HI THERE,

I AM NEW TO THE FORUM AND AM HOPING SOMEBODY CAN OFFER ME SOME ADVICE/GUIDANCE.

I HAVE RECENTLY PUT A DESPOSIT A BEAGLE BITCH PUPPY WHO HAS 1 BLUE EYE, HAVING LOOKED INTO THIS IT IS CALLED HETEROCHROMIA. I HAVE CONTACTED MY LOCAL VETERNAIRY PRACTICE FOR ADVICE AND THEY HAVE INFORMED ME THAT THIS IS FAIRLYCOMMON IN CERTAIN BREEDS OF DOG (ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF IT IN BEAGLES) AND SHOULD NOT AFFECT HER HEALTH WISE.

MY PARTNER AND I ARE AS YOU CAN EXPECT QUITE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS AS NOT ONLY ARE WE PAYING ALOT OF MONEY FOR HER BUT WE WERE ALSO CONSIDERING BREEDING FROM HER IN WHEN SHE GETS ALITTLE OLDER AND ARE UNSURE OF WHERE TO GO WITH THIS NOW.
HAVING ALSO CHECKED THE KENNEL CLUB BREED STANDARD PAGE FOR BEAGLES IT CLEARLY STATES THAT THE STANDARD FOR THEIR EYE COLOUR SHOULD BE BROWN OR DARK HAZEL.

I WOULD BE GREATFUL IF YOU ANYBODY COULD OFFER ME SOME ADVICE.

How old was the puppy when you last saw her?

HI JACKIE,

THE PUPPY WAS 6 WEEKS OLD WHEN WE LAST SAW HER. SHE HAS BEEN FOR HER HEALTH CHECK AT THE VETS WITH THE OTHER PUPS IN THE LITTER AND THE BREEDERS VET HIGHLIGHTED THE COLOUR TO THEM.

Well, we need a Beagle breeder to let us know if the eye colour changes after 6 weeks, it may do or you may be right and the pup has one blue eye and always will have.

Now to my way of thinking the breeder should not be offering you a bitch with a fault (blue eye) if you have made it clear you want the pup for showing & breeding. I don't know the form of inheritance but you do run the risk of some of the pups produced by this bitch also having or carrying the gene that carries this fault and you would be doubling the problem if you happen to choose a stud who is also carrying the "blue eye" gene.

There is probable no worry if the bitch and her offspring are destined to be used for working but if you are going the show route you will not be able to do enough winning to make the pups she produces desirable and therefore you should reject her as a foundation bitch and wait for something better, there is absolutely no sense in starting out with a bitch that has a obvious fault even if she passes all other conformation and health tests with flying colours she is still not suitable for breeding.

PS Welcome to the forum and could you switch your cap lock off it makes it hard to read, thanks.

Also my remarks apply to the whole litter as they may also carry the faulty gene although may have two correct colour eyes.

Of course, if you are looking for a pet and do not wish to show or breed one blue eye makes no difference at all unless it is connected to other problems but I am not knowledgeable enough about this in Beagles to advise, you could try asking one of the breed clubs about the fault, and are the hounds with the blue eye prone to any other constructional or health problems.

Thanks for your response Jackie.

When we put our deposit down on the puppy we informed the breeders that breeding is definately an avenue we will give some consideration to. We do not want her as a show dog, she will just simply be a member of the family.
We only physically saw the pup when she was 3 weeks old and her eye colour was not noticed by us, however, we have received pictures via email each week and the 1 blue eye is very noticeable (as naive as we are, we thought this would change) and the breeders never mentioned it either. Until her health check that is.

As she does not meet the breed standard for her eye colour if we were to breed would we have difficulties both registering and selling pups? Also, possibly having the same issue with any of the offspring?

Regards

As she does not meet the breed standard for her eye colour if we were to breed would we have difficulties both registering and selling pups? Also, possibly having the same issue with any of the offspring?

IMO you should never breed from a dog with an obvious fault and not from the family pet either unless that pet has done well either working or in the show ring. There are a large number of Beagles going through rescue at any one time and to me to breed from anything but the very best is not an option.Sorry if that sounds hard but rearing a litter correctly is hard and very expensive to do it properly, that is with the idea of improving on the bitch you started with and adding something to the breeds gene pool, and unless you do you are in danger of producing more hounds for the rescue people to deal with.

When we put the deposit down on her we did not know about this fault and as as result had agreed a price to purchase her at. As this has come to light are we within our rights to ask for a reduction? As the other pups do not have this problem and they are charging the same price.

Did you tell the breeder you wanted to breed but not show? Most responsible breeders will endorse their puppies not to be bred from (i.e. no puppies from them can be registered), especially if there is a fault, and certainly all puppies being sold as pets are usually endorsed. If you only said you wanted a pet, chances are they are selling you exactly that; a dog suitable as a pet ONLY, endorsed not to be bred from. I know that Beagles are really rather expensive so a pup suitable as a pet only may already have been sold for less. You need to discuss all of this with the breeder.

The price of the puppies was advertised and we agreed at that price, upon seeing the puppies we explained that we would like to possible have a litter of puppies from her at a later date to which they were happy about. At this point we did not know about the fault as the pups had only just opened their eyes. The price that we agreed at is basically the price that other puppies in the country are being sold at, so we arent getting her any cheaper than we would elsewhere. But we now have no option, we cannot have a litter from her now due to the fault and this is my concern that if they are a responsible breeder as you say, should they really be considering altering the price to allow for this.

I'd personally not want a puppy with a fault, i'd be expressing this and seeing if anything else in the litter is taken, if so go and have another look. But as it stands it'll be in the lines overall and if you think you may like to breed in the future i'd be looking at getting the best I can, and sorry to say i'd steer very clear of this litter altogether and find another breeder.

If the blue eye is of no detriment to the dog and never will be then i'd expect it to be around the same price as the others, but endorsed and going to a 'pet' home only. Quite possibly this litter has a recessive gene running through it. Do you know much about the lines both the sire and dam have come from?

I know the other pups are available but they are dogs.

I dont know a great deal about the sire but I have been in communication with the dams breeders and they have informed me that they have never seen this in their lines from all their years of breeding. On the dams side there are alot of champion lines also. Leaving my only conclusion that it is possibly from the sires side.

As this has come to light are we within our rights to ask for a reduction?
Why would you want to buy a puppy with an obvious fault if you are planning to breed?  Surely we should only be breeding from the best specimens who have proved their value to the breed by success in the ring or working ability?

I dont know a great deal about the sire
You really should know plenty about him if you have the remotest idea about breeding from his puppy. 
And just because there are Champions in the bitch's pedigree doesn't mean that there are not hereditary problems there...........

As a breeding prospect id just walk away, ask for the deposit back as the puppy is unsuitable, the breeder may not give the deposit back but id walk away non the less.

> When we put our deposit down on the puppy we informed the breeders that breeding is definitely an avenue we will give some consideration to. We do not want her as a show dog, she will just simply be a member of the family.
>

If you have no intention of showing or working your bitch you really should not be thinking of breeding.

Breeding should be about wishing to produce typical pups as part of a desire to propagate the breeds traits for show and/or work.

If you do neither you can have no idea whether the bitch is up to scratch or have any way of researching studs that will suit your bitch.  You need to see lots of them, what they have produced, and have the knowledge to assess this before going on to produce future generations.

This is called responsible breeding.  Simply breeding for no good reason is not when you consider how many dogs are abandoned each year.  A breeder needs to be knowledgeable about their breed so they can guide new owners, and also be there at any point in their lives if they need re-homing.

Can you make such a huge commitment for up to 16 years after a litter is bred, if you can't then you risk adding to the already huge rescue problem.

A good breeder would have explained the above to you, and certainly would nto be offering you a puppy with a fault if getting deeper into the breed is your aim.  No good breeder would sell a bitch pup simply to be bred from without any showing or working, most good breeders put the restriction "progeny not eligible for registration" on pups they sell,a dn these are only removed once health tests are passed and the dog/bitch has shown itself a worthy specimen to be bred from.

If your breeder does not show, this just goes to show how such breeding allows various departures from the standard to creep in, when people breed without the knowledge to select properly, or what to do when an undesirable trait is produced.

> As this has come to light are we within our rights to ask for a reduction?

Many breeders charge one price for all puppies, which is the price for a well bred typical pup as a pet.

The reason is that no matter how much promise a puppy shows for showing or potential breeding this cannot be guaranteed, as many things can happen during development, the teeth may come in crooked, a testicle may nto drop, they may nto make size or grow too big, they may not have the temperament to make a show or breeding animal.

So sensible breeders well all puppies as pets, and if they go on to do more then all well and good.

There are some traits that occur in some breeds that make them totally untypical of the breed, and these are sometimes sold at reduced prices.  This would for example be a white boxer, or long coated GSD or Akita, or any totally wrong colour.  But to be honest I don't personally see why as if a healthy well reared puppy, it cost the same to rear as it's correct siblings.

I'd be a bit wary of a breeder that'll sell you a pup with breeding in mind when your've told them no intention of showing as its the showing that helps you determin whether the bitch you have picked is good enough to breed from.
regarding champions in pedigree- most pedigree dogs have them- it doesn't really mean that much on its own.
if you fancy having a dog that might be good enough to breed from at a later date i think I'd walk away from this litter, if shes just going to be a pet then providing you like her and both the parents have certificates for all the breeds health tests then she'll suit you as well as any.

I don't know about Beagles but I've had SWD's still have a blue look to their eyes at 6 weeks.  Do know of one pup bred by a friend whose pup didn't change to the correct colour until about 9 weeks.

Can I just ask why to you feel you want to breed from her ?

A friend of mine had a cocker pup born with a blue eye and sadly found out he was deaf, breeder was told that a blue eye 'can' be the signs of deafness.

A friend of mine had a cocker pup born with a blue eye and sadly found out he was deaf, breeder was told that a blue eye 'can' be the signs of deafness.

That was why I asked if there were any health concerns associated with the occurrence of a blue eye in the Beagle. I know it is connected to deafness in some breeds and can be a sign of albino genes although I do not think that applies with one blue eye, believe there is also a connection with merle coats although that may also have an albino connection.

Looks like OP might have disappeared........

Looks like OP might have disappeared........

You may be right, having asked for advice and received it she has a lot to think about.