Pretty typical phone call for me is this:
Them: "Hello I'm looking for a Yorkie, my wife/husband and I are wanting one to love and spoil. We want a pet only. Do yours have full registration papers?"
Me: "My puppies are registered, yes, but I require a spay/neuter contract and they either go on limited registration or I hold the paperwork until I have proof of spay/neuter."
!!!CLICK!!!
Or of course the oh so popular, "Hello I'm looking for a Yorkie how much are yours?"
If that's your first question you aren't getting one of mine.
I have also been asked if they can "borrow" one of my puppies for a few days to "see if they like it."
Probably one of my saddest stories though involves someone that lives about 45 minutes away from me. About a year ago my cousin was looking for a Yorkie. I didn't have any available at the time so I was helping her look at and research other puppies/breeders in the area. She found a lady who was rehoming her 4 month old Yorkie female and was asking a reasonable adoption fee. She spoke with the lady on the phone and the story was that she had a 1 year old Yorkie male who she had rescued, and she bought him a "friend" (this little girl pup), but he did not get along with her. She also said that when she went to pick the puppy up from the breeder, she was smaller than she had thought, and that her children (I believe they were ages 3, 5, and 9...but definitely all young) were being too rough for such a small pup. We were sent a photo of the little girl and she was very pretty, we were also sent a pedigree on her and she was actually from quite nice lines. We decided to go and see the little girl, and started on the drive towards her house. She called my cousin about 10 minutes into it and said that something had come up and she wouldn't be able to have us over that night, but that she could meet us halfway with the pup instead. It was a bit of a strange story, and we were certain at this point that the lady must have had something to hide, but nevertheless we met her about half and hour later. She had the little girl with her, same as the pup in the picture, she had all the health records which showed her completely up to date on shots, and she had a more detailed hard copy of her pedigree, and her AKC papers. She also had her children with her, one of which was carrying the puppy, and he had tears in his eyes at the thought of giving her away. My cousin fell in love and ended up taking the pup. She was at a very reasonable low adoption fee and she was given the puppy's food, blanket, and toys in addition to all her paperwork. She took the puppy to the vet the next day and she was in perfect health, and we researched the breeder of the pup who turned out to be reputable. So all was well and my cousin was extremely happy with her decision.
Two months later she was scanning the web and came across and ad for a rehome on a male Yorkie puppy. She noticed that the location was the same as the lady where she got her female rehome. Then she noticed the phone number was the same, and email. We emailed the lady from a different email address to find out the story, and it was EXACTLY the same as what had been told for the first little girl, except obviously this was male pup. Same small adoption fee, same about not getting along with the children and being too small, not getting along with her rescue yorkie, etc. The pedigree was not the same as the female but was another nice pedigree. We were saddened by it, and the next day the ad on the male pup was gone, so we assumed he had been taken.
We put it out of out minds, about 6 more months went by, and I got a phone call one day from an extremely nice sounding lady. I couldn't answer my phone at the time, so she left a long message about how she was searching for the perfect Yorkie baby, etc. She also filled out my adoption questionnaire, gave references, etc. in an email. Her name sounded vaguely familiar to me, but I couldn't place it. I was actually on the way back from a long drive at the time, and I called her back on the road. We talked for about an hour. She explained that this would be her very first Yorkie but that she had done years of research, she had had other small breeds, had a small breed vet, etc. She said she was only looking to buy from a reputable breeder with quality dogs, but that she only wanted a pet, would be willing to sign a neuter contract, and would supply any additional information that I needed. I had one little male available at the time, and I told her about him. She never once asked about the price, only talked about his health, his parents' testing, my health guarantee, etc. She asked all the right questions. She wanted to see a picture of the little boy and I told her that as soon as I got back to my house I would send her a few, and I would also begin checking her references at that point. I asked her for another contact number, because she had only given me a home phone at that point, and she gave me an additional cell number.
Well I got home and something was just bugging me. I read over the answers to her questions and could just not put my finger on it. Then I started my googling. Her email address came back with nothing out of the ordinary, home number nothing strange. However, the cell phone immediately brought up SEVEN ads for Yorkie rehomes, including the little girl that my cousin had adopted, and the little boy we saw after that, and 5 others both before my cousin got hers and after. I could not believe it, it was the SAME lady!!
She was using a different name, different house phone, different email, but guess she forgot to change that cell or thought I wouldn't put two and two together. Obviously she did not know that it was my cousin who had the little girl, or that it was me who was with my cousin that day. I never said I was a breeder then, since it was my cousin buying the pup, and she did most of the talking. So the WHOLE conversation she had with me, the entire adoption questionnaire, everything was a lie. I honestly was not sure how to handle the situation, but knew that I had to confront her. I called her back on her home number (which was the original number she gave on my questionnaire with her fake name), and she answered. When she did I asked to speak to "her REAL name (the one she had used when my cousin got her little girl AND the name on all her ads)". She said, "this is her." I immediately told her who I was and I said that my cousin was the lady who had "
the name of the girl she had rehomed" and that I was the one who was with her that day. I asked why she felt the need to lie to me and why she was collecting these puppies and rehoming them. She hung up on me before I could finish my questions.
That one just floored me. The sad thing is that the dogs she "collected" were mostly from reputable breeders in several neighboring states. Breeders who show, health test, have produced many champions, etc. Apparently she has gotten away with this many times.
I am thankful that I was careful enough and that she didn't get one of my puppies, but sad that she has done this to others and is probably still doing it. The SADDEST thing to me, though, is her children. Her son was so upset having to hand over the little girl to my cousin. How many times has she put them through that?
It is definitely true that there are bad breeders, but there are also many bad buyers too.