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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Hoping for some advice on my and our girls problem.

91 replies

GSDOwner2023 · 09/10/2023 22:49

Good evening,
I have just joined mumsnet to ask others opinions and whether I am doing the right thing.
So we purchased our beautiful canine friend just over 1 week ago. We saw her advertised online, with a lovely advert attached., which we thought was genuine.
The family brought her to us, so we never actually got to see how, or where she was living! Upon her arrival, she appeared OK with no issue's.
After 24 hours of her being with us, she started head-shaking vigorously and scratching her head/ears (especially her R ear) this concerned us (the previous owners, when I questioned her health before we agreed to the meet, said the only thing was "her ears bothered her")
48 hrs in, we decided to make an urgent appt with our vets and we were extremely surprised when our vet had to start her on Steroids, as her ear canal was that inflamed, she couldn't see what was actually causing the problem.
Fast forward to 4 days in, we finally received her previous vet record (this clearly shows past/recent history of ear infections (rods and cocci) which we were never made aware of by previous owner)
On the Friday, we returned to our vet, as advised, for her to then undergo a ear smear exam, only to discover the same condition/s as previous vets had diagnosed, this only leads me to believe that the issue that was underlying previously was never resolved and she's been left to suffer.
After explaining this to the previous owner, to come to some arrangement regards my finances, that I paid out for her they took it upon their-selves to deny all knowledge and then continue to block my number, meaning no contact can be made to find out if she ever had any antibiotics (she was prescribed steroids July 2022 and again recently by our own vet, our own vet has recommended an ear flush)
None of this is down to the fact we can't afford her treatment, only that we were clearly sold a poorly girl.
Now my only option would be to turn to the small claims in order to receive the payment that I am surely entitled to, both the money I paid for what I believed to be a healthy dog and the vet fees that I have had to spend in the last four days. So my question would be, am I doing the right thing by going to the small claims court to retrieve these costs?
Our girl will be going no-where, she deserves to now life a happy, pain free life, with lots of love, care and walkies, we absolutely dote on her, as she does us, already.
Thank you in advance for your help and advice.

OP posts:
Theoscargoesto · 10/10/2023 09:19

OP you are angry, I get that: you have been made a fool of by the seller and there is unlikely to be anything you can do about it. But don’t shoot the messengers. There were other ways of doing this: you visiting the dog at its home, you insisting that the owners took it to their Vets for a check up in your presence, you insisting they took it to your vet for a check up in your presence, you receiving from their vet a copy of a vet report……and you didn’t do any of those things. The owners lied to you for sure. You MAY have some sort of claim. But I can tell you now that it won’t be worth it even if you win, and getting money from someone determined not to cooperate will cost you far, far more than a couple of visits to the vet.

FiveShelties · 10/10/2023 09:19

Honestly OP I feel for you, but if they wanted to get rid of the dog, they were never going to tell you the truth.

Sounds like she has got a loving home now and will forget her previous owners and you should too.

Original poster
GSDOwner2023 · 10/10/2023 09:21

That’s a puppy. A private seller isn’t going to put their adult dog through a health check just to sell it.

puppys HAVE to come with all those records reputable breeder or not.

our girl is 2 years old. That’s the difference. So if you have no experience with rehoming an older dog this isn’t the post for you anyway. I’m not asking for advice on who to buy from. I should hope at my own age I should be well aware of who and where to use.

we rehomed this girl because she wasn’t getting the life she needed and we can give her that.

I’ve just sought legal advice and I am protected under the sale of goods act 1979.

shows how much you know.

OP posts:
margotrose · 10/10/2023 09:22

I should hope at my own age I should be well aware of who and where to use.

lol well you'd hope so, but apparently not 😂

Wellwellwellwallace · 10/10/2023 09:23

Poor dog.

margotrose · 10/10/2023 09:23

You're angry at the wrong people.

Nobody here is going to tell you you did the right thing or that you went about getting this dog in the right way

If you just wanted to be pacified then this isn't the forum for you.

WetBandits · 10/10/2023 09:24

GSDOwner2023 · 10/10/2023 09:21

That’s a puppy. A private seller isn’t going to put their adult dog through a health check just to sell it.

puppys HAVE to come with all those records reputable breeder or not.

our girl is 2 years old. That’s the difference. So if you have no experience with rehoming an older dog this isn’t the post for you anyway. I’m not asking for advice on who to buy from. I should hope at my own age I should be well aware of who and where to use.

we rehomed this girl because she wasn’t getting the life she needed and we can give her that.

I’ve just sought legal advice and I am protected under the sale of goods act 1979.

shows how much you know.

So why did you post here if you’ve found what you needed all by yourself?

You probably feel a bit silly, I get that, but having a go at posters who suggested that perhaps buying a dog you know nothing about, from people you know even less about, was bound to be a recipe for disaster. But you know that, which is why you’re getting very defensive.

margotrose · 10/10/2023 09:24

And if I wanted to rehome an older dog I wouldn't be daft enough to do it off a stranger I'd never met Wink

wetotter · 10/10/2023 09:24

It's completely your fault in this instance .

You decided to buy a dog you had never seen (which goes against all standard advice) and were advised that 2her ears bother her 2, but you elected to complete the purchase with that knowledge but without vet history (which was made available to you after you requested it) or having your own vet check done.

I think your proposed case will fail because
a) owners did disclose ear problems and
b) you did not take the utterly normal/obvious steps in timely fashion

Original poster
GSDOwner2023 · 10/10/2023 09:24

Thank you for being so understanding.

We certainly are giving her the life she deserves she is so happy here and under the right treatment to get her sorted, although she’s 2 years old and fully trained we still attend classes for obedience as we want to make sure she listens to us properly and is aware that we are now her owners.

we have sought legal advice too which states we are protected under the sale of goods act 1979, so we may just be able to resolve our issue

OP posts:
YourNameGoesHere · 10/10/2023 09:25

That’s a puppy. A private seller isn’t going to put their adult dog through a health check just to sell it.

A reputable one with genuine reasons for selling and with their dogs best interest at heart would.

Look if you've manged to seek legal advice in the hours since you started the thread then truly good for you, make a claim take them to court or what ever but honestly you're not getting any money back from them and all it will do is cost you lots of money and time. Just enjoy your dog.

Newpeep · 10/10/2023 09:25

GSDOwner2023 · 10/10/2023 09:21

That’s a puppy. A private seller isn’t going to put their adult dog through a health check just to sell it.

puppys HAVE to come with all those records reputable breeder or not.

our girl is 2 years old. That’s the difference. So if you have no experience with rehoming an older dog this isn’t the post for you anyway. I’m not asking for advice on who to buy from. I should hope at my own age I should be well aware of who and where to use.

we rehomed this girl because she wasn’t getting the life she needed and we can give her that.

I’ve just sought legal advice and I am protected under the sale of goods act 1979.

shows how much you know.

I’ve got experience with homing older rescues and buying 🙂

…and no, puppies don’t have to, believe me! I know plenty bought whose owners now face a whole host of costs because they didn’t do their due diligence.

I wish you well with your girl. It’s great you want to give her a good life although obviously not unconditionally if you are getting hung up on pretty minor costs. Wait until she gets joint problems later in life. Ear infections will be small fry.

margotrose · 10/10/2023 09:26

wetotter · 10/10/2023 09:24

It's completely your fault in this instance .

You decided to buy a dog you had never seen (which goes against all standard advice) and were advised that 2her ears bother her 2, but you elected to complete the purchase with that knowledge but without vet history (which was made available to you after you requested it) or having your own vet check done.

I think your proposed case will fail because
a) owners did disclose ear problems and
b) you did not take the utterly normal/obvious steps in timely fashion

Don't bother @wetotter - everyone is wrong and horrible and needs to be kind, apparently 🙄

Original poster
GSDOwner2023 · 10/10/2023 09:27

We did see her previous to her being brought to us?

yes we were told her ears bother her because she rolls around in dirt (which she does not do) so they cleaned her ears once a week to remove dirt from her ears (in my opinion as a previous GSD owner they were over cleaning them anyway) but we were told she had a clean bill of health stating no ear infection which was a lie. Hense the continue with the purchase.

I understand where others are coming from regards our purchase but we saved another canine from going into rescue and possibly there for years.

OP posts:
Myneighboursarewankers · 10/10/2023 09:27

I think the point is, regardless of where you purchase your dog from, you need to be really thorough with checks in terms of paperwork such as insurance and knowing dogs history. Also as people have said, visiting dog a few times before you finally take her home.

Them coming to you to bring her is a big red flag however we don’t always know what to do in these situations and the important thing now is that the dog is in a happy home and will get the care she needs (I’m sure you said she’s a girl but sorry if I’m wrong!).

I would put it down to bad experience and move on. I believe there is a limit that you can claim for in small claims court too which isn’t that much. It’s been a really long time since I studied law so I’m very rusty but I would suggest you would need really strong evidence to build a case and they could have a really strong counter argument as you didn’t do the necessary checks required before the hand over.

maybe try and seek some legal advice OP and ignore all the unhelpful comments on here. People just enjoy being mean to make themselves feel better

GSDOwner2023 · 10/10/2023 09:27

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BOOooOOooOObsOnTheMoon · 10/10/2023 09:28

Legal advice from who exactly?

margotrose · 10/10/2023 09:28

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I'm devastated 😂

Original poster
GSDOwner2023 · 10/10/2023 09:29

I’m well aware of the risks with GSDs as we’ve had them in the past and is the only breed we know by heart,

but thank you

OP posts:
Original poster
GSDOwner2023 · 10/10/2023 09:30

Like I said.

if you can’t be polite and phrase things in a kind manner then you shouldn’t be on the internet let alone a place where people ask for support!

I asked for advice not to be blamed and accused.

OP posts:
margotrose · 10/10/2023 09:32

GSDOwner2023 · 10/10/2023 09:30

Like I said.

if you can’t be polite and phrase things in a kind manner then you shouldn’t be on the internet let alone a place where people ask for support!

I asked for advice not to be blamed and accused.

I'm not here to make you feel better 🤷‍♀️

margotrose · 10/10/2023 09:33

BOOooOOooOObsOnTheMoon · 10/10/2023 09:28

Legal advice from who exactly?

I'd be interested too,

What kind of solicitor is open and available to give immediate legal advice at this time of day?

LaviniasBigBloomers · 10/10/2023 09:35

GSDOwner2023 · 10/10/2023 09:30

Like I said.

if you can’t be polite and phrase things in a kind manner then you shouldn’t be on the internet let alone a place where people ask for support!

I asked for advice not to be blamed and accused.

Oof. The pot called. Says the kettle's black.

villainousbroodmare · 10/10/2023 09:35

The only thing you really need to do is try to secure some insurance cover for your dog, which may be difficult and expensive because she has a pre-existing condition. There's a high likelihood that you and she will be battling with ears for the next ten years.

FiveShelties · 10/10/2023 09:36

You asked if you were doing the right thing in going down the legal route, most of the replies have said that you could just incur more expense and why that is the case.

I am very pleased you rescued her but the way you went about it was wrong and that is why I don't think it is worth going to court. But it us your choice and the great thing about asking for advice on here is that some of it will be difficult to swallow.

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