I recently left a deposit on a puppy that was only a few weeks old. I went to the breeders house, picked out two puppies, a male and female from 2 litters with the hopes of some day possibly breeding. I haven't decided for sure whether I would, but I wanted the possibility. After I left the deposit, I tried for weeks to go back to the breeders house to visit the puppies and they were never home/available. Then 3 days prior to me picking up the puppies, I was told that she lost both litters to a terrible virus. She refunded my deposit, and left me heartbroken. I then started searching. After waiting over a month for these puppies to come home only to find out they passed I didn't want to wait much longer. My Mom and I (we live on the same property but in different houses) went looking. She was getting the female, and I, the male. We found a breeder that was about 2 hours away in an area we used to live, and she had two litters born 2 days apart, and she had a male and female. The only problem was that they were smaller than we really wanted. The male she said was a teacup and would be about 3.5 to 4 lbs. and the female she said was a toy and would be about 4 to 4.5 lbs. We fell in love and bought the puppies. We came home and I was as happy as can be. They played that night, my children were excited, and everything was great. Then it came time to feed them, and my Mickey, wouldn't eat. I tried putting the food in my hand and he would turn away. He also had some diareah. I took him to her vet, 2 hrs away for a well check, and the vet said that he was probably just too excited and to try to moisten the food. That night he still would not eat. I gave him the Nutrical every couple of hours, but no interest in food. That night he started vomiting and the diareah got worse. I took the dog at 6 a.m., back to the vet, and they said to give him some pepto bismol and robitussin for his cough and something for the diareah. I took him home and he started having blood in his stools. I turned around and drove another 2 hours back to the vet and they kept him over night. They gave him fluid in his back, and the next morning they said he was diagnosed with Giardia, put on medication, and that I could pick him up. I did, and that night he CRASHED!!! He couldn't open his eyes, lethargic, shaking, etc. I was told by my vet to give him puppy milk, baby food, canned food anything I could get in him. I got him to eat the puppy milk and I was up with him all night feeding him every hour out of a bottle. The next morning I went back to the vet. They kept him over night, and the doctor took him home with him. Saturday morning I called and they said they wanted to keep him until Monday. I called Monday and I was told that my Mickey had passed away in the night at the Vet's house. The Vet said he did everything he could. He had him on heating pads, fluids through his back, force feeding him, etc. He said that he was beginning to get sores around his mouth, and told me that it may have been from the medication Flagyl that he was on for the Giardia, and that he suspected these sores were internal as well. He said we did all we could, but despite our efforts he just wasn't strong enough to pull through.
I called the breeder and she had a Guarantee on the Puppy that states that she will replace the puppy if anything happened to mine. Now she is telling me that she has a litter that will be ready to go in about two weeks. I am absolutely terrified now. I have two children, 3 and 5. We also have a Sheltie, a Golden Retriever, and a Cat. My children are great with animals and are VERY gentle, but now I have my children being treated with Giardia as they have had diareah about 20 times a day for the past week. They were petting the puppy and holding him in his bag in the car and I think they may have touched him and then food in the car and caught it that way. I have been more stressed out in the past week then ever before. I am afraid when I get the new puppy of what to do. I am terrified that I will get him home and he will not eat. I am not sure if I should introduce the puppy to the family, or should I wait to see if he eats and give him a few days by himself to get used to his surroundings before introducing. I do not want it to be too much for him and then he stops eating. I can not sleep, eat, or think straight. This has had more of an impact on me than I ever could have imagined. I feel horrible that my children are going through this, and the possibility of this all happening again with a new puppy is overwhelming.
My mom's puppy is doing great. She loves my other dogs, does great playing with the children. Eats, Drinks, and is even pretty much house broken in just a week. That was what I wanted a happy healthy puppy. Does anyone have any advice for me as to how to achieve it? Should I let the puppy get used to everyone in time? Should I wait until he is on a schedule before playing with him too much? Any advice????
