My sister has an almost 10week old westie pup that was red and sore looking when she bought him.
He also has gained no weight in the 3 weeks she's had him. Vet has given some food and told her not to give anything else (I had suggested oily fish) until he's gained some weight. It's been a while since I've had a dog but this doesn't sound like the best advice?

Poor pup is scratching and biting himself until he bleeds no evidence of fleas vet won't do scrape test for another 2 weeks and has given anti biotic cream for the sores. Said he's too small for anti histamine or steroids.

Sister has got him some t shirts to see if it stops him cutting himself. Does anyone have any advice? Poor thing looks v sorry for himself. My first thought is back to vet but she's worried they'll be annoyed as they've told her 2 weeks.

Be grateful for any advice

Unfortunately Westies are notorious for having itchy skin, and often need lifelong medication and very careful dietary control to manage the itching. :-( Did she get the pup from a reputable breeder?

We grew up with westies so know about the skin problems but we've never seen a pup like this. She thought she had brought from a reputable breeder who told her pup was 8 weeks but when she took him but when she checked his paper work he was only 7 I was on the understanding that they should be at least 8 weeks? I have no idea of the breeder but I think she's starting to think she was conned in to believing they were more reputable than they are if that makes sense. Is there anything she can do at home to help as she doesn't like watching him suffer and vet won't treat until he's bigger?

>I was on the understanding that they should be at least 8 weeks?

There's no law about the age to home puppies, unless the breeder has a council licence, in which case pups must be at least 8 weeks to be sold to a member of the public - they can ( :-( ) be sold younger to pet shops. Pups from an 'ordinary' breeder can leave at any age, although 7½ to 8½ weeks is the usual.

Bathing in warm, slightly salty water (a teaspoon of salt to a pint of water) might help - it's what's recommended for bathing wounds, so shouldn't do the poor little soul any harm.

> Is there anything she can do at home to help as she doesn't like watching him suffer and vet won't treat until he's bigger?

I know it sounds awful but is there any way your sister would consider returning this pup to the breeder and getting a refund? (always supposing the breeder would give her one).  Otherwise she is setting herself up for a lifetime of heartache, stress and expense with a puppy with symptoms this severe. Breeders will only learn not to sell pups like this if people return them and also report them to trading standards. If the breeder thinks they can they will keep churning  out pups like this who  have a lifetime of suffering ahead of them. :( But I know it would be a very difficult decision to return a pup that your sister is no doubt already very attached to.

She contacted the breeder who got a bit defensive and was rude from what I'm told. she's informed RSPCA as far as I know didn't know could report to trading standards I will let her know. It's just such a shame for the poor little pup :( as far as I know his attitude was westies have bad skin get over it. Me and my sister r experienced westie owners and we have never seen anything like it. I have no idea y she bought him suppose was heart over head as he looks v much like one of her old dogs who is very much missed so I think she maybe felt she couldn't leave him. But he was red raw the day she brought him home :( and has got worse since then.

Would the salt sting him? I believe he has some small open scratches. He's just so small which is the worry I have :( I didn't realise they could sell them whenever they liked I always thought pups were meant to b with mum til 8 weeks. She did see mum so everything seemed ligit at the time and I suppose she's only thinking of things she should've checked now with hind sight (fabulous thing that) I don't think she's too fussed about money just wants to help the poor pup

If the puppy was sore when your sister bought him it could be argued that he wasn't 'fit for purpose' and she might have a legal claim for a refund. Perhaps she might like to get in touch with one of the specialists at Doglaw to find out where she stands.

Salt water diluted as I suggested doesn't sting. :-)

Poor pup is scratching and biting himself until he bleeds no evidence of fleas vet won't do scrape test for another 2 weeks and has given anti biotic cream for the sores. Said he's too small for anti histamine or steroids.

I don't understand why the vet won't do a skin scraping yet. Yes it is uncomfortable, they do need to scrape until there is a bit of bleeding, but the pup is suffering already and we are talking about a minute or so here, that's all. (One of my own dogs had skin scrapings done a few months ago.) As the pup is so bad so early on I would definitely wonder if it had mites of some sort -that would not be visible on the skin but would need a skin scraping. I'd say it was important to rule any types of parasites out before assuming it has to be the diet.

The breeder sounds awful, what an uncaring so and so. :( A good breeder would not have sold the pup in the first place but would have kept it and made sure it was 100 % well before being sold.

That was my thinking that pup should be scraped if it's not allergy then I don't see point in him suffering another 2 weeks. But like I said I've not had a dog for a while so I wasn't sure if my feelings were justified.

I don't want to bad mouth the breeder as I wasn't there when my sister bought the pup but i could see the sore patches in the photo she sent me from the car and it set alarm bells for me straight away. I had hoped that he would've improved however I'm now wondering if he had a mite/parasite of some description when she bought him :(

the fact she ahs photos of him when she bought him showing the problem already existed will strengthen her case with trading standards.

No good breeder would sell a pup that was not in full health as far as could be seen.  Most stipulate that the pup be seen by a vet in first few days and should be returned if a problem found (beyond a bit of upset tum from changing homes).

> the fact she ahs photos of him when she bought him showing the problem already existed will strengthen her case with trading standards.

But will it though? it might be argued that  she bought the pup knowing that he already had a skin condition therefore the breeder has not actually done anything wrong and  could even argue that the pup was sold  "as seen" or even at a reduced price because of the "fault" :(  Having bought the pup that she was fully aware had skin problems it is difficult to argue after the fact that the breeder should not have sold it.
I do agree that no GOOD breeder would consider selling a pup like this but I think we can safely say that this was not a good breeder.

> Sister has got him some t shirts to see if it stops him cutting himself. Does anyone have any advice? Poor thing looks v sorry for himself. My first thought is back to vet but she's worried they'll be annoyed as they've told her 2 weeks.

Can your sister take him to a different vet as they might have a different way of treating the skin condition. Or  go back to the original vet and say he is getting worse not better and insist on further investigation. If the vet wont do anything ask why not. It might b that the medication he has had will affect the result of skin scrapings or something like that, and so would need to wait to get an accurate result

Yes I'd considered that, but surely the pup was not of merchantable quality, but then that does not apply to private sellers where 'caveat emptor' applies.

Really people have to walk away no matter how sorry they feel for the puppy, when they see a sick or poorly bred, bad conditions when they go to buy.

If cruelty is involved then alert the authorities, but do not buy into (and thereby help propagate more) the misery.

With a puppy in such poor straits already and knowing from previous posts here, just how miserable/intolerable a dogs life can be with severe skin issues allergies, it makes me wonder whether there are worse fates than death for such a puppy, and this is not what the new owner should be facing but the breeder.

Thank u for all the replies :)

I completely agree she should have walked away and I would have done now that I have 3 children as I couldn't put them through the heart ache of having a poorly pup. Not sure if I'd have been brave enough before though. She's done this before her other dog was bought as back garden breeder said as he was last one if he didn't go today he'd b in the river :( she thought she was saving him, which I suppose she did in a way but I always wonder what happened to the next litter.

Iv suggested she takes pup to a different vet I think she's got him there again tonight.

Trouble is, by 'saving' the pup, she has enabled a bad breeder to continue.

The best deterrant to bad breeders, is  to  be left with a whole litter at 12 weeks +      They are only in it for the money, so if they lose money they soon stop ;-)

SO  hard to  walk away, though at times, but you have to think long term ;-)

I have a dog who developed allergies at 9 months old and he got progressively worse.  I adore him and I cope with his skin issues but not without a tremendous amount of time, dedication, commitment and money. He is expensive and, at the last calculation when he was 5 years old, he had cost me £1000 per year.

I really wish for his sake that he didn't have to go through this.  It's misery for him at times and without my efforts, and vigilance, he could quickly deteriorate to point that his quality of life would be compromised.

Of course I wouldn't swap him BUT would I knowingly take on a dog with these issues?  No - absolutely not

Some of my dogs problems are clearly environmental (local to me) and were not caused by bad breeding.  His breeder couldn't have been more helpful and supportive.  The breeder in your case is not demonstrating commitment to her chosen breed or to her puppy owners.   As hard as it might be I'd give the puppy back and demand a refund.

Take him back.
Not fair to the dog...the family and the mother of the poor puppy.

A lifetime of discomfort for him and shelling out money for the family.

Toolz has put it so well :(

I too have lived with a dog with severe allergies resulting in constant itchiness.

He was a rescue and free to a good home.  His problems developed after he was neutered, although it could have been down to having parvo shortly after or a combination of both, but we'd had him about three years.

As dogs a babe has written, we too, paid a fortune yearly and barely kept on top of it. 

I would never keep a pup that already had this problem.  Too much heartache, and it's awful for the dog too :(

Breeder won't take the pup back and I'm
Not sure she could part with him now anyway as she is attached. I feel sorry for her and the pup as I fear this isn't going to be a quick fix. One of our westies (we've had 6)had sensitive skin and a sensitive tummy but it was very easily controlled once we found a food that suited and a good shampoo he never scratched to the point he was bleeding but his skin would go a bit pink in the sun sometimes. This is the kind of sensitivity we thought was normal for westies but this poor little pup seems quite uncomfortable already. It does seem she tried to do her research this time as she discounted people charging £300 as knew a well bred pup should cost much more so has now paid £700 for a poorly pup. She has him
In one of my kids onsies and it appears to be helping with the scratching he's not able to cut himself at least

Sadly there's a lot more to finding a well bred pup than the price, although a well bred, health tested pup will cost about that, or more.  But the breeder would be able to show health certificates and the pups would look healthy straight off, and as already stated, a good breeder wouldn't allow a poorly pup to leave :(

A hard lesson to learn :(

You could try a little coconut oil, or coconut butter, on the dryest parts of his skin, just to see if it helps.   It's edible, so should be safe enough for his skin.

DS found it was the only oil that he can tolerate with his dry eczema (very itchy, with cracks in the skin) and allergies.  But his skin looks like skin now.

Poor little chap, hope it's soon sorted.

> Breeder won't take the pup back

What were the reasons?
Might be time to seek advice from Trading Standards.
The bottom line is that firstly, anyone breeding dogs should be responsible enough to take back puppies rather than absolve all responsibility -  and next, they do have a duty under the sale of goods act.

I have some coconut oil in so I'll take some round for her to try on him.

Breeder I believe is taking the stance of "all westies have bad skin and if she'd done her research she'd know that" we grew up with westies and only one of them had a skin complaint and it was nothing like this more just that he was a bit sensitive. Obviously he's not the best breeder about. Hopefully my sister has learned now. She has contacted trading standards now I believe and I know she had already spoken to RSPCA so hopefully if he is dodgy someone will put a stop to him.