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Originally Posted by coco40  The breeder told me that the tests at such a young age are inconclusive by the way.
My assumption(albeit wrong) that a good breeder would be well informed. I did some research and saw that there is some evidence to her statement but the leading experts in liver shunt say test the dog early. I now realize that she just didn't want to do it. So my advice to people who are purchasing a puppy is get the bile acid test even if you have to pay for it and don't be hoodwinked by a breeder.When I told the breeder I was going to get the bile acid test done during the first couple of days of having the dog, she said it would be a waste of money. I thought she was honorable. Now I know. |
I am very sorry for you and your puppy. Maybe and this only a maybe, she needs to learn a lot more about this disease, and was not deliberately being un-truthfull.
And to diagnose Liver Shunt and or MVD, more testing definitely will need to be done. What is your vets' forward plan of action? We have some excellent threads on here about LS and MVD. There is also a Yahoo support group with lots of good info.
You raise some very valid points about purchasing a dog vs a vs testing. The other point I would like to make, is if you insist on test A/B/C then you will need to decide what and how your decision will be should the testing come back unfavorable
I had a genetic test done prior to deciding which show puppy to purchase, I paid for it, and had it done on the two females. It SHOULD not have come back on either puppy unfavourable but it did on one puppy..... The breeder who is very respectable was very surprised to see the results. Obviously I chose the clear puppy....
I knew that as much as I liked puppy A, if she had this result, it was a deal breaker for me, and the breeder knew that too.....
There are some good reads in the library about evaluating a breeder. But once again it all comes down to the individual purchaser to do not just their homework, but to make up their own list of what is important to them, and how they will make their breeder selection.
I always say to folks, don't even look at the puppy pictures, instead research the breeder, get their contract, assess the contract, look at their adult dogs, dialogue write with the breeder if there are things in their contract that you could not abide by, etc. Then you make the decision to either go with this breeder or walk away.
I know it is very hard to do.