To lie about death of puppy

[Snowdropfairy85]

We are weeks away from welcoming our new puppy into our home and the breeder has just phoned to say she’s passed away. I’m absolutely gutted. We had visited the puppy several times and named her. She was just 7 weeks old. Breeder comes highly recommended, I fully checked them out. My kids are 5 & 6 and I just don’t know what to say to them. When DD’s hamster died we told her the truth and she was absolutely devastated, I’m not sure I can face telling her the puppy has died. I can’t think of a good reason to tell them as to why we aren’t bringing her home now though.

Or to make cash out of her.
A decent breeder would put exclusions on you breeding.
A decent breeder would select a stud dog carefully.
Please don’t breed. Even one litter.
Health tests?
Genetics?

I personally wouldn't tell them. I wouldn't want to cause my kids upset if I could avoid it. The bunny was different, they already had it. I would just say the puppy wanted to stay with it's mummy and we will look for another one.

And we’re going to select a stud very carefully too. We have no intention of making money from her, we already have a list of family members who want her pups so it’s going to end up costing us money, not making it.

It's all very well recommending going through the breed club but they vary hugely depending on the breed in question. Some are actually pretty good, being (relatively) open about health issues and inbreeding levels however that's absolutely not the case with all of them.

The CKCS club still insists the breed is "generally healthy" despite all the evidence to the contrary. The bulldog bred council don't recommend hip scoring despite the breed being one of the most highly affected by dysplasia. The Irish wolfhound health group insist that the breed's terrible average lifespan is a "misconception" whilst also considering any dog reaching the dizzying heights of the age of eight years to be a "super senior" and the owners of such dogs can apply for a special framable certificate to commemorate the achievement. In my breed some of the most highly respected breeders who are involved in the running of the club itself are consistently producing litters with sky high COIs.

Almost without exception the breed clubs are entirely in favour of the current status quo, closed studbooks and ever decreasing genetic diversity. Most are heavily focused on showing, an activity which essentially encourages physical exaggeration and poor breeding practices such as the over use of popular sires.

Fourteen years on this blog post by the inimitable Terrierman is still every bit as relevant as it was when it was written.

Couldn’t have said it better myself suttercane

Lie. And I say this as someone who isn’t telling their 7 yo today that one of his gerbils have died. But this was a pet he had for years that he loved. Not a puppy he met once. There is no need to cause upset unnecessarily to prove a point

@Alsohuman
If that link was to 'prove' to me that 7 week old puppies 'just die' then you might want to actually read it as it explains the various causes of fading puppy syndrome thus reinforcing my point that puppies don't 'just die'. There's always an underlying pathology or a lack of proper husbandry and the breeder should have explored this eg testing bitch for herpesvirus, checking for congenital abnormalities via post mortem.

Also fading puppy syndrome doesn't really occur in puppies as old as 7 weeks - as per the link I posted in the post below yours.

Any breeder who shrugs off a dead puppy as something that 'just happens' is not responsible

I don't think you should lie to children when it's something about themselves or their life - that might damage them when/if they find out later that you lied.
This is definitely a case for a small white lie

I would just say the puppy wanted to stay with it's mummy and we will look for another one.

Seems the best bit of plusable bollix in the situation, they'll probaly think poor puppy wanted to stay with his mummy!. so we'll now have to chose one that wants to come with us!

As another poster has said dogs don't just die what was the lilkey reason?.

I live near a licenced breeder who has almost 500 bitches, they may be legitimate but it's completely immoral and cruel. Council licencing asks for a minimum welfare standard. Why not re-home a dog or puppy.

It is not usual for 7 week old puppies to 'just die'. Fading puppy syndrome occurs in neonates, from a few days to a couple of weeks old. Anything beyond 3 weeks old I wouldn't describe as 'fading puppy' except in unusual circumstances where the puppy had been failing to thrive for some time prior to death.

This breeder rings definite alarm bells. The unexplained death of a 7 week old pup, the multiple litters being advertised in a very short space of time (this is often seen with people who are a 'front' for puppy farms) . Churning out litter after litter of designer crossbreeds. None of this is good and if I were being asked by a client I would strongly suggest avoiding this particular breeder.

Lie, and find a better breader.

How often did you visit the puppy? I’m surprised the breeder allowed visitors including young children when the puppies were so small and not vaccinated.

@Streamside 500!! Those poor dogs. No way can they all have the proper attention, exercise, enrichment, training etc. That’s heartbreaking.
I’m afraid I tend to assume every breeder is dodgy until I’ve done my research. Most are.

Chiclitlover

You've conflated three different arguments. I'm not responding further

Yes, you can disagree, however, this is from the EVIDENCE base ( psychological /medical research literature that any decent psychologist /psychiatrist works from. Them there's the evidence.

See my other posts... The earth really is flat and how crystal therapy cured my ills!

IamtheDevilsAvocado

I’m glad you’re not responding further. 🥱