Our Puppy Policies
Our Policies
Puppy Policy:
updated August 23, 2022
1. Puppies will not be held without a deposit and signed contract for more than 12 hours. I do accept Paypal and credit cards for deposit
2. Deposits will not be accepted until puppies are posted at 6-7 weeks of age.
3. Prospective families must fill out an application. This will help me determine if the puppy that is the best match for your family.
4. Due to Covid, we are no longer allowing ANY home visits. We do allow Facetime if you want to meet a prospective puppy
5. If you would like to see a puppy before making a deposit, we can arrange to meet you outside our home once the puppy is at least 22 weeks of age (fully vaccinated).
6. Puppies may not leave before around 10-12 weeks of age. Very tiny puppies may need to stay longer. This ensures that you have a healthier, more well-adjusted puppy
7. PRICES ARE FIRM, but I do give a Hero's discount for retired or active military, fire personnel, EMTs, police, and educators on limited AKC prices with proof, and I give a discount if you purchase multiple puppies from me.
8. In rare cases, I do allow puppies to be pre-reserved and therefore a puppy may never become available. Only people who have put down a deposit on a puppy and were unable to take it, or people who have previously purchased a puppy from me, may pre-reserve a puppy. Pre-reservations are taken three days before puppies are made available to the general public.
9. ALL of our puppies will be vetted prior to going to their new homes.
10. All of our dogs are eligible for registration with the American Kennel Club, which is the premier registry in the United States. Puppies are sold with LIMITED REGISTRATION unless otherwise discussed. Limited Registration is still AKC registration, it just means that your dog is being sold as a pet rather than a show or breeding dog.
11. All puppies will be dewormed several times and vaccinated with their first set of puppy shots prior to leaving
12. All of our puppies come with a one year health guarantee.
OUR STATEMENT ON MERLE DOGS
Happy Little Chihuahuas prides ourselves on providing HEALTHY puppies to their new homes. We screen our homes to ensure the best fit, and vet check our puppies before they go to their new homes to ensure you get a healthy puppy. Our adults are vetted annually to ensure that they are also in top condition.
Occasionally we get asked about merle puppies. Merle is our favorite pattern in the chihuahua breed, and we take pride in our merles. To date, we have never had a merle puppy fail his or her vet exam, because we have healthy adult and we practice good merle breeding practices. For this reason, we have not ever and will not EVER breed merle to merle. Although dogs with a single copy of the merle gene are gorgeous, happy dogs, dogs with two copies of the merle gene can have eyesight or hearing issues, and may be deformed at birth or stillborne. Therefore, we ensure our merle puppies only have one copy of the merle gene by breeding a Merle dog to a non-merle dog. We color test to ensure that we never breed a merle to a non-merle.
Additionally, although there are no direct health concerns associated with it, our opinion is that it is poor breeding practice to breed merle to any other color pattern (e.g. brindle). We DO NOT breed merles to other patterned dogs.
We also consider it poor practice to breed merles to dogs with two copies of recessive light genes, and as such we will NOT breed merle to solid white, fawn, red, or cream dogs.
We DO think highly of other breeders who practice similar practices, and we love to see merle puppies that are the result of breeding a merle to a black (or black and tan), blue, or chocolate dog! We think these make lovely, loudly colored puppies that are easily identifiable as merles.
We take our position on merle very seriously, as we feel our responsibility as a breeder is to breed healthy dogs that have the potential for an excellent quality of life. We love our merles and are so happy when we can share them with you!
When I sell a puppy, I am not just "selling a puppy." I do everything I can to prepare you for the puppy and send you home with a happy, healthy, socialized puppy. My puppies:
1. Are VET CHECKED! I am always amazed by how many breeders don't do this! If there is a major congenital issue, it usually presents by 6 weeks. If there is anything wrong I want to know before I sell you a puppy that will require huge vet bills down the road.
2. Come from health tested parents! Dogs can be extensively tested for health tested for heritable issues, so we health test between 2-3 years old. I have links to health testing results on the Our Dogs page.
3. Are AKC. That is my registry of choice. AKC inspects its kennels (Including mine) and is the only breed organization to do so, holding breeders to a higher standard than other kennels. Only AKC dogs can show at conformation events. AKC is the premier registry in the USA.
4. Will be dewormed and have their first set of shots. This is so important to their health!
5. Live in my kitchen. My kitchen has the most traffic so puppies see people, cats, and other dogs. I only have a few litters a year, so that's how I can do that.
6. Will be started on litter box training. I find this to be easier than pad training and it is very easy to convert them to pad training once they are litter box trained.
7. Will be fully weaned when they go home. I don't pull them off mom and send them home the same day. That is confusing and stressful for puppies in an already stressful situation.
8. Come with a complete puppy care kit (for puppies that don't ship by air). This gives you basically everything you need the first day except for a kennel and water. Plus lots of information if you like to read! (See image!)
9. Have a health guarantee. I really want to sell you a healthy puppy that you love.
Finally, I DO ship. I prefer air transport as I believe it is less stressful and safer than ground transport. I can arrange for flight and have a wonderful pet nanny who holds the puppy in her lap on the plane. Puppies that ship commercially must be at least 12 weeks old within the US, Canada, and Mexico, and 16 weeks intercontinentally.
Due to Facebook's policy prohibiting the sales of pets, we are moving all of our sales information off Facebook and back onto our website. We will be updating our Facebook page with pictures for your viewing pleasure only!
HOLD POLICY: I usually get several applications per puppy. A puppy IS NOT ON HOLD UNTIL I send you a contract and invoice. At that time, you have a temporary hold, which expires at 12:00 am Central Time the next day. I DO NOT HOLD PUPPIES PAST THE END OF THE DAY. At midnight, if I do not have a deposit, the puppy is no longer on hold for you and will be offered to the next interested party if someone else is waiting. Additionally, if you say you are not ready for a contract, or I do not get a reply after offering you a contract and invoice within 24 hours, I will assume you are still deciding and I will offer the puppy to the next person with an approved application. If you have scheduled a Facetime video, but have not put down a deposit, I assume you are still deciding and the puppy is not on hold for you.
Usually I have several people interested in the same puppy at the same time, and many great homes waiting. Do not assume that because your application has been approved for a puppy that there is not another person who has put in an application after you, been approved as a backup home, and is next in line. I do allow puppies to go to homes in the order of applications approved, but I also assume that seriously interested parties will act immediately and put down a deposit. Without a deposit, I assume that you're still deciding if you want the puppy, so the next day I will make him available to the next person in line.