Every customer is welcome to come to our facility to pick up their pups, but the majority of our customers live too far away and are too busy to do this. Therefore the majority (98%) of our pups are shipped to their new home by air freight. We have yet to experience our first serious problem in shipping our pups air freight.

The pups are shipped at 7 1/2 to 8 weeks of age. This is the optimal time to transfer a young pup. If you take a pup away from its littermates before this time period (say at 5 weeks), it misses a very important part of its life where it learns to socialize and play with its littermates. It’s kind of a time in its life when it learns that it's a dog. Pups that are separated from their littermates too soon often grow up to be dog aggressive.

If a pup stays with it's littermates too long (after 9 or 10 weeks) they become what we call "too doggy." This simply means that they do not bond as well to humans as they could have.

Occasionally a pup will have to stay at our kennel longer than 8 weeks. This usually happens because the airlines will not accept dogs for shipping because of extreme temperatures. When it is below 10 degrees outside or when it is above 85 in the summer they will not ship. When this happens we separate the pups from other dogs and put them in a dog yard or a private dog kennel by themselves. These pups then get additional daily attention.

When it is time to ship a pup, my secretary makes all of the arrangements for the customers. We will contact the airlines and make the reservation. We have a veterinarian examine the dog and issue a Wisconsin State Health Certificate for the pup, and we call the customer and give them the flight number, time of arrival, and airway bill number on the arriving pup.

All pups are sent C.O.D. for the shipping charges. This cost varies according to where a customer lives. You can get an estimate of the cost by calling your airline and telling them that you have a pup coming in a size 200 crate COD from Minneapolis/ St. Paul, Minnesota. Shipping is usually between $120.00 and $170.00 depending on how far the dog goes and on what airline it goes.

Minneapolis is the main hub for Northwest Airlines, so a great many of our pups are sent N.W.

When you paid Leerburg for the pup you sent $1,800.00. Then, $45.00 is paid for the puppy crate that the dog arrives in. This crate is yours to keep. Most customers will sell them when the dog outgrows the crate (this does not take too long).

You will always be notified a day or two in advance. We never ship a dog without a verbal phone call to make sure the customer understands everything they need to know about where and when to get the dog.

The pup will arrive with a complete record of all the shots and wormings it has had. There is a detailed record for you to give to your vet on his health history. The AKC registration papers are never sent with the pup. They will be sent at a later date. Many times we have not recieved the papers back from the AKC by the time the pup is ready to be shipped. They will be forwarded to you the day they arrive in our office.

Every customer that buys a pup from us gets a copy of our Leerburg Video titled “Your Puppy 8 weeks to 8 months.” This will answer almost every question you have on how to raise, train, and care for a young pup.

Questions & Answers on our Puppies