Did I buy from a puppy mill????
 

I am curious if you all think I got my Toby from a puppy mill.
I will tell you a little bit about the breeder.
We talk to a friend that had gotten a puppy from her before, and had recommended that we get in touch with her. We called her one day, and we set up an appointment to meet Toby the next evening. Her house was completely tiled, (???) she had 5 yorkies, 2 boxers and 1 great dane. We were allowed to take Toby home that day, he was 8 weeks at that time, and he was the last one left out of 3 puppies. She asked no questions about us, about the living environment he would be living in, about how experienced we were, nothing. She offered to give us some puppy food, 3 cans of pedigree puppy, and gave him a bath before he left. She said that she hadn't seen any fleas on him at all, but said that he had a few before due to his mother being outside alot in the country and transfering them to the puppies. She had had a fecal check done on him at about 6 weeks, and had given him wormer and one 8 in 1 shot. On the way home I was looking through his coat and noticed he had thousands of fleas around his face, which I should have check before we left, but it was my first time buying from a breeder, now I know better. I was MAD and so was my husband. He was threatening to take him back. As soon as we got home I had to give him 2 flea baths and it took about 3 hours to get the fleas out. The fleas gave him worms. So we saw the worms like 2 days later. :thumbdown :thumbdown

So what do you all think??

I don't think that she was a puppy mill, but definately a bad breeder.. I got Tucker from a breeder that has about 10-12 adults and while they are very well taken care of medically, they are not socialized and do not live in her home.. I consider her a bad breeder because these little guys need love as well as shots.. Tucker did not have any fleas or medical problems when I got him and has been fine ever since.. Puppy Mills are where the dogs are not taken care of medically, physically, mentally, socially... They are very sick and neglected and never get to run or touch grass... They are kep in wire crates at all times and forced to sleep in their own pee and poop... Do a search on puppy mills and then you will see...

I don't know that it is a mill but could be a bad breeder. It's so weird sounds sorta like where I got Porscha from same kinda thing...I had no idea about buying from a breeder so I didn't ask the right questions. Half her house was a kennel, she had a bunch of yorkies, poms and maltese. She also didn't ask me anything about where I was taking her, how to take care of her, nothing! Gave me a bag of puppy food and told me to keep her warm b/c she was so small and it was snowing out. Same deal we went to see her and ended up taking her home that night she was 8 weeks. I don't think she was a mill but I don't think she was a very nice breeder. The pups parents were in the basement and the kennels were on a porch. My new breeder has her pups and moms in play pens in their house and she sends me pictures all the time much much nicer. Oh yeah Porscha had worms when we got her too and I had to pay for meds for her right after I got her my b/f was not happy!

I'm by no means an expert, but it kind of sounds like one to me.

It sounds to me like this breeder doesn't care about her dogs at all. If the mama was going outside during flea season, why on earth didn't she have some kind of flea prevention method? (I'm assuming she didn't have any, or the dog wouldn't have gotten fleas!) And how irresponsible and terrible is it that she let you take it home like that! No reputable, caring breeder would knowingly send a puppy home with any kind of health problem.

I would give the puppy another flea bath in a day or two, sometimes those shampoos don't get all the eggs out on the first time. Just be careful about using other flea methods in addition to the baths (ie, spot on treatments such as Advantage or Frontline), too much of the flea poison can be harmful for our furbabies! Be sure to wash anything he's come in contact with (your clothes, stuffed toys, bedding, etc). Or better yet, throw it out. It could be harboring eggs.
In the mean time, take him to the vet so they can worm him and check him out for any other health problems. The things you can see are bad enough, who knows what else is going on inside him!

I just wanted to thank you for your concern, we have had him for about 8 or 9 weeks now, everything is taken care of, but I just got to thinking about those conditions here lately. I bet it has happened to alot of us.

Gotcha. I thought you had just gotten this puppy and were having this problem right now...

I'm glad to hear everything came out all right!

I am glad your baby is okay. So often, that is not the case. That breeder would be considered a "backyard breeder" in my area. If she did not sell to brokers or wholesalers, she is unregulated. That is not necessarily a bad thing, either. BUT, this is a concern that might have been avoided if someone had told you about the forums when you first decided to get a puppy. Research is one of the most important parts of the selection process..IMO
I breed but I like the forums because I learn others concerns and mistakes and it helps keep me from making the same ones. I can guarantee you have learned a lot about the iterview process and will never select a puppy again from someone like her.
Give your baby smoochies...