I am very upset and I have got to let you all know why! On the 17th April I posted a notice on the board as I had been offered a puppy which had been diagnosed with multifocal retinal dysplasia and I wanted to know more about the condition. I thank you all for the replies and decided to take this puppy on.

We live in South Wales and had to travel all the way to Worcester to collect her. We got there and found a beautiful 14 week old puppy which we took home. We noticed her limping after she had been laying down and took her to the vet the next day to have her checked over. Our vet said that she has quite possibly got elbow problems (OCD) which is hireditory and his advice was to take her back to the breeder we got her off.

We rang her up and explained, and the breeder said that she had no idea why the puppy was limping. She did take her back though (we were heartbroken, even though we only had her 3 days) and said that she would keep an eye on her to see if the limp goes, and would let us know how she is,but our vet strongly suspects this pup may have (OCD) because of both elbows being sore.

I have just looked on the site this breeder advertises her puppies on and to my amazement found this puppy for sale again only just over a week after we took her back. It seems hard to believe that she has got better that quick, but we feel now that she was possibly offloading an ill puppy on us and is now going to try to do the same to someone else.

This breeder is quite new to breeding (well thats what she says) and as she has now bred puppies with possible problems, (and supplied them all to happily unaware families) should give breeding up until she knows more about the subject and the breed. She even asked us to explain what OCD is as she didn't know, surely a breeder should know about such dreadful, potential problems.

Sorry to go on, but as I said before, I am very upset about the whole thing.

Debbie.

Debbie

How traumatic for you. I do hope you manage to find a puppy that is healthy soon. Unfortunately there are some breeders who do not care or as seems to be the case here - just don't know what to do to either minimse faults/health problems or how to prepare new owners for them.

Pam n the boys

I can totally understand why you are so angry, I am too and there's no need to be sorry!! The breeder should not be allowed to do this and I would suggested contacting either your local Trading Standards office and registering a complaint with them and they will pass it on. Or, contacting her local Trading Standards direct and letting them know what happened.
I don't know a great deal about Fair Trading etc, but what I do know makes me think that she certainly can't advertise or sell these puppies without giving full details of any problems they have. As you have made her aware of the problems with the puppy you had and got a vet's opinion, you have a very solid ground for making a complaint.

I'm really sorry that you had to give the puppy up and I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you. Hopefully the breeder can be stopped from doing this again and save other puppies and owners from the same thing happening to them.

If you want any more information or would like me to try and find some contact details, please let me know. I work for Trading Stardards in Hampshire and should be able to find someone who can help me.

Hope this helps,
Lou

Hi Lou,
I would be very grateful if you could get me any contact numbers or any other help. I gave this breeder the benefit of the doubt, but now seeing this puppy back for sale only 1 week after we had her only makes me think that she was not being truthful with us. The thing is, she claimed that she was keeping the pup for breeding but when she failed the eye test she decided to let her go as a pet. I now feel that she knew about the other problem too but didn't feel obliged to have to tell me that. I would naturally have found that out for myself, but the eye problem stops the pup from ever being bred from, so the papers needed to be indorsed by the kennel club, therefore she had to be up front about that. Thanks Debbie

Hi Debbie,

I have got some contact details for you;

Worcester Trading Standards, General Enquiries 01905 765394
Worcester Trading Standards, Consumer Advice 01905 765373 (probably the best one to call).

It's probably the Fair Trading people that would help you, so Consumer Advice should pass you across.

If you have any of her Kennel Club details, it could help the officers with the problem and also if you could ask your vet to see if he would be willing to do a report (if you don't have one already) on the inspection of the pup, to show that the woman would have been made aware of the problem when she got the puppy back.

Also, having a copy of the advertisment you originally bought the puppy through and the most recent one the breeder has put up would definitley help.

Basically, all you need to show is that the breeder was made aware that there could be serious problem with the puppy and that she has advertised it again with the intention of not telling a prospective purchaser.

I really hope that this helps and that something gets done about her. Please let me know how you get on and if there's anything else I can do.

Good Luck,
Lou

Debbie Hi , I would not call her a breeder then if she said she was new? i think you must always
look around see if the person is known in the breed That you want, I did and my breeder is very well known and I did get a nice puppie he seems a bit shorter then he should be, although at 8 months he could grow another inch or two,
But that is awful to land a sick puppie with anyone.

Pat

Selling someone a sick puppy unknowingly is unfortunate, but this puppy is for sale again after she was sold to us, and who knows, maybe there are other previous owners too. How many more families will love this dog and then have to return her? All along we got the feeling that the puppy seemed to not know the breeder any more than she knew us, and according to her she had had that dog from birth. Odd to say the least. Also I have copies of all paperwork and adds etc. as I said, we gave her the benefit of the doubt, but now I am glad we kept copies of everything.

I'm so sorry to hear that this poor puppy is now back on the market. Have you contacted the local breed club to let them know what is going on? i'm not sure if they'd be able to do anything about it, but it must be worth a try.

Fiona
x x x

Before everyone gets too angry about this may I point out that you cannot diagnose hereditary elbow problems that easily. Your vet aparently did not say she had hereditary elbow problems, but that she probably had them. Without xrays etc this cannot be proved. It is quite possible that the pup had banged her elbow and the trouble was no more serious than that.

Having heard of vets recommending that Boxers be taken back because they were 'deformed' with undershot mouths (Boxers are supposed to have undershot mouths), I would not take the word of 1 vet who diagnoses on one quick visit without xrays or other evidence, particularly when the breeder was totally open about the retinal dyspasia, and also took the puppy back with no argument.

Joan
Take the rough with the smooth

hi,
My vet said that the puppy (not definately) but very possibly had this problem ( as both elbows were tender ) and when the breeder took the puppy to her vet, she said that he confirmed that it possibly was the case although nothing could be definate without x rays. He also said that to have x rays done you would have to wait until the pup is about 6 months old. As far as I can see, this puppy is being re sold with a (not probable) but very possible serious condition. Also the breeder could not explain why the puppies both elbows were so tender,she was not aware of any reason for it.

Debbie
Two days ago I had a telephone call from a friend of mine .Somewhere on these boards she had placed a wanted for a golden retriever pup.She was contacted by a woman from worcester ,who told her she had a fifteen week old pup that was the pick of the litter and that she had given it to her daughter,as they planned to breed from it.She sent a picture and said ,she had found out it had eye problems ,so she couldnt breed from it and thats why it was for sale.No mention of elbow problems.I told my friend not to travel all that way ,we live in Lincs ,as I dont know why I just smelled a rat.The story just didnt ring true.I then came across your posting and thought this is just to much of a coincedence.This woman wants stopping,I just dont know how.I am truly sorry you have had to go through this and pleased I stopped my friend from being heartbroken.But the one my heart goes out to most is that poor defencless little pup .I just hope she goes to someone who has the time and the money to give her a loveing life.This whole issue is just gut wrenching to say the least.Good luck with your search