Short haired cockers

[Cob-Web]

Never mind   The important thing is that you have Molly, and who could be in the least bit disappointed with her? 

Hopefully, your experience will help others who may be looking for a puppy in the future  The need for careful research into breeders, lines and KC registration cannot be emphasised more graphically than this 

If I was in your situation, I would forget about her "breed" and focus on her training and learning, enrol her in puppy classes, learn how to handle her and then no matter what breeds she has in her ancestry, you should be able to adapt  As she grows, her true ancestry may become clearer through her appearance and behaviour

[Nicola]

I know you love your little girl, and so you should, she is lovely    but i seriously doubt the credibility of your breeder and really don't think you have the pup that that DL pedigree shows.

As others say, it is a fairly meaningless document as there are no checks or regulations such as the kennel club impose

I'd love to know more about the breeder, such as, does he breed any other types of dog?

I have to agree with what Helen says, I don't think you have the dog on this document, although a DL certificate is pretty meaningless anyway 

Nonetheless she is a very cute puppy and at least you don't have to worry about grooming! 

[Tasha]

you always have the option of requesting a DNA parentage test but if the breeders have not been honest about their breeding they might not be honest about getting the tests done either.. Personally I don't like being ripped off no matter how lovely a dog is and woudl hate to think that someone can get away with this sort of thing.

Can you request to see the sire??

I really would want to know what I was getting especially at £500

[Pammy]

I would get trading standards involved. As I understand it you paid £500 for a pedigree Cocker Spaniel puppy. That's not what you have got.

The very sad thing here is where a puppy is involved as it obviously plays on your emotions and you quite rightly love her, so it makes it all the more unpalatable to involve authorities etc. But in these terms buying a puppy is no different to buying a car or any other commodity. If you don't get what you pay for you want either an exchange or a refund - but it just doesn't work like that with puppies. However Trading Standards would want to know.

[Gilly]

It really angers me that someone could sell a puppy for that amount of money and claim it to be purebred when it clearly isn't. I automatically thought Beagle when I looked at the first pic, in the puppy pictures the eyes are not those of a purebred Cocker 
I agree with others, I would definitely take this further.

[Cob-Web]

However Trading Standards would want to know.

They may well already have a file on this particular "breeder"........and each complaint will, hopefully, help to prevent this happening for much longer

x-breed pups are often sold for that much or more in the small ads; anyway, why is a pedigree dog more valuable that a x-breed? They are both priceless 

The principle seems to be the important point in this case 

[Jan/Billy]

I would get trading standards involved. As I understand it you paid £500 for a pedigree Cocker SPaniel puppy. That's not what you have got.

The very sad thing here is where a puppy is involved as it obviously plays on your emotions and you quite rightly love her ,so it makes it all the mor unpalatable to involve authorities etc. But in these terms buying a puppy is no different to buying a car or any other commodity. If you don;t get whaqt you pay for you wnat either an exchange or a refund - but it just doesn;t work like that with puppies. However Trading Standards would want to know.

They won't do anything. When we bought Billy our receipt said "pedigree cocker spaniel" £450. We were told our KC would follow which it didn't, so I contacted trading standards as I said I had paid for a pedigree but I have no proof of him actually being a pedigree. They said there was nothing I could do as it is VERY hard to prove/disprove whether a dog is Pedigree or not. Just because they have charged a high price doesn't mean what they are doing is wrong in the eyes of the law BUT when I then told them that at the bottom of the receipt they had written "Kc registration to follow" they were THEN very interested as this was much more specific. As it happens it arrived the next day in the post so i didn't have to take it any further, but they did say they got LOTS of enquiries like this  

[kate.s]

Whatever she is she is  but I think you should pursue this, people shouldn't be allowed to mislead others like this. Is there any way you can locate the rest of the litter??

[Jan/Billy]

Whatever she is she is 

I totally agree 

[ali]

matt, firstly, i think molly looks absolutely adorable. 

barkley is a working type and took a long time to develop any feathering on his legs and tail, but even at 9 weeks his ears were pretty wavy, as helen says. here's a pic...



i just thought you might find it interesting to see.

i do agree that if i were in your shoes, i would want to get things checked out, purely because if the breeder is misleading people i would feel bad not having tried to do something to prevent other people from being deceived. i also think that rachel's point about trying to establish exactly whether she is a cocker or has other breeds in her, if it is possible to, would be useful with regards to training- though i know that anyone who aquires a crossbreed of unknown origin copes very well regardless.

i'm sure you will have heaps of fun and we will all be very interested to see how she grows up, particularly as she is so gorgeous!

[Jane S]

As others have said, I would seriously doubt the accuracy of that pedigree but without DNA evidence, it would be very difficult to prove that it was false. Unfortunately this registration company provides registration certificates based solely on whatever information a breeder chooses to supply them with - it's one of the reasons we always recommend people look for a KC registered puppy. The KC system isn't perfect but it's the nearest guarantee a buyer will ever get that a pedigree is authentic.

Matt, I'm sure you wouldn't swap the lovely Molly for anything now but hopefully your story will help to warn others who could make the same mistake without realising it in the future.

[matt preece]

Hi everyone tonight i phoned the breeder and he assures me that molly is a pure pedigree he told that molly was her mothers second litter and both times they used the same father.I am going to try and trace the rest of the litter there were 7 in total so hopefully i will be able to track themdown. If it turned out that molly was not a pure cocker i will take further action but molly is ours and always will be no matter what she is such a happy loving dog and we wouldnt swap her for the world, but there is a principle here and if this breeder as misled us i will make sure he cant do it to anyone else.thanks to all of you for your support and i will keep you informed of any progress matt,angela &molly

[debrand]

I am sorry that you are having all this bother. I do hope you haven't been cheated by a breeder but I am really glad that it hasn't dampened you enthusiasism for a gorgeous little girl. If you saw her with her mother then she must at least be part Cocker spaniel and it is great that she has a lovely personality. You can pay a lot of money and still get a puppy with problems. 
When I got Barney people keep telling me that he definitely wasn't a Cocker because he was too hairy! He looked like a little bear. It was only when he had his first haircut at 8 months that you could tell his breed-and he was registered with the kennel club!
Best wishes with Molly whatever the outcome. I just love this photo of her.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r160/mattpreece/PICT0029-1.jpg

[silkstocking]

Good Luck with getting to the bottom of it all Matt. Molly is  and that's the main thing

If you talk to your breeder again, it may be interesting for you to find out why he/she doesn't register any pups with the KC

[Penel]

. If you saw her with her mother then she must at least be part Cocker spaniel and it is great that she has a lovely personality.

just because they saw the pups with a cocker spaniel bitch (even if she was feeding them) doesn't necessarily follow that she was their mother.  I saw some boxer puppies recently, and the "breeder" said that her bitch was their mother.  I know for a fact she was lying, and that this bitch was as much their mother as I am.... I am not easily fooled, but other people would have been unfortunately.