# Breeders Health Gurantee



## BrittanyM (Jan 28, 2012)

Hi all,

My breeder informed me that one of her litter (same that I got Kiya from) has coccidiosis. We have only had Kiya for just over a week and as a result we have had to take Kiya to the vet, and pay for a checkup and stool sample amounting to $133 which I would not have had to do until her second shots if this was not the case. On my contract it states:

" The breeder guarantees this puppy free of any sickness at the time of sale and will replace any puppy returned within 7 days after the time of sale (at buyers expense), providing the puppy is accompanied by a written certificate of non health from a qualified veterinarian. The Breeder reserves the right to verify any health related problems with a qualified veterinarian.

The puppy is also guaranteed against hereditary defects for 3 years.

Now I know that the coccidiosis comes from the mother and with medication can be taken care of. It is NOT my wish to replace Kiya, but Kiya was obviously sold to me as a non healthy puppy, she had her check up last week from the breeder and I was told everything was fine. 

We wish to keep Kiya, do you guys feel I have the right to ask the breeder to cover the cost of the checkup/stool sample/ and if she has it, the medication? She would have had this before we received her so obviously we were not sold a healthy puppy.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Yes. Doesn't it say that in your contract, if the puppy has worms, parvo, whatever they will pay for the vet rather than make you return her?

If they are saying they will only take a return (at YOUR expense) that is a crappy breeder IMO. They should pay for anything and everything that puppy had when it left her care.

They COUNT on people not wanting to return puppies so they don't have to pay fairly for problems.


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## greyshadows (Jan 30, 2012)

I would ask the breeder to refund your money. Give him copies of the ve bill. You can try but they might not. Our girl had worms galore when we got her and the breeder never responded and then he went out of business! But we kept her and cared for her and two years later, we love her!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

you can ask....

puppies get things.....worms and such....personally, i think she did her due diligence by telling you....

your dog has coccidia..isn't that pretty common? 

does this mean she's unhealthy?


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## BrittanyM (Jan 28, 2012)

Yes, however if Kiya has it, she contracted it BEFORE I took her home which means I did not recieve her as a totally healthy puppy as the contract states. I know it's not the most serious of issues but this cost me $133.. mind you I would gladly pay anything to keep Kiya healthy but not when I feel this should of been taken care of by the breeder. 

I'm going to ask the breeder about it and see how this turns out.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

BrittanyM said:


> Yes, however if Kiya has it, she contracted it BEFORE I took her home which means I did not recieve her as a totally healthy puppy as the contract states. I know it's not the most serious of issues but this cost me $133.. mind you I would gladly pay anything to keep Kiya healthy but not when I feel this should of been taken care of by the breeder.
> 
> I'm going to ask the breeder about it and see how this turns out.


i get what you're saying and i think you should ask, if only to hear the reaction.


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## BrittanyM (Jan 28, 2012)

Ill let you all know what she says x.x


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

Hopefully everything works out with both Kiya and the breeder.


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## CoverTune (Dec 20, 2011)

Yeah, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask the breeder to cover the cost. However.. did you have her examined by a vet within 48hrs of getting her? That's a clause I've often seen in contracts, and if something comes up on that exam then the breeder will cover it, but if you don't do that exam, you're SOL.


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

Most contracts do state that the puppy must be looked at by your vet within a 48-72hr period. The thing is that coccidia could have been introduced by another dog OR a client visiting the kennel. It can be brought in unknowingly on the sole of a boot or shoe. Once a kennel has coccidia they will always have it and will have to treat any and all future litters produced. It is actually a common issue found in shelters, boarding facilities and breeders.

Puppies start to show signs of infection 12-14 days after contracting/ingesting it. If the mother was a carrier then that litter would have shown signs much early and the breeder should have caught it. Regular dewormers do not kill the parasite. 

What my question is, Did your girl have coccidia?? 

If your girl tested negative then a couple things could have happened. The other litter mate could have had a false positive test result, a tainted test result or they could have contracted it outside of the breeder. Your breeder was being responsible and chose to inform the other litter mates. It was then your decision to take her in and have her tested even though she wasnt showing any signs of infection. IMO that was your choice and therefore your cost.

If your girl tested positive, then I would ask if the breeder is willing to cover the cost of your bill because this shows that she was infected prior to leaving.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

You might also want to see if she will split the cost. The time between infection and seeing symptoms is long and this is a fairly common puppy thing. If someone asked me to cover the whole cost I might not agree especially if you did not take the pup in within the 48 hours stipulated in my contract but if you asked me to share the cost I would be more amenable. That's just me though. This is really kind of a puppy issue and she is not technically a "sick" puppy. Some puppies get giardia from the stress of a new home, travel etc. They were not sold sick but stress will do things. Keep it friendly with your breeder - she may be one of the good ones and wait to see if she even has coccidia before calling.


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

When my male lab was a pup and a week before I even took him home, he contracted parvo, the vaccine had failed on the litter. The vet saved him, and she covered the cost, over 2000.00 to save his life. Plazma, blood, lots of meds and intensive care for a week. 

I am so glad she did, and wow, the cost, I had already paid for the pup


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## greyshadows (Jan 30, 2012)

Another thing has been bothering me about breeders. When we got our male Weim pup the breeder said let me see him at 6 months and if you want we can breed and show him and because he was AKC registered she said we would share any profits 50/50. Funny, but why is it if the pup ends up sick or has genetic problems they aren't willing to share those costs 50/50. If you are lucky they might offer you another pup after you have already bonded with the one you have.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

I would ask the breeder to pay your vet bill. Years ago one of our dobermans was found to have giardia shortly after getting her home. Her breeder payed our whole bill, and the meds as well. And that was without any sort of contract. (back then we didn't know about that). So definantly ask.


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

Unless the breeder is a co-owner in a dog, I do not see how they should be held responsible for any future vet fees. With all dogs you are taking a chance, there is no possible way to guarantee the health of an animal. All breeders can do is health test their lines and keep track of any issues that show up in them. Then make responsible breeding choices.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

twoisplenty said:


> Unless the breeder is a co-owner in a dog, I do not see how they should be held responsible for any future vet fees. With all dogs you are taking a chance, there is no possible way to guarantee the health of an animal. All breeders can do is health test their lines and keep track of any issues that show up in them. Then make responsible breeding choices.


Although if the puppy had giardia when she left the kennel, the breeder should pay for everything. in my opinion. If the puppy gets giardia six months from now, no.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Every puppy that I have ever gotten required a vet visit within 48 hours in order for the guarantee to be good. The vet visit and the stool sample would not be covered because that should have been done as the new puppy visit when you first brought the puppy home, even though no vaccines were needed. All puppies should have an initial new puppy visit, just to make sure you are getting a healthy puppy from the breeder or the rescue. If the stool sample came back positive for something, then the medication and any future medication should be covered under the guarantee. Also, any health conditions found at that initial visit should be covered.

Rocky had coccidia when we brought him home from the rescue. It is pretty common in puppies that are under stress from going to a new house. He was fine after a week of medication. We also changed his diet immediately so he had double stress but he bounced back.


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## BrittanyM (Jan 28, 2012)

Hey guys,

Just an update - I recieved Kiya's results yesterday and she was tested negative to coccidia so I decided that I'm not going to ask the breeder to cover the cost.

Thank you all for your replies on the matter


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## brandypup (Jan 23, 2012)

Yes I must agree that the time periord I have seen for worms and parisites is within 72hrs. Pretty much you take the puppy from the breeder to the vet clinic. 

And the replacment puppy is hog wash- as has been said they prey on your heart to not want to return a puppy. Instead a good contract is a refund up to the purchase price of the puppy. 

3 yrs on health is good I hope it's in great detail and not a replacment puppy. 



Happy dance on the test results. I know it's doesn't always show up on kittens, not sure about dogs. Anyway glad all is well. SHe is cute.


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## Igandwhippetlover (Feb 20, 2012)

For everyone's information. Any breeder or rescue that is truly legit, will want to meet you. Some will want to do a home visit. 
They *will not* ship a pup to you! Most are backyard breeders. They do NO checks on eyes or any other health issue 
that the breed might have. Honest breeders will have certificates on all health issues that are in the breed and will have their eyes 
certified. In which case you would get those papers with you dog. And you always want to see the parents of your pup. 

We are in rescue and make sure that all shots are up to date, neutered/spayed, and have no health issues. And if they do they stay 
with us until they pass away. The one we have in rescue right now has cancer. He has a permanent home with us until he passes away.
We have already checked into cremation for him. And we do home visits first before letting go of one of our rescues.


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