I am sorry your Lab is having health issues. I am also sorry for the response you have recieved. Puppy Mill breeders and pet store puppies strike a nerve to most reputable breeders, but there is no excuse for being rude.

Thank you for loving your dog even though she is having these issues. Not all pet store buyer are as commited as you are.

Unfortunately I do not expect you to find others on this list who have dealt with this breeder, however we have all dealt with Health issues on our Beloved Labradors. Please do not be turned off by the initial response to your thread.

May I suggest posting in a seperate thread your concerns about Jupiter. You might be in luck and you may find someone who can offer up some advise.

Best of luck :)

Hi Paula,

I'm sorry your Lab is having health problems. You did not mention what is going on, but some may be hereditary while others environmental.

I can understand why you might want to contact the breeder, but usually breeders who sell to pet stores are not responsible for the puppies once they leave their premises. It then becomes the store that you bought her from responsibility. Most stores offer a warranties on their puppies.

As for the breeders on here blaming the problems on the source, I must say that any breeder can produce problems, clearances or not. Genetics are unpredictable and no matter how many generations you breed on clearances, problems still occur. It may be something that you can not screen for such as epilepsy, entropion, etc. There are no statistics showing that puppies purchased through pet stores are any less healthy than those obtained by other means. And while pet stores only make up less than 8% of all dogs sold, there are many people that are happy with the dogs they've purchased and have had a healthy companion.

With that said, some people don't care where the dog comes from, they fall in love and most of the time things work out just fine. You may not agree with the way these dogs are bought and sold, but most commercial breeders and pet stores serve their purpose and produce a quality product. If they didn't, they would not stay in business very long. Like it or not, all dog breeders produce a product. They are bought and sold and we own them. Yes they are living and deserve quality care, but what constitutes quality varies from individual to individual. Just because one person may believe their dogs need to sleep on their bed every night doesn't mean the next person thinks they should sleep in garage at night. It is not my place to judge. I just breed according to what feels right for me and do not bash others who do things differently from me.

Paula, I am glad you love your Jupiter. I am sorry she is having problems. I hope she will be comfortable with you for some time to come.

I can not believe what insensitive A**holes some of you people are. I am totally disgusted. How many of us started out with a Dog from a Puppy Mill or a BYB? Did we loves that Dog any less than the Dogs(s) we bought after we knew better? This poor Woman is hurting and she came here for help. FYI, I do not own a Lab, but I do come here because I find interesting Dog related information. I used to anyhow, this thread just killed it for me.

I'm very sorry about your dog, but I'm even more sorry for the post that were made. It's amazing how people are quick to condemn you for a mistake. The stores that sale these puppies are in business because people buy there product. We all make mistakes, and I don't care how long you do something, you can still learn. This will be a valuable lesson for you, but you don't need to be kicked when your down! Shame on those who think they are judge and jury!


Best of luck.........

Thank you soooo much for your kind response, I'm not looking to blame anyone, I just thought I'd collect as much info as i can, Jupiter's issues most likely are not the result of her possibly being from ( I dare not say) but it bothers the h*** out of me… I feel like s*** for contributing to this if this is the case. Again people are always quick to judge, but like I said earlier animal lovers are very passionate and this whole puppy mill thing is a very sensitive issue, and I understand why, perhaps I should have given more info up front. Thank you again for all you kind words, and I apologize if I stuck a nerve. Paula and Jup:)

Wow, I don't know why I am every surprised by the rude and insensitive remarks from breeders on this forum but you keep topping yourselves. First off Paula , I am sorry that your dog is experiencing health problems. If you bought a dog from a pet store, you may have difficulties getting contact numbers from the pet store. I can tell you my experience in adopting 2 pups from a pet store years ago ( before I realized where they came from )
For those of you on this forum who berate Paula for being so stupid as to buy a puppy from a pet store, deserves what she gets, shame on you. My 2 little dogs purchased at the pet store have been the picture of health all these years. One died at the age of 14 yrs of age and the other one remains healthy at the age of 14. They were siblings.
I can tell all you judgmental breeders that we have purchased pure bred Labradors from very well known show kennels from all over the United States over the years. We have experienced more health problems and temperament problems from all the various lines out there. Just because a puppy comes from a responsible pure bred breeder does not make for a healthy, well tempered dog.

The best you can do for Juniper is to treat the existing problems and not waste time trying to find the breeder. Rather do some research on the internet concerning the health issues, do the best you can for him/her and have fun with your dog for as long as you can.

This was the response I was looking for. I would have written the same thing. Buying a dog from a pet store, a BYB, a van at Walmart is like buying a toaster at a yard sale. If it works and lasts you a long time, you are lucky. If it breaks tomorrow, you shouldn't be surprised.

Breeders whose dogs end up in a pet store don't give a rats ass about the dogs. Put finding the breeder out of your mind. You might as well be looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it ain't gonna happen.

This board and several other pet boards (Just Labradors and Lab-Retrievers.net) will give you alot of support if you are looking to investigate the specific health issues and mitigate any symptoms your dog may have.

That's all you can hope you do. And then just learn a lesson. I have a BYB/puppy mill dog. My smartest ever, and we dealt with elbow dysplasia and surgery. It happens to all of us.