Skyes Story
September 17, 2010
I know many dog owners that have great, “this is how I selected my dog” stories. But I have recently been contacted by Jenny and Skye, and have been touched by their story. You see, their story involves disappointment due to a fraudulent dog breeder (much more on that situation to come, I assure you!) and a decision to keep their new puppy, even though she had issues that were not disclosed prior to getting Skye. But Jenny can tell their story much better than I, so here it is in portions, taken from the emails back and forth between Jenny and I :
Jenny asked a question regarding two large sebaceous cysts on her puppies head:
I just recently bought a pure bred german shepherd puppy in hopes of training her to become a champion show dog. I took her to the vet, however, and was informed that she has two large sebaceous cysts on the top of her head. When we get these removed, there will be missing hair in these areas as a result of the surgery’s scars. Does this automatically disqualify her from placing as a champion show dog?
My reply to her question:
Hello Jenny, Unfortunately, due to ANY fault, whether it is a natural occurrence, or like in your case – a health issue, she will at minimum not score highly for “conformation to breed standard” – and for AKC sanctioned championships, she may not score enough to place in the top 10. That sucks, but according to the AKC, those dogs that do make it to the “top 10″ should represent the breed as perfectly as possible. Has the vet discussed any cosmetic surgery procedures to “cover up” the scars? Maybe something can be done there, albeit cosmetic surgery is rarely done on dogs…
I had then asked in subsequent emails about how she came across Skye. Here’s Jenny’s reply:
Hi Martin!
We are still waiting to ask the vet about the cosmetics issue. We go in for her worm medicine in a few days, so I can keep you updated on the answer he gives us when we ask. Thank you for your replies and concerns!
Now a little bit about our puppy – her name is Skye, and she is now about 5 months old, and getting big!! My boyfriend and I have always wanted a GSD, and prior to buying one we had become more interested in getting a dog involved in shows. Through our searches online, we found a breeder in Virginia who claims to breed champion bloodlines so we decided to drive down and see what puppies she had to offer. Our puppy was the first one introduced to us and we fell in love with her energetic and loving personality. The breeder bragged of her ability she will have to show, and talked highly of her prestigious bloodline. So because we were already half sold on her personality, we decided to splurge with every penny we had saved and we bought her. We couldn’t wait to get her trained and make her a winner, yet more importantly, part of our family.
But here’s where the unfortunate mess comes in – the breeder made sure to mention she had a “puppy zit” on the top of her head, that we “shouldn’t worry about,” which created a slight mohawk (that she promised would go away, and has not). Well we took Skye to the vet a few days after being home, and found out the “puppy zit” was one of TWO sebaceous cysts on the top of her head. The largest of these had just ruptured prior to the appointment. I did some research on my own, before asking you the question as well, and every trainer and breeder I talked to around my area said that these cysts would automatically disqualify her from being able to place high, let alone at all, in a show. Surgical removal of the cysts will leave hairless spots on her head. We called the breeder back to inform her immediately and she didn’t answer our phone call for over three weeks, so we didn’t know what to do. The contract we signed stated that the only reason a dog may be returned is if there is a congenital defect found and documented by a vet within a week of the purchase. After 5 days of finding out that information, the dog may be returned only for a replacement dog, no monetary values will be changed. After that short time span allotted, the contract stated that no returns can be made. However, because the breeder waited so long to call us back, we had to keep a dog we planned on returning at first, for 21 extra days. So in the meantime of getting no reply from our breeder, we bonded and fell in love with Skye. Her personality is so loving and her tempermant is so good, that we couldn’t help ourselves, and we completely changed our mind about wanting to return her for a more qualified dog. I couldn’t be happier with our decision to keep her, yet am still disappointed that we were tricked into buying her for false hopes of getting her into shows. Most reputable breeders (should) know what sebaceous cysts look like, and its slightly odd that this one “had no idea.” We paid a very high price for a show-worthy dog who was misrepresented to us, so we now know to do better research on breeders prior to buying our next dog, down the road.
It is a shame that the breeder neglected us right after she made such an expensive sale, and we were upsetted by the fact that we were so fooled. I did some research online about the breeder recently, and found a bunch of testimonials claiming she was a fraud and has a reputation of selling dogs with health issues, and not following up with sales or answering calls after the purchase is made. So hopefully this can be a lesson to all those out there who are dog searching (and to me of course!), to really do your research before purchasing a puppy. Don’t go into anything with any questions and a naive mindset about puppies and purchasing one.
Again though, I couldn’t be more happy with this puppy as far as how we bonded with her. She is beautiful inside and out, and I am so glad she is a part of the family. I just wish that there was something I could do to help her reach the potential I know she can if she is qualified to be a part of showings…
…Take care and talk to you soon, Jenny
Well, as you can see, Jenny and her boyfriend fell in love with Skye, and so we have a happy-ending to their story. Now we’ll just wait to see if anything can be done cosmetically for the area on Skye’s head after her surgery. If any of our readers know more about dog cosmetics, please contact us asap.
Thanks to Jenny and Skye! Oh yeah, we’ll be hearing more about them in weeks to come, as I am adding a &German Shepherd owner interview& section. Stay tuned!