Puppy Man rolled his eyes skywards. He looked at the strip of "Doggy Man pet-food" paper advert flyer hanging from a string attached to the ceiling air conditioner cassette swaying side to side.

He must have thought: "What does a veterinarian know about pet shop operations and puppy sales?"

I should curry his favour by telling him how wonderful and great a salesman he was.  No. 1 in Singapore. The best salesman in the world!  

Flattery usually make people feel good. Flattery will bring in more referral cases from Puppy Man. But would it be the right thing to do? Just to make him happy so as to get more puppy vaccinations and treatment from him?
 
Puppy Man appeared moody as he fingered the white collar of his "Puppy Man" T-shirt and looked at his toes. He wore brown slippers to work. He told me he used to wear business suits and pants when he was in sales in Taiwan.

But now in Singapore, he wore slippers, collared T-shirt and brown pants to work. I guessed he did not need to impress anybody. No more polished shoes and ties for him nowadays. No need to give good first impressions nowadays.

I sat beside the sulky Puppy Man on the 2-seater sofa he put near the front of his shop. I said, "When a prospective buyer sees this unusual coloured  Schnauzer amongst the standard colours, they know instinctively what they want."

Puppy Man fingered the sole white 2-cm whisker lingering from the skin of his upper lip, left corner.

He did not understand what I was talking about.

I elaborated,  "The buyers have had seen what they don't want when they see this brown and silver Miniature Schnauzer. They think this brown and silver Schnauzer is a cross. They compare him to the 7 standard coloured ones. No problem deciding who to buy."

Puppy Man clicked his lighter for another cigarette.  I said,  "In short, this brown and silver Schnauzer helped you sell the other 7 puppies much faster!"


First day at the pet shop. The brown ears and legs of the Schnauzer distinguished him from his salt and pepper coloured sibling.  

Did my explanation sound logical?  Puppy Man could understand and speak English.  He was fluent in Mandarin and many buyers appreciated him speaking to them in Mandarin.

He folded his arms and exhaled the bluish smoke. I guessed he expected compliments on his successful sales of 7 puppies in such a short time.

How could I not congratulate him on his excellent track record of sales and cast doubt on his salesmanship? 

It was extremely difficult for new shop operators to sell one puppy a month in May & June 2004. I knew the economic situation as I did my rounds of a few pet shops and breeders doing puppy vaccination.  

Puppy Man  was really good at puppy sales because nobody could have sold 7 puppies so fast at that time. 

But his performance was not good enough for me. As long as this brown and silver Schnauzer was not sold, he was not a top salesman to me.   

I presumed Puppy Man had been to night clubs in his younger days as a successful business man. He would have needed to entertain clients at night clubs.  

"If you see a wall flower amongst 8 dance hostesses, who would you choose to dance with?" I asked. "Would you dance with the plain-looking girl?"

Puppy Man smiled. A stupid question did not merit his reply.  

"Looks are everything, even in puppy buying," I elaborated. "If you are really good at sales, sell the brown and silver Schnauzer before it grows up to be not so cute. If you can sell him, you can sell ice to Eskimos!"  

Puppy Man frowned. He puffed on the Marlboro cigarette and blew two blue smoke rings curling up towards the ceiling.  He said, "This brown and silver Schnauzer is not saleable."

He knew he had a flair for sales.  His friend had quietly told me he was mentioned in a magazine as "No. 1 salesman in Asia Pacific" when I asked why he would start a one-breed puppy pet shop in Singapore, against all conventional thinking and business advices.  All doggy people think he is a whacko foreigner and bound to close down shop soon. 

Puppy Man would not lose money as he had sold the other 7 puppies at higher prices. All he needed to do was to sell this last pup below cost.  He said to me, "I have no buyers even when I give steep discounts." 

White Miniature Schnauzers sell at a higher price than the non-whites as they are relatively uncommon..

Now, he had been in the pet shop for 7 days. The new school term had started, so there were fewer parents bringing their children to buy puppies.   
 
Singaporeans love to buy very young puppies. Less than 12 weeks old. These puppies sell for a higher price. Puppies over than 3 months old seldom find buyers.

The veterinary regulators prohibit puppies older than 6 months from being displayed for sale at pet shops.

Puppy Man would re-stocking soon. The younger puppies would be sold. He would grow bigger and not so cute. So, he would be left on the shelf.   

 

Believe it or not, two prospective buyers sauntered into the pet shop on a quiet Sunday. They wanted to buy this naughty puppy. Was the Puppy Man using his magical power to ask this puppy to behave and tug the heart strings of the two buyers? I do not know.

Now that there were two buyers. Would Puppy Man initiate a bidding war?  Would he auction for a higher price? There was a risk of losing 2 prospects although there was a chance of getting a higher selling price?  Would Puppy Man do that?

No. The  Schnauzer was sold within 30 minutes.  The first buyer wanted Puppy Man to keep the puppy for him for 30 days.  Puppy Man was not agreeable.  Therefore he sold to the other buyer who could take the puppy home immediately.

Was it beginner's luck for Puppy Man?  Now, he had sold all 8 puppies within 14 days.
  
I was happy. Yet I had another worry for this Schnauzer.

Would this puppy be taken for a veterinary health check?  Would the veterinary surgeon then comment that this puppy was a "cross-breed"?  The buyer would be most angry at being sold a cross-bred and return the puppy.