Buying or selling a dog or puppy over the internet.
We have found that scamming has become a huge issue when buying or selling over the internet. We have even had someone recently use our website and pics on a popular advertising site. While shopping for a purebred dog you will most likely shop nationwide or worldwide. shiba inu puppy for sale uk We prefer to stay within the nation. If you shop world wide, look into quarantine laws. It is much harder to retrieve your money from someone in another country if you run into a problem. Even if you are shopping local, we hope to help make it safe and pleasant.
In our personal experience while shopping for our Bull Terriers, we were alerted to scamming from some of the websites that we looked at and also from breeders stories that we came in contact with. Buyers have sent money never receiving a dog, or it was not the dog they thought they were getting. Sometimes the dog has obvious health problems that were not disclosed. We even drove several miles to pick up a puppy, were blown off by the seller and later found out the puppy had been sold to someone else weeks earlier. We were given some ideas such as have the breeder take a picture of your puppy with a sign behind it with your name on it and e-mail this to you. If you got the breeders name from a website that lists a variety of dogs for sale, check out the reviews for the breeder and even e-mail to see if they are as happy as the review states. Some of these websites also have ideas to use. Look at the breeders personal website. We are leery of breeders who breed several different types of dogs.
Also breeders who have too many. Ask how they keep track of who breeds with who. Ask about the living conditions. Are they in the home, in a pen, in a fenced in yard, or are they kept in a crate? Crate training is a good thing. It can teach the dog discipline and gives him his own personal space but, there is such a thing as to much crate time. Find out how the puppy is socialized. Does it spend a lot of time with family and other people? A few breeders, but not many, will be licensed. You can call the city or county in which they are licensed and verify that they are legitimate. Call the breeder and keep in touch with them all the way to the end. Have them keep you up to date with pictures as the puppy grows. The puppy should never be taken from its mother until it is at least eight weeks old. At that time, it should have its first series of shots, be de-wormed, started on heart worm and have a health certificate for shipping or health record for pick up. Puppies should not ship without one.
The breeder should be able to provide you with information about all of this plus, what kind of food they have been feeding, appropriate toys and sleeping arrangements. They should be able to give you information about the breed and the specific dog such as the temperament, health issues, exercise, how they get along with children and other pets. You may want to ask about registration papers and if they can show you a copy of the parents pedigrees. You may even get a registration number and look it up at the Kennel Club website. It may cost $10.00 or $20.00 but it is worth it. Some sellers advertise that the dog has show potential. They may have, but most of the time it is because of the champions in the bloodline. There is no way to tell if a puppy will become a show dog much less a champion. Find out what airline the breeder ships by if shipping. You can call the airline or look on their website, to find out the regulations. They all have different rules. We ship with one, only because of the service we have experienced, not because they are cheaper. Some breeders say they won't ship at all. Don't be afraid to ask as many questions as you want. Most likely if you are shopping for a purebred puppy, you are spending a lot of money.
While advertising to sell our puppies, we ran into several scams by e-mail and phone. Most of the e-mails would say that they are very interested in our "item" and then would ask for our address saying that they would have their courier pick up the puppy or "item". They would ask or offer to pay us more than the asking price and send a money order or check. Then we were to wait until the check clears our bank. What people don't realize, is that just because the check clears your bank, does not mean it is good. By the time your bank finds the check or money order is a fraud, it is too late, then you owe the bank. When the courier was sent to pick up the "item" we were to pay them with some of the extra money. Being suspicious, I would e-mail back with questions that would be for the most part unanswered. Most of the time the spelling and phrasing is like that of a child or someone from a foreign country. A new scam is by phone. We get phone calls from an operator for the deaf giving you a message. This is so they don't have to talk to you and answer questions. They are also playing on your sympathy. You can alert the operator and they can give you a number to report it to.
Always ask questions. Become suspicious if they can't answer them. Keep copies of the e-mails and document phone calls. It is better to lose a sale or purchase than to take a chance on being ripped off or having your identity stolen. You can find agencies on the internet that work with the FBI to report to. If everyone reports these, it may help slow down scamming.