we would rather you did it to us than skipped it.
- Ask for a video call and ask to see the puppy with its mother, live, on the call. Not a recording.
- Ask which vaccinations the puppy has had and when. If the answer is vague, that is your answer.
- Ask what happens if the dog develops a hereditary condition at eighteen months. Compare what you are told with what is written down.
- Ask to speak to a family who took a puppy more than a year ago, not last month.
- Be wary of any breeder who will not discuss price until you have committed emotionally, who applies pressure about other interested buyers, or who will only take a payment method with no recourse.
None of that is us being modest. A buyer who checks carefully is the buyer we want, because that same care is what the dog gets for the next twelve years.