Quote:
Originally Posted by FxE  That's the thing. She said that if she were to offer a health guarantee, the price for the puppies would be a lot more. She just left it at that. Originally the puppy was $600 and even at that price, she wasn't giving a health guarantee. She just said that she had no problems with the previous litters or the sire and dam so maybe that would put my mind to ease.
I did go to her house but we only stayed in the front enterance. The dogs that we saw were the sire and dam and the puppy i am interested in buying. We didn't see the puppy's sister. She also had one more dog that i saw that was very big and white (not sure of the breed). She had 2 birds in a cage as well and although we didn't see any, she said that she also owned 4 cats.
The house from what we saw was kept moderately clean. It smelled of smoke but that's about it. It was in a very secluded area which was an hour and a half away from where i live.
I am not planning on breeding the puppy, i just simply want a pet. I know that with a pedigree it pretty much tells you whether the puppy is purebred but to be honest, if he has like 1/3 or whatever of another breed, it doesn't really make a difference to me because like i said, i'm looking for a pet that i can love - not a puppy to breed. I'm just kind of scared to take her word for it. She seems like a really nice woman and i absolutely fell in love with the puppy when i saw him but i don't want to be stuck afterwards with huge vet bills. I understand that i will obviously be paying vet bills but if i'm paying money for him, i'd like to feel at ease that he'll be safe from serious disease for at least the first year. I know it can't be guaranteed but i've read posts from other posters here saying that some of their puppies got sick within the first week of getting them and they were stuck paying up to $1000's more.
Do you guys think that i should maybe ask her if i could take the puppy to my own vet and get him checked out before...since she is not offering a health guarantee?
Thanks again! |
I didn't get a health guarantee when I bought my boys. They were $750 each and came with the paperwork for me to file them for AKC. I did not register them since I had them fixed and had no intentions of breeding, showing, etc. They were just pets. Her vet gave them a clean bill of health, and my vet did too for the most part. One of them had a heart murmur, but it was not horrible and it closed up within a year. I know I was lucky that they are so healthy, you could be too. Or not. I respect breeders very much and all the work they do to ensure a great pup, but I don't think hobby breeders are bad people breeding bad dogs either. If you cannot get a health guarantee without jacking up the price of the pup, then take the pup to your vet (maybe she'll pick up the price of that) and have him examed there for your own comfort. Make sure the vet checks for yorkie/small breed congenital things. However some won't be known at this young of an age yet. I think there is a test for live shunt and for LP, along with some other tests to make sure he is healthy.