Q
I've been told that you won't sell a dog to me
because I am new to the breed, is this true?
A Absolutely
not, we don't believe a qualified home is a home
that has already had a Whippet - we believe a
qualified home is a home that is compatible to the
breed and the dog itself. Many of our best homes
have been 'newbie's' and we enjoy, very much,
teaching and mentoring new people and answering
questions and we enjoy seeing our puppies in the
perfect home for them, which isn't always a home
that has already had or has Whippets.
Q Do
you sell pets?
A
Yes, not every puppy will turn out to be the perfect
show or performance prospect. This does not mean
they are any less important to us then a show or
performance prospect and we will hold on to them as
long as it takes to find their perfect home. Also,
a somewhat common problem in the Whippet breed are
monorchids. These puppies can not be shown and
therefore will be available to companion homes, but
they can be neutered and coursed or raced. All of
our companion puppies are sold on a spay/neuter
contract and ALL our puppies are sold with a
contract that states that we must get them back if
for some reason the new owner can not keep them.
Q
I heard that Shannon Down Whippets is a big kennel
with many dogs and that the dogs are always kept in
crates.
A This
is a funny one, anyone that has been to our house
can say different. We do have a lot of dogs but
they are all house dogs - they sleep on the couches
and in our beds, they are our pets first and
foremost. Our dogs spend little time in crates,
they are crate trained from puppies but as adults
they only go in crates for traveling, eating,
sleeping at night (the ones that don't sleep loose
with us - not all can fit in bed) or when girls are
in season. Krystyl works from home so she or
someone else is always home with our dogs - so they
never have to be crated because everyone is working
during the day. We have a room just for the dogs in
our house where all their stuff is kept - crates,
pads and blankets, food, bowls/buckets, medications,
show/coursing/racing supplies and so on. This is
the room they stay when they are crated at night or
being fed. Another thing I would like to point out,
is that our dogs compete in coursing and racing and
compete in the show ring - our dogs would not be in
the proper condition for these activities if they
were kenneled all day, our dogs are known for their
muscle tone which they could not develop laying in a
crate.
Q
What happens to your dogs when they are no longer
competing in the show ring or performance events and
no longer being bred.
A
Most will stay with us and live out the rest of
their lives laying on the couch and sleeping in the
bed and making an occasional trip out to a show or
performance event to play around. When we place one
of our retired dogs, it's normally because they have
gotten to an age where they no longer want to be
bothered by the young dogs and there's to much
commotion in the house for them to be comfortable.
And when all our dogs live in the house - it's hard
to keep it a quiet, calm place for them. So we find
them the right home for them, usually close by to us
so we can still visit and they can live out their
older years in comfort and quiet. Another reason
would be, a particular dog just doesn't fit in with
the 'pack' and won't be truly happy staying with us
and all the other dogs.
Q
Why are there so many dogs on your website and do
they all live with you?
A Something
people frequently do is NOT read. If you look at
the dogs pages, you will find that most are not
owned by us. We think many of our dogs we've bred
deserve pages on our website, even if we do not own
them. The dogs the Our Whippets page all live here
at Shannon Down - on the Other Whippets page, they
are owned or co-owned by someone else and living
with them. We feel many of them deserve to be
highlighted on our website, but most do not actually
live with us or are owned by us. So make sure you
READ when you are on a dogs page, their owner(s) are
listed right up near the top.
Q
Why do you have so many litters listed on your
website?
A This
kind of goes along with the question and answer
above. If you look at the litter pages, you will
find that some litters were co-bred by us and some
of the litters are litters we did not breed but were
sired by our dogs. We like everyone to see what our
dogs are producing, even if we did not breed the
litter, therefore each litter gets a spot on our
website. Also, the litters under Planned Litters
are just that, plans. These litters have not yet
arrived and may be a year or two away, so when you
see a couple of litters under Planned Litters - they
may be our plans for the next 2-3 years and some of
the litters may not even be bred by us. We also
announce litters that are out of Shannon Down bred
bitches and sired by Shannon Down bred dogs and
these litters will have their breeders name and
information to contact them on the pages.
Q
I was interested in breeding to one of your males,
but was told that you will not breed to outside
bitches.
A
We do allow our boys to breed outside bitches, but
in order for this to happen - the bitch must have
all the proper and current health testing (all our
stud dogs do). We suggest that any bitch that will
possibly be bred to one of our boys at least be
CERF'd and have a cardiac exam as well as having a
brucellosis test done before breeding. We generally
like to have the bitches come to us for breeding but
will collect and ship semen if this is preferred.
We also have to see pictures or see the bitch in
person, as well as a pedigree. We want to make sure
that our boys would improve the next generation and
with certain bitches, this isn't always possible.
So we do have to approve the bitches before they are
bred to our boys. We also like to make sure that we
are going to be kept informed on where the puppies
are placed and have contact information for each
puppy owner so that we too can keep in touch with
them and know how our boys' puppies are doing.
Q
If I breed to one of your dogs, will you help find
homes for the puppies?
A We
stand behind any puppies sired by our dogs, and therefore
will help find the perfect home for any of them. We
would help transport any puppies if needed and give them a
home if something goes wrong with their new owners.
|