[MaizieFrosty]

Hi guys, just stopping in briefly in the middle of finals studying.

The littermates of spoos I know and love were diagnosed with Addison's disease. Now, that does happen in the breed, unfortunately, because it does not show up in health testing of the parents. However, neither breeder notified all of the littermate owners to tell them this news, so they could vigilantly out for the symptoms, which can be very tricky, and dogs often suffer a long time before they are properly diagnosed. This does not sit well with me. Covering up health problems in your line is completely unethical. Disclose everything and then let puppy buyers decide if they want to take a risk (which pretty much all spoo buyers are doing anyway).

What would you do if you found out through the grapevine that your dog's littermate(s) had Addison's?

 

[Dechi]

Sorry to hear this. I too find it very unethical, unprofessional and profoundly uncaring.

If I happen to find out through the grapevines my dog had it, I would be very disappointed with my breeder and would let him/her know.

If there was a health guarantee in my contract I would expect a financial contribution to the dog’s care from the breeder, because there is no way I would return my dog.

But besides that, there isn’t much you can do to change it so I would focus on providing the best care for my dog.

 

[Mfmst]

Failure to notify does not sit well with me either. There is a duty to warn. One of the first things I told my vet in an early puppy visit, from reading , PF was to hold Addison’s in his mind and review bloat research. If a littermate had Addison’s and I wasn’t informed, bridges would be burned.

 

[Skylar]

That makes me angry too.

 

[murphys]

I think my first question would be - were the breeders informed and given the vet information for follow-up. If they were, my next question would be does the breeder have the current contact information of all the littermates and any other litters from those parents.

If the answers to those questions were yes, then I would be an unhappy camper and would be having a conversation with the breeder.

Sorry this happened to your friends.

 

[Carolinek]

Ditto what Murphy’s said, Make sue the breeder was told of the puppies’ diagnosis. If so, then I would also be angry.

 

[Mufar42]

I would probably thank the breeder for letting know and then I would keep a mindful eye on my dog and probably have him tested. I would assume though for a breeder it would be like opening a can of worms. Many people would be upset and would start looking for monetary retribution. It is a risk you take when purchasing a dog, especially a poodle. I also think as breeders charge more and more for health tested pups, clients expect more. I personally would want to know.

 

[MaizieFrosty]

I think my first question would be - were the breeders informed and given the vet information for follow-up. If they were, my next question would be does the breeder have the current contact information of all the littermates and any other litters from those parents.

If the answers to those questions were yes, then I would be an unhappy camper and would be having a conversation with the breeder.

Sorry this happened to your friends.

Yes, the breeders were absolutely informed and I have no doubt the owners would have offered veterinary records as proof if asked. And yes, the breeders do have contact info for the litters. Most show breeders keep in touch with their puppy buyers, in my experience. Some have FB groups. And in fact, one of these breeders asked the person who posted to the FB group that their dog had Addison's to take down the post, as the breeder was trying to sell two new litters of puppies and didn't want to mess with those sales! It was then that the Addison's dog owner contacted the people they knew personally with littermates to warn them.

Hope this makes sense LOL

 

[SamieNorman]

Yes, the breeders were absolutely informed and I have no doubt the owners would have offered veterinary records as proof if asked. And yes, the breeders do have contact info for the litters. Most show breeders keep in touch with their puppy buyers, in my experience. Some have FB groups. And in fact, one of these breeders asked the person who posted to the FB group that their dog had Addison's to take down the post, as the breeder was trying to sell two new litters of puppies and didn't want to mess with those sales! It was then that the Addison's dog owner contacted the people they knew personally with littermates to warn them.

Hope this makes sense LOL

The breeder told them to take down the post about their pup having Addison's disease to not hurt sales?????? WHAT!!?? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. x1000. :argh:

I would have kept that post up!! And I would ask other littermates get tested and have them post too!! That breeder needs to be upfront and honest or it will ruin their business if it already hasn't. Hopefully things will get settled and resolved. So very sorry for your pup friends.

 

[MaizieFrosty]

Thank you all for your input. I'm glad to know I wasn't alone in my angry feelings.

 

[Muggles]

Yeah that is so dodgy, I would be furious!

 

[Vita]

...What would you do if you found out through the grapevine that your dog's littermate(s) had Addison's?

Yes, the breeders were absolutely informed... And in fact, one of these breeders asked the person who posted to the FB group that their dog had Addison's to take down the post, as the breeder was trying to sell two new litters of puppies and didn't want to mess with those sales! It was then that the Addison's dog owner contacted the people they knew personally with littermates to warn them...

This is all upsetting.

If I found out through the grapevine, I'd call the owners of the sire and dam to confirm it, and ask why they didn't call me.

Muddying the water is whether it was the sire or the dam who is the genetic carrier of Addison's. If neither are showing signs or test positive thru a blood test, neither breeder will know if it was their dog that passed it on, which could mean:

1) It hasn't manifested yet, or
2) It jumped a generation and one or more of the four grandparents carried the gene, or
3) Each parent has a recessive gene for it - if that's how the rules of inheritance works for Standard Poodles. Someone else here might know that.

Human nature being what it often is, I can see where both owners could think it wasn't their poodle with the problem, and keep quiet about it and simply not use the other poodle for future mating. Out of courtesy both breeders should have contacted buyers and explain #1,2, & 3 even if each of their dogs are free of symptoms.

This is the third incident this month were a PF member discussed getting burned. So much for top show breeders or top anything else when it comes to money; you research, review, take your chances and hope they're honest and fair, and that's it. Health insurance or a personal poodle savings account for medical problems doesn't hurt either.

 

[MaizieFrosty]

Well said, Vita. As I understand it, the mode of inheritance of Addison's is currently unknown. It may be due to genetic or genetic plus environmental factors. Unfortunately, breeding dogs may not show symptoms until they are in middle age, after they've bred gosh knows how many times.

 

[joedesimone]

What is the name of the breeder?

 

[MaizieFrosty]

What is the name of the breeder?

I will PM you. If anyone else wants to know, you can PM me.

 

[Eric]

That part about them asking to take down the Facebook post is what really ticks me off. If they had asked me to do that, I would make it my mission to let everyone know that they are horrible people. Can you imagine if an online vendor asked you to take down a negative review because you are hurting their sales? Ridiculous.

 

[Moni]

This hits so close to home since last Saturday was the 2nd anniversary of my Dalmatians first ever seizure and over the Thanksgiving weekend he had another 10 seizures in a row - his first ever cluster. This was the darkest day of my life (and I was the sole survivor of a fatal car crash so there is that). Anyway I also found out that my breeder had known about seizures in a half brother of my dog. My breeders - a trio of incredibly well established long time breeders did not give me heads up at all and hushed up the history of seizures in dogs related to mine. When I spoke to a friend of mine who is a judge for the Dalmatian breed she asked for a pedigree of my dog and came back that even with a quick look she could identify at least 6 dogs in my dog's line that also had seizures. One of the breeders of my dog was/is the Health Chair of the DCA (Dalmatian Club of America). I felt so lied to when they tried blaming me for what happened. "did he find mushrooms in your yard?" "Did he test positive for Lyme disease?" To lose my beautiful 4 year old boy, who was my heart dog broke my heart and sent me to therapy. I unfriended all of them on FB immediately and I am still not 100% recovered from it. The owner of my dog's half brother who found out of my ordeal through a common friend spent over 25000$ to keep her dog alive (who also came down with seizures at 4 1/2 although his were not as severe and frequent as my dogs). She had to change her entire life (switch jobs to adjust her commute etc) to accommodate her dogs' medication schedule, both her and her husband had been bitten several times, they can no longer have their grand children visit and it has taken a toll on their marriage to keep this dog alive, but she told me in tears on the phone she just cannot let go of her one time awesome agility partner and heart dog. In her case as well she was blamed for the seizures by the breeder. To sum it up any breeder that hides health issues like that is a criminal. It is not okay to break our hearts like that and put such a curse on anyone and their family knowingly and willingly. Breeders have to be better than that! There is no excuse!

 

[MaizieFrosty]

Oh Moni, I'm in tears. The love you had for your boy and the pain of the loss comes through so deeply in every post about him. That is such a precious picture.

I'm so sad, disappointed, and enraged at what is going on in the purebred dog world.

 

[murphys]

The fact that the breeder asked for the post to be removed is outragous. I would report the diagnosis to OFA or the Poodle Health registry or wherever so anyone looking at pedigrees would know.

Moni, so sorry to hear about your loved pet.

 

[spindledreams]

how unlike my new breeder. Tank came home the 5th of July, the 1st of August he was diagnosed with Coci. I told his breeder who was mortified. She had his mom and sister tested, notified all the owners of his other litter mates, AND offered to pay all the expenses involved in his treatment. I declined as he had been at my house a month, his mom and sibling tested negative, and I do have other dogs who I also treated just in case it came from them. I am loving this breed AND the majority of the breeders.