We're so sad...but maybe it's ok...don't know...
 

Hi All,

Last evening we were playing with our little Harlie, she's 11 weeks old now. She was out in the yard doing Harlie stuff and started acting strange, shaking her head and scratching a lot. We took her in the house and looked at her real good and noticed her eyes and ears were reddish. We didn't know what she had gotten into so we drew a bath and scrubbed her up real fresh and clean. While we were bathing her she started vomiting. After she was all dried off, she just sat with my wife, wrapped in her favorite blanket.

I went ahead and went to bed as I'm an early riser, my wife stays up a couple hours later. This morning, my wife woke with me and started crying. I said "what's wrong" and she told me that she and my daughter had gone ahead and taken Harlie to the vet, it was her first visit since we've had her as we were waiting to get her second round of puppy vacs...my bad. The vet gave her an antihist and steroid shot because he thought she got stung by something...I found the fire ants this morning.

He did a full exam of our little pup and told my wife "Mrs. Wells, Harlie has a heart murmur". "What!!!" she started crying and questioning the doctor. He said on a scale of 1-6, it's a 3 and that she probably wouldn't outgrow it. He said that it's common in pure bred dogs and acted like we should get our money back from the breeder. We have fallen head over heels for this little girl and would never, ever part with her...we're very sad. Next week, a cardio doctor will make his round to our clinic, we'll have a sonagram run on her to see what's going on.

Have any of you out there faced this? What was the outcome? what should we expect and what should we do?

Thanks in advance to all who respond,

Don

Don, have no idea as we have never experienced this. Good that she is seeing a cardiologist. People get murmurs and live normal lives. I know after you are attached to a little fog there is no way you could think of giving her back. I hope it all works out for you. In a way, it is a good thing that perhaps a fire ant bit her so she made it to the bet and the murmur was detected. Was it not detected when you had the pup checked out when you received her. Best of luck to you guys and the pup.

Oh Don
I am so sorry. I don't know much about heart murmurs in dogs.
She's 11 weeks now, how old was she when you bought her?
Did you get a contract when you bought her?
I don't think Texas has a Puppy Lemon Law.
You wouldn't have to give up Harlie, you may have the right to keep Harlie but the breeder may be held responsible for vet bills.
Get a letter from the vet saying that Harlie has a congenital defect and wasn't fit for sale. Then you may be able to sue the breeder for the vet bills as she/he sold you a puppy that wasn't fit for sale.
I would read the contract carefully (assuming you bought Harlie with a written contract).

I would research heart murmurs in dogs online and see what you can find.

We're so stupid, we didn't take her to the vet as the breeder had just had her in for her first round of shots. Surely, the breeder's vet would have mentioned it to her if he examined the pup as it probably was there from birth...i don't know...this is our first puppy. She was 8 weeks old when we got her.

Don,
I'm so sorry to hear about your baby. I hope everything works out and it turns out to be a minor inconvinience instead of something worse. These little guys wiggle their way into our hearts so quickly, don't they?

As for the heath certificiate.... I can honestly say that some vets are willing to just give the shots and sign the health certificate. I purchased a beautiful little girl last year that had a health certificate and all her shots. And yet she dies withing a few weeks of having her. She had a bacterial infections, yeast infection, ear mites, and a congenital kidney disease. -- I was devastated! The breeder did pay for HALF the vet bills and also offered to give me another puppy in return when she had another little girl. (Haven't heard from her in ages and not really sure I want another puppy from her anyway.) If you could at least get part of your vet bills paid that would be great!

Good luck!

The breeders vet may have mentioned it to her! A breeder that will sell a puppy at 8 weeks is not very reputable. Harlie should have been with the breeder until she was 12 weeks old.

Think about buying a used car, the owner is not going to tell you all that is wrong with it, he/she wants to sell that car. This is why when you are buying a used car you should take it to your own mechanic to be checked out before you buy it. Same when you get a puppy, you should take it to your own vet ASAP to be checked over.

This is terrible to happen, especially when it is your first puppy. How did you find Harlie??

We found Harlie online through the Dallas Morning News classifieds. We looked forever and she was the one. We have the AKC papers from the breeder. I don't know what to do at this point. Contact the breeder and let her know what's going on? Wait for test results? I don't know...

I would contact the breeder and let her know what is going on.
It is always a good idea to check out the breeder before buying a pup from them. The AKC papers just mean that the parents are registered as purebreds with the AKC - and you need to send in your papers and register Harlie with them. Having AKC papers is not a guarantee of anything really.

If you know the breeders kennel name, there are members here who may know more about the breeder.

I am so sorry to hear this. Am afraid though I won't be of much help.
Yes, you could contact the breeder but don't keep your hopes too high that she will take up responsibilities.
Hopefully when you see the specialist next week they can help you with all your questions. Like someone said before, there are people living with heart conditions and might not even know about it. Now, that you know of her heart murmur you will detect and react much better than if you didn't know. "The devil you know..." Isn't there a saying like that?
She is an adorable little thing. I wish you luck.

My Dexter had a heart murmur. He was checked every 3 months for the first year of his life. Around 9 months (3rd visit) my vet started preparing me for the cardio doc and sonograms and possible surgery, etc... she gave me paper work and all that good stuff. She wanted to give it 3 more months though. Right about a year old my dexter's heart murmur closed on it's own. woohoo It took a full year which the vet said was a bit longer than usual. I always have the vet super check his heart because of that scare and his heart is good to this day!

I pray that your baby's murmur goes away all on its own! It can happen! I have no idea what grade my baby's murmur was but it took a year to close.

Thanks so much, I'm contacting the breeder now and will let everyone know what's going on.

Forgive my ignorance, I feel lost here. When you say her kennel name, what is that :confused:

It should be on your AKC papers, the name of the breeder and her kennel name if she has one.

Sorry about your little one. Hopefully the cardiologist will have good news for you.

She may not have a kennel name - it's like a business name

sort of like "Jane Doe, ABC Yorkies"

Try not to panic until you see the cardiologist. Some puppies are born with an "innocent" heart murmur which goes away, although a grade 3 heart murmur is pretty significant.

I would definitely call your breeder and let her know what is going on. Did you get a health guarantee?