Hi all -any of you breeders ever experienced anything like this? I took the last puppy of our border collie litter to Norwich yesterday. All seemed fine. The family were all excited; they'd wanted a border collie for years and had waited until their son was old enough; they'd been to Crufts and spoken to the border collie people at Discover Dogs; they knew what to expect from the breed with regard to exercise and stimulation; and they were looking forwards to showing and maybe doing agility when he was old enough. They had bought a puppy pen and toys; their house and garden was secure. The pup seemed to be at home and looked set to have a fine old life with his new owner - especially the 11 year old boy, with whom he had bonded straight away. I was sad to sell the last pup, but felt happy that he had gone to a good home - as have all the others.
Then this evening the lady of the house emailed me to say that she's changed her mind; they don't want a border collie pup and would I come and collect him and give her her money back.
Well, I'm going to go and get him back, of course - but how can someone decide just like that that they've changed their mind? How can they morph from the ideal family to own a border collie to the buyers from hell? It's a 3.5 hour journey to Norwich from where I live, and it means I've got to take a day's holiday from work tomorrow, but I know I won't rest until I get him back. I'm so annoyed at them
but I'm also beginning to doubt my own perceptions - I've been so careful with prospective buyers (as AJSHEP will probably testify
) and these people seemed good prospective owners, who had researched the breed and decided it was for them.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this?