Help re this dog please. Urgent .

[Runrabbitrunss]

Please dog experts advise us re

1. likely breed of this dog.The elderly lady who had her is ill and wants us to have her . She is beautifully behaved . The lady said that she is on pet plan and has been since her purchase at 9 months old. Clean bill of health.
2. She was told that she was a bichon and thats all she knows.
3. We are due to collect her tomorrow. She sent videos of her being bathed this evening and I noticed that her ears are grey and she has apricot also .
4. We are now concerned that she may be a cavachon? This worries us as we are aware that they have a propensity to heart disease.
5. Is there a way to safely proceed with this ? If so please advise us step by step. The elderly lady is significantly ill - we are unsure that she can even get her to the vets for genetic testing. What if we bring her home and have that done and she is a cavashon as apparently they have heart disease by age ten ? She is 4 .
6. The elderly lady loves her dearly and we are just worried about what to do now
7. Pleaswle help. She genuinely thinks she is a bichon .
8. i can send extra pics .
9. Dont think the ladys health can take the stress of assessment etc but we sort of need to .. ? And we cant find a compromise here . We luve 3 hrs away but have face timed and built up honest communication.

We have a cavachon, he is coming up to 11 years old.
He has never been ill. Vet is impressed of his fitness.
Best dog we have ever had. Intelligent, calm with the grandchildren,
He is starting to sleep a bit more now he's aging.
But still likes going on a good walk. Has lots of doggy friends.
Also likes a mini sausage but not the big ones and knows if we have cut it up.

We have a cavachon, he is coming up to 11 years old.
He has never been ill. Vet is impressed of his fitness.
Best dog we have ever had. Intelligent, calm with the grandchildren,
He is starting to sleep a bit more now he's aging.
But still likes going on a good walk. Has lots of doggy friends.
Also likes a mini sausage but not the big ones and knows if we have cut it up.

ComedyGuns
The owner has a pet plan - seen every 6 months.
We just insure - we don't do pet plan .

Sorry don't know why my post has trebbled

readingisallowed

thank you ! (She is exceptionally calm .)

was your dog screened re heart issues hereditary wise ?

The Petplan just covers fleas, ticks, worms and vaccines.Probably gets you a discount on food etc.
It can be cancelled if its not for you

gamerchick
i am absolutely not a breeder . She is spayed anyway !

Yes. We know who is brother is owned by but not his 2 sisters.
Brother is still going strong and again a lovely dog.

I don't understand. If this is a mission of mercy and you're rehoming the dog for altruistic reasons, why does it matter if it might be ill in 5 or 6 years? Nobody knows what might happen tomorrow anyway.

Sterlingrose

…..not a mission of mercy as such .
She was advertised on freeads
Several people contacted owner . She got quite upset because some people seemed to say they would have her , but at same time asked no questions about her , and this upset the owner.We spoke to owner initially and we asked lots of questions about what she was like and needed etc so the owner removed the advertisement as she wants us to have first refusal …. Then we arranged a visit date , which is tomorrow. In the meantime the owner did a video call with us , we could here her voice catching , she is genuine etc . .. she had been senfingnus daily videos . We have said to her that ( when we thought she was a bichon) we really like the look of her , but we must meet her first .
The owner has mobility issues that will degenerate and cannot be treated .

Even pure bred dogs can have a host of health issues and develop health issues

Personally I would ask the current owner if they’d allow you to see her veterinary records from the vet. And/or if they’d allow her to have an up to date health check at the vets before you take her on

I honestly wouldn’t rely on DNA tests, in my experience they are pretty rubbish and I’d just be happy to give a good home to a very loving dog

Any dog, even pure bred ones can develop health issues so try not to focus on what might happen. Check that she has no murmurs now and then just enjoy her.

Thank you al for your support.
We needed to talk with someone after a very busy day , before hitting the road tomorrow .

Hallelujah2020
Thank you - makes sense .

"I was hoping to have a dog with a long happy life together and google told us that by age 10 100% of cavas developed heart issues so it worried us."

I'd be suspicious of this statistic, they may have higher rates of heart issues, I very much doubt it's 100% by age 10.

My experience with a rescue / rehome dog is if they have a nice nature then anything else you can work with. The dog may develop heart issues, they may live for many healthy happy years.

We rescued a dog at 1yo and then was told she has a heart murmur. She has no symptoms and at 10yo she is still fit and healthy. The vets want to treat her but why? If they hadn’t scanned her nobody would be any the wiser. We have no regrets.

My poodle cross had a heart disease and it was only when she reached about 12years old that she needed medication. She was no longer insured at this point so I would pay for a written prescription from the vet and then purchase the medication online for less than half the cost at the vets.
She lived a verygood life until 15 1/2 and it was doggy dementia that got her in the end.

This.

We had a dog which was a cross but none known for health issues yet got numerous ones from 7, you just can’t tell what the future holds

My cavachon is 10. Loves a long walk, is playful and loves a snuggle on my lap all evening. Great with my kids. Has developed a low level heart murmur in the last year. You are never guaranteed a perfectly healthy dog just like humans!

Your information is inaccurate and out of date. In the late 90s 98% of cavaliers developed a heart murmur by the time they were 5.

There was an extensive screening program ( and still is) and this has massively decreased.
However, a large number of small breeds can develop a heart murmur and then heart disease. But in a large double blinded multi centre trial - the QUEST study it found that being a cavalier was a factor that gave you the longest life compared to other breeds ( 15 months more on average) when on the medication.
Today cavaliers with a heart murmur usually die with it from something else rather than from congestive heart failure.

The dog is insured (for life for everything or a standard plan where various conditions get excluded as the dog gets older?) as a bichon,
If you test the dog and find out for certain that it is not a bichon, what happens to the insurance?
Why do you think it is not a bichon? I am not familiar with the breed so can't tell from the picture.
I am inclined to ignore the insurance element and take on the dog assuming I'd pay for any treatment myself. If you can do that and really like the dog and actually get on well with the dog when you meet, then all is fine.

Are you buying the dog, or simply rehoming. Might be best if you do neither. That way someone who just wants a little can take it. Most dogs at 10 will have issues. Hope you make the right choice for you.

Just to say we had a yorkie with a heart murmur who lived to be 3 months shy of his 19th birthday 😄

I thought you meant Petplan insurers which are decent but I think you mean a vet practice health plan. If they're currently insured on a good lifetime plan it's worth the owner enquiring if able to change to a new owner to transfer the policy, I've only done so with an ex so slightly different situation. If owner can contact vets to give GDPR permission for them speak with you so can get a copy of dogs vet history or lady just rings and requests copy is emailed. Then you'll know what may fall under pre-existing & not covered if starting insurance afresh and a new policy doesn't really cover much for vet bills in the first 14 days to avoid fraud.

With any dog you really don't know what may crop up with their health and most breeds have conditions maybe more predisposed to buy I've lost a mongrel young to cancer. If theres no heart murmur already on vets records just prepare as best as you can financially with decent insurer lifetime cover min £7k per year vets bills but ideally as high as can afford.

Behavioural issues is also a risk when rehoming privately as an owner can be motivated to minimise in order to pass on, although it does sound like this lady genuinely wants what's best for her dog.
You can try to assess as best you can in person but may not be possible i.e take on walk to check reactions to dogs/ people/training skills but if owner immobile it may not be possible & is fair to refuse a buyer taking out alone given the theft risk. Also hard to tell if there's any separation anxiety and if owner is home majority of the time they may well need longer to adapt to being left.

The stress of a change of environment /new owners may unsettle a dog too so can throw up some teething issues which I think you should be prepared for. Therefore it's usually more advisable to home via a decent rescue centre to minimise risk as they contract adopters to return the dog ( incl future change of circumstances) so are more invested in successful matches but also gives the adoptor some protection if it doesn't work out whereas with a private re-home it's legally now your dog and your problem to solve and it's not as easy to find a rescue space as it used to be, although younger small fluffy dogs like this are far easier for rescues to find adopters for.
.

I’m slightly confused by your photo tbh, because that’s a white dog…