Reputable breeders have such a clause in their contract to protect the puppy/dog. A responsible breeder wants to know where all of her/his dogs are for their entire lives. It is to prevent things such as you are proposing from happening. The breeder does not want her/his pup to go to a home without having the opportunity to vet the potential adopters.

In my case, my contracts said:

"If you want to sell or transfer the Bulldog to another party at any time, I have the right of first refusal. This means that I may buy the Bulldog from you by repaying the lesser of your purchase price or the price you were offered for the dog. You agree to sell the dog to me under those terms and sign over its AKC registration papers to me.

If you return the dog to me for any reason, you agree to sign the AKC registration papers over to me at the time the dog is returned."

I think your contract has some issues with its wording, but the intent seems clear. You signed the contract, I don't understand why you think you can ignore it. I'm sure if the breeder failed to adhere to a different clause that you would be telling a different tale!

Yes, she can enforce it and, IF she is a serious breeder, she will. You signed a legal contract. Gracefully return the pup to the breeder. Chalk this one up to your lack of performing due diligence when selecting a breed. PS My breed of choice (owned them for 40+ years) are mellow as the Buddha when mature at 24 months. Prior to that, they are 120 pound puppies that are slow to house train, chew stuff up, and rampage through the premises like a pony.

following

Agree with all of the above comments. Any breeder worth their salt will demand return of the dog if circumstances change. I wouldn’t deal with a breeder who didn’t do this. Breeder gets the dog back.

Is there an "if" missing from this sentence somewhere? "Breeder/seller retains first right of refusal, if puppy is put up for sale and breeder/seller agrees to accept puppy back to be re-homed, with no refund at anytime in the puppy's life it becomes abused, neglected, or homeless."

Shouldn't they have to reimburse you if the puppy is simply not a good fit with your family and you return the puppy to them? Especially since it has only been a few weeks. You have not abused or neglected the puppy. It seems to me that this would allow them to sell the same puppy twice.

The contract quoted by @Stax makes more sense to me. This means that I may buy the Bulldog from you by repaying the lesser of your purchase price or the price you were offered for the dog.

You need to get a legal opinion since laws vary by state. What state are you in?

When I placed a pup, I would take their check and place it on my ice box door while the new owners were still there. I would tell them to give me a call after taking the pup for a Vet Check and tell me that the pup was happy, the Vet was happy, and they were happy.

In those days that check would be in the neighborhood of $2K. All pups were sold with an AKA limited registration and a neuter/spay requirement.

I had people on a one year wait list. Never accepted a deposit. Picked the pup for them. Essentially gave the show pups to select breeders. Did not breed often - only when I needed another pup to show. And yes, produced my share of Champions including a WB at our Breed National in 1998.

I now have one dog only. A retired Greyhound from the track in Tampa FL. 10 years old, never was nor ever will be bred. She is the love of my life.

Your post would be better suited to a legal advice site.

A deal's a deal. You signed. Lawyer, schmoyer. Give her the pup back as you agreed to do.

This sentence doesn't make grammatical sense. Read it carefully. You must have mis-typed it here.

Breeder/seller retains first right of refusal, if puppy is put up for sale and breeder/seller agrees to accept puppy back to be re-homed, with no refund at anytime in the puppy's life it becomes abused, neglected, or homeless.

Is that the exact wording of the contract, including the typo? If so, then I think you have a good case that you don’t have to return the dog because the contract is missing an “if”, and the right of refusal is only enforceable if the puppy is abused, neglected, or homeless.

I'd negotiate with the breeder. A partial refund would be better than a lawsuit.

All of my dogs have come with a Return to Breeder clause. Most Breeders I know don't refund any money, but may do an exchange. They work hard to place puppies in appropriate forever homes, not with people that change their minds after a few weeks.My youngest was the puppy from hell - until about 2.5 yrs old, and training, training, training, and we'd still be going except we're in lock down due to virus. Now we keep up training at home, at least 2x day.

A few weeks is an awfully short period of time to decide you aren't a good fit with the puppy. It hasn't yet had enough time to adjust to its new home away from its mother and litter mates. But if you really don't want it, it's better off back with the breeder.

Our puppy came with a re-homing clause as well, with no refund. You need to honor the contract that you signed.

From the rescue side... we have similar wording in our contract that states if an adopter decides to re-home the dog for any reason, we take the dog back, no refunds. It's not a pair of shoes. The LAST thing we want to do is re-home a dog AGAIN b/c its a lot of work. We want our dogs to go to a good/loving home, so we do home checks, reference checks, background checks & call their vet to (hopefully) ensure our dogs land with good people. I imagine a good breeders want the same for their dogs. You want to recoup $$ - so one could think that you may not have the dogs best interest in mind.

this is standard protocol with reputable breeders. i don't know a single one (and i know a LOT of reputable breeders) who doesn't have a return clause in their contract. back yard breeders are another story all together. they sell to the first person with cash in hand, don't do home checks, don't require references, etc.

you should be GLAD your breeder wants this puppy back. it's the only way to ensure that the pup will end up in a good home. you signed the contract and you need to honor it!

If there is an "if" is in the contract, the OP gets their money back since the puppy has not been abused. This seems quite reasonable to me.

This is not an enforceable contract if it has the "if" missing.

Looks to me like the breeder didn't have much of a conversation with these new owners before the transaction if they realized so quickly that this was not a good fit. But maybe that's how this breeder makes extra money - sells the pup twice. There are many wonderful caring breeders but not every breeder is caring, as we know.

I agree the pound puts you through some tough questions before you adopt any dog. A good breeder will gladly take the puppy back but IMO an adoption comes with repsponsibility. I am curious to know why the puppy was not a good fit. Your puppy is becoming homeless so no refund for you .

Is it worth it to you to try to push back, talk to a lawyer, fight about semantics then try to find a good home for the puppy with a family that will keep him/her? Throughout all of this, you’d have to house and care for the puppy.

@partim its just as easy to assume that the OP was Trying to sell the puppy at a profit as the breeder is looking to make extra off of selling the puppy twice. I would think that having a clause that the puppy is to be returned with no refund would make most people think twice for taking the dog in the first place.

Adopt don't shop.

I hope the OP considers a pet rock next time around.

And the OP is MIA.

Technically the puppy would not be homeless if sold to another party. it would just be moving homes.

Adopt don't shop.

this statement really doesn't have much, if anything, to do with the idea of this post/responses. it is unfair to push adoption when many people want a well-bred dog from a reputable preservation breeder who breeds strictly to standard for conformation, color, temperament, longevity, etc.

i have been in great danes for 12+ years. over those years, only 1 of my many, many danes came from a preservation breeder at the age of 3 as a retired show dog. every single one of the rest were from rescues. i've had some long-lived rescue danes (1 that recently turned 13) that all came from less-than-stellar breeders and i've had a couple that i lost at a very young age because of these same crappy breeders.

i will always rescue, as long as i am able to care for these giants but i also will not turn down the opportunity to acquire a well-bred dane from a reputable breeder. eta: i am not including a puppy. i know my limits!! lol

ninapearl,

What a great post!

Perfectly said, Nina!

"And the OP is MIA."

You don't always get to hear what you want to hear here, proving the value of Houzz.

OP has no comments noted, and only this post. Why bother coming to Houzz to post about this?

As far as I'm concerned, the puppy is homeless right now: you can't call its current situation, where it isn't wanted, a "home." With or without the missing "if," the intent of the contract is pretty clear. The honorable thing is for the OP to respect that intent. If the breeder is adamant about no refund, so be it.

Sometimes it takes a financial punch in the gut to learn a lesson. Puppies are living beings. They are high-energy, chewing, eating machines that are curious and often accident prone as well as prone to accidental breaking of items (the bigger the paws, the clumsier the pup).

Someone who purchases from a breeder is after 'something' that a rescue or the SPCA or the City Pound can't offer. Either the adopting people are looking for the BREED because they are well versed in dog care and characteristics and are WELL aware of their own traits (Homeowner Know Thyself) or they are after a show dog or they are after a 'look' to go with their lifestyle.

The 'no refunds' is for several reasons...one of which is the actual cost to take back, inspect, 'vet check' and then place the pup. These are all 'costs' to the breeder. It's why they charge more than $100.

The other reason they do this is to create the financial punch as a training reinforcement for the would-be puppy owners. Sometimes it is the humans that need 'correction' and not the animal.

@ Nina - I love a person who takes on the giants of the world. Those misunderstood beings of the dog world. The Danes are sofa-lumps as adults (aka Marmaduke in the recliner!) but are house-hurricanes as juveniles!

I too only adopt from rescues, etc. I only take adults - because puppies and kittens always find a home whereas the adults are often left to languish. Besides...I'm a CAT person not a KITTEN person (I can do without the kitten phase thank you very much!). Again, it comes down to understanding YOURSELF as much as it is understanding the breed (Siamese are handfuls - especially from rescues...).

Love your post. Keep on rescuing those Danes!

@SJ McCarthy - LOL, "house hurricanes"!! i have so many friends who have in the past, or are currently raising a dane puppy and just the descriptions of their wild child is enough to put me off. i never actually wanted to raise a pup, the adults have always been my preference and i'm especially drawn to the seniors. several of my danes have been 7-8 years old when they landed in rescue and then on my couch. to me, there's just nothing better than giving a senior a soft place to live out the rest of their lives. danes are made of velcro and all of mine have bonded to me instantly, i wish more people would see the joy a senior dog can bring!

now i'm gonna shamelessly post pics for you. this is my retired show girl, eden. she'll be 7 in july but is still very much a puppy. not in the sense of being obnoxious or destructive but she is always up for a good zoomie and loves nothing better than terrorizing the critters that live in the woods. :)

she can look elegant when she's not being silly!

this is olivia, rescued at 8 years and celebrated her 13th birthday last saturday. she is my princess and my protector. nothing gets by her and people who don't know what a softie she is usually won't exit their vehicle until i go outside.

i've had 2 recent losses. my harl girl, destiny and my mantle boy, jorah were both struck down with kidney failure. i lost jorah in december and destiny in march. i am still feeling the sting and am just waiting for another dane to find me. <3

didn't mean to derail this thread but thought you might like to see my dane gang. :)

I've bred Irish Wolfhounds for almost 30 years. I don't take deposits, and I have a "return to breeder" clause. It doesn't mention reimbursement... HOWEVER, if it had only been a few weeks I would return the owner's money and take my puppy back. It's about what's best for the puppy, not what's best for myself, or the owner. Giving the owner their money back streamlines the process.

And honestly, if I've done such a sucky job of placing the puppy that the owner is ready to return it three or six weeks later, then that's on me, not on them. I better take a step back and re-evaluate my vetting process. Because I seriously screwed up. MY punishment, and let's be honest, it's not that big a punishment, is returning the owner's money. It's not about what's in the contract, it's just the right thing to do. I have a long waiting list, and I can easily place the puppy in another home, hopefully one that is better prepared.

But seriously?? If the owner is returning the puppy after just a few weeks, it's as much my fault as theirs. That contract is there for three, four, or five year old hounds whose owners divorced, or had a death in the family, not for new puppies where the potential owner bit off more than they could chew. I'm not out to screw someone out of $2500 just because I can.

Stax: I had people on a one year wait list. Never accepted a deposit. Picked the pup for them. Essentially gave the show pups to select breeders.

PICKED THE PUP FOR THEM??? The rest I can get behind, but you jolly well be sure if I am going to spend good money I WILL be picking my own pup!!! Obviously not from the show quality dogs... but the one I have an initial rapport with.

_____

As for the unwelcome pet return clause - I know the OP is long gone (disappeared as soon as he/she realized her/his wishes were going to be discounted here) - for my two American curl kittens I got about 14 years ago - I also had to sign an agreement to offer them back to the breeder should I ever decide I didn't want them. This is a standard thing with at the very least, reputable breeders. I was perfectly willing to do this and abide by this. I also didn't let them out doors (another section of the agreement, more relevant to cats than to dogs). I had to take the cats to the vets ASAP and set up a neutering date. The only thing I violated was the Eukanuba feed only clause, simply because right after I picked them up the "Melamine in Chinese-sourced pet food scandal" erupted - and the Eukanuba brand was heavily implicated.

Alas, Obi-Wan had to be put down about 3 days prior to his 14th birthday, just over a month ago.

I suspect OP didn't know puppies chew, and have to learn to be continent.

The breeder knows the puppies personalities better than someone just visiting, which is why most reputable breeders match the puppy to the family. My only experience is raising some puppies that I fostered for the humane society, but each one was so different. One liked to wander off from 2 weeks old, another one was very shy, different energy levels, etc. I'd highly rely on the breeder to give that kind of feedback if they aren't choosing for me.

You absolutely may not sell or breed a dog you bought from a breeder without the breeders permission, especially if you signed a contract stating that. Read and understand contracts before dropping $18,000 on a dog🤷‍♀️

Wow, $18,000 for a puppy? Did you mean $1,800?

Why should a breeder get it's merchandise back w/o refund? The breeder will get paid AGAIN for an over priced commodity. Your mistake was ever telling the breeder. Sell the pup on your own, don't look back. This is crazy town talk!!

I’m sure along with the written contract, there would have been an opportunity for clarification/ask questions. There was probably a guarantee on dog’s good health and I’m sure owner would have wanted it honored by the breeder if something was discovered. It’s about honesty on both sides. A dog is not ”merchandise” or a ”commodity”.