My experience with this breeder left quite a lot to be desired. I purchased a Welsh Corgi from Ketchadoxie Kennel based on price and location, and ha vet good rapport with the breeder. However, my pick-up date for the puppy was initially pushed back 2 weeks for, what I was led to believe, problems with the litter of puppies weening from their mom. Upon receiving the puppy, I noticed that he was extremely underweight (1.6 lbs.), but he was cleared to leave by the breeder's veterinarian, and she informed me that this particular litter was already small (my pup being the smallest of the bunch). All of his paperwork seemed to check out and I took home a wonderful little corgi boy. But the breeder was hesitant, insisting that of anything changed in his behavior, I should bring him back.
He was a joy for the first day, but after he seemed lethargic and tired. I assumed this was typical puppy-stress and saw no reason to take him back. Two days later, after very little improvement (although there was some), I asked my vet what could be the problem and she thought it sounded like Parvo.
NOTE: All of the puppies are vaccinated for the parvovirus, and my pup's test came back negative for the virus.
When I took the little guy to the vet's office, they discovered that he had coccidiosis and hook worms. These are fairly common conditions in dogs, especially in puppies from breeders, and supposedly they're easily treatable. However, while the breeder informed me that she gives all of her puppies treatment for coccidiosis and deepens them, she didn't use the correct dewormer for hook worms (specifically), which led to anemia, and the breeder's treatment of coccidiosis lasted for only 7 day (my veterinarian said a 7-day treatment would not kill the coccidiosis parasite and prescribed the same medication for the puppy for a 10-day treatment) This means that likely every dog at the kennel has coccidiosis, whether they show symptoms or not. MAKE SURE YOU GET THEM CHECKED if you decide to purchase a puppy from this breeder.
So, the puppy was on his meds, we were working furiously to get his hypoglycemia and anemia under control, when the puppy's diarrhea caused his rectum to distend. We rushed him back to the vet's office for surgery and they kept him overnight for fluids.
All seemed well, except that he still didn't make improvement. In fact, the vet found a mental defect in my puppy called hydrocephalus--too much fluid in the brain. (There's no way to actually diagnose this without an MRI or CT scan) when I went to see him at the vet's office, his little skull was noticeably larger, his eyes sunken in, and he was in a coma vocalizing every few minutes. It was very heartbreaking. He passed on his own less than an hour later, 6 days after we had picked him up.
The most infuriating part of this experience was that the breeder insinuated that his illness was my fault, brought on by his stress when I didn't take him back the second day. (I have two vet's diagnoses claiming this was not the case. Besides, had I returned the puppy, he likely would have picked up coccidiosis again as its passed easily back and forth among dogs at breeding kennels)
When I informed her of the puppy's death, she seemed resigned, if a bit angry. she seemed more upset about the financial loss rather than sympathetic to the heartbreak I had just experienced. (I was on the waiting list for nearly 8 months after my last dog died from Megaesophagus)
Regardless, the breeder refunded my money and is paying for the expensive vet bills that I racked up in two days. It should be noted that she would not have even done this had the puppy not gone to the vet within 48 hours (one little caveat in the Health Guarantee that she didn't mention). BEWARE THE HEALTH GUARANTEE.
I don't know if this was the fault of the breeder and maybe she knew more about the puppy's condition than she was letting on, or if this falls on the veterinarian for clearing the dog to leave before he was ready. The only reason I'm giving this 2 stars is because I'm getting my money back. read more