Hello,
I wonder if someone could explain our rights/what we should do - we recently purchased a 10 week old west highland terrier pup from a registered breeder, we paid £425. - for her and were told she was in good health. Both parents are KCRegistered.
Upon the vets examanation, we were told that she has a genetic eye disorder which means her eyes are constantly running and she has tear staining, her jaw is very overshot about 3 mm gap(12 weeks old) between upper and lower(both canines are in line with each other), and she had a severe ear mite infestation. - We are now told that we might encounter problems with her in the future and we should never breed from her, is this covered by the sale of goods act, if it is - what can we do - if not - what SHOULD we do...?

Hi Dominic,

Have informed the breeder of the problems you are having with your pup.

Clair

Yes, the breeder got annoyed and told me that vets were scaremongers, he also said that he was away at the time on holiday and wasn't able to check the pup when it was sold to us. He suggested that we take her to him so he can take a look and said he would give us some money back. - Before we go - we would like to know our rights, as we foresee expensive vet costs in the future and we hadn't ruled out having a litter of our own!

Welcome to the forum Dominic :-)

We have a few westie breeders on the forum and I am sure they will be along shortly to offer their thoughts. In the mean time, was the breeder aware that you purchased the bitch to breed from or was she sold to you as a pet? As the breeder has offered you your money back, I would take it and give him the puppy.

Dominic

Sale of goods act does apply - doesn't it seems so inhumane when it's a puppy you are talking about. The ear mites is just one of those things and should clear up with treatment. The jaw problem may be permanent, could be a temporary thing while the puppy is growing - the genetic eye problem is likley to be your main piece of ammunition. It all largely depends on the terms you were sold the puppy. The breeder from what you say had already offered to have a look and consider a refund of some money - that does not seem unreasonable. Most breeders will not guarantee that a puppy will reach show standard or be a guaranteed safe breeding specimen at such a young age - so unless you do have it in writing - you're unlikely to be able to use that as your main argument.

I'm not a Westie person, but if they have known eye problems - were the parents tested?

To be honest - quite often - not always, vets can cause a bit of fear. It's like the natural reaction to castrate or spay any new puppy asap. It could be worthwhile getting a second opinion so that you have more firm ground to go to the breeder with.

jmho - hth

Pam n the boys

Urp--
"It's like the natural reaction to castrate or spay any new puppy asap. "
Not trying to be inflammatory, but does this actually happen in the UK??????? No wonder y'all are so suspicious of vets. :(

yes it does happen -you make your appointment for jabs and the conversation goes-- Blah blah blah -'come back in a fortnight and we'll make an appointment for him to be castrated 'and pay the nice lady on the way out !!!!
If you take the dog for a ear/eye/nose/paw infection then the remedy is to have him castrated
any behaviour problems ( regardless of breed ,age ,colour ,day of the week ) --chop them off !
if he gets fleas --ooh dear you really should think about castration you know !
and that's why some of us don't run to the vet at the drop of a hat :D
and before you all tell me to change vets --yes I have ;)
Liz :)

edited --sorry totally off topic -just my rant !!

However ...with SO many unwanted and unplanned litters in the UK today , you can understand why ..can't you?

Melody

well ---yes !
but they don't have to assume we are all total idiots :)
Liz

I have to say that it has never been mentioned to me. I have been going to the same practice for 7 years, since I first got Holly.

Helen

Hi Dominic, so sorry you have had such trouble with your puppy. There are a few points to cover
a) I would take this puppy back and insist on your money back+all travelling expenses + vets fees, and be willing to settle for the full purchase price? If you ask for £650 ( or whatever the total might be) they may be very relieved to settle for this or you may wish to insist on the whole amount. However you have to be willing to hand the puppy + all paperwork back to the breeder and have no further claim on her. This is what I would do and insist on being paid back in cash, so they will need a day or two of notice to make sure they have the cash available to give you. I know you have become attached to her and may find this difficult but either you hand the puppy back and get your money back or keep her with all her problems.If she was not sold with free insurance ( which ALL reputable breeders offer) you will not now be able to get insurance cover for the health problems that she already has and will have to cover all her vets fees in the future for these conditions. Take with you a copy of a written report from your vet listing all her failings. Make it clear that they would be as well to comply or you will take further action. If you are offered a partial refund, this means you will
have no further claim on the breeder and have an unsound puppy that will cost you a great deal in vets fees I suspect. If you bought the puppy with a Credit Card cheque book you will have some purchase protection from them and they might take the claim over and help you with it.

b) if the breeder will not comply there are a few scare tactics you can apply. If they register more than 4 litters a year they must be licenced by the local authority - ask to see the licence. Some county councils have seperate rules for dog breeding activities or how many dogs an individual can keep. Once they are using their premisies for "business purposes" differnt council tax bands may apply. If they maybe do not register all their litters then maybe the Environmental Health officer locally may be interested to know that they are breeding dogs and may not have suitable premesis re: disposal of waste - drainage and surface water drainage from any kennel building runs. If they breed more than a few litters a year, the tax man may also be interested! You can threaten them with the Small Claims Court - where you will undoubtedly win your case. Leave them in no doubt that you will follow through with this court claim that under the Sale of Goods act the puppy is not suitable for the purpose it was purchased - a healthy companion. I am not very up on legalalities, perhaps someone else can help out here. You can say you will involve the local/national newspapers.
c) As far as breeding potential is concerned, if the fact that you wanted to breed from her in the future was mentioned before the sale took place then you may have a claim about that, but if you did not say you wanted to breed then you cant - I dont think. A vague remark of " I might want to have puppies from her" is not the same as " I will want to breed from her in the future". Is her registration document endorsed " Progeny cannot be registered"? If so you could not breed from her unless they lift the endorsement with the KC.

Most hereditary problems that Westies can suffer from are rarely visible at such a young age - like Perthes or CMO, and do not usually show themselves until many months of age, though this problem you mention with the eyes is an exception. You mentioned mites, are these ear mites or "body" mites - mange. If the latter then you really must imo take her back, some Westies have immune systems that do not respond well to treatment, sarcoptic mange can be very hard/sometimes impossible to to get rid of and demodectic mange is hereditary and will continually crop up through the dogs life. Although a puppy shouldn't have ear mites, they are usually very easy to get rid of, especially in a one dog household, with Thornit ear powder.
Hopefully they will give you you money back without too much trouble, and when you are ready to buy another Westie puppy, e mail me if you like and I will help you find a puppy from a reputable breeder, and the chances are that you wont have to pay very much more than you paid for this unfortunate one. £425 is not a cheap puppy and you deserve better for that price. Sorry this is so long - have tried to edit it!

HI, sorry to hear about your puppy, I agree with everything Westie Lover has said, but I would also like to ask you did you see the mother of the puppy and the rest of the litter, what conditions were they reared in, were they in the house, or outside in kennels, (some kennels are very good, others are not) the reason I ask about seeing the mother is there are a lot of what we call "iffy" breeders about, for instance, you can get someone saying they are a registered breeder, when in fact they don't breed the puppies on their premises, but buy them in from well known puppy farms or are getting the puppies from the continent and they are coming to the U.K. via Ireland, these puppies mostly are very ill and can have some of the illnesses you say, now how can I say this without sounding silly! i've got a westie pup with a slightly overshot mouth (just the way it should be) as a young pup, you have got to remember that the bottom jaw grows on when the top jaw has stopped growing so when all the adult teeth are in a westie should have what is called a scissor bite, but if the bottom jaw grows on too much its then called a undershot bite, but again if as a young pup the pup has a badly overshot mouth then it will not correct itself, I hope you understand what I mean, also I do know that there is a eye problem under investigation by the BVA (British Veterinary Association), but it is not compulsary to have a westie eye tested at the moment, mind you I got my dog eye tested as I was going to use him at stud and he was o.k. I really hope this helps you, please keep us all informed what your decision is, but, if it was me, the puppy would be back at this breeder and I would threaten them with trading standards and the sale of goods act, if you need any more information please e mail me, just click on my name and my e mail addy comes up. - Irene-Westyholm Westies