I was just talking with my sister today about something that I’ve considered before. Horses are generally bought trained for owner purposes, or bought untrained, trained, and sold. Why on earth hasn’t that ever caught on for dogs? The average person doesn’t exactly do a good job training a dog themselves! 🤣
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Many want puppies, and puppies don’t come ready trained. Something those prospective dog owners who want a puppy often tend to forget.
Of course, by “prospective”, I’m talking about those who see a well trained dog on the street, or a celebrity with the latest fashion breed/designer cross, and don’t realise that it’s taken months or years of training to get the dog they saw on the street or with the latest celebrity to where it is now.
I think also the relationship between dog and owner is stronger than between other species, and training a dog yourself helps create that.
I’m not sure how prevalent this is in other areas, but there is a dog trainer about 15 minutes from me who sells fully trained dogs.
The youngest he sells them at is 4 months, some have been mixed/rescues, but most have been from reputable breeders. They range from $3500 (4 month old with basics) to $8000 (3 year old German Shepherd that’s protection trained).
They’re guaranteed to be correctly socialized around other small pets, children and accepting of new circumstances. Crate trained, fence trained, all basic manners established. They’ve got all basic obedience down for on and off leash.
This trainer and his wife personally deliver the dogs all over the country, and provide a file of the dogs training and health history. They also give each new owner a 45 minute video (with that dog, not just a generic one) that trains the person how to correctly handle their new dog.
I find this absolutely fascinating, and think it’s a really wise route for those who can a) afford it and b) new dog owners who want a solid foundation
So let’s say you had the money to do it, would you buy a trained dog? Or would you still want a puppy?
I’m personally considering doing this with my girl’s first litter for a couple reasons.
At 4 months I can have every single pups hips tested, ensuring they get placed with the correct match (best hips for owner doing canine sports, average for those doing less intense stuff)
Truly gauge how temperament follows the Volhard puppy test, place pups with owners best suited for their temperament
Pick the pup that meets the priority I’m breeding for (my girl has excellent temperament/empathy skills the breed is know for, but a flat stifle and wide angles on her rear structure) to help improve the type i’m working to preserve
If I ended up with a puppy who had physical or mental issues (hopefully not, but you never know what gene might rear it’s ugly head from a grandfather 6 gens back), I could keep that dog longer to see if they become better after maturity, and if not keep them for life.
I would never be interested in this service because raising my dogs from puppies has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me, and I love all the foundation work I’m able to lay for them to integrate into my household perfectly. That being said, I think it’s a pretty wise option for some breeders to offer. I definitely know people that want a young dog, but would rather the puppy already be mostly house-trained and have some basic behaviors already started. Having the breeder keep the puppy a couple of extra months could be perfect for that home, provided the breeder has the time and knowledge for that type of training.
I will say, I would be extremely skeptical of a breeder planning to keep their entire litter until 4 months. That means the buyers miss out on a really crucial socialization period and there’s simply no way one human can provide each puppy with the individual experiences they would need to grow up to be well-adjusted adults in all settings. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day. Offering the service for a few puppy buyers that are interested? Sure. Insisting the entire litter stays with you until 4 months? The hardest of passes from me, personally.