What would a uk breeder do in this case

[deano]

Not sure if this right place but just trying to find out what the case wold be with any u.k. breeders in this situation.
Have put threads on here after Louis our 2 year being diagnosed with severe HD last thursday.  We saw our own vet and a specialist and both confirmed what the other had told us.  When we fiirst bought our little one home from the spanish breeder he had a few bouts of gastric enteritis, at aged one he was having problems with his breathing and the vet found the nose canal was so narrow it was causing him a lot of problems so he needed an operation to woden the canal. last year he had lip fold dermatitis so again had to have another operation to have a piece of his skin cut around his jowls which causes him to be constantly keep making a noise with hs mouth as if he is trying to get saliva. Last week after taking him to the vets we were told after xrays he has severe HD. we were advised both both vets that we should immediately contact the breeder and inform them  whats happened and that we could ask for a full refund and possible help towards his vets bills, we were told we could also take it to the spanish courts.  I wrote a long email to the breeder last weekend explaing the situation and asking for a reply by wednesday 6th, we didnt get a reply so my OH rang one of the tel numbers and one half of the partnership said he has left the kennel and the other partner has total control of it now.
 In this situation what would a uk breeder do, (we can get a  full report for the breeder to see from the specialist) am i wrong in thinking they should acknowledge us at all, its unusual as when we first brought Louis they wanted us to keep in touch with letters and photos so you would imagine they would be interested as to whats wrong with him now.

Any advice appreciated as my vet has again told me to press further with the breeder. Not sure what to do next

[spanielkiss]

I feel really sad for you and will do anything I can to help .

Some input from the good breeders here would be good as well

Your dog has had a lot of problems I think the breeders here would have given you support , not ignored your emails .
I am wondering what the chance is of a puppy ,with HD A  parents (IF IT'S TRUE ) , developing such bad HD ?
 I am sure someone will come along soon and give you some answers .

I knew of a young lab who was diagnosed with HD . He had clear parents but had been excersiced excessivly as a pup and the breeders and the vet blamed this as the cause .
Its obviously complex but there is no excuse for being ignored 

[spanielkiss]

Give Louis a big kiss from me 

[Tasha]

what a horror story poor little mite.  Basically it would depend on your breeder but most decent ones will either provide you with a new puppy and offer to take back the one that is for all intents and purposes defective and rehome it or pts or they should be giving a refund and offering to pay part of the veterinary bills.

Problem with HD is that its not all genetic there is also an environmental impact to consider so the breeder could argue that you have over exercised your pup, that its had an accident that has contributed towards the damage or that you've fed it a crap food. 

Sadly sometimes there is no recompense from the breeder, some will threaten to take you to court for slander (this recently happened in weimaraner with a dog who had epilepsy) and others will just not bother replying to you at all.  I hope you have some luck with your breeder no idea what the spanish rules and regs are but the ones here are all pretty much handshake agreements.

Are you insured??? 

[Cob-Web]

TBH, I wouldn't expect anything from the breeder in this case, other than support    There are no guarantees when it comes to even the most well bred puppy....and no reputable breeder sells their puppies with a guarantee of good health for life. 

I hope Louis's condition can be treated and stabilised   

[Jane S]

As Tasha says, it all depends on the individual breeder in cases like this - certainly a caring, responsible breeder would be offering support and advice and would possibly refund the purchase price. But not all breeders are like this - as in any other country, there are good and bad breeders and plenty more in between. In the UK, if a breeder won't help, then an owner can sometimes take legal action under consumer legislation and there are certainly cases where owners of an HD affected dog have been successful in claiming a full refund and reimbursement of vet fees from the breeder. In one case involving a Golden Retriever, both parents had good hip scores but I think the breeder lost because she had not taken specific steps to inform the owner about HD prior to the sale. The owners were also able to keep their dog as in these type of cases the courts don't usually expect the dog to be returned to the breeder. However that's the UK and it could well be very different in Spain. You also have to be able to cope with the stress and expense of legal action so it's not something many owners would probably go for, especially as there is no guarantee of success.

[deano]

We havn't got pet insurance, when we first got Louis we couldnt find anyone that did it although now there are quite a few companies starting pet ins although prob to late for Louis.
It will be too hard to go through the courts here and im sure the law wont be in favour of us and TBH would be worried about taking the chance incase they told us Louis had to be returned (you never know here) I'm sure we wouldnt be having this problem with a breeder in the u.k. as i think i would at least have had an acknowledgement.
All i can say is that Louis has been fed on the food suggested by the breeder since we got him, our vet will vouch for us that he has been back and forth there from the first week and in no way has he been over excercised, i remember as a puppy taking him for short walks and even then carrying him home so as not to overdue it.
The more digging i am doing the more i am finding more and moresuspicious goings on but i will write another email this time in spanish and given him one more chance to reply, i think it would probably be in his best interests to come back to us.
Thanks everyone for advice,

[feefee]

I am so sorry to hear of your plight as previously I experienced the same thing with a breeder ( or should I say Puppy Farmer) who sold me a Lhasa apso who had to have operations on both knees AND both hips when he was 6 months old.  The breeder casually said I had over exercised, and because I had the dog checked by my own vet within a week it was up to me......

The best of luck to you i sincerely hope you have some recompense from the breeder.  If not I would name and shame to prevent any further incidences of this - Would this be allowed on this website? ... It would be a pity not to.

[Jane S]

If not I would name and shame to prevent any further incidences of this - Would this be allowed on this website? ... It would be a pity not to.

I'm afraid we don't encourage "naming and shaming" as the legal implications can be enormous so it's not just worth the risk, sorry.

[feefee]

I suppose that understandable however it is a real shame - poor wee mite !!!!

[isaka]

I'll reply here, as I've replied private to Deano, but don't get any answer that my emails were received.

Louis come from a Kennel that is considered a "good" Kennel, successful breeder and competitor, with dogs sent all over the world. The parents are HD free, hipscored A and B. On looking into it a bit I discoverd that a full brother of Louis is competing successfully in the ring with a different owner, another dog was hipscored C and sold abroad: (minimum to breed is C, but if a C can only be bred to another animal with a score of A or B. Unfortunately last september the breeder split from his business parther and SO, this hit him so badly he became clinically depressed and apparently is in a very bad state indeed, nobody has seen or heard of him since last September. This info I was given on Sunday. He has not appeared at any shows in spain since then. The webpage and emails were managed by his ex, so the emails are not getting to him. I was given his telephone number to pass on to Deano, this I have done, and wondered if she had any luck, the person I spoke to tried to phone him then and there but he wasn't picking up his phone, as she said that if he knew, he would be on the phone to Deano (or at least the person she knew before the depression kicked in would have done so).
Another breeder I spoke to in spain asking what would she do in this case, said that it depends on the price and if it was sold as a pet or show dog. If sold at a substantial price as a breeding or show dog, she would either offer a free pup or a free mating (obviously with another bitch HD free belonging to the buyer) and offer to take the affected dog back. If the pup was sold at a lower price as a pet, she gives a guarantee against infectious diseases for a set period of time, but that would not cover HD appearing several months/year later- as these things are difficult to predict and all a breeder can do is eliminate HD affected dogs from their breeder programme, and also other factors apply such as feeding, exercise. She would offer moral support and advice, no point in offering to have the dog back as the owner would be very attached to it.

[Tasha]

sounds like they are a good breeder.. marriage break ups are dreadful must be harder when you share a hobby, its a bit of a small world out there