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Kliene is the first dog I've ever bought. I adopted or found all my other pets. I spent the better part of a year applying at French bulldog rescues across the country, and watching my local ASPCA and pound for Frenchies. When it became obvious I wasn't going to find one that way, I started looking into breeders. The one I settled on seemed legit, but Kliene has had so many problems in just the first week of owning him that I think I messed up horribly. When I got him from her, I picked him up at her house. She only had three females and two males, so that seemed okay. There was only one litter and they lived in the house, so that seemed even better. Everyone was AKC registered, which doesn't really mean poo poo, but I thought it lent some credibility. All of her dogs had awards from shows, and they were all friendly. She said that Kliene and his siblings were 11 weeks old, and provided me with proof of vaccinations and deworming. He was a friendly, wiggly little puppy. Last Sunday, I took him to the emergency vet. He hadn't wanted to eat his breakfast and he seemed lethargic and I freaked out (It turns out I was over reacting on that). But the first thing the vet said when she came into the room was "his head is crooked". I'd never noticed it, but as soon as she pointed it out it was all I could see. He has sort of a swell in his skull over his right eye. She said he also had a soft spot on the top of his head.  You can see it a little here, the slight swell. I took him to my regular vet Monday who confirmed everything. She said that she didn't think it was hydranencephaly because it was an uneven swelling. She also said he seemed neurologically sound (he eats, he can hear and see, he walks normally and has appropriate reactions to being startled). He has got a very small fontanelle as well. She suggested we do an ultrasound to make sure there wasn't a fluid pocket under the fontanelle, but she said there wasn't much else to do. I was crying by this point, so I think she was just trying to make me feel better when she said it was possible that his mother had stepped on him when he was very little and caused the damage. Tonight, I looked up what his weight should be. According to the breeder, he should be 12 weeks old today. Everything I found said a 12 week old frenchie should weight from 8-10 pounds. Kliene is about 5. He doesn't look as mature as the videos of 12 week old Frenchies I found on youtube. I really don't think he's actually 12 weeks old. I don't have a way to confirm that, but I don't know why else he'd be so much smaller. He eats like a pig and he's very active, he's just so small. I feel really stupid. I volunteer at the SPCA, I foster dogs and cats. I know how harmful puppy mills/BYBs are. And I think I contributed to it. I've spent days trying to figure out what to say in an email to this woman. I don't think there's much that can be done. I'd like some (or all) of my money back, but there's no way I'm returning him. He has such a wonderful personality, and I adore him. And if something is actually wrong with him, he's going to need an owner willing to take care of him. I think I'm mostly just venting here, because all my friends just think I'm worrying too much. I just feel so bad 
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Sep 19, 2014 10:06
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| # ? May 8, 2024 11:40 |
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Cuniculous posted:Kliene is the first dog I've ever bought. I adopted or found all my other pets. I spent the better part of a year applying at French bulldog rescues across the country, and watching my local ASPCA and pound for Frenchies. When it became obvious I wasn't going to find one that way, I started looking into breeders. The one I settled on seemed legit, but Kliene has had so many problems in just the first week of owning him that I think I messed up horribly. A real breeder will pay those vet bills. Pretty sure it wouldn't be at all off to ask for her to do that.
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Sep 19, 2014 10:51
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The thing is, with a breed like Frenchies, you are probably going to run into some expensive and possibly quality of life decreasing congenital issues regardless of the breeder you choose. So it may not be the breeder so much as the breed.
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Sep 19, 2014 11:00
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Araenna posted:A real breeder will pay those vet bills. Pretty sure it wouldn't be at all off to ask for her to do that. I'll do that. That's part of what is hanging me up on the email, I didn't really know what to ask for. Topoisomerase posted:The thing is, with a breed like Frenchies, you are probably going to run into some expensive and possibly quality of life decreasing congenital issues regardless of the breeder you choose. So it may not be the breeder so much as the breed. I expected some health issues with a Frenchie. Any brachycephalic breed is going to have them eventually. But I expected them to be when he was older, not when he was a little puppy
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Sep 19, 2014 11:13
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I guess I don't really get why you're really freaking out so much either given that your dog doesn't really have any untoward effects thus far aside from that you think it's a bit smaller than it should be and it has an uneven face. I think you're kind of putting the cart before the horse here. Also open fontanelles are a thing that aren't really a huge deal unless it's massive and you get some head trauma. You could tell the breeder about the facial thing and see what her experiences are regarding that but honestly, what else are you really looking for at this point?
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Sep 19, 2014 11:19
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That sure is a brachecephalic puppy with health problems.
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Sep 19, 2014 14:28
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So the clinic I work for probably sees like 75% bulldogs because some idiot down the line said we were a "bulldog" clinic. This only sounds like the start of your problems. I'm not a vet, but for starters I'm pretty sure that dog has basically non-existent nares, which may or may not become a problem. Bulldogs of the French and English persuasion are huge money sinks. If you paid $2000 for your puppy, you will pay more than 10 times that in medical costs in it's lifetime. Even healthy bulldogs are outrageously expensive. Being small isn't necessarily the biggest problem in the world. He could just be small, or he could have a growth spurt, who knows. I don't know anything about his misshapen head but literally these dogs are so misshapen in general it's not really a surprise it's got some bulging poo poo.
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Sep 19, 2014 23:08
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| # ? May 8, 2024 11:40 |
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A good breeder should be delighted to get a puppy update. I just coincidentally met the breeder of a puppy I work with and she was clearly pleased to hear how her baby was doing. A good breeder should also keep the lines of communication open because they want to know about health issues down the road. A friend's year-old puppy just developed what is possibly a genetic joint issue, and the person who bred that puppy is very interested in the test results and diagnosis because it could easily affect her future breeding choices. All that is to say, email your breeder and give them a puppy update. "Hey, wanted to let you know how Smushface is doing, he likes his squeaky octopus, here's a cute picture, oh by the way the vet said some interest things..."
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Sep 20, 2014 08:13
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