• Interested in owning a Shallowford Puppy?
Before going any further, if you have little or no experience of the breed, please carry out some thorough research (eg The Kennel Club breed standards, talk with friends or neighbours who own a Retriever, ring breeders and ask lots of questions). Find out how big the dog will be, how much exercise it will need etc. When you are sure the breed is for you, please read the following information carefully and then email us describing the sort of home and life you can offer a dog including details of any activities the dog will be involved in. If you can offer something extra – like free access to large areas of land, please tell us about it.
We care very much about the lifelong welfare of our pups and we do our very best to ensure they go to good homes.
• Who can buy a puppy?
Anyone who can provide an active, happy environment for the dog. This includes working, showing, agility, obedience and simply family pets.
• How much to tell us:
Tell us as much as you can.
• When we make our decision:
We keep all the emails or a record of telephone calls from applicants who are serious about buying a puppy. Once the pups are born and we know how many dogs and how many bitches we have, we begin the task of finding the right homes for our puppies. This isn't easy and it's not as clear cut as you would think but we try to decide which homes will be the most suitable for the available puppies.
• Very occasionally we have puppies which are available immediately - please contact us for details.
• What we look for:
First, we look for honesty - so be prepared to be asked questions. Then we try to decide who will genuinely give the dog an active life. By this, we don't mean ten mile runs morning and evening - we're as interested in the dog being able to use its mind as being exercised. Labrador and Golden Retrievers are very intelligent and if you don't find them things to do, they'll find their own - and you might not like the result! We encourage owners to update us with details of how their puppy is progressing.
• Choosing to have a dog or a bitch:
Unless you want to breed your own puppies, there is no real valid reason for insisting on a bitch pup - dogs are just as wonderful as bitches – equally as trainable, loyal and loving. Bitches come into season - but dogs can be a pain if there's a bitch in season nearby.
• When to apply:
We don't have many puppies available - so the earlier you apply, the better. We are impressed by someone who starts looking early, who speaks to several breeders, who is very selective and who is prepared to wait for the ‘right’ puppy. You can register an interest in a puppy at any time. When we have one, we'll get back to you to ascertain if you are still interested. If you are, we'll put you on our "provisional" list.
• If it all goes wrong!
Regardless of how hard we try to place our puppies in the very best ‘forever’ homes, circumstances change. If it doesn't work out, for ANY reason, PLEASE come back to us. Part of our sales agreement is to do our best to take the pup or young dog back and where possible, re-train it before moving it on to a suitable new home.