MsPony
Lovin' The Homestead
I got my labrador from a backyard breeder, I had previously had a well bred, rare lines, show labrador. When he died my mom and I went on the hunt, we even checked the so cal lab rescue, but no rescue would ever "approve" our house. (Free range chickens, old fencing, lots of small animals.) My mom also wanted a puppy since this is the first dog she's ever trained. So, she looked on kijiji, drove out to the desert the next day to pick this puppy up. Morally were we wrong? Of course. But tons of people had backyard bred dogs, so health never really crossed my mind.
When my mom got there, he looked like a hound, but after 5 hours of driving my mom took him anyways. The "breeder" gave my mom his shots record so far, the shots she wrote down were by "Fort Knox" ROFL. (For those that don't know, its Fort Dodge.) And he came on pedigree puppy. His AKC records (he's registered) do say he's lab, but to this day people question if he's hound x labrador.
So whatever, got my SUPER CUTE squishy puppy. When he was, 6 months? I first noticed his hip dysplaysia, x rays confirmed it when he was almost 11 months old. When he was 8ish months old, he was at doggie day care, snapped at/ate a bee and we found out he's *highly* allergic to bees, we have to carry an epi-pen. He has to go straight to the vet and get steroids. A month later I didn't think about it, let him pounce into clover and he broke out in hives immediately from a bee sting to his face. He's has horrid skin allergies, but we also live in a high allergy area, 3/4 dogs have skin allergies. Right now the sage is blooming so he's constantly itching, but his skin isn't red and he has no fleas.
The kicked to my karma?! He got pneumonia this week. PNEUMONIA IN A DOG. Yeah, we have no idea how. We (boss, vet tech) and I think he's immuno compromised, maybe allergies are making it worse right now? We don't know.
He's a "genetic mess" according to my boss, and he's only 14 months old. Of course karma would hit me because I did backyard bred, right?!
When my mom got there, he looked like a hound, but after 5 hours of driving my mom took him anyways. The "breeder" gave my mom his shots record so far, the shots she wrote down were by "Fort Knox" ROFL. (For those that don't know, its Fort Dodge.) And he came on pedigree puppy. His AKC records (he's registered) do say he's lab, but to this day people question if he's hound x labrador.
So whatever, got my SUPER CUTE squishy puppy. When he was, 6 months? I first noticed his hip dysplaysia, x rays confirmed it when he was almost 11 months old. When he was 8ish months old, he was at doggie day care, snapped at/ate a bee and we found out he's *highly* allergic to bees, we have to carry an epi-pen. He has to go straight to the vet and get steroids. A month later I didn't think about it, let him pounce into clover and he broke out in hives immediately from a bee sting to his face. He's has horrid skin allergies, but we also live in a high allergy area, 3/4 dogs have skin allergies. Right now the sage is blooming so he's constantly itching, but his skin isn't red and he has no fleas.
The kicked to my karma?! He got pneumonia this week. PNEUMONIA IN A DOG. Yeah, we have no idea how. We (boss, vet tech) and I think he's immuno compromised, maybe allergies are making it worse right now? We don't know.
He's a "genetic mess" according to my boss, and he's only 14 months old. Of course karma would hit me because I did backyard bred, right?!
And that's one reason I haven't gotten a dog yet. Periodically, I'll look, but can't afford any of the puppies I see from the breeders.
In one so young too, I know it makes you question what you will have to deal with in future. I have a cat that I rescued as a kitten that has similar issues ... fortunately cats can live completely indoors, but I do have to watch, she still gets sick, and has the allergy issues too. It does seem to have improved for her over the past two years (she's coming up on three ... her kittenhood was the worst). 
