Wildwood White Swiss Shepherds
Things You Should Know About Purchasing a
Wildwood White Swiss Shepherd
Anyone interested in purchasing one of our puppies must first fill out an application before we will consider placing one of our pups with you. Our goal is to find perfect and forever homes for our puppies!
Wildwood White Swiss Shepherds focuses on temperament, health, and working abilities. This means that your puppy will first and foremost have an excellent temperament. All of our breeding dogs have had extensive health testing and our puppies excellent health is a reflection of this! Our puppies are also highly intelligent which makes training easy and fun!
Puppy Prices & Selection:
Please contact us for current prices. Because of the high quality of our dogs and the high level of care we provide them our puppies are not inexpensive. All are sold under a spay/neuter and no breeding contract unless otherwise specified with me.
We only allow the pick male and female to be accepted as a breeding dog with breeding right considerations, sometimes the top 2 males and females if it is a large or particularly nice litter. This is because as a breeder I want to improve the breed. Most of our puppies would be considered worthy of breeding. However, since my intentions are to always improve the breed, I only want the best of the best to continue our lines. Breeding dogs will only be sold to established breeders or under a co-ownership contract so that I can ensure our lines are being properly represented.
Puppies intended for breeding will be chosen first to ensure the continuation of our lines. After these puppies are chosen, the remaining pups will be placed in the order in which I receive deposits.
Health:
It is important to know that no matter how careful a breeder is, there will always be the occasional appearance of genetic defects. Understand that on average, all dogs have 7.1 genetic defects. No breeder can claim to never produce a genetic problem. It is what they choose to do with the information that is the most important.
Wildwood White Swiss Shepherds tests as many relevant aspects as possible on our breeding dogs. All of our dogs at minimum are hip and elbow tested and tested for MDR1 and DM. To ensure our dogs are healthy we also like to test our dogs cardiac health, shoulders, thyroids, eyes, and teeth. This is above and beyond what most breeders test for in their dogs.
On top of testing our dogs, we also take advantage of the wonderful resource in the White Shepherd Genetic Project. This is a great tool to be able to track genetic traits in the bloodlines of our dogs.
Even with all these careful precautions, hidden genetic problems will inevitably pop up on occasion. This is why we have a “guarantee” in our puppy contract. If any genetic problem happens to pop up in your puppy you are covered by our puppy purchase contract!
Shipping Puppies:
We will only ship puppies within the USA if absolutely necessary. What we recommend, and our ideal preference, is for each new buyer to fly to us to pick up their puppy at 8 weeks old. At this age our pups are small enough to fly with you in the cabin as a carry on item. This allows us all to meet in person and allows you to meet our adult dogs. This also means the puppy will never leave your sight during the transporting process much like a very long car ride and will allow for the trip to be much less stressful!
If you will need your puppy shipped to you there are a few things we will need to know. First, we need to know the name of the nearest large airport to you in order for us to make the arrangements. As of now, we use Delta or Alaska to ship our puppies. Please note that ALL shipping costs are your responsibility and are NOT included in the purchase price of the puppy. These costs include the cost of the flight (usually $300-400), and the airline approved shipping crate ($60-80). You must pay the cost of the flight to us directly as the airlines require payment in full before the puppy ships. We will need the cost of the flight and shipping crate paid to us by the time the puppies are 7 weeks old so that your puppy can get used to being in the crate. We only charge what the airline fee is for the flight and don’t tack on any additional fees to you. We also cover the cost of the airline health certificate in the purchase price of your puppy.
We will put “Wildwood White Swiss Shepherds” across the top of your puppy’s crate so you will immediately know you have the right pup! Your puppy’s leash and shipping info will be attached to the top of the crate along with your puppy’s emergency contact info in case anything happens. Your puppy will also be wearing it's microchip tag on it's collar!
Crate training:
We begin crate training with all our puppies at 6-7 weeks old. We highly recommend that once you have picked your puppy, you send us a worn t-shirt so that your puppy can become familiar with your smell before they leave us. We will also be sending the puppies home with a “baby blanket” that smells like mom to help them with the transition. By starting this process before they leave us, it helps the puppies become much more comfortable sleeping in their crates at night and greatly assists with potty training.
We strongly encourage that you continue with the crate training once you bring your puppy home. Since they are still so young, they will not be able to hold their potty through the night at first. The first week you have them home, they should be able to sleep 4-5 hours without needing to go out. This will increase about an hour or a bit more each week. Be prepared that you will need to get up with your puppy for at least the first week. Much like a human child, they are simply too young to be capable of holding it all through the night at first.
Puppy Kit:
Every puppy comes home with their own “puppy kit”. This includes a hand made collar from Dream N' Design, leash, rawhide bone, fabric toy, veterinary health records, microchip info, access to baby pictures, puppy food sample, and helpful information on your new baby, and is included in the puppy’s purchase price. Purchasing a pup from us also grants you access to our private Facebook "Family Group"!
