6 weeks ago I reserved a cocker spaniel puppy from an affiliated breeder in Madrid .I recieved pics and pedigree info throughout .Yesterday I recieved the puppy by rapid courier .I have 2 of my current litter still at home , they are 5 days older than this new pup. I was horrified when I opened her travel case .
She is a 3rd of the size of mine with no fat under her skin . She weighs 1kg
mine are just under 3 kg.To hold her is scarey as she is a bag of bones.She has  the vets certificate of worming and ist injection , and ive been informed that she eats royal canine puppy meal.
She seems happy and plays with my other 2 . Wees + poohs normal .
I will not send her back .
What is the very best i can do for her , i will get up every hour and feed her if i
need to ,all advise welcomed

I don't know what affiliated means in spain, but whoever she is affiliated to should be complained to.  Get the Vet to look at her and to write a report on his findings.  Puppies can dehydrate and loose weight in travel. 

Am I right in thinking she is only 6 weeks old?  I would not expect a puppy to travel unaccompanied at such a young age or even leave it's mother until at least 7 1/2 weeks of age.

I think you would have a good case depending on what the vet finds of insisting on at least a partial refund if the 'goods' arrived in poor condition.

As for building her up do not overtax her system.  I woulkd give her up to six small meals a day, and as she is so young and behind in development I would give her Puppy formula too.  Also what is her worming status.  she should have been done at least twice and obviously will need to be done again monthly until she is 6 months old.

She is 45 days old , and was sent out 3 days later than they would normally send out . I was concerned and asked about her general health and condition and was told I was worrying unnessesarily and that they were sending her .Could she have lost a lot of weight in travel ?.I will visit a vet tomorrow , I will complain to the canine society if he thinks her condition is that of neglect .I forgot to mention how bad she smelled on arrival , like a sewer ,skin through
I would still like advise on what to feed her other than the puppy formla , which i have in .

Are you in Spain also?

No,I live in Mallorca

I would free her little & often too, as long as she doesn't have any tummy upsets from the change in food & water(lady on another forum god a CKCS in Australia from another state & she had problems adjusting to the water(shes fine now)so she boiled all her water for a couple of months.

Thanks for the advise .
My other 2 pups like to feed from monica at night still ,so i have also gently introduced the new pup. She growls a bit but as long as i talk to her and stroke her head etc ,she will let her feed a little .

Crumbs, she's very young, isn't she? :( Only just 6 weeks old. Poor little scrap. She's not really old enough to leave her mother.

My other 4 puppies went to 2 new owners. 2 yesterday and 2 earlier today ,they are just 7 weeks old but they are robust and content to spent most of their time without mum. I have heard from yeasterdays collectors and they are delighted . The pups slept well and are running around happily .In general I think each litter /puppy must be assessed individually . My new pup just looks completely underfed and must have been kept in an unsterile environment.

Had you gone and seen the puppy before you bought her, and were the parents the correct size, she does seem a little young to leave her mother, I would think all you can do is build her up bit by bit. I would contact the breeder and let her know that you are not pleased in the way the puppy had developed.

Did a vet check the puppy out before she was sent to you.

Good Luck with your puppy

Lynn

Hi , the day before she was sent the vet gave her an injection and checked her for travel , no comment was made about size .I had only seen the mother by email foto and the puppy by 3 stages of age . The mother looks normal size and healthy ,and in fact very similar .The mother is particolour apricot and white with black nose but only apricot on the ears , the pup the same but all white and 1 apricot ear.
The vet has agreed that she is underweight , he suggests milk formula and suggested some hills science plan puppy moist tinned food .
I am to begin with telmin on monday .
I have sent an email to the breeder asking her to explain the condition of the pup.
. Although I could but would not dream of sending her back ,someone mentioned a partial refund , but i would prefer to avenge my pup by more fruitfull methods .
I will let you know of the reply.
Regards Sally

I think in a case like this it is buyer beware.  Unless the puppy is actually suffering an illness pinpointing poor rearing is very hard to do.  Perhaps the lesson to learn is never to buy a puppy without being able to see it oneself it have it seen by someone you trust.  At least the little mite is likely to thrive from now on :) and may well catch up to a good extend.  I once had a puppy that was very slow to thrive, with no lack of effort on my part I can assure you :), once he got onto solids he started to catch up, by the time he left for his new home he was still small compared to his brothers, although in obvious good health, but by the time I saw him as an adult there was no difference in size at all.

Thank you Isabel ,your comments are music to my ears . I hope to see the same.
We will feed her carefully ,love her lots and sit her in a grow bag in the sunshine .
By the way we named her Daisy.

I'm sure Daisy will blossom under the new management, she is a lucky girl :)   Is she an American Cocker, apricot is not a term usually used for English Cockers?

Daisy is an English Cocker , apricot is a snobs way of saying orange I think !!!

Oh so she's landed someone posh as well :D  I have a common old orange roan ;)

L O L .
going for a siesta now, seeing as I was up lots in the night !
Regards Sally.
P.S.I must ask my son where I can get some of those funny faces youve got in your text .

Dear Isabel, as you thought I have had an answer from the breeder in a panic . She says all of her pups are small and the mother is a cute 10kg .She give me lots of advise .It seems the courier picked my pup up at 5pm and she wasnt delivered until 11am next day ,the poor mite was dehydrated and starved of food and love . Anyway the point of my text is to say she is doing really well .
She looks fatter already and is soooo good .
Regards Sally

I am so glad she is picking up.  Are you pleased with the general conformation of her?
I think the moral of this tale is never post a puppy ;)

Why did you get her so early and not wait until she was a little older??

A lot of breeds go very early in Spain. I remember once seeing a litter of pups in Spain and there were only 2 left and being told that the rest of the litter had gone to their new homes the week before.  I was told that the pups were 6 weeks old but I'm sure that they were lucky if they were even 4 weeks old as they were hardly moving around at all.