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Originally Posted by gemy  Rescue Mama I salute your passion and your obvious love of dogs. But at some point the ownership and responsibility for a dog's health does indeed pass to the owner of a pup you have bred.
Truly I believe a breeder should not be held responsible for non genetic illnesses. Illness that can come as a result of old age. Illnesses that can come as a result of poor care.
People who purchase dogs, or "adopt" from a rescue do need to be prepared financially and emotionally to do their part to secure and maintain the health of their pet over the lifetime of that pet.
A breeder who stands behind their dogs for genetic illness until 5yrs is doing a whole lot more than many reputable breeders do. I personally in the breed I breed will not "guarantee" against hip or elbow dysplasia, however I do guarantee I breed dogs free of that disease, and actually require the pet owners to get hip and elbow evaluations done at 2yrs old. Should a dog of mine prove to be dysplastic at 2yrs old, I will pay for the treatment (if any is needed) up to the purchase cost of the dog. I also require a whole host of other things from my puppy buyers, including when to spay. And I am now considering, if they spay too early I will not warrant or guarantee against hip or elbow dysplasia, if they don't follow what is reasonable in terms of weight gain or exercise for these large breed dogs, I won't guarantee against hip/elbow dysplasia. And all my puppy buyers are educated to the best of my knowledge both verbally and in writing how to care properly for a pet they purchase from me. |
While I agree for the most part with these points - I also only offer a 5 year health guarantee when I've bred puppies, and if they are diagnosed with luxating patellas some other structural disease, if they're poorly cared for and/or overweight, I may not honor it. I also don't honor some parts of my health guarantee if they don't follow my vaccination and care guidelines.
That said, I'm not talking about normal situations. I'm talking about emergencies when the owner has found themself in an unexpected financially difficult spot. In this economy - It happens all to often! I do believe in situations like that that if the owner contacts the breeder for help, it's the breeder's responsibility to make sure the owner gets the help they need to assure the dog gets proper medical care. I'm all about the bottom line - And that's the dog. Now if it's going to be an ongoing health problem the owner can't handle, I'd probably just offer to take the dog back and take care of it myself. But broken bones, pancreatitis, HGE, or other such medical emergencies can often hit at the worst times no matter how well prepared someone may be. I know personally I've had to ask for help from friends/family before when I was out of work and one of my dogs got very sick very suddenly. It happens. But I do also think that every owner needs to carefully consider the financial responsibility of taking on a pet before buying or adopting one no matter where it comes from! But I think part of the benefit of going to a good breeder to purchase a dog is that life-long support that should come with them. I'm not talking financially in all situations, but emotional or behavioral support, or just to be there to talk to can really mean alot to a distressed owner, and make the difference between them keeping the dog or giving it up.