[gaulirmorn]

Hi Paul,

I too await the response to your above question with interest. Only last night, I spoke to my mother regarding the Saarloos bitch that I hope you will bless me with in the future. Mum was amazed at the ‘excellent price’ (her words) that you were quoting for these puppies. (Obviously, as yet the Saarloos price is to be arranged, but I am expecting to pay around the same as for the Czechs).

My mother and I were discussing the issues raised on this site regarding costs, and the fact that the ONLY other option available to wanna-be owners is importation. We have no idea how much the actual fees would be in total, but we KNOW that the breakdown of importation cost is a whole lot more than what is being asked by Pacino. Unfortunately, people fail to see that the ‘cost’ equals both the finance AND time scale involved!

Firstly, you are probably going to find your breeder on mainland Europe, so you have a number of places to search. France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, ‘the world’s your oyster’ so long as you can get around the language barrier. And how many breeders will be willing to raise your animal for you for the first 10 months of its life? It’s asking quite a lot, especially considering that you might back out of the sale or be blocked by bureaucracy before you can import the animal.

Once you have selected your breeder you’ll have to pay them a visit, or two… Actually, we reckon that you would have to visit the breeder a minimum of three times; once to vet them; second to choose the puppy and third to collect him/her. And it always pays to have a good working relationship with your breeder, so even MORE visits would be advisable.

So, you’ve found and visited your breeder and you’re quite happy with him/her, and now you’re playing the waiting game. Waiting for the bitch to come into season, waiting to see if a mating will take place, waiting to see if the mating has been successful. Waiting for the whelping, the birth, to pick a puppy.

And what happens if you want a bitch and the mother only has three dogs? Then you have to wait for another bitch to come into season, or maybe the same bitch (which could be twelve months or more), you might even be forced to find another breeder!

Okay, so now you’ve got your prize! You have to take into consideration that this breeder is rearing your puppy for the first 10 months of it’s life you will have little or no imput into it’s upbringing. However, you WILL be expected to compensate the breeder for all the costs involved in the upkeep and training of the animal. Over 10 months that’s going to add up considerably!

Then there are vets bills, what happens if your animal has a medical problem that needs sorting out. Nothing serious enough to affect the purchase of the animal, but enough to affect your wallet…

At some stage your pride and joy will be ready to join you in the UK, but before then you’ll need to sort out the pet passport, which includes having to comply to certain specifics, jabs, chips, blood tests, etc. How much will this dent your pocket?

I suppose in the general scheme, these will be tiny amounts when you compare them to what has ALREADY been racked up! Then there’s the application for the pet passport. All that form filling and red tape. What happens if your animal fails the screening for whatever reason? More payment to the breeder for continuing to look after the animal for you, and that’s providing they are willing and able to do so!

Then there is the distress caused to the animal during the hand-over and importation period. Everything that he/she had come to accept and depend upon over the past 10 months is suddenly snatched away…
He/she has new owners, with quirky mannerisms, and strange smells. The new surroundings are intimidating and frightening.
Sounds and scents are unfamiliar, there’s a change of diet and the walks are shorter, noisier and at the wrong times!
The animal wants to flee, to return to ‘the norm’.
Do you have the expertise and understanding to be able to nurture the dog through this difficult time, and succeed?

I’m sure there are other matters that I have forgotten about, or do not even know of, but the point is that is would be a FAR greater drain on your time and money to import than paying the Pacino fee! My mum and I reckon it would cost you somewhere in the region of £8000 and about 2 years to import a wolfdog from Europe, and the animal’s welfare is paramount!

So in the general theme of things, I’ll be more than happy to hand the Winders my £2000 in return for my eight week old Saarloos, safe in the knowledge that I’ve saved my puppy distress, and myself time AND money!

Gaulirmorn