New puppy needs surgery

[Slothslug]

We have had our puppy for just over one week. She's a lovely girl and we have been putting a lot of energy into training (and obviously falling in love with her). Prior to us picking her up, breeder told us she had a minor problem with her eye. Eyelid required tacking. The procedure was done and we picked her up 1 week later than planned. She looked fine on the day no swelling, signs of infection or pain. Last few days we noticed a lot of gunk in her eyes so took her to our local vet. She told us she has entropion in both eyes and requires surgery. Which will cost around £800. She advised a reputable breeder would pay for this as what they previously did, did not solve the problem. We contacted our breeder and she was fairly defensive and I imagine we will not get anywhere with getting her to pay. Our feeling is that we will just need to pay for this and it's not worth the stress of arguing back and forth with the breeder (we are already obviously very upset about this and honestly don't think we can handle doing that). Is there anything else we can do here?

Did you have breeder's insurance supplied? I suppose your option is to return the puppy, but if you knew there was an eye problem, then I'm not sure whether having an eye problem is enough grounds for returning her. Why did you go ahead if you knew she wasn't in great condition?

Most breeders give you a few weeks insurance along with the puppy pack, usually taken out with the Kennel Club, who then contact you to see if you want to continue with it. Check your paperwork.

You've learnt the hard way that people breed dogs for financial gain and too many will cut corners.

We bought our first pup (subsequently have always had rescues) and she came with insurance cover for a few weeks. I imagine that's what most reputable breeders would do.

Obviously she is liable for the surgery costs. You'd expect the seller to replace/cover repair costs for anything else you bought that wasn't working properly.

Presuming you don't want to return the puppy having bonded with it, all you can do is crack on and get the surgery done asap so it doesn't suffer any longer than it has to. I'd still be sending the bill to the seller though.

As above - most puppies from a serious breeder come with 4 weeks insurance - giving you time to arrange your own and go through any waiting period before you can claim on it.

BUT I suspect the breeder would have already mentioned it if it applied. Which leads me to beleive it doesn't exist in this case.

If you have a puppy contract, what does that say about returning the dog etc?

The reality is there are little protections about things like this and even if there were, often people are too in love with the dog to follow them through (eg return the puppy for a refund).

If you hkeep the dog going forward, I would prioritise excellent high-level insurance - in case this is a sign of things to come. If poor health is going to follow this pup, it really helps to have the finances on your side for it.

Plus look at the T&C carefully as any new insurance you take out now is unlikely to ever cover any eye issues in the future, even if unrelated.

If you already have your own insurance (fingers crossed you did not delay on this) then it is worth talking to them about cover and whether or not this will affect what they cover in the future.

I agree, you should have 4/ 5 weeks insurance with you puppy.

Can you (better done through your vet) contact the breeders vet who did the initial operation? This might shed some light onto what was done & what was diagnosed.

If your puppy is KC and you have been sold a puppy with hidden issues, ask them for help.

Did your puppy not come with insurance?

Ultimately you can't make the breeder pay.

Petplan offers free 'instant puppy insurance' to all breeders who register with them. As do the Kennel Club.

The breeder will have known this was going to happen. Generally they tack then whilst the grow and then the entropian surgery is done at about 6 months of age. They often need tacking again as the dog grows before the 6 months. There's no way the breeder didn't know they were selling you a dog with on going issues

Sounds like disreputable breeder, in it for easy money.
She shouldn’t be breeding dogs with this kind of problem, and as others have said, puppy should have come with 4 week’s free pet insurance.

ANY reputable breeder would absolutely be taking responsibility for this.

Poor puppy suffering from her inbreeding.

Exactly this.
Minimising a puppies condition and not offering free insurance for first few weeks is pretty bad.

Why would you buy a puppy with 'eye issues'? Especially without speaking to her vet or getting it checked out with a vet yourself? And there was no insurance given? I'd be taking the puppy back and saying you want your money back, you've only had her a week. This is obviously some dodgy back street breeder in it for the money that you are supporting. This can be genetic and she shouldn't be breeding any more until she knows for sure it isn't.

I really hope you're not one of those people so desperate to own a pug (or whatever it is) that you buy it from any old place and any old person, no matter how badly bred, just so you can get what you want. People are so selfish and irresponsible.

Sadly, there may be other as yet undiscovered health problems.

I would return the puppy and make it the breeders problem before you end up completely and utterly heartbroken and your savings considerably depleted.

It's worrying how many people buy a puppy without researching a reputable breeder first.

Going via a breed club is a good idea, or looking for an 'Assured breeder' scheme via Kennel Club.

There are so many puppies bred by puppy farms and foisted out to puppy dealers who advertise online and this sounds like it could be one of those.

A decent breeder would not have been ''difficult'' when contacted, and would offered to have refunded for the puppy or have paid for the operation.

These disreputable back yard breeders or puppy farmers rely on the novice buyer falling in love with an online advert pic, picking up a sick puppy and then falling in love with it.

It doesn't take long to bond with a new puppy, a few hours and most people can't bear the thought of a parting.

The bad breeders know this.

The lack of puppy insurance is a huge red flag.

Did you see the Mum and the Dad? Did you get any evidence of health testing, etc? It's so difficult once you have had the puppy for a few days but I think you have to decide whether to return the puppy or get the treatment. Did you have any sort of contract?

I have just brought home my puppy from our breeder and our contract says that I had to present her to a vet within 5 days of collecting her, and that I then had 2 days to return her to the breeder for refund, if I had a written report from the vet stating the defect that had been identified. Her registration with the Kennel Club also has a restriction that I can't use her for breeding unless I provide evidence of hip and elbow scores plus negative eye examinations.

I doubt it would be covered by insurance anyway as it’s a congenital problem. It might be if you had taken the puppy in good faith without awareness of the issue, started an insurance policy then taken it to the vet who diagnosed a problem.
Morally the breeder should take the pup back or pay for corrective surgery, I suspect they rely on you now having an emotional attachment. Trading standards might be interested? I assume you have not left them a five star review….