I missed the part about "red-neck TN." I never thought of Tennessee that way. I hope that wasn't said to suggest that people in TN don't know how to provide good homes for dogs. :eek: I hope you have success finding good homes for them. If I could, I'd take one or two or three....but, hubby says one is enough :)

Good luck finding great homes for your pups.:aimeeyork When I went looking for a Yorkie, I did see some breeders that shipped puppies. However, I felt like it was not good for the puppies to be shipped. I decided to look for a puppy that I could buy from a good breeder that was around my area. I live in a rual town, so I did have to do some driving, but felt like it was much safer then to have a baby shipped. :aimeeyork I liked meeting the breeder too, and talking to her. :aimeeyork the suggestions to meet the buyer of fly them with you under tow, is a good idea. It is just too risky to have them shipped by themselves. :aimeeyork

Screen your customers and Neuter the pups
 

Why do you feel that shipping a puppy guarantees that you are placing it in a good home ?

I personally will no longer ship a puppy regardless of weather - some of you on here know the horrible experience i had last year.

Do you screen and check your possible adoptees?

Your price is ok - you can have those boys neutered as young as 10 weeks so there is no need to let them go without it being done.

Your options for shipping now thru September or later are to have the customer fly in and take puppy back on the plane or you get a cheap flight and take puppy to them - either way check the customer out fully first and make sure you are allowed to take the puppy on what ever airline you are considering using .

You can pm me for more detailed info on what happened that maybe will prevent a repeat of my tragedy

I don't think you need to offer shipping to get them good homes. I am from CA, staying in TX right now and I am picking up my second yorkie from IA in less than 2 weeks. I never liked the idea of getting a puppy that I didn't see first, and I don't like the thought of having one shipped anyway, so we are driving out of our way to pick her up on our way back to CA.

I think if you screen your buyers you should be fine. There are 'bad' people and 'good' people everywhere, if they are willing to give a good home to any dog, and really want them, they shouldn't be opposed to answering any questions that you ask them, IMO at least.

Shipping
 

I occasionally ship; however, with only one carrier..... I only use Continental Airlines. In choosing a carrier or working with buyers who wanted to use a specific carrier, I've had the opportunity to visit with quite a few companies and have never had the level of personal service Continental uses. I have never had a puppy arrive sick, weak, ect.... I give specific instructions for the Houston layover and have even had attendants contact me just to let me know how the puppy is doing or that it has departed Houston. We do not ship prior to 16 weeks, puppies are fully vaccinated (in fact my vac schedule is different for puppies to be shipped vs. those picked up), we have a health certif issued the day prior to shipping or the morning of (rather than the 10 day cap). That way, your vet can check all vitals and do a last fecal float....

as to buyers (forgot to include this)
 

For us, choosing buyers is a long process. No one ever visits our kennel and takes a puppy home that day. We must from time to time tactfully tell some perspective buyers no. We don't make up excuses and are very honest as to what we deem the problem to be.... generally due to a lifestyle or living situation that just would not be optimal for a Yorkie. We really want to get to know our buyers and take an active roll in making sure they choose the puppy that is best for their specific situation. We encourage muliple / lengthy visits to our kennel and try to be available almost anytime. Every puppy is unique as is every buyer. With that said, those who require shipping and we never get a face to face tend to go through a more rigrous approval process as well as a lot of visits via phone and email.

Exactly :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Have you ever lived in Tn? I have been here for 28 yrs...There is no limit to how many pets you can have.. Most people here mistreat their animals and can get away with it...Nashville Humane Society alone puts to sleep 90 dogs per DAY.....Most of them unclaimed by their owners as soon as they found out they had to pay to get them back..

Well, here is my experience:
I am not fond of shipping and i only shipped once.... I had this feeling that it was the right thing to do... and i did !!! She paid the puppy and shipping in advance and waited until the puppy was old enough to be shipped safelly: 12 or 13 weeks...something like that ..... anyways , i made a great friend. I am in Massachusetts she is California... I never regreted....the puppy was safe on the shipping and had a stop for water and food.... it is a long flight....
it has being about 2.5 years and i get pictures and updates constantly.... this lady happened to reaserch on my blood lines and no one around her area had them.... of course it was a process and i had so many questions for her and about her life... her other pets.... It was a great experience. I can not say that i would ship again... i was so very nervous and it was not easy to put my baby on that plane.... But since your concerns are that you may be able to find better homes for your pets in another areas i wanted to share with you my good experience.... as i can repeat: i do not regrett and i made a great friend, we e-mail each other every week.... and her yorkie is now over 2 years old.... So i believe you will do whatever is right for your babies !!!

Tennessee
 

Well, "most" people I know do not mistreat their animals. I doubt if Nashville Humane Society puts any more dogs to sleep every day than any other shelter their size. I have lived in Tennessee for 28 years also. You make some pretty broad statements and bash people from Tennessee. Maybe you need to meet some new people. There are limits to how many pets you can have depending on where you live. There are very caring people in Tennessee who are active in preventing cruelty and rescuing animals. We aren't all rednecks and most of us care about our animals.

While I would consider buying a puppy from someone who ships, I don't think I could do it myself. That would be so scary for a puppy. When I got Ellie all she wanted to do was be close to me on the ride home... There are also horror stories about shipping. I think they need to fly to you and get the pup or you fly it to them.

Six weeks is way to young to start shots.
Could you push it til about 9 weeks?

To smartpuppiepets--your experience sounds like the one I share with my breeder- sometimes the right fit (breeder and new owner) may be hundreds of miles away. I talked to my breeder long before my Zoe was born. I told her not to ship her until she was sure it was time (12 weeks) and she used Continental- they're great with pets :thumbup:. She called me once the plane departed and I was at the airport an hour before that flight landed. It was pure anxiety for both of us but things worked out great. Matter of fact, Zoe had a little friend on the flight with her- a maltese.:animal36

To the OP- use good judgement in selecting new owners and though I've never been to TN- I am sure they're good prospective owners there ;)--just as I am sure they're bad owners in other states. Just a thought.

I am not talking about rescue groups and such.. I am referring to people who breed small breeds... Those are the only ones that seem to call about the dogs.. Most people that I know have not purchased from a breeder in Tn because of the conditions.. Around here, there is NO limit to how many dogs you can have.. If you will go back and see my post about the Yorkie "Prissy" that I resuced from horrible conditions, you will see how hard of a time I have had to get anyone in Tn to care... The laws are not strict... I make assumpttions based on what I know... I have that right, it is called Freedom of Speech.. Also, I never onced bashed people from TN.... Redneck doesn't always mean a bad thing...Go back and reread my posts and then find another thread!!

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
<<<<<Redneck and proud of it...