I bought my cavalier 8 wk old pup 2 weeks ago.  She has been and still is wheezing, coughing and rattling.  I have taken her to the vets three times.  They say her chest is clear, but could have a virus/flu.  The vet gave her 2 lots of antbiotics.  I have contacted the breeder who just says isn't it lucky she's got a loving home.  Am I entitled to contact the breeder and ask for my money £400 to be returned plus the vet bills.  I am terrified the virus/flu will pass to my other cavalier pup who is the picture of health!

Don't really think you can blame the breeder because you pup has a lung infection.

You got your Cavalier at 6 weeks of age ?? None of the breeders I know will let a cavalier puppy go before 8 weeks & your puppy will be covered by six weeks free insurance from the KC if it is KC registered & you return the registration transfer to the KC. £400 is quite cheap for a cavalier too

Not sure if the guest meant she got the pup at 6 weeks or at 8 weeks, I read it as 8, but most breeders would not let a pup go to a home that already had a young pup. But this pup could have caught the infection anywhere even off the other pup who may be a carrier but has immunity from the dam. The guest wants to know if she can have her money back, well I doubt it but may be the breeder will take the pup back but whether a full refund is due, I doubt it.

Guest
since you've had the pup for 2 weeks I would guess that the pup has contracted this virus whist in your care and so I would doubt the breeder will refund you anything .However as mentioned before if the pup is KC registered(which I would want for £400) You can sort it out with the insurance that  the KC supplies with all registered pups
Archer

if you read the kc paperwork if you buy the puppy before it is 8 weeks old and transfer ownership then you do not get the 6 weeks free insurance.it states that you should purchase the puppy at 8 weeks and that the insurance is only valid from 8 weeks of age, there is only petplan who cover the puppys from 6weeks so i use petplan as the puppies are covered straight away from leaving your premises.

Hi, just to let you know that Pet Partners (KC Healthcare) will now actually register puppies from the age of 6 weeks.  Bye.

May I please throw another 'bad breeder' one at you and the others? One of my male pups was not entire when I sold him, but my vet assured me that the testicle was through the inguinal ring (I could feel it there too). The purchaser had first choice of pup, and chose this boy despite having it pointed out that his tackle was incomplete at the time. I also changed my Sales Agreement to say that I would refund the majority of the price if he was not entire by 6 months, this to be verified by a vet's certificate. All OK so far, but the vet is now saying that only an unethical breeder would require a certificate from him. This vet has come out with a few strange bits of advice to the owner, but IMO this is a bit OTT. The only good thing is that it has not (so far!) caused any friction between me & the new owner. Thoughts anyone?

Tell the vet you pay the bill, all he has to do is either comply with your request or not. Point out to him you are only interested in his veterinary opinion of any animal you may bring to him, not his thoughts on your morals. You asked for an opinion and he gave it, he should, in my view, be prepared to back his opinion in writing, for which you will no doubt pay, probably through the nose.

Sorry got a bit cross, self opinionated vets irritate me, would be different if they were asked over a pint, but in the surgery they should be more professional. They at liberty to say no to a request but should keep their non medical opinions to themselves.

Sorry just realised that it is the owners vet not yours, does not effect how I feel though.

Hi Jackie, I was a bit miffed too. This vet has already given the owner a scare over something quite normal for the age and breed, and has given her on bit of very iffy advice. But presumably he is an OK horse vet as the puppy owner knows her horses and has been with him for years. She's bound to be wondering if I don't know what I'm on about and suspecting there is something not quite ethical going on by now. :(

The first question you need to ask the breeder is, are you Licenced as a breeder with your local Authority? If the answer is yes, then the breeder is trading as a business. If that is the case then as a puppy is in consumer law a traded item, a commodity, then it is classified as goods. As such must be fit for the purpose and of merchantable quality. If the puppy is sick shortly after purchase or can be proven that the puppy was sold sick then it clearly was not of merchantable quality at the time of sale. Then you may have a case against the breeder and you need to contact Trading Standards for advice. If you cannot come to some ammicable agreement with the breeder, who, (if licenced) could be in breach of the Sale of Goods Act for selling faulty goods.

If you purchased the puppy from a breeder that was unlicensed because they do not breed over 4 litters in a 12 month period, then they are not operating a business.  Then I am afraid you will need to use all you negotiating skills to come to some agreement regarding the price of puppy/vets bills.

If you are aware that the breeder has advertised more than 4 litters in the last 12 months and is not licensed then contact their local Council and report them for breeding unlicensed, as they clearly should be licensed.  5 litters in 12 months means a dog breeders licence required.

Hi Pat, what you say is interesting but what does it have to do with a puppy having a chest infection? Can you clear a point for me, I thought that it was the number of breeding bitches not the number of litters or does whether or not depend on where you live.

The legislation in respect of dog breeding was updated. The Breeding and Sale of Dogs (welfare) Act 1999 became law at this time. The 5 litter rule was introduced January 2000, replacing previous legislation of 3 breeding bitches used for breeding purposes requring the dog breeder to apply for a dog breeders licence.  The 5 litter rule is general throughout the UK.

If the puppy was sold with a chest infection or it developed it within say for example the first 24 hours after purchase then it could be considered to have been sold unwell. (the same could be said if your washing machine was sold to you and developed a fault). Both could be considered as sold faulty. 

In my puppy sales contract I request that the puppy is seen by the new owners vet within 48 hours of purchase, if their vet finds anything wrong with the puppy at that time then they are offered a full refund on return of the puppy.

I might add that all my puppies go for health checks at my vet in the week prior to going to their new homes.

I think that this is as good a guarantee of the puppy having left me healthy as I can possible make.

Jayne

What you say is true but this pup has been in it's new home for two or more weeks, it could well have come from the breeder nursing an undeveloped infection but how would the breeder know that, whether they are registered or not. I would have thought most breeders were not, which is why I was puzzled that you were telling the original poster about when breeders had to register and that they should ask if they were, why?

If you are saying that the very best breeders probably are not registered, then I would agree with you but there must be some good registered breeder, can think of at least one member of this forum who is probably registered but I doubt she makes a living from it, though I would expect the kennels to be run in a business like manner as I would any good breeder, be they registered or a sitting room breeder. The fact that goods should be suitable for the purpose for which they are sold is difficult to apply to puppies, did the purchases state what the purpose was, did they state that the pup should not get ill within a stated time scale. Doubt it.

If the purchaser takes the pup to a vet within say 48 hours and it is declared fit, then the purchaser to all intent has bought a fit pup. If at a latter date it develops an infection it may well have caught it at the vet and not at the breeders, if the problem is congenial or hereditary that is a different matter but I guess the purchaser would have to prove that the breeder did not take enough care to check that they were breeding from sound stock. Lets not loose track of the fact that a puppy is a live creature like a baby and you can't expect the same level of conformity as you would get from a car or a washing machine.

As I said earlier, if the poster takes the puppy back then the breeder may give all or some of the money back, but you would then be asking the breeder to take back a sick pup and risk any other pups or dogs. Unless we know the whole story we can't take sides only advice the likely outcome which in this case is that the breeder is unlikely to be to blame and may or may not take the pup back, it would depend on the contract exchanged.

Have just re-read the first post and see that the poster says the vet says the pups lungs are clear but may "have a virus" well that to me sounds like kennel cough and I would defy anyone to say where the pup caught that from.