Should a breeder allow you to visit kennel?
 

What are the arguments for and against a breeder allowing a prospective buyer to visit their kennel? If you're a breeder, would you allow it? If you're a buyer, would you expect it?

I hope this doesn't turn into a contentious topic, because I think there are good arguments to be made for both sides. A breeder recently told a friend that, no, she doesn't allow it because of the risk of introducing disease to her kennel. She doesn't know what dogs the prospective buyer has been around, and she refuses to take the chance.

On the flip side, how does a prospective buyer know if they're buying from a puppy mill or not without seeing the facilities?

No wrong answer here. I'd just like to see what people think.

I am a breeder, I don't have a kennel, but I feel that people need to see where their puppies are coming from, as soon as my puppies get their first shot I allow prospective parents to visit with me and the pups, i keep the pups in an enclosed pen with mesh so they can see the puppies and watch them interact with each other. I feel is important for me to get to meet them in person and ask questions that we both have about the dogs.
hugs,

I do not allow it. I am not a commercial breeder with a "facility" or a "kennel"...this is my home, and I do not allow tours of my home any more than you would allow strangers into your home for tours. I have experienced people bringing parvo into my home when I USED to allow the buyers to come visit with puppies and walk around. There is not only a real and present danger from diseases being spread all over your property on shoes that have walked goodness knows where, there are personal safety issues! People come to case out your home, what you have, where it is located, and by questions asked, they can even determine who is home and when! THEY STEAL THESE DOGS RIGHT OUT OF YOUR ARMS!! They would have NO qualms doing home invasion and taking your dogs from your home! I establish a "close" relationship with my buyers and they can tell from the application interview, my visits with them, my relationship with my buyers - prepurchase, during purchase, and on going after purchase for the life of that baby, as well as what my babies look like, this is not a puppy mill operation. I only have 2-3 litters per year, I own the parents, and my babies are usually sold before they are born! Most (80%+)of my parents are referrals or repeat parents, back for a sibling for the baby they already have...my reputation is solid and I work VERY hard to maintain it. I will not jeopardize my safety, my family's safety, or the health and safety of any of my dogs, by allowing "facility tours"....I will stop breeding before I do that again! PARVO IS ALIVE AND WELL AND EVERY WHERE.....BUT NOT ON MY PROPERTY!!!!

I would prefer to see where my future dogs are born. But honestly, before I would buy another dog from a breeder, I would know the breeder well enough that I would think she/he would know me well enough there wouldn't be a problem with me coming to their home.

This is why I recommend going to dog shows. You get to see the dogs, meet breeders and it's on neutral territory for the first meeting. By being an observer at shows, you can pick up on the interaction breeders have with their dogs, and it can be very enlightening.

I agree with the YTCA on this and this is what they say.

I hope breeders who are concerned about allowing strangers into their homes, get to know the people well enough and have plenty of references so that they are not "strangers". You wouldn't want to sell a puppy to someone who you didn't trust enough to have in your home. Also, there are precautions you can take so that the clients are not spreading disease. I know one breeder who makes people take off their shoes and wash their hands before they can touch a puppy. This is one of the best ways pet buyers can stop supporting puppy mills, if a breeder wouldn’t let me see her home, I’d guess she had something to hide, I might be wrong, but I wouldn’t take a chance. Closing down puppy mills should be a priority for all of us, pet owners and breeders alike.

I would have to be able to see where my pup was born. I have to know what that person really feels about their dogs & one way to tell is to see the facilities with precautions taken to protect the dogs.

As many of you know my son works in an emergency Veterinary hospital,so the potential of all sorts of diseases coming in my home is present every day, I do take precausions, like you will notice a welcome mat in front of the property gate from the driveway, I spray it with a bleach solution every morning and every night, is a precaucion I must take because you never know what walks in the hospital and my son will drag it home. also I spray the mat when I am expecting company of any sort.. one visit I don't allow until the pups are 12 weeks is another dog since the dog can't step on the mat with bleach. I also mop my floors with a solution called Chlorhexidine Disinfectant Solution which is the one used in vet hospitals to kill most diseases.
and in a nut shell that is how I keep my dogs healthy and my property protected.. for security, I have a BIG Alaskan malamute that protects the outside of the house and ADT protects the rest..
hugs,

My "parents" do come after the puppy is 10 weeks old and can see the babies, but they do not walk around my home. They come into my front room and that is as far as we go....since my home is an "open concept" style, they can see 4 rooms from their place in the dining room....but when people call and want to come see puppies that are available, no I do not do that at all. We have a relationship very well established before anyone comes to the house! When they enter the house, they walk on rugs that have been saturated with Virkon.

Then it sounds like your puppy parents can see how the breeding dogs are treated, that's my main concern. I don't think you have to show every room of your home, but puppy buyers should feel satisfied that the breeding dogs are kept in a humane condition. We all have different opinions on this, for example, kennels or crates don't bother me, a breeder has to find a way to keep dogs separated, but I know some people don't approve of them. Some people think the breeding dogs should sleep with the humans, I think this can be dangerous for a pregnant dog. It's up to the puppy buyer to decide what's right. Unfortunately, too many puppy buyers think a dirty small outside kennel with rusty edges crammed full of dogs is just fine, or they would take the time to actually see for themselves.

I completely agree with all of this. I have friends who breed Yorkies and this is exactly what they do. They also have surgical slippers for people who enter their home. They only let people in the formal living room and not anywhere else in the house. They have video cams and alarms as well. If your going to have a kennel, you need to be prepared! NEVER meet a person in a different location. This is how millers and brokers work.

I know whenever I have visited the breeder's home I got Jilly & Tibbe from, she has put down a path of clean pee pads to walk on and they are all over the area where one would walk. As you leave, she is picking up behind you on the way to the door, putting them in a trashbag. I personally would never think of inspecting her other living quarters & she offers to let you see where the dogs are housed & groomed, etc., when not with her in the house & she has a regimen one goes through to enter those large quarters. But I could care less about seeing her bedrooms or other living quarters. After I get home, I wash my own shoes, clean off my purse, shower and wash the clothing I was wearing - just to keep my own home as safe as possible.

By the time I have determine someone is a "suitable" home for one of my pups, I have no theft worries of allowing them in my home.

Love to hear this; after all, these babies are our prized processions!

I don't allow a free roam of my home, I receive people in the main parlor where I have the puppy pen setup. and that is it, i make sure we talk on the phone a few times before I give them my address and I always make sure one of my men is home, one of my sons or my hubby also visits are only on weekends only people that I know come during the week, but still one of my sons is home, since one works days and the other one works nights.
precaution is always your best friend.
hugs,

I didn't say they can tour my bedroom. The beds probably not made. Lol.