We got our Havanese from a breeder 6 months ago, when she was 4 months old. In this time, I have had growing concerns about the breeder and often find myself worrying about it. This has been our first experience with a breeder, and in fact our first dog, and I would really appreciate any feedback or advice.
1. Housebreaking: The breeder said our puppy was "pick of the litter" and she was planning on keeping her but had to sell her because of a family health crisis that would be taking up a lot of her time. Yet when we got her home we realized she had not been at all housebroken in the first 4 months of her life, and it's been very difficult-in spite of working with a trainer and following all the rules- to break her of peeing where she shouldn't. I keep wondering, if you were going to keep a dog, wouldn't you housebreak her in the first months of her life when dogs are most trainable?
2. Getting to know our puppy: While picking up our puppy, I asked multiple times to see the outbuilding where our puppy spent most of her time, explore the outdoor area where the puppies get to be outside, and learn more about an average day in the life of our puppy, so that we could help keep her in a routine she was used to. My requests kept getting deflected and, not wanting to push too hard, ended up leaving without seeing any of this, although I did get to meet my pup's mamma. In the following months, I reached out a few times via email saying how much we loved our dog but were still interested in learning more about her routine before we got her, and this was met with growing hostility. At first the response I received was "I don't understand what you want to know" and "if you are not happy, send her back." Then I assured her we were happy and that I was simply interested in getting to know her better, e.g., if I'm leaving her in a crate for 2-3 hours, is this something she is used to? I clarified what I was asking by including a list of specific questions like how often and for how long was she outside, how many hours a day was she crated, was she used to being alone, etc. I tried to reassure her that we were not unhappy with her or the dog, just trying to do a good job with training etc. She wrote back to say she still didn't understand what we were asking and that it didn't matter what happened before she came to us, that "whatever habits she had when she was living here, she forgot about it." We exchanged several more emails (which I'm happy to share) in which I found her hostility to escalate and she never answered any of my questions, instead getting extremely defensive, using multiple exclamation points and question marks. I feel quite upset by this exchange and it's left me with great concerns about this breeder. Was it unreasonable for me to ask about my puppy's patterns and habits? Is it normal for a breeder to find these questions somehow offensive, in spite of multiple assurances?
3. Health issues: Because of all the above, I started to have anxiety about our puppy and the story we were given. My trust was shaken. I have been worrying that some health issue will show up. Sure enough, we noticed a few weeks ago that our pup's front left leg started getting quite funny looking and twisted-her foot now sits at 90 degrees. I just took her in and was told she has valgus deformity of the carpus. We're waiting to hear back about how bad it is. But when I told the vet a bit about our experience with the breeder, our vet strongly suspected that the breeder knew all along. Obviously we don't know this for sure, but the possibility is very upsetting. I think Havanese tend to have funny-looking front legs a lot of the time, and I don't know if this is a common issue… our breeder's website advertises how straight her dogs' legs are, complete with pictures of front legs… so I don't know but all this feels weird to me. The other thing is that when I wrote to the breeder that we'd taken a wonderful long walk, she got very upset, saying puppies are not supposed to go for long walks. I assured her that we'd consulted our vet and were taking her advice about exercise. But it was a red flag for me that she got so upset about us taking our 6-month old dog for a one-hour walk!
There are other concerns as well:
4. Extreme cleanliness: We had to travel far to pick up our puppy. The breeder asked that I wear clean clothes and insisted that I leave my bag and brand new puppy carrier outside to avoid bringing germs into the house. I had to wear sterile booties going into the house and disinfect my hands with bleach. I wasn't allowed to see any of the puppies (she had a litter of 8-week old puppies)-she didn't want me in the same space because of risk of germs. Are all these precautions normal?
5. Getting to know the breeder: We did a ton of research into breeders, learning all about puppy mills vs. backyard breeders vs. more professional breeders… and researched reviews of breeders, etc. We picked a breeder that looked great on paper and had a detailed and professional website, with AKC dogs. The only funny thing I thought at the tie was that she wouldn't talk by phone, only email, saying things could be misunderstood by phone and she wanted everything in writing.
6. Breeding practices: I have checked back on the breeder's site several times since we got our pup. There have been at least 2 other 4-month old pups for sale in that time. In addition, there is a new litter of puppies every 1-3 months. The breeder has 3 breeding females. Isn't this too many litters for healthy mammas? I really don't know about these things but I'm a bit concerned. I also met the mamma of our pup and she seemed cowering and not terribly healthy. The breeder didn't let her down on the floor in the entry room where I was meeting my pup (the only place in the house I was welcomed).
Sorry for the overly long post, but I am hoping for any advice or feedback or reassurances-on the leg issue, on any follow-up we should have with, or about, our breeder. I am quite distressed. I feel some sense of responsibility and am interested in supporting good practices and also good feedback… Thanks for reading this far!
1. Housebreaking: The breeder said our puppy was "pick of the litter" and she was planning on keeping her but had to sell her because of a family health crisis that would be taking up a lot of her time. Yet when we got her home we realized she had not been at all housebroken in the first 4 months of her life, and it's been very difficult-in spite of working with a trainer and following all the rules- to break her of peeing where she shouldn't. I keep wondering, if you were going to keep a dog, wouldn't you housebreak her in the first months of her life when dogs are most trainable?
2. Getting to know our puppy: While picking up our puppy, I asked multiple times to see the outbuilding where our puppy spent most of her time, explore the outdoor area where the puppies get to be outside, and learn more about an average day in the life of our puppy, so that we could help keep her in a routine she was used to. My requests kept getting deflected and, not wanting to push too hard, ended up leaving without seeing any of this, although I did get to meet my pup's mamma. In the following months, I reached out a few times via email saying how much we loved our dog but were still interested in learning more about her routine before we got her, and this was met with growing hostility. At first the response I received was "I don't understand what you want to know" and "if you are not happy, send her back." Then I assured her we were happy and that I was simply interested in getting to know her better, e.g., if I'm leaving her in a crate for 2-3 hours, is this something she is used to? I clarified what I was asking by including a list of specific questions like how often and for how long was she outside, how many hours a day was she crated, was she used to being alone, etc. I tried to reassure her that we were not unhappy with her or the dog, just trying to do a good job with training etc. She wrote back to say she still didn't understand what we were asking and that it didn't matter what happened before she came to us, that "whatever habits she had when she was living here, she forgot about it." We exchanged several more emails (which I'm happy to share) in which I found her hostility to escalate and she never answered any of my questions, instead getting extremely defensive, using multiple exclamation points and question marks. I feel quite upset by this exchange and it's left me with great concerns about this breeder. Was it unreasonable for me to ask about my puppy's patterns and habits? Is it normal for a breeder to find these questions somehow offensive, in spite of multiple assurances?
3. Health issues: Because of all the above, I started to have anxiety about our puppy and the story we were given. My trust was shaken. I have been worrying that some health issue will show up. Sure enough, we noticed a few weeks ago that our pup's front left leg started getting quite funny looking and twisted-her foot now sits at 90 degrees. I just took her in and was told she has valgus deformity of the carpus. We're waiting to hear back about how bad it is. But when I told the vet a bit about our experience with the breeder, our vet strongly suspected that the breeder knew all along. Obviously we don't know this for sure, but the possibility is very upsetting. I think Havanese tend to have funny-looking front legs a lot of the time, and I don't know if this is a common issue… our breeder's website advertises how straight her dogs' legs are, complete with pictures of front legs… so I don't know but all this feels weird to me. The other thing is that when I wrote to the breeder that we'd taken a wonderful long walk, she got very upset, saying puppies are not supposed to go for long walks. I assured her that we'd consulted our vet and were taking her advice about exercise. But it was a red flag for me that she got so upset about us taking our 6-month old dog for a one-hour walk!
There are other concerns as well:
4. Extreme cleanliness: We had to travel far to pick up our puppy. The breeder asked that I wear clean clothes and insisted that I leave my bag and brand new puppy carrier outside to avoid bringing germs into the house. I had to wear sterile booties going into the house and disinfect my hands with bleach. I wasn't allowed to see any of the puppies (she had a litter of 8-week old puppies)-she didn't want me in the same space because of risk of germs. Are all these precautions normal?
5. Getting to know the breeder: We did a ton of research into breeders, learning all about puppy mills vs. backyard breeders vs. more professional breeders… and researched reviews of breeders, etc. We picked a breeder that looked great on paper and had a detailed and professional website, with AKC dogs. The only funny thing I thought at the tie was that she wouldn't talk by phone, only email, saying things could be misunderstood by phone and she wanted everything in writing.
6. Breeding practices: I have checked back on the breeder's site several times since we got our pup. There have been at least 2 other 4-month old pups for sale in that time. In addition, there is a new litter of puppies every 1-3 months. The breeder has 3 breeding females. Isn't this too many litters for healthy mammas? I really don't know about these things but I'm a bit concerned. I also met the mamma of our pup and she seemed cowering and not terribly healthy. The breeder didn't let her down on the floor in the entry room where I was meeting my pup (the only place in the house I was welcomed).
Sorry for the overly long post, but I am hoping for any advice or feedback or reassurances-on the leg issue, on any follow-up we should have with, or about, our breeder. I am quite distressed. I feel some sense of responsibility and am interested in supporting good practices and also good feedback… Thanks for reading this far!