Noah and Ellie
If you
think that there is no difference in breeders, please read Noah and
Ellie's story. I realize
that the story is long, but hopefully the story will encourage you do a
little homework before you choose a breeder for an addition to your
home.
I am unable to post the name of the breeder responsible for this
because she would love to bring a law suit, rather than make restitution
for her mistakes. Feel free
to ask questions privately and decide for yourself.
Six Weeks Old
Ellie
Noah
Noah and Ellie are full littermates to our wonderful boy Nate.
Noah and Ellie were placed with a breeder in Georgia and it was
my understanding that both would be shown to title.
I visited and trained with this breeder in the summer of '07, and
both dogs were doing very nicely. I truly felt that I had found a
wonderful placement for my babies. I
had stayed in contact with this breeder and even considered using one of
her males for a future litter. There
was never any mention of any problems with either of the dogs for well
over a year and a half.
Soon after my visit in '07, this breeder moved north and is now
moving again. In
late July, I was notified that Noah was "extremely fearful"
and needed to be returned. It
took 17 months for this breeder to determine that Noah did not meet her
expectations. I asked to
have Ellie returned as well. She
paid for Noah but Ellie was placed free of charge.
She wanted to return Noah and get a refund of her money and keep
the "free" dog. I
reimbursed her, but insisted both dogs be returned.
On September 2, 2008, my husband and I
drove 12 hours each way to pick up the dogs. Both
Noah and Ellie were very happy in the motel and we took some cute
photographs of them settling in. As
soon as we arrived home, Noah eagerly greeted both of my sons who were
absolute strangers to him. There was certainly no evidence that he was
extremely fearful of men. Here are some pictures from our trip.
Noah
has been visiting with my daughter and her family off and on, and has
even decided to sleep between my daughter and her husband in the king
size bed. It really did not
take him long to become comfortable with us or our daughter's family. He
is a wonderfully sweet boy and adjusting to his new environment very
nicely.
Ellie
is another story, sad but with a reasonably happy ending.
Both Noah and Ellie had infections in the genital region when we
picked them up and were
taken to the vet the day after we arrived home.
Both needed their rabies shots because they were four (4)
months overdue. I think we unknowingly violated laws traveling across state lines
with these two because they did not have a valid rabies vaccination.
Our vet gave them their shots, a health check, and antibiotics
for the infections for both dogs.
Unfortunately,
Ellie's infection worsened and she had to have an emergency spay on
September 12, 2008, to save her life.
During the surgery, the vet found that Ellie was pregnant with 8
pups. Ellie
continued to lose weight and did not rebound after the surgery.
We re-ran all the blood tests and did a tick titer.
Ellie's results came back positive for Lyme disease.
We had to force feed her for two weeks just to keep her alive.
She has now finished her course of antibiotics and has recovered
very nicely, but is no longer a breedable
female.
The
breeder in question stated that there was no way Ellie was
expecting, yet we know for a fact that she was pregnant from the
vet’s observation and the pathology report.
It is my personal policy to never breed until after two (2) years
of age and when OFA and CERF exams have been accomplished on dam and
sire. Ellie was only 20
months old and was not OFA or CERF cleared.
As of
Saturday, September 13, I have spent $2,567.80 for the return of my
precious dogs and their health.
What would have happened if we had not picked them up. The breeder
in question has yet to ask about their health.
Here
they are in our yard, healthy and happy.
Noah
Ellie
Noah
and Ellie have both been place in loving homes and are doing well.
