Buying from a breeder online: Bad experience.

[partipoo1]

This is my first post to this site. I am sorry to bring bad news, but I just purchased a toy poodle using a website and I have had a most trying experience with not only the breeder but the dog is not healthy as well. In fact, my husband had to take the dog to the vet yet again today (this makes three times) since we brought him home on last Saturday (5/5/07). So please be careful and don't believe (unfortunately) everything that a breeder tells you. In order to bring this dog back to health, (in addition to the $800.00 I spent for the dog, and the $140.00 that has been spent in the last week), I will be spending another $500.00-$550.00.  It's been a nightmare and it's not over yet. Unfortunately.

[zefi]

Hi Partipoo1, welcome to the PR. I'm so sorry you've had a bad experience. What's your new baby's name? And what specifically is wrong with him?

[partipoo1]

My new baby's name is Domino.  He weighs 4 lbs. 8 oz.  He is 1 year old 5/10/07.  My vet said he has
luxating patellas-low grade (which I know is common in small dogs, however, a breeder should not be breeding
dogs that can pass this on); he has a respitory arythmia that cannot be specifically determined as a heart
defect without an ECG performed, which I am having done; he has peridontal disease and lots of tarter- he has an incisor that is loose and will need to be pulled; he also is underweight, even for his small size; he started
eating better last night.  I have to hand-feed his food to him; he won't eat otherwise; so after he eats, I give
him his nutri-cal; that is his "treat" for eating (I would give it to him anyway if he didn't but he doesn't know that) to try to expand his tummy a little for more food and it seems to be working.  Of course he is going to be neutered (breeder/my agreement) but now she won't send me his paperwork, she says she'll do it when she gets to it.  She should have given me all paperwork regarding vaccinations, pedigree info, registration papers, regardless whether I asked or not.  A buyer should not be left to manage the sale if the breeder is legitimate and responsible, don't you think?    Well, I just heard from AKC and they tell me that it is my responsibility to get the paperwork from the breeder and not accept a promise that the paperwork will be sent at a later date.  I just got taken, didn't I?  Well, this one is hard to swallow, but I guess I have not choice.  I already contacted the breeder to let her know what my vet said, and all she could do was scream at me and cry and say "my baby, my baby, my baby, my poor Domino, he was fine!!!!" So, the moral of this story, don't leave "the breeder's presence" without the docs on your dog...... WOW.

[zefi]

All I can say is buyer beware. And educate yourself. Know the breed you are buying and learn as much as you can before contacting breeders. Then, when you look at sites, dont just go ga-ga over the cute puppies cause all puppies are cute. Its one thing to rescue a dog from the pound or a puppy mill sieze, its another to 'rescue' a puppy from a breeder you see isnt doing the right thing in order to save it. I know, I've done it, but at the end of the day its not helping cause you're putting money in the breeders pocket and rewarding him/her for breeding, thus encouraging him/her to do it MORE.

All puppies deserve to be loved and raised in a loving home. I just hate people who breed soley as a way to make money without consideration for the welfare of their dogs or puppies.

I'm sorry you were 'taken' by this person, and I know it will sound harsh when I say this... but there are so many websites now where you can buy a new puppy sight unseen, most of them I can take one look at and know to stay a zillion miles away from. One look at their dogs, one look at what they say (and what they DONT say) and you can tell what category they fit into.

What I tell people when they call me about puppies (whether I have some or not) is: you must trust the person you buy from. If you dont trust them/like them then dont buy from them. At the end of the day you are buying a family member from them, you will, in a way, be making THEM part of your extended family. If they arent people you would like to deal with, dont buy from them. Follow your gut. Dont be taken in by a lot of crap said or written on websites. Unfortunatey too many people are just in it for money.

[auntie c]

THANK YOU ZEFI...

thanks for saying all of that... (so very politely)

that is why we do rescue work,  I am disgusted more and more each day, with what we are asked to rehouse. these poor babies have so much baggage that they did not ask for or deserve...

carlene
harry who & pearl the girl
australia

[partipoo1]

I know........(sigh) I know you are all right.... (now).....but you know what, I think this little
dog is already happier.  He is the "man"......I know I encouraged her with the purchase, and after looking at all the dogs; the millions of dogs....that are rejected and at the pound because "their patellas aren't perfect", or whatever,  I cried.  It hurts my soul, and I could have saved one of them instead of doing what I did.   BUT, I am not going to beat myself up.  I am an animal advocate and in my dreams I would have a rescue for all kinds of animals, not just dogs.
They depend on us, the humans, and God put us specifically in authority to steward over our
dominion responsibly.  What a wonderful globe it would be if we all did what He wants us to do.    By the way, zefi, your pagan is AWSOME.....the hairstyles on the website are amazingly breathtaking.   Well, I hope you all forgive me for being a stupid buyer...I'm here now.  My goal is to acquire as much knowledge about the breed as I possibly can so I can be the best mom to him. 

[zefi]

All anyone can do is give the best home they can to the pets they have. Thats all anyone can ask too. I'll let Nicole tell you the fully story of her new toy, but let me say he was sold to a woman who lived in a unit and the body corporate said she couldnt have a pet (didnt she check first?) so she advertised him in the paper and sold him for less than half of what she'd paid. A woman bought him and he was jumping around on the furniture so she moved the chairs apart and he fell and broke his leg. She took him to the vet and said 'put him down'. 16 weeks old. The vet refused to put him down, had her sign him over and called Nicole who he knows does poodle rescue. People are just so horrible there are no words. Everything is fine while their pet is cute or healthy, but when they arent they're suddenly disposable.

As you said, regardless of how you got here, you're here now. You own a poodle and you love him. This is just the beginning. You'll learn about poodles and you'll educate yourself and next time you'll buy a poodle from someone better.

Welcome to the special world of poodles! (she says as she looks out the window at the two muddy wet white poodles who are wrestling in the yard... sigh...)

[partipoo1]

Thank you zefi.....I am so horrified by the way some people are to their "pets".  It's unbelievable to people like
you and I &everyone else here who really would walk through fire for their pets.  I am learning so much already, the health to me is the most important.  And, I am proud to say, that he is gaining weight, he weighed
at the vets a whopping 4.8 lbs, and that was almost two weeks ago, (I've had him two weeks already???, seems like yesterday!), and he goes back in another week to be re-examined due to the respiratory infection, so
she will weigh him then.  He is Soooooo cute.  He is so sweet, his little personality is so innocent yet frisky and
playful, but he's getting bold now and he has started chewing on my hands when he plays so I am correcting that now.  He looks at me like you mean I'm NOT supposed to do that?  I get to do everything else!!!?  His potty behavior is SOOOOO much better, (duh, he's on a schedule now).  Certain time to eat, go outside, go to sleep, get his medicine and vitamins.  They are children in dog bodies.  They need a schedule.  My other dogs
are very interested in protecting him and believe it or not especially my german shephard, she's the best.  So gentle, never rough.  Of course I supervise ALL playtime just in case.  I tell you, I'm hooked on poodles!!!!
  
I did check his ears, and they are FULL of hair.  And, I know I need to get that out, that's another post site.
Is there anyway to get that out without hurting him?

Anyway, thanks to everyone I'm so glad to be HERE with you guys.......partipoo1 & domino (aka booboo) the superpoodle!!!!

[Helen]

Glad to meetcha!  Domino sounds like a sweetie.  I hope that they can get him nice and healthy for you.

When I got my first poodle (toy poodle named Papi), I didn't know anything about buying poodles.  I had heard you shouldn't buy from pet stores, so I thought I'd do this the right way.  My hubby already had his first SP ("Teddy" a rescue from Texas) and I wanted a little boy for myself.  I found a "breeder" who had just what I was looking for.  A little black male TP.  Oddly enough, she too told me that she'd send his papers "later".  I never did get his papers.  I doubt they existed.  Looking back, now I realise that this was just a backyard breeder who had decided to let their 2 poodles have some babies. 

Helen

[partipoo1]

Oh I wish I had some pics to post of him!!!! Ya'll (sorry I'm from Texas) should have seen him in the backyard
yesterday.  We had the sprinkler going and we all went to throw frisbees and play, and he started running just
as fast as though little legs would carry him, those ears just bouncing up and down, he had that butt tucked,
running through the water, having a ball.  The lady never let him play outside; and certainingly never let him
run.  He is having dog-fun now!!!!! 

[auntie c]

i have just been going over this topic...

i was wondering how this little baby is going, i would really love an update...

carlene
harry who and pearl the girl
australia

[Roland]

. I just started reading this without looking at the date.  How is Domino? I can feel for you, when you say you felt "taken" but now that you have had him awhile.............? You never get "taken" when you bring that new love into your life, even if it wasn't what you planned (payed) for. I would just say NEVER buy over the internet. I have never hear of this coming to a happy ending. They even air mail them!!!!!! How could you wean a pup that way? When we were looking for a SP we tried to rescue one, as we never intented to show. They make it impossiable. We did not have a fenced yard, we didn't make enough money, WE WORKED (and with that it was different shifts so the pup would only be left for 3-4 hours at a time). So we broke down and found a "hobby breeder". She only has a litter when she wants a new pup. She keeps who she wants and sells the rest. We check her out on the net to see if she was who she said she was. We got all his docs, including something stating that Oden's line was free of genedic problems. When we went to get Oden, she interviewed us as much as we did her. Hopefully now that we have raised a SP pup, when we go to get a second, the rescues will look more kindly on us, but if not, it takes allot of home work to check a breeder, and even them nothing is garranteed, except that you now have a new fluffy little ball of love in your home, and what more could you want?

[zefi]

You know Roland, as much as we'd all love to meet our puppy buyers (or the breeder we buy from) face to face, sometimes its just not possible. I've met most of my puppy buyers, but I didnt always meet them before I sold them a pup. Some of them I met later, once they had my puppy and I was on a trip and was able to go visit them. Sometimes you have to rely on the phone, email and references. Sometimes you can get a trusted friend to go visit them in your place. All times (even when you meet people face to face) you have to trust your gut feelings.

And I have to send almost all my puppies by air to their new homes. Its unavoidable. I've never had a problem with them being traumatised by it. They always arrive happy and quickly bond to their new owners. In my last litter I was lucky enough to find 2 homes who are local to me (one nearby and one in Hobart) so these pups I get to see. All my other pups have gone to over the sea to the mainland or further in the case of Zac who went to Hawaii.

[Roland]

Sorry if you took that personal, it was not ment to be. I do not know how it is where you are, but up here "puppy milling" is a VERY BIG problem. In Virginia they just shut down a puppy mill, and now just short of 1000, yes 1000, dogs need to be placed into homes. The internet is the easiest way to carry this out, and anyone can sound good on the phone. For us we wanted to see the home, and meet in person the breeder. I also will not get a dog from a pet store, not do I buy anything from a pet store that sells cats or dogs. Again it might be different for you, but around here, it is pretty easy the find a good breeder for most breeds, within a 3 hour drive. You may have to wait, but for us it was worth it.

[zefi]

No I didnt take it personal, dont worry. I'm just stating something which means basically you cant generalize like that. Its easy to do and we all do it, but there are legitimate reasons for doing things sometimes.