I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about her health. My first Yorkie came from a very reputable breeder with a big price tag and was unhealthy for the first 3 months and eventually died at 12 from Cushing's disease. My second Yorkie I bought from an inexperienced home breeder at a reasonable price and he is very healthy and now a year old. Both were the same size at maturity, just under 4 pounds.

Snickersmom, Im sorry to hear about this but we all live and learn!! If this were me, I would be taking my baby back to the Vet, get a full blood work done, and especially check her liver. Im sure you will give her the best life possible!!

Complicated!
 

Snickersmom,
Please don't beat yourself up over this! In a perfect world, all pups would be born in lovely homes and they would be abundant, easy to locate and reasonably priced. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world.

I got my pup from a petshop, too. It wasn't the ideal and it wasn't something I had planned to do but I think it was a blessing for me and for Bobby. The pet shop made no money on him and likely took a loss.

Frankly, I think the price people are willing to pay for a pup is the big problem, across the board. When people who have no business breeding -- and companies looking for a sure product -- see that folks will pay around $2,000 for a puppy, greed sets in.

There are some "reputable breeder" practices that I just can't stomach, too. A woman I knew years ago bred Dalmatians -- deafness is a problem with the breed and even the best breeders will sometimes have a deaf puppy. Most of them euthanize the deaf pups. My friend couldn't bring herself to do that so she would try HARD to place them and had success in learning sign language, teaching it to the dogs and training them to be companions to deaf children! Or she would agree to adopt the dog for a deposit that would be returned when the pup was spayed or neutered. Luckily, she didn't have many deaf dogs but when she did, it wasn't a death sentence. A lot of "reputable breeders" routinely euthanize less-than-perfect dogs. Many might agree with this practice but I don't. I think they should be given the chance at a loving pet home.

Please don't think I am advocating pet shops or puppy mills -- I'm just saying that the situation is a lot more complicated and it's not as simple a solution as "don't buy from pet shops." There needs to be a lot more regulation on animal care and sales, including price regulation. When there is a continuous market of people willing to pay $2,000 for a puppy, there will be a whole industry of people willing to provide them and many will not be ethical.

Julie

Julie,

I totally agree with you...as long as their is a price on their heads there will be puppymills and backyard breeders. Unfortunately it is the nature of the beast and while we can crack down on some of these there will always be a new one to pop up in its place...makes me sick to think of it...If Breeders are charging a large adoption fee for these babies then others will continue to make their profits. Some people will go as far to sell "Champion Lines" for 10,000 dollars...are you telling me it cost 10,000 dollars to bring a puppy into the world? You're right the situation is a lot more complicated then not buying from a pet store or closing down a puppymill. We live in a country where life is monopolized, and as always it is the innocent that suffer.

she has been to the vet 3X this month - once when i first got her for a once over and then because she was sick... i asked about the bloodwork but they said it wasnt necessary and i also asked about liver shunt and basicly they told me not to worry about it...
should i take her to a different vet? i am new at this i dont know anyone else with pets so i was kind of on my own about it... but the place was really clean and the people nice and friendly and have always taken her same day i called...
what should i have done?

Snickersmom,
If they said not to worry about it, then maybe she wasn't showing any signs of serious disease? LOL, in my experience with vets, if there is even a possibility of something wrong they urge you to do the tests. They're not shy about suggesting testing!

Please do think positive that your baby is reasonably healthy! My Bobby sure is! Three days after I bought him, I had him at the vet and the little peanut is perfect! No fleas, no worms or parasites, everything is GREAT!!!! So, basically, this pet store puppy is healthier than my bulldog puppy was, and I got her from an awesome breeder! My bulldog pup had worms and a stubborn fungal thing on a spot on her face from birth.

Julie

Maybe you should try to find a vet who has experience with smaller breeds like Yorkies. Yorkies have a lot problems with liver shunts and I guess if I knew the dog came from a puppy mill (or a breeder with no regard to health), I would want to test.

I will now be doing annual blood testing just to be safe for my Yorkie even though the Vet says shes healthy. I mean, it really cant hurt and I think it would help calm your fears.

Pet shops always have to maintain records on each animal and a person can ask to see them. Of course, I am like Villette, and I can't go in and ask to see puppies and papers any more. Mouthed off once too often and I think they have mypic on the wall of the post office..LOL I have a friend who is a nurse also, and her son owns a pet shop!!!!!!!!!!! She will hear no part of the business her son is suppoprting..I would have to beat my son over the head with a, forgive me but I gotta say this, a carcas of one of the animals that died in his store or on its way..Man, my anger is flaring......
The paperwork that is given to the buyer might have zero to do with the puppy you get. If there are 5 Yorkies in a crate when it leaves the mill and 2 die on the way and get thrown in the trashcans along the way, the driver is not necessarily reliable to mark the right set of papers. then, when the half-dead ones are delivered to the shop, whatever papers are on the cage are given.. I have heard that very little of the info on the paperwork can actually be proven to relate to that individual puppy.