final purchase and pick-up Process
Throughout the time you are on the list, you will be kept up to date as we have litters. When we get to a litter that reaches your name on the list, this is the process that happens.
You will be sent an email just like the litter announcements you have received while you were waiting, but this time, there will be an extra paragraph that says we have a puppy for you in this litter!
In your response to this initial email:
When you receive this email, I need to hear back from you as soon as possible! Here are your choices at that point:
1. You confirm with me that you have received the email, and are ready for your puppy! Yay!
2. Each family on the list has one “swap” to use. If you haven’t used your swap yet, you also have this option. I will detail this process on another page and link it here when it is finished. Please note that using a swap still doesn’t guarantee any color / shade / marking on your puppy. (See what a deposit does and doesn’t guarantee here!)
3. If you aren’t ready for one of the puppies in this litter AND have already used your swap, you have a one time option to either of the choices below without forfeiting your deposit:
a) Go to the bottom of the list (with a change to the current price if applicable).
b) Have your name removed from the list for the time being, with the option to start back from the bottom of the list (with the price at the time of your return applying) when you are ready for a puppy again.
If we are unable to reach you at the email or phone number you have provided, and I do not hear back from you within 3 days of notification that your name is up for a puppy on the current litter, you will automatically use option 2 if your swap is still available, and option 3 b if not :)
If you have the choice of a puppy because you have been offered another family’s “swap”:
If you are not on the initial puppy list, but get an email after the litter announcement that there is a puppy available for you, this means that a family above you is using their one “swap” option to wait for a puppy from a future litter! In this case, I will send you an email, and you have 24 hours to respond and let me know whether you would like to take this option to jump on the current litter or not. There is no penalty to your position on the list if you choose not to take the offered spot, and you are not using your own “swap” option if you choose not to take the offered spot. If I do not hear back from you in 24 hours, I will go ahead and pass on to the next family with no penalty to you or your position on the list :)
Go home dates:
One of the first and most important things included in this special announcement is the go home dates for the current puppies.
If you are unable to pick your puppy up during the designated pick-up window, it is possible that we can keep your puppy a little longer to accommodate this. To find out about this, you must let us know right away the dates that you can pick up, we will check our schedule, and if we are available to keep puppy longer we will work to agree upon a special go home date.
There is a $40 daily boarding fee starting the Sunday after the litter pick-up window ends, and charged daily until the agreed upon special go home date. This boarding fee will be added to your puppy total, and due in full on puppy’s 7 week birthday.
This option is generally not available for longer than one week, as we REALLY want your puppy to be with you as close to that 8 week mark as possible! It is such an important time for bonding. We feel that this gives you and puppy the best possible start to your life together!
If we are unable to keep puppy longer, and you are unable to arrange to take puppy home in the originally designated window, you will have to use your “swap” option as listed above to wait for another litter. Again, not something we have ever actually had happen, so don’t stress----We will do all we can to work with you on getting your puppy home, but we really need you to do your best to be sure you are available for pick up when your puppy is 8 weeks old.
While your puppy is here:
For those families taking home a puppy from the current litter, you will be sent weekly individual pictures of the puppies you will be choosing from!
At 3-4 weeks, we will begin working through the list in order to select puppies. When we get to you, you will have a choice of all of the puppies of the gender you deposited on. We will visit with you (usually via email) individually in order to select you pup! Once you know which puppy is yours, your second payment is due and can be paid via Venmo online, or by check or postal money order in the mail. This is also the time that we will start working with your pup on his or her name if your family has decided!
From this point on, you will receive pictures of your pup weekly.
Your final puppy payment will also be discussed in emails throughout the weekly email process, but the process is usually as follows:
For mailing a check or postal money order, all remaining costs must be mailed with a postmark no later than puppy’s 6 week birthday.
For Venmo, all remaining costs must be paid 3 days prior to pick-up. The only exception to this is a family who has made arrangements for a pick-up date after the original go home date, and in this situation, Venmo would be due by the puppy’s 7 week birthday :)
Go home:
Throughout our weekly emails, we will begin working with you on planning for the go home process.
Puppies generally go home one of three ways:
1. We meet you locally to us and send puppy home with you. This can be done whether you drive, fly in to Schenck airfield in Clarinda, Iowa where we can meet you, or fly in to Kansas City, Des Moines, or Omaha international airports and rent a car to drive to us. There are no extra costs associated with this.
2. We meet you at MCI airport in Kansas City where you fly home with puppy in cabin with you. In this case, you are responsible for your ticket and planning——keep in mind that we are 2 hours from the airport, so PLEASE make sure you confirm flight times with us before you book! In this scenario, you need to tell the airline that you are bringing a puppy on board, and confirm that their policy allows 8 week old puppies to fly. You will also need a soft-sided carrier like this one——but again, make sure it meets your airline’s specific requirements :) This option is an extra $150 for our travel.
3. We send your puppy with a flight nanny, who carries your puppy in cabin and meets you at your local major airport. In this scenario, we work with you and the nanny to arrange a time. There are two parts to the cost of this option—Part 1 is the $150 that we charge for airport travel, and part 2 is the flight nanny’s fee. At the time of writing this, the current flight nanny fee is running about $900. You will need to check with us to get a quote for the specific date and specific airport for an accurate price, but hopefully this gives you a ballpark idea!
Regardless of how he or she gets to you——we can’t wait for you to meet your new puppy!!!