However, when someone pays me for a puppy and drives away with it, it is their baby and they can and will do with it as they please.
After a couple of poor placements early on, I decided that my responsibility extended further than this. These were living, breathing things, not like a truck or a piece of furniture. They came into the world as a decision I made (good or bad), and I am responsible for doing that; and for trying to get them the best home possible. So, any of my puppies are returnable, for any reason, at any age ... and there is a refund (on a sliding scale based on age), but never less than $100.
I am not holier than thou ... but I have a responsibility to each of those living things, in my mind, at least.
You can screen potential buyers, make them sign contracts, etc. but you cannot control the future. Someone who you think will be the perfect owner of one of "your" puppies could end up be a horrible owner.
That is exactly the point of my use of limited registration. And that is why I use it with a lifetime, returnability warranty. Taken together, it is my attempt to insure that none of my puppies will end up in a rescue organization or the dog pound. Not infallible, of course. Many years ago, I took a bitch back when she was three years old. The owners had neglected training her, and they called her incorrigible. She was so filthy that I had to give her two baths. After the first bath, the water was literally black. She also had hookworm. God bless her "bombproof" personality. I chose to co-own her with some good friends. She had one litter ... and from that one litter she became my first GRCA Outstanding Dam (one MH**, one MH***, one UD; along with one CD, WCX, and one CD, WC)
I personally think many folks have a "holier than thou" attitude when it comes to breeding their dogs. After all how many of these breeders are geneticists? I would guess very, very few if ANY.
No, I am not doing this as "holier than thou." It is just a matter of taking responsibility for the puppies by the means available to us. You would be correct that very few breeders are geneticists. However, years of experience and observation (not just of our own breeding program, but the breedings others do), can give some idea of what works, and what does not. The learning process is never-ending. The Seeing Eye keeps control and tracks ALL of the puppies they produce. Individual breeders have fewer resources for doing that good a job, so we use what resources we can.
How many of these breeders considered the pedigree of their spouse before marrying and producing their own offspring.