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A short questionnaire to get to know each other — then your request. It is not an exam to pass. It is how we decide who to entrust our puppies to.
The value of a puppy cannot be measured in a number. It is measured in the years the breeder has dedicated to building and refining those bloodlines, in the care taken in selecting breeding stock — for character, health and conformation — and in work that begins long before birth and never truly ends.
Every puppy that leaves Lord Scott's BlackSheep is the result of a precise protocol: Bio Sensor, environmental enrichment, acoustic desensitisation, socialisation with the pack. At day 49, the Volhard test. Then the conversation with the family, the matching, and support that accompanies the puppy — and its new owner — for life.
The price is communicated privately, at the end of the conversation, depending on the litter and the puppy's characteristics. Those looking only for a number will find it elsewhere. Those looking for the right dog, in the right way, are in the right place.
In fase di prenotazione potete esprimere una preferenza sul sesso e sul colore del cucciolo. Questa preferenza viene registrata e presa in considerazione — ma non è vincolante, e vogliamo essere chiari sul perché.
L'abbinamento definitivo avviene dopo il Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test, a 49 giorni di vita. Il test produce un profilo attitudinale individuale per ogni cucciolo: temperamento, reattività, adattabilità. È quel profilo che determina quale cucciolo è più adatto a quale famiglia — non il colore del mantello, non il sesso.
Chiediamo quindi a chi prenota di essere disponibile a ricevere il cucciolo che l'abbinamento indica come più compatibile, anche se dovesse differire dalla preferenza iniziale. Chi invece ritiene il sesso o il colore imprescindibile può comunque farne richiesta: in quel caso ci riserviamo di valutare l'acconto, poiché l'abbinamento rigido riduce le possibilità di trovare il cane davvero giusto per quella famiglia.
Non è una limitazione. È la conseguenza logica di una filosofia: non vendiamo cani, collochiamo compagni di vita.
Bank details and PayPal are communicated privately after the conversation and confirmation of the reservation.
The pedigree puppy market has a low, a middle and a high range. They are not the same product at different margins. They are three different products with three different stories behind them.
Not a bargain. Almost always a sign that something was not done.
The mother. Intensively used breeding females are mated at every available cycle, with no physical recovery between pregnancies. EU Regulation 1/2005 prohibits transporting puppies under 8 weeks without their mother — a rule that exists because early separation causes documented harm to the puppy's emotional and immunological development. In a low-cost commercial operation, the mother is a means of production, not a protected individual.
Neurological stimulation. Between the third and sixteenth day of life, the puppy's nervous system develops faster than at any other point. The Bio Sensor protocol — developed by the US military for working dogs — involves five brief daily exercises within this precise window. Puppies that receive this stimulation show greater stress resilience, better learning ability and more measured responses to new situations. A puppy born in a volume operation receives none of this — not because it is impossible, but because it requires individual daily time for each subject, for two weeks.
Genetic tests and dysplasia certification. A complete genetic testing package for a Labrador costs between €200 and €400 per breeding dog. Official radiographs for dysplasia certification, evaluated by an ENCI/FCI-accredited reading centre, cost between €150 and €250. If the puppy costs €500 in total, those costs simply were not incurred.
The risk of illegal trafficking. According to European Commission estimates, 8 million puppies circulate illegally in Europe every year, worth approximately €1 billion. Puppies illegally imported from Eastern Europe — particularly from Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia — are sold with forged documents, fake pedigrees and vaccinations never carried out. According to the Italian Anti-Mafia Commission, puppy trafficking is linked to transnational criminal organisations. A low price is not necessarily synonymous with illegal trafficking — but it is almost always the price charged by someone who has not borne any of the costs that make a puppy healthy and safe.
Harder to read. The right questions make the difference.
This range can mean a serious breeder on their first litters, who has not yet recovered years of investment in selection. It can mean a breeder who has consciously chosen not to recoup all costs, because they breed out of passion. It can also mean that some cost items — the more thorough tests, the second specialist opinion, the rejection of an unsuitable breeding dog — simply are not there.
It is not automatically a bad choice. But it is a range in which you need to ask questions: what genetic tests were carried out? Which reading centre certified the dysplasia? Was the Volhard test done? Is there a transfer contract? How is the puppy supported after handover? The answers to these questions say far more than the price.
The range that covers the real costs of doing things properly.
The immediate costs of a serious litter include: official radiographs of both parents (€300–500), complete genetic tests on both breeding dogs (€400–800), pre-mating specialist examination, pregnancy ultrasound, neonatal examination of the litter, microchip, vaccinations, worming treatments, change of ownership, ENCI/FCI pedigree, Volhard test with individual profile for each puppy, puppy guide, puppy kit. For a litter of six, these items alone often exceed €3,000–4,000 — approximately €500–700 per puppy before calculating the annual maintenance cost of the breeding dogs, routine veterinary expenses, training courses or show assessments.
To these are added the invisible costs of selection: a breeding dog that does not pass the tests is still kept for life. A planned litter that does not materialise for health reasons is a cost with no return. Years of experience, carefully studied pairings, feedback gathered from families over time — none of this appears on any invoice, but it determines the quality of every puppy produced.
A high price is not a profit margin. In a hobby kennel producing two litters a year, it is simply the real cost distributed across a small number of animals.
Queste domande hanno una risposta corretta — e un feedback immediato. Non servono a escludere nessuno: servono a darti informazioni utili e a capire il tuo punto di partenza.
Queste domande riguardano i controlli sanitari minimi che ogni allevamento serio deve garantire. È importante che i futuri proprietari li conoscano.
Nessuna risposta esclude automaticamente la prenotazione. Serve a capire quale cucciolo è più adatto a te.
Il carattere si forma nelle prime settimane. Quello che fai dall'arrivo in casa conta quanto la genetica.
Dicci chi sei e cosa stai cercando. Ti risponderemo entro qualche giorno.
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