Has anyone had dealings with Von Waldberg? - Page 1

I had a bad experience with them. My pup was advertised to be of superior lineage,with a certain father and mother.You don’t get the birth pink papers at the time of purchase,you receive it in the mail months later.When I got the pink birth papers,it listed a completely different father than what was advertised.Also,the pup was advertised to have both parents certified as“VA”,AND with 8 "VA"grandparents in the first 3 generations,something they claimed to be very rare.In the pink papers,it indicated only the father has a “VA” rating,not both mother and father,and only 5 grandparents in the first 3 generations had “VA” ratings,not 8.  This is important if you plan on showing the dog, and also, the dog was advertised at premium price of $4,500 vs. the usual $2,500.  The high price was because of that lineage.  Isn't that false advertising?--to put in perspective, it is like paying for a mercedes but getting a toyota.
The pup I got was claimed to be healthy.I took the pup straight to the vet for a well-exam check up,a stool sample was provided,pup was diagnosed with intestinal parasites Coccidia and Giardia.It took 6 months of repetitive,back to back treatment for the pup to get healthy again,while putting me and my children at health risk.I contacted them,and Kimberly said the pup got infected from my yard, not true,because my previous dog from 2 years ago,had never had intestinal parasites,and I had taken the pup straight to the vet for exam.
At the time of purchase,I specifically inquired about them guaranteeing agains elbow dysplasia,because in the contract it only mentioned hip dysplasia.I was ASSURED that they cover not only elbow dysplasia,but any genetic disease that affects the longevity of the dog.3 months later,puppy was diagnosed with elbow dysplasia.They said that I caused it by feeding my pup with bad food, and trauma. Dog ate the recommended food by the breeder, and there was no trauma in the winter months when he had just arrived or later.  Also, The vet surgeon specifically indicated in the diagnosis that this is a polygenetic inherited disease,but they say they know better.

One of the main reasons I got out of dogs. I don't have experience with this breeder but I have experience with plenty of other so called established breeders (cough, cough). 5 breeder bought dogs who are no better and worse in some cases than if I had just bought them from back yard breeders. Matter of fact I have had just as good a luck from what most here would consider back yard bred dogs as I have had from well known kennels. Puppies are always a major crap shoot and I got tired of buying junk with one health problem after another. I do have dogs who some people would just rehome - but I don't play the rehome game as many do. When I buy a dog it is for life.

 

Good luck in your quest for replacement or a refund. I would think they probably could be bought up on fraud charges if they sold you a different dog than what was advertised. Especially if you can prove this hasn't the litter advertised.  BTW, did you find the ad here?

Sorry to hear about this type of breeders dishonesty; however, you cannot buy off the internet sight unseen if this is what you did and expect dishonest breeders to be honest just for you. Not going to happen. Once they are dishonest, always dishonest. just say'in. Very sad but true, and you never just quite get the whole story with them either, very sad for the dogs. Very sorry for your dog, however, unless you wanted to do a lot of jumping, road work, or hard core protection training etc... your dog can still make a very nice family member you just have to keep in mind his limitations and respect him with those limitations while still letting him be a wonderful pet for you. Best of luck with him, and good lifetime health for him. Nan

I feel strongly both ways!! Sounds like a combined case of buyer remorse combined with deception or poor communication with or from the seller. The internal parasites are to be found in most dogs GI tract as is normal. Almost all dogs and puppies have Giardia and Coccidia in their gut at some time in their life but they don't get sick from them. Both Giardia and Coccidia are easily cured if they are causing sickness and doesn't take three months to cure without reinfection from the pup's environment. The entire pedigree title thing is a hoot .. who cares if the dog has one more or less VA .. it doesn't matter. Look at the sire and dam and the pup will be like them. Many buyers get hung up on pedigrees and titles when they don't understand that both are somewhat subject to both institutional deceit as well as seller deceit. Elbow problems are both inherited and acquired but the breeder is correct in saying that poor food and injuries can cause and or contribute to elbow or hip problems. How did the vet diagnose elbow dysplasia in a 5-6 month old puppy?? Most veterinarians don't know squat about the GSD as a breed so perhaps the vet is just going along with your obvious concerns. Without x-rays the elbow problem is likely Pano and you are likely feeding poor quality food as most people do. X-rays and what you are feeding the pup would be most helpful as would weight, photos and pedigree information. There are both bad buyers and sellers!!

@Dessi Armstrong - You may be jumping the gun a bit early on elbows. I am in agreement with bubbabooboo on a lot that he posted above as it relates to GI parasites, esp regarding how long treatment took to clear up. Most vets that i am familiar with do not diagnose diplasia on a puppy that young and dont really give 'prelim' diag until the dog is at least a year old. But agian i only know a handful of vets.

I can deff understand your frsutration in believing the liniage is one thing and then getting papperwork that states another. Your justifiable in your anger and realizing you were lied to about it. But agian bubbabooboo is right on the money and that your dogs dominat geneticks and trais are more influenced by the Dam & Sire (Dam more so in my opinion). I hope you find some solice

I know the pedigree may not be important to some, but if you plan on showing the dog, it is important. Also, the price of $4,500 was only because of this exclusive lineage. To put in perspective, I paid for a Mercedes, but got a Toyota in terms of lineage.  This is false advertising.  And Von Waldberg just said they made a mistake, without agreeing to a price adjustment.
Also, I fed him the food recommended by the breeder, and there was no trauma in the winter months when I got him, or anytime later. If I don't trust the veterinary orthopedic surgeon, then whom do I trust? The vet surgeon is the authority.

Regardless of price ( and you paid a lot for one puppy ) choosing one puppy from a litter is always something of a matter of luck plus doing everything possible to protect the single puppy from injury or trauma as well as good early puppy-hood development to get the desired result. If you need a puppy from a litter for a breeding program or particular sport I advise people to take two from the same litter because even the breeder can never tell which pup will turn out best. I don't get how the breeder could criticize the food if it was the recommended brand?? If the vet is diagnosing ED without x-rays then he is guessing. On a young pup there are lots of things that can go wrong. If you think being a buyer is difficult try being a breeder and getting it all perfect and making the buyers happy. If indeed you can prove ED I would ask for a partial or total refund or replacement of the pup BUT there is nothing to say that you were not involved in the pup's elbow problems if they exist. I would say X-rays at 12-14 months would be conclusive as to ED and even with ED proven there are gradients of severity nor can the cause be determined without question. The pedigree question is open and shut if you have proof and you did not agree to the substitution ( which happens ). If you have a pedigree to share I would post both the original agreed on and the substituted pedigree.

I had an ortho surgeon either LIE or MISTAKENLY say a dog had ED when it did not.

Here's the story:

Owner has a dog from me and a dog from another breeder, several months apart. Owner takes both dogs to ortho surgeon for OFA xrays. Surgeon says male has terrible ED and female has terrible hips and mild ED. Urges owner to operate that day on the male (who had never shown one sign of a problem). Owner calls me very upset. I begged him to call the vet and stop whatever they were about to do to that male because I just couldn't believe that both dogs had all bad joints. I smelled a rat.

It was too late for the male; what was done was done. I told him to tell the surgeon that the breeder is a lunatic and she was demanding the see the x-rays NOW. They sent them to me and the xrays were great. Vet said I was in denial. I told my buyer to please trust me enough to get another opinion OR submit those films to OFA (the guy took about 15 views and wasted a TON of the client's money) and not touch that girl until we heard back. I told him hips were good to excellent and elbows were normal, but hey, I'm the breeder, so what do I know?

OFA results were texted to me in picture form. OFA EXCELLENT, ELBOWS NORMAL!!!!

Yes, ortho surgeons and can do F up. Some by accident, some on purpose.

OP: you did not say what kind of ED? DJD? Or "real" pathology? FCP? UAP? Please give more detail.

I would get a second opinion on the ED diagnosis and make sure the vet is an orthopedic specialist (one who also doesn't know the first vet to be sure of no biases).
As far as paying more for a puppy because of a particular pedigree and then not getting that puppy with that pedigree, that is a mistake that the seller made that they should own, without question. If it were me, I would insist to be refunded the difference paid for the "special" pedigree since that is what I paid extra for, but never did receive. It is a matter of principle as well as the seller taking responsibility for a mistake.

All genetics and such aside, I hope you and your family are enjoying the dog!

I definitely agree on the elbows bit! I went through a terrified stage because I thought my boy had ED, he was favoring both front legs but one in particular. It was during a rapid growth spurt, but it went away after his growing evened out. I've known several people with GSDs go through this scare.