How Our Standard Poodle Puppy Waitlist Works

Waitlists are one of the most common sources of confusion between breeders and families, and occasionally of real frustration. Different breeders run them very differently, and the word itself tells you almost nothing about how any particular one works.

So here is ours, start to finish, with the actual numbers.

Step 1: You Send an Application

Everything starts with an adoption application. It is not a test and there are no wrong answers. We are trying to understand your household well enough to be useful to you.

We ask about your living situation, whether there are children or other animals, your experience with dogs, how much time the dog will spend alone, and what you are hoping for in a companion. We also ask about color and sex preferences.

Sending one puts you under no obligation.

Step 2: We Talk

Usually a phone call, and genuinely a two-way conversation. You should be interviewing us at least as much as we are getting to know you.

Ask about health testing. Ask to see the results for both parents rather than a summary – our guide to Standard Poodle health testing covers what to look for and what the answers mean. Ask what happens if something goes wrong. None of that is an irritation. It is what a careful buyer should be doing, and the breeders who bristle at those questions are the ones worth walking away from.

If we do not think a Standard Poodle suits your situation, we will say so. That is not a judgment on you. It is us trying to avoid a dog ending up in a home that does not fit.

Step 3: You Join the Master Waitlist

Approved families sign a Master Waitlist Agreement and place a $300 deposit, which is applied toward your puppy’s purchase price.

Two things to be straight about, because this is where misunderstandings happen.

The deposit is non-refundable. It comes off the price of your puppy, and it holds your place, but it is not a reservation you can cancel for a refund. The one exception is that it becomes refundable if we are unable to provide you with a puppy within twelve months of your agreement.

Your position is set by the order in which we receive both the signed agreement and the deposit. Not the date you applied, not the date we spoke. Both pieces together.

Step 4: A Litter Is Confirmed

Once a pregnancy is confirmed, everyone on the list hears about it – the parents, the expected date, and roughly how many puppies we anticipate.

Nature is not precise. Numbers, colors and sexes are never guaranteed until the puppies actually arrive, and a litter that was expected to be seven can be four. You can see the parents behind our current and upcoming litters on our dogs page and the litters themselves on current litters.

Families commit to a specific litter at around two weeks. If you have not indicated a sex preference, that is when you will choose one, in waitlist order.

Step 5: The Puppies Grow Up in Our House

The puppies are born inside our home and spend their first five weeks there, surrounded by our family and everyday household life. At around five weeks they move to our puppy building, where a doggie door lets them start learning to potty outside. Early neurological stimulation starts in the first days.

You get photo updates at two weeks, four and a half weeks, and seven weeks, so families several states away watch their puppy grow up on the same schedule as families down the road.

This stretch is also where Sharon and I learn who these puppies actually are. Over eight weeks you find out a great deal – which one is bold and which is thoughtful, which recovers quickly from a startle and which needs a moment, which seeks people out and which is content on its own. That knowledge is the most useful thing we have to offer you at selection, and it is the part that is impossible to get from a photograph.

Step 6: You Choose Your Puppy

Selection happens at approximately seven weeks, in waitlist order.

You choose your own puppy. We are glad to share what we have observed about each one, and we will tell you honestly if we think a particular puppy suits your household better or worse than another. But the final choice among the available puppies is yours, not ours.

We would encourage you to actually use our observations. If you have a toddler and a busy house, and the puppy you fell for in the photos is the sensitive one who needs quiet, we will say so – and then it is still your call. Families who weigh that input tend to be happier at year three than families who went purely on markings.

One thing we state plainly rather than bury: we reserve first pick from each litter for our own breeding program. That is normal practice among breeders keeping their own lines going, and you will know before selection whether we have taken a puppy from that litter.

Selection can be done in person by appointment, by phone, or over video chat.

Step 7: If This Litter Is Not Right

You are not forced into a puppy that does not suit you.

You may pass on up to two litters and keep your position. After a second pass, we will need you to choose a puppy from the next litter we offer you. Passing a third time means forfeiting the deposit.

That last condition exists because a place on the list held indefinitely is a place another family cannot have. We would rather be clear about it now than have it come as a surprise later.

Step 8: Going Home at Eight Weeks

Puppies go home at eight weeks, never earlier. Those last two weeks with the litter and their mother are where a great deal of social learning happens, and cutting it short does lasting harm.

The practical timings, which are worth putting in your calendar:

• Balance due within 14 days of your puppy’s eight-week birthday. If your puppy is traveling by air or by a ground transport service you have arranged, the balance and any flight costs must be paid in full at least 48 hours before departure or collection.
• A vet exam within 48 hours of your puppy going home, with the results emailed to us within 5 days. This is a condition of the health guarantee – it establishes your puppy’s condition at the moment he left us, which protects you as much as it protects us. Book that appointment before travel day rather than after.
• Spay or neuter before the 18-month birthday, also a condition of the guarantee.

Your puppy goes home microchipped, freshly bathed and groomed, with AKC registration papers, vaccination and worming history, the five-year health guarantee, a sample supply of the food he is already eating, a collar and leash – and two things we think matter more than they sound like they should: a toy and a blanket carrying his mother’s and littermates’ scent.

That last part is not sentiment. The first few nights in a silent house are the hardest thing that has happened to your puppy so far, and something in the crate that smells like the pile of warm bodies he slept in for eight weeks makes a real difference. Do not wash it.

If you are coming from out of state, our guide to driving, flying and ground transport covers the options.

Common Questions

How long is the wait? It depends on how many families are ahead of you and how specific your preferences are. We will give you an honest estimate rather than an optimistic one. If it is likely to be a year, we will tell you it is likely to be a year.

Is the deposit refundable? No. It is non-refundable and applied toward the purchase price, and it becomes refundable only if we cannot provide a puppy within twelve months. You may pass on up to two litters without losing your place. Full terms are in the Master Waitlist Agreement, which every family signs.

Can I really choose my own puppy? Yes, from those available at your position in the list, once we have taken any puppy we are keeping. We will offer our observations. The decision is yours.

Do you charge more for particular colors? No. Puppies are priced per litter regardless of color. Details are on the pricing page.

What if I need to pause? Tell us. We would much rather you took a puppy when you were genuinely ready than because the list said it was your turn.

Ready to Start?

Send an adoption application, or call us in Morganton at 828-870-3989. The full process is laid out on our adoption process page, and the FAQs cover anything not answered here.

If you are still deciding whether the breed is right for you at all, start with are Standard Poodles good family dogs and do Standard Poodles shed. We would genuinely rather you worked out that a poodle is the wrong dog for you before a deposit than after a puppy.