Poor Wee Lilly

[Korumba]

Hi I would appreciate some feed back on Angela’s Dog called Lilly.

In short she has a hereditary congenital joint disease; that required an extensive operation to give her a pain free life and up to 95% use of her leg.

That’s been done and she is on the mend,

She cost $800.00 from a breeder on trade me and she is still less that a year old.

The Op cost just over $1000.00 and the breeder is effectively saying if she’s broke send her back and we will supply you with another dog, (Who knows it may have the same problem) the vet said about a quarter of each litter will have the condition if they continue breeding from her parents.

I feel the breeder should pay Angela compensation, (Angela would not think of returning Lilly).

What are your thoughts?

Attached is the correspondence so far and a few pics of Lilly, the on one my bike is a before (and no she did not fall off) the other 2 are post op

Thanks

[ajturbo]

i would forward ALL correspondance to the NZ kennel club asap!!!
they have a disputes person ( i think) phone them up also... talk to the boss.. he will get things going for you, their shame should make them "do the right thing"... only problem would be if they are not members of the NZ kennel club, then your on your own... i would put it down ( unless the op went well) i know that sounds hard, but i think it would be in the pup's best interest.

good luck ... sorry to hear that SOME breeders are wankers!!!!

[Korumba]

She has had the op and is now pain free and recovery well. Putting her down was not an option that Angela wanted to take.
Would be surprised if they are members but will certainly advise them of these people.
Thanks

[Mully]

G'day mate,

Sad to hear about your dog. I would have done the same (Paid whatever it takes).

While I agree with you that the breeder should provide some recompense, and a replacement dog wouldn't be good enough, have you actually spoken to a lawyer? I'm not sure you would have a legal claim (unless the breeder had prior knowledge that this could/would happen).

Any lawyers on site who can confirm??

[Korumba]

G'day mate,

Sad to hear about your dog. I would have done the same (Paid whatever it takes).

While I agree with you that the breeder should provide some recompense, and a replacement dog wouldn't be good enough, have you actually spoken to a lawyer? I'm not sure you would have a legal claim (unless the breeder had prior knowledge that this could/would happen).

Any lawyers on site who can confirm??

Just found this on the net so I think the small claims may find in Angela's favor

[McDuck]

Did she offer the replacment before the opp or after?
If before then that was your out and if not till after i would pay the value of the dog toward the opp or at least half the opp cost.

The big thing for me is, you payed 800 bucks for a dog without getting it checked?

[eliot-ness]

Let me guess, cruciate ligament A big problem with Bichons. My first one had it but it didn't show up until he was 5yrs old. Got the op done and he lived another 12yrs without a problem and spent most of his life catching rabbits. When he died I had another one given, a pup, 12 weeks old. He hated walking right from the start, several visits to the vet didn't solve it so I changed vet's. Same problem, but on both legs. $2500 to fix, not 100% cured but he can now walk a couple of miles without discomfort. You can take them back, breeders don't want the word to get around that their dogs are suspect but when you've spent the money and become attached to the dog it would be a difficult decision. My advise would be to forget it, tell the breeder by all means, if they have any decency they'll stop breeding from that stock and if you're lucky they may offer some recompense.
Got two now, I had a second one given by the same people but from a different breeder and this one has no problems

[Korumba]

Did she offer the replacment before the opp or after?
If before then that was your out and if not till after i would pay the value of the dog toward the opp or at least half the opp cost.

The big thing for me is, you payed 800 bucks for a dog without getting it checked?

The breeder said she had been Vet checked and still claims this in her correspondence.

[Mom]

I'm with AJ on this one. A report to the Kennel Club will be a useful way to help stop this breeder selling defective puppies with impunity.

Sad eh, when dogs are bred so finely that congenital defects are so common. Cute puppy mate, money well spent getting it fixed up as far as I am concerned.

Small claims will be a good place to go to get your money refunded (the purchase price I mean not the repair bill), or at least some of it anyway. The emotions take over when you buy/take a pet into your family, returning the defective puppy for replacement is simply not an option in my eyes when you have grown to love them, I am certain the small claims court will agree!.

[ajturbo]

fully understand Ange's decision,
i too would find it VERY hard to put a pup down....

throw the book at them!!!

[McDuck]

The breeder said she had been Vet checked and still claims this in her correspondence.

Would the vet check have found this? I dont know the condition but if the vet would/should have and it i s a knowen condition the purchase price should be repayed

[Kittyhawk]

Did you buy her off the mad mexican?

Was she hipscored and were you shown the results from the breeder?

I would def get compensation for her...poor wee thing. Give her a hug from Alto and I

[eliot-ness]

Would the vet check have found this? I dont know the condition but if the vet would/should have and it i s a knowen condition the purchase price should be repayed

The vet check would be very unlikely to show the problem in a young puppy. The joints at an early age are naturally loose, not until they tighten up does the problem begin to show, which is why my dog needed several checks before we could do anything. As I've mentioned before, this is a common problem with Bichons and there's no guarantee that your pup won't have it, regardles of how careful the breeder is. My first one was NZ champion and top stud dog for one of the best known kennels but he got the problem later in life. At $800 it's ulikely that this pup is from a registered breeder, a good pedigree pup would be around $1500,but there's still a chance of some payment towards operation costs. It's always worth a try.

[chanceyy]

I am with AJ taking to kennel club .. $800 for a pup that does not have papers is a hell of a lot of money ..

I too understand where Angela is coming from I would spend the money on ops etc .. they dunna take long to wiggle into you heart

[doc]

The Op cost just over $1000.00 What are your thoughts?

We have this useless fat slug of a dog called Ben, only time I see him show energy is when the grandaughter walks pasts carrying food. Recently he looked like he had a limp. The females rushed him to the Vet, 1000 bucks later, they expect an 80 percent recovery.
My dog jack went in for a scratch on the eye from a cat,
had the eye sutured closed for a month,
a tooth removed,
and they had him castrated at the same time,
This only cost 300 bucks.

They wonder why us guy's don't go to the Dr more often , sheeesh I ask you why would ya.