Right to be annoyed or just 1 of those things?

We picked up our new black and tan puppy Murphy on Friday night. He is a lovely little guy and we went to great trouble to source the right breeder and wait for the right dog etc.

We had him down with our vet last night for him to check him over. We mentioned to him that we were concerned at the amount of scratching Murphy was doing. It turns out he has two different types of mites on his skin and in his ears. We have cream for his ears and had to bathe the poor little fellow in a "mite killer" this evening. He is currently shivering in his cage as we have to let the stuff dry into his skin. We have to repeat the process in 10 days.

Then tonight we discovered he also had worms despite being assured by the breeder that he had been wormed at regular intervals.

We are a tad annoyed that a puppy we chose with great care and spent quite a bit of money on has been given to us in less than perfect condition.

We phoned the breeder last night to tell him about the mites.... and have to phone him again tonight about the worms.

Are these just "one of those things" or are we right to be upset?

Thanks a million.

I think I'd be annoyed to. But let's see if anyone has some insight that I don't.

I too am currently annoyed. My puppy had ear mites and now has fleas.. but idk if he came with fleas or not. arg... I feel your pain.

I too would be annoyed to say the least!! Worms, OK they may have used something that the worms had built up a resistance to and in all honesty most dogs have a small worm burden no matter how fastidiously they are wormed, I personnally use a different wormer every 3rd worming to avoid this but you can only do so much.

The mites on the other hand are not funny and you are right to be annoyed, this puppy should have been checked and checked again before leaving home for this, this basically is bad hygiene and poor maintenance in my opinion, all my puppies are bathed regularly and checked frequently too for this, to sell a puppy that is not clean and free of infestation is a no-no to me!!

That's pretty indifferent care by the breeder. You can do your very best and still be decieved sometimes. Did you visit the house and see where they keep their dam and puppies? Do they breed a lot of dogs? Do they show? Were they able to show you heart clearances from a *cardiologist* (there's only one in Dublin) from within the past year? Did they also test patellas and xray hips? If they do not do any of these things -- especially if they do not cardiologist (not vet) clear their breeding animals -- then this would set off all sorts of sirens as well.

Sadly the breed club in Ireland has a very poor record on health. I know only a handful of breeders -- none so far in the entire greater Dublin region -- who do even the most basic (cardiologist) testing. I would be thrilled to hear about more.

I would also write to the head of the breed club and the IKC itself and let them know you were given a puppy by (presumably?) an IKC registered breeder that was in such poor shape.

I hope the breeder at least acted mortified that a puppy of their breeding was in this shape. It will mean all the other puppies and likely their other dogs also are infested with mites and worms.

Yes Karlin - we drove to Wexford (from Dublin) originally when we chose the puppy and then obviously did the same trip again on Friday to pick him up. We saw the Dam and Murphy's litter mates. We were extremely happy with the set up and with the amount of questions the breeder asked us.

He breeds one other type of dog (who we also met along with her puppies).

Murphy had a vet cert but not from a cardiologist. He had a slight (grade 1 murmur) when he was born but it has subsequently resolved itself. Our vet couldnt find any murmur either.

He is registered with the IKC. The breeder was very upset when he heard about the mites last night.... he was aware that he was going to have to treat the other dogs also. We havent yet managed to tell him about the worms.

Thanks anyhow everyone for your responses.... I am glad to know that we arent over reacting.

No, I don't think you've overreacted at all.

Two kinds of mites, worms -- urghh

I helped someone across the country get a tri girl from Canada, breeder recommended by a very prominent breeder/handler. I had the puppy in my house for a week until he came to get her. the first night she arrived I had my vet come over to give her a checkup...she had ear mites and turned out to have every parasite as well. I treated her for all those things, was lucky she didn't give anything to my dogs, and was really embarassed that I had anything to do with this. the vet said ear mites are really uncommon in puppies, it's usually in cats. the parasites were really hard to get rid of too. there really is no excuse for all those things going on.

Yeah I'd be pretty annoyed too. Poor little fellow. Anyway, sounds like little Murphy has landed with a switched on & caring mum. Good on you for your early intervention.