- The FIRST STEP in getting a puppy from us would be to contact us preferably by phone (417-499-5264). However, you may also send us a text, email (julie_swaff@hotmail.com), or instant messenger on our Facebook page (Swafford Family Schnauzers). We would like to get to know you a little bit first to make sure one of our babies is a good fit for your family and get you up to date with puppy details.
- At this point if we determine to proceed, if we don't have any puppies currently available we need to put you on a waiting list to hold a puppy (we operate on a first come first serve basis). This holds you a place in line to choose your puppy. You will have to specify the color and sex of the puppy you are waiting for. Deposits are only taken when we a have a puppy available for you. Deposits can be made through PayPal to julie_swaff@hotmail.com, a check in the mail, Venmo, or the Cash App. Also, at this point we will need to know if the puppy will need to be shipped via air or ground delivery. See options and pricing below for delivery.
- Once the puppy has been born, we have your match, and deposit has been made, we will start sending you weekly updates and pictures, so you can watch your puppy grow. We will need to know if you would like your puppies ears left natural or cropped. Ear cropping is done at 5 weeks old.
- If you receive your puppy via ground delivery they can go home with you at 8 weeks old and final payment in cash will be required upon delivery. (See delivery options and costs below)
- If you receive your puppy via air delivery they come home to you at 8 to 10 weeks old depending on the airline. Flight costs and reservations will have to be made shortly after the time you make your deposit for best prices. (See delivery options and costs below)
- Pick up: If you choose to pick up your puppy here you will get to meet the parents and meet the rest of the Swafford clan. It is a great opportunity to be able to experience the loving personality and temperament your puppy will have.
- Ground delivery: We can meet you half way or we can deliver your puppy to your home. We will go up to 900 miles round trip depending on the circumstances at .35 cents per mile. After that flying might be a better option.
- Air delivery: We will personally fly with your puppy (be their flight nanny) and meet you at the airport. You may also choose to fly here and we will meet you at the airport with your puppy. The puppy or puppies travel with us in the cabin of the plane in a soft carrier. We meet in person at the airport. This is a wonderful option if you live far away. This fee is approximately $500 to $800 depending on the price of the flight. The price might be more, we can verify the fee in advance.
The price includes the actual flight cost ($250 and up depending on location) plus the $125 fee to carry the puppy on with us. No extra fees are added in. We do this as a service for you and for the love of our puppies. It usually is a very long exhausting day for us.
SHIPPING PUPPIES is not the same as flying with the puppy in the cabin! SHIPPED puppies are sent in the cargo hold with the luggage and you are charged anywhere from $350 and up. The puppy is shipped in the cargo hold with no caretaker available and no one to be accountable for any issues once you pick up your puppy at the airport! How does shipping a puppy work? Puppies are checked in at the airport luggage drop at least 2 hours before the flight and they are then treated as luggage and travel with the luggage--not with people. They sit outside on the loud tarmac waiting to be loaded before the flight with the luggage (in whatever temperature it is outside). During the flight the puppy is literally in the bowels of the plane and these flights can be anywhere from 6 to 18 hours (direct flights are dangerous enough however connecting flights hold even more risk). The plane is only temperature controlled while in flight. It gets very hot and can be very cold between flights and while waiting for the plane to take off. The sound of the plane is deafening and frightening to the puppy. Sitting on the tarmac waiting to be loaded is also dangerous. If there is a delayed flight or mechanical issue the puppy has no one there as they wait in the bowel of the plane or on the tarmac, not to mention temperature fluctuation risks. Also, when the puppy arrives at the airport there is no one there to be accountable if there are any issues once the puppy arrives, or if the puppy fails to arrive at all, or if it is the wrong puppy. Lastly, we want to meet ALL of the families in person. As soon as I book the flight I forward that information to the family in an email. We hand deliver the puppy directly to you at the airport and we sign the paperwork in person and go over the puppy welcome package together. In the end you are not picking up a traumatized, possibly sick puppy.
- The following prices are general prices, so please call or text for actual prices. We only charge exactly what it costs us to get your puppy to you in the best way for you and your puppy.
