Chambray Labradors Presents the Puppy Placement Process
Chambray's
Puppy Placement Process
January
2011
Explaining The Puppy Placement Process
“The Best Things In Life Are Well Worth Waiting For”
Probably the most difficult process to fully explain of all that
Chambray Labrador offers to the
Labrador Community is how puppies are placed with people wanting
them!!!!
It would seem that if someone wanted a puppy and we had a puppy available, that it would be a simple and easy transaction, a done deal if you will! The old come with money in hand and leave with arms full of puppy!
However the old adage applies most fittingly here “the best things in
life are well worth waiting for” and it
becomes the operating mantra for Chambray Labradors and our puppy
placement program as supply and demand weighs heavily with the process.
The demand for the absolute best product with the absolute best service takes precedent over the amount of puppies available at any given time, so the demand for our puppies far exceeds the numbers ever present at one time.
This
situation creates a natural waiting period of anywhere from 6 weeks to 5
months, depending on the demand for
sex and color and of course on whether the puppy is show or pet quality
AND the fact that puppies have to be born
that will fit those desired descriptions.
In
other words, seldom if ever are there puppies available right on the
spot! None of the "puppy in the window"
situations here, where someone at the spur of the moment can drive out
and purchase a puppy at the whim of the east wind. Our absolute best
clients are those that have done their research, contacted several
breeders, touched base with us and made an educated decision that
Chambray Labradors was the best source for their new addition to their
family.
To
further compound the waiting game dilemma is the fact that each litter
must be at least 7 weeks old before the temperament and show evaluations
are done! That’s when we find out how many puppies are actually show
quality
and how many will be placed as pet quality.
This
means that until the evaluation is performed at 7 weeks of age, there is
no way to determine how many puppies
there will be available for those waiting for either Show quality of Pet
quality! So the orders can not be "filled" until
we actually know ourselves what we have on hand.
Once
we determine at 7 weeks of age the status of each puppy and also the
temperament of each, we then begin to consider with whom they will fit
the best according to many conversations and interviews we have had with
each
person on the Reservation Waiting List.
Those with show deposits will be contacted and apprised of what is being
made available to them. Those people
will then make arrangements to come see the puppies and decide if this
will be the puppy for them. At times there
may be several puppies to choose from; other times there may only be one
puppy to make a decision on.
Keep
in mind that the entire essence of our breeding Labradors is to produce
the absolute best in show quality to
further our working motto of “for the betterment of the breed”!
So
placing our top show quality puppies becomes our #1 objective during
this all important process of placing
puppies with prospective new owners!
Upon
our very arduous evaluation procedures, those puppies that we feel do
not have the competitiveness for
show or that do not meet our high standards for conformation, will be
designated as Pet quality and will be placed
with those individuals that have indicated their desires not to breed or
to show their dogs in the future.
These will be placed with the AKC Limited Registration.
Those that are on our waiting list for Pet quality will be contacted and
advised as to what is being made available
to them from each litter on a first deposit date, first serve basis.
If
anyone on the list decides to opt out on their turn for a puppy, those
next on the waiting list will be notified
that an opening on the waiting list has occurred and that they have an
option to decide on a puppy that has
become available.
Reservation Deposits are always 100% refundable in the event that a puppy is not available.
At 8 weeks of age, puppies are then old enough to go to their new homes.
QUESTION & ANSWERS BELOW:
Q ~ Thank Mr. Herzon for all that you provide the Labrador community. What would you say is the average number of Pet Quality puppies per litter? Alan Weiss
A ~ Placing our puppies is one of the things that I take the most serious of all the Labrador-related services and activities that we are involved with.
This is a very interesting question that is very time sensitive. Back in 1990 with the same intentions of breeding only to produce Show Quality puppies, I was very lucky if 1 puppy out of each litter would rise to being as good or better than the parents for about a 10 to 20 % average of Pet to Show, so for every show puppy produced there were 6 or 7 pet puppies produced!!!!!
Over the years, with the insistence of only breeding the best to the best the ratio would grow to about 50% show quality produced by the end of the decade, so by the year 2000, the quality of those puppies produced rose to be about equal or 50% pet and show.
The next 10 years to 2010 would see a very dramatic rise in absolute show quality coming about from only breeding the absolute best sires to the absolute best dams. Of course, Chambray Labrador's Labrador Owners Program has been in place for over 10 years and the luxury of having over 80 females to choose from for the breeding program has given rise to the tremendous leap in quality produced. Where as most breeders only have several females to choose from, we have the luxury of selecting 6 to 8 litters from over 80 females to choose from and then we breed those selected females to the very best stud dogs to bring about the desired improvements that we are looking for in each litter produced.
Now in 2011, almost every single puppy in a litter actually rates out in the top 90%. So much so, that the actual cut off for show quality has been raised from a rating of 80 back in 1995 as being show quality, to now the bar being set at a 90 for being show quality!!!! Even with the raising of the bar to that height, 9 out of 10 puppies rates over a 90 and thus receives the status of being show quality.
Q. ~ We are interested in the show quality package, but would like to choose that puppy from a certain sire and dam, is that possible?
A. ~ Absolutely, yes! We aim for the highest satisfaction rate possible and want each prospective new owner to research all other breeders and their offerings and then come back to Chambray and see what we have to offer. We are very pleased when someone researches our breedings and request from a particular sire or dam because that shows that they have done their homework.
Q. ~ I notice on your website that you do not require breedings contracts with the show puppies you place and that you place those on Full AKC Registration.
A. ~ That's 100% correct! We feel that once you purchase a puppy, it is yours to decide what's best for it in the future. Now what is vastly different at Chambray Labradors is our Labrador Owners Community for mentoring, partnering, co-breeding, raising, training, conditioning, nutrition and show handling. This is the Chambray Difference as no other breeder is qualified to offer our entire Owners Package! So each new Chambray owner may be totally independent or may choose to take advantage of our entire Show Labrador Owners Programs.
Q. ~ My husband and I have researched dozens of show breeders throughout the country and very few are willing to place puppies on Full Registration and if they do, they place them with so many conditions that do not seem fair.
A. ~ I am fully aware of what the top show breeders offer and how they place their puppies. Interesting enough, I don't disagree with them and their policies. However with that being said, at Chambray Labradors we do things totally different as we have the Betterment of the ENTIRE Breed in mind with our placement policy. We feel that if we open up our very successful breeding program and share our best produce with people that want the best, then they too will have a chance to produce better and this will be a win/win situation for all involved.
Q. ~ Your prices for show quality puppies is half of what other top show breeders are getting across the country and yet you are as successful as most of those are, why is that?
A. ~ By making our puppies as affordable as possible, we are reaching the general population that may not have a chance to get involved with show dogs if it were not for our policies. This in effect creates a tremendous amount of advertising and publicity for our dogs and thus we do not have to spend a cent on advertising anywhere. No magazines, no Labrador Quarterly, no Online Brokers, no Labrador Forums, no Chit Chat rooms, no Newspapers, no where will you ever see an advertising of Chambray Labradors! So, all the thousands of dollars that those top breeders spend on promoting and advertising that they then add to the price of their puppies, you save with our pricing. On top of all that, those other top breeders spend thousands and thousands of dollars on professional dog handlers to show their dogs all over the country, we on the other hand provide our owners and partners with top-notch professional handling of those dogs that we bred, so instead of us spending money on handling our dogs, we actually get paid ourselves to handle those dogs we bred. This is another huge savings that those buying our puppies do not have to incur!!!! Another win/win situation for the general Labrador Owners community.
Q.~ We have seen many of your dogs, both show and pet at your training classes. We can't tell the difference! How do you tell the difference?
A. ~ If only I could bottle the formula for deciding at 7 weeks which puppies have the potential for show versus being beautiful companions dogs, I would be a millionaire! For me it has taken my entire 41 years of breeding, raising, training and showing Labrador Retrievers to develop the "critical eye" as puppies to evaluate and decide which will have the conformation and competitiveness to be successful at the highest end of the fancy, the AKC dog shows! There are many breeders that say it is not possible to tell as 7 week old puppies which are the best, however it is those same people that keep certain puppies for themselves from each litter and then sell the rest! The old Keep the Best and Sell the Rest! So even though they say one thing, they actually do something different themselves! I firmly believe that part of our huge successes are due to me being able to select and place the best puppies with those that want the best, where other breeders keep the best for themselves and then later don't have the time nor the money to show all those dogs they kept!
Q. ~ You offer so much for those that live in your state in the form of training and handling, how can someone outside your state benefit from all you have to offer?
A. ~ I am receiving more and more of these emails as our successes become wide spread and more people want to become part of our Labrador Owners Community. Although all show puppies come with lifetime free private training and also lifetime class training and we also provide our handling services at major discounts for those with our Labradors, I understand that it would be very difficult for those further away to take advantage of these offerings. We have come up with several programs to covers some situations for those living great distances from us.
For those that live throughout Florida, we have now instituted the Community Reach Out Program to every city that we travel to for dog shows. These mostly Saturday afternoon training sessions will be free to all that have purchased a Labradors from us. In addition, to reach out to the entire Labrador community, we will also provide these work sessions for owners of other breeders Labradors at a nominal charge.
For those outside of Florida that own our dogs, we have set up an In-Kennel Training/Handling Program where dogs can be shipped to us for intensive training and for show handling here in Florida. This will be done at a 50% discount in the regular fees we charge for these services.
Regardless of where any of our dogs live with their owners, all receive our Lifetime Support System for all that pertains to Labradors, including our mentorship program for breeding, raising, training and even handling instructions.
Q. ~ What a difference your website is for those wanting information! We spent 3 days reading all of your informative writings and came away with so much insight that was not possible anywhere else. In fact most of the other breeders we communicated with seem to be very secretive about their ways of doing business so much so that in several instances some were downright rude and very short when dealing with our questions.
A. ~
I have heard that over and over again from those that came to Chambray
Labradors to compare! We feel that an "Educated Consumer is Our Very
Best Client". We encourage people to do their homework when embarking on
this mission of finding a new member for your family that will live with
you for 14 years or more. It is just as important
to find out who the breeder as to find out who the sires and dams are of
the puppy. Bottom line the quality of the product/service you receive is
100% related to the quality of the breeders themselves!!!!!
Q.~ We have been searching for a Labrador puppy for sometime now and have encountered a lot of animosity between the breeders that we have contacted. Almost all seem to have something bad to say about the others. It seems that all have detractors. In our emails and conversations with you, you seem to stay clear of discussing other breeders, some of which do not like you very much.
A. ~ I will take your observation of me not trash talking anyone as a major compliment! I feel that we have so much positive to offer the general Labrador owners community that all that negativeness that you hear about would be a tremendous waste of time on my part. It is very unfortunate that there are people that resort to that type of behavior for whatever reasons. In our case, it has more to do with those not being able to compete with our vast offerings, plus not being able to compete at the dog shows with their dogs. Losing has a way of bringing out the worst in certain people.
I encourage all those searching for a puppy to contact as many breeders as they can and get as much information about their involvement with the breed, their community service programs, total disclosure with written warrantees up front of the puppies being offered for placement. Get everything in writing before putting down a deposit, which the majority of breeders make it "non-refundable" if you change your mind or find something better somewhere else.
As a business person, I know that there will always be a few that can't be satisfied no matter what! We are very proud of our 98% satisfaction rate, that means that you may find the disgruntled 2% lurking in the shadows, plus to make matters worse they even try competing at the dogs shows against our dogs, that makes for a double whammy, ousted from the program and losers all rolled up in one!
We seriously trust that most people with common sense (the kind we want to deal with) will be able to decipher where reality stops and envy and jealously begins. An educated consumer is our goal, that's why we offer so much information at our website, however we also want prospective new clients to hear it from satisfied clients and welcome them to attend our training classes where they are free to speak to dozens of owners with their dogs. We also encourage people to attend local dog shows where they can also speak to owners from our group and also breeders and owners of other breeder's dogs. After accumulating as much information as possible, we then would love for those searching for a puppy to come and visit us at our home/farm where we can answer any remaining questions about ownership of one of our puppies.
So a quick outline of how we suggest the interview/decision making process works is the following:
-
Touch base with us via email to let us know about your interest in our
puppy placement program.
-
Review the specific information we reply with and read up on other articles of
interest available at the website.
-
Compare what other breeders have to offer and get all their offerings in WRITING!
-
Visit our training facility to see and talk to other Chambray owners.
-
Visit a local dog show to see and talk to more of our owners and other breeders as
well.
-
Touch base with us again via email and let us know where you stand on your research and maybe set up a phone conversation to answer specific questions still pending.
-
Depending on the phone conversation, we will set up a one-on-one visit here at our home/farm. At times there are litters here that have already been placed, but new prospective owners can come and view how their puppy may look at the same age.
-
Depending on our visit here at the farm, a Reservation Deposit may be taken
to be put on a waiting list or if I feel that the client needs more time to research and compare, I will put their name on an "Notify List" and continue to notify them of future availability.
-
We strive for the highest satisfaction rate possible, so we take the placement of one of our puppies very serious and will take the extra yard to ensure that our prospective clients are well informed about the responsibilities of puppy & dog ownership. We highly encourage for those searching for a new addition to their family to gather as much information from as many sources before they take that huge step in bring in another member into their family.
There are exceptions to the process above:
For
those that have done all the research that they feel is important to
make an educated
decision and come to a definite conclusion that they would like to be
considered for the placement of one of our puppies and upon
corresponding with us via emails and phone conversations, we at times
can forego the training class and show visitations. In other words once
we feel comfortable with each other, exception can be made to the
process.
We want satisfied clients to join in with the hundreds that are already part of the largest Labrador Owners group in the country and maybe even the world! Chambray Labradors Owners Community has grown in 20 years to outnumber any Labrador Club membership anywhere.
Remember that the Labrador Owners Community is not a club with membership dues, rules and regulations, instead the owners that participate are part of our vast programs for the betterment of the breed and are here because they choose to partake in all the offerings not available through any club in existence.
I
know first hand how futile it is to do anything through a club
membership, I founded
the South Florida Labrador Retriever Club in 1989 and saw through the
years how small minded mentality, self serving ego-driven politics, and
"know it all-do nothing" individuals turn the club into a small clique
and finally into its ultimate demise.
Fortunately for Labrador owners in Florida, they have had a choice with Chambray Labradors Owners Community.
for more info contact us at
Chambray Labradors
Florida's
top champion breeder of Labrador Retrievers
