SOUTH MITTEN

Adoption Process Frequently Asked Questions

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What is the process for getting a puppy?  When our applications are open, your first step is to apply for a puppy. If we have a litter with availability, and you are a good match for one of our litters, we will accept a non-refundable deposit/reservation fees of $500 which holds an actual reservation spot on a litter.  Once we have a rough idea of timing, we accept 5-6 deposits on each litter prior to being born, and have an ongoing interest wait list (no deposit needed for a wait-list spot) for any additional puppies after they're born or we've confirmed extra puppies via ultra-sound!  Full payment is due by 7 weeks of age.  Our reservation lists fill quickly for each litter! We rarely have puppies available once born, and when we do, we contact our wait list first. 

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Click HERE for more information on our adoption process and to fill out our puppy application!

How can I get my puppy if I live in another state? *We prefer your puppy to be picked up on our puppy pick-up day. This is best for you and your puppy. We also have a puppy nanny service available for about $500-$600. We charge $100 for a round trip to deliver puppies to you or a flight nanny at the airport. We do not fly puppies alone in cargo.  Please contact us for more information on this. You may also choose to meet us at Detroit Metro airport ($100 charge for our round-trip drive) to take your puppy in-cabin with you to snuggle home on your lap. You will need to bring a crate/flight bag approved for in-cabin use by the airline of your choice. Please call us to discuss any other options.

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Am I guaranteed a puppy if we fill out an application and are placed on your waitlist? Depending on availability, we may not have availability for everyone on our waitlist. We keep people on our waitlist for any puppies that may become available, or for as soon as we open up a list to accept reservation fees.  

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How long is your waitlist?  Before reservation fees are accepted, it is difficult to determine how long our actual waitlist is. We accept reservation fees only when we are pretty certain of the availability we know we have coming. As a very small breeder, we generally don't accept reservation fees that would leave someone waiting for longer than a year. While we typically have over 50 people interested in being on our waitlist at any given time, many of those on our waitlist are not all going to be interested in being placed on our reservation list for a particular litter's timing, coloring, or size. Those that are more flexible with size, coloring, and of course, gender will likely be put on a reservation list before someone that is looking for particular features. The typical wait for a puppy can be from about 4 months to a year depending what we have coming and how many people will end up being interested in that particular pairing. We will sometimes close applications for our waitlist when it looks like the wait may be longer than a year to give those on our current waitlist the opportunity for a puppy first. 

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What if I can't pick my puppy up on the go-home date? When possible and with advance notice, we are more than happy to keep your puppy for $50 per day (we offer a 3 day grace period) after our go-home date until you are available to get him/her, as we continue to feed, positive-train, socialize, and love on your puppy. This extended-care fee will be added to the final price of your puppy. We also will occasionally offer extended training in conjunction with a trainer. Please note, this option is in limited availability and is not always possible due to availability and family plans.

What is your selection process? Puppy selections/allocations to determine which puppy will join your familywill occur between 6-7 weeks of age. Forms will be emailed for selections/preferences/more information for each family at this time. Breeder reserves the right to hold back a puppy for any reason. Puppy selection/allocation is in combination of families' top choices and preferences/and breeder matching for temperament/suitability. Choices will be further narrowed down by order of deposits received if necessary. If more than one family would be a good fit for the same desired puppies, then we would use the deposit order to further narrow the choice: First deposit=first pick, 6th deposit=6th pick, etc. If a family is unhappy with their puppy match (this has never happened!), your family may move ahead to a future litter.

What happens if you don't have enough puppies for your reservation list?  We will invite families on our reservation list to specific upcoming litters once we know the pairings/timeframe and the breeding has occurred. Once we know how many puppies are born, we can go back to our reservation list (or contact those on our "to contact" list) to add more families. The process would start over at the next upcoming litter. 

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