Getting a bad feeling - Page 1

Here is my story, please don't judge me too harshly.  I had good intentions.  I live in south Georgia and I have two beautiful golden retriever girls.  We are going to move to a property more isolated with about 65 acres so I wanted to add another dog to the family with a little more "watchdog" capability than our gentle retrievers.

I searched and searched online for a "respectable" breeder.  I looked at the dog's pedigree.  The breeder goes to tons of dog shows and his picture was all over, standing next to winning show dogs.  Seemed great.  I was told he had 2 males left so I chose one, and drove 5 hours to pick up my dog.  I got there and he wasn't back yet, he had been away for several days with his wife.  I am not sure wgo was caring for the dogs.  He brought in just 2 puppies, mine and a little girl.  He said that the parent dogs were at his parents house.  The pedigree implied that the father was from out of state.  They were 6 weeks old (I now know....way, way too young!).  My pup was only 4.5 pounds and had ringworm on his tail.  My heart and my families was so set on this little boy puppy, and I had just driven 5 hours one way.  I paid $800 and I took him home.

He is now 13 weeks and 22 pounds.  He is beautiful and smart and we love him so much.  The breeder, however, has fallen off the earth.  Papers were supposed to be sent and nothing!  No return phone calls at all! 

These are my questions:

Why is he being so flaky?  Do breeders ever show you a "fake" pedigree?  He has show dogs, my puppy is beautiful, and I'm not complaining about my dog.  Why can't he just send the dumb papers??

And...my pups size.  I am not at all obsessed with having a huge puppy.  I just want him to be healthy.  Does 22 pounds at 13 weeks seem normal?  He eats, plays, and learns everything we teach him.  I really don't care if he is 30 pounds full grown.  I just wanted some feedback. 

I am sure I made many mistakes.  I am not a professional, but I try to be a responsible owner.  I just wondered if anyone else had the feeling that they were being lied to by a breeder.  And wondered why someone that seems to be so involved in the German Shepherd world would act so irresponsibly.  And what if anything should I do about it?

Any input appreciated.  Thank you!!

I wonder if the breeder misrepresented his involvement in the breed. Most puppies from top showline breeders start at least $1500.

I suggest you sell his @ss out. Name names. Hurting a breeder's rep hurts their pocketbook.  A breeder that sells a six week old puppy with ringworm and never sends you papers deserves all the mudslinging he has coming.

I am glad you are so clearly in love your puppy nonetheless. Enjoy him.

 At six weeks your puppy weighed only about half what I would expect.  Now he is only slightly small for his age so in the long run I do not think his growth or size will be affected.   But the breeder sounds very suspicious to me, serious breeders who breed for show would not dream of selling a 6 weeks old undernourished puppy like that.  I would try to find out more  info on the breeder and his dogs, maybe you can contact someone else who knows him.  I do not know really, I have no experience in such things but do you have any provisional papers for the dog, a registration number or name, names of the parents?  I would definitely do some more research if possible.....

There are many reasons for a delay with papers, and none of them are good.  Could be there are none and you were completely taken.  Could be the breeder is lazy and hasn't yet registered the litter.  Could be the litter is owned or co-owned by someone else and there is a dispute between the parties (usually monetary) and one won't sign off.  If the pup was undernourished when purchased and had ringworm, there's the possibility the breeder is going through some financial difficulties and will just disappear...etc., etc.  It's hard to say when so many things can go wrong.  I, too, am glad you are happy with your baby, sounds like whatever the problem is, at least he has a good home.  Thank you for that!  Basically, don't hold your breath but do what's right by the pup and love him as much as you can.  Look at it this way...if you didn't plan on showing or breeding and just wanted a family companion that would be somewhat protective, and he fulfills that duty, you got what you paid for.  Best of luck.

P.S.  If you're used to Goldens and have never had a GSD, please make sure you train him properly.  Early and continuing formal training is important to not only form a bond, but establish dominance and keep him out of trouble. 

Thank you for the responses.  We weren't going to show him or breed him, so I guess I am lucky that he is so healthy and smart.  I am going to send him one last e-mail and then I may just call him out on his bad behavior.  Is there a breeder complaint website to appeal to?  Or does the AKC care to hear about such circumstances? 

When I google his name I can see that he is still attending (and winning) in dog shows.  I wondered if he saw this particular litter was small with small puppies and just gave up on them and sold them off cheap(er) and early.  Awful!

It sound like you have a very nice puppy, count your blessings, make sure you have your pup vet checked and feed him good quality food. Make sure your whole family goes to O.B. classes then sit back and enjoy life :))))
\
Always,
Cee

I am learning a lot from the forums on this site, wish I would have found it sooner!  We are definitely going to sign him up for obedience classes.  We weighed him again this week and he is 24 pounds, my dwarf worries are subsiding.