Kennel Safety Policy
Many people ask about coming to our property to meet our dogs and puppies. It is understandable that people are curious about our dogs and puppies, but for safety reasons, we are very apprehensive about allowing visitors on the property. Every time someone visits our property, they may bring contagious pathogens with them. Puppies have immature immune systems. A puppy is not completely immune to diseases brought in on shoes or clothing until it has all three sets of vaccinations (at 14-16 weeks old). Many breeders have lost entire litters of puppies due to diseases being introduced into the breeder’s home. Disease can be transferred to a puppy without touching it. Shoes and clothing can bring it in and leave it on the property, only to be transferred to the Dam, who then passes it on to her puppies.
Additionally, most of our puppies are reserved by purchasing families. How would you feel if you reserved a puppy and other families were allowed to come hold it or play with it, putting all the puppies at risk? It is always possible for a visitor to accidentally bring in a virus or parasite. Our German Shepherd puppies are raised as part of our family, where we live with our family. For the safety of our puppies and our privacy, we meet our puppy customers off-site to ensure our kennels are not contaminated. In the event that you want to choose between two puppies, we can meet you off-site with the two puppies you're most interested in. A maximum of two puppies will be taken off site for Meet-n-Greets at a time. Every effort will be made to assist you in choosing the right puppy for your family through pictures, videos, and conversations as to what you are looking for in your new family member. Hands must be sanitized with the provided wipes/hand sanitizer prior to handling puppies. Meet-n-Greets will be scheduled according to our availability. Multiple Meet-n-Greets will not be schedule on the same day. Only two people will be permitted to handle the puppies on the visitation. Meet-n-Greets will not be scheduled prior to the puppies receiving their first vaccination. If puppies have not received all 3 of their puppy shots, the visitation will be a “No Paws on the Ground” visitation. We encourage our customers to make every effort to choose their puppies based on pictures, videos, and our recommendation as the breeder. If we feel the puppy you choose would not be a good match for your family, we reserve the right of refusal. If we cannot come to an agreement on your puppy choice, deposits will be refunded accordingly.
In order to deliver healthy puppies to the families who are waiting for them, we raise and socialize our puppies so that their risk of disease and/or injury is as low as possible. Our dogs are our lifestyle, so we must control their safe environment, which is also our home. If a customer doesn't trust us as their breeder, then they are not the customer for us. Thank you for your understanding!
PH: 805-219-9916 | EMAIL: Info@RitterhundK9s.com