Preparing for a puppy
My story with a new puppy
Learning from experience ISN’T always best. When I purchased my first breeding male, I was concerned about descended testicles, his bite, temperament, size, color, bloodlines, show quality and numerous other attributes that one would look for in a quality breeding stud. I had Pomeranians previously, so I had a pretty good idea on caring for the breed, bathing, feeding, exercise, play time, etc.
I brought the adorable little black puppy home and named him Checkers. I went through all the usual protocol of having a new puppy: visiting the vet for a wellness check, completing the series of vaccines, figuring out a better food than recommended by the breeder, puppy proofing my home, potty training, making him a happy little sleeping area, etc.
What happened to Checkers?
Checkers received a clean bill of health from the vet. His testicles had dropped, he had a perfect bite, he tested negative for parasites and he was a bright-eyed healthy, happy puppy. But two weeks after I brought him home, I opened the back door and called for him to come outside to potty. The little guy made it as far as the door, but couldn’t move any further on his own. He was extremely weak. I quickly got him into the car and headed off to the emergency clinic at O-dark-thirty.. which was 40 minutes away! I was not sure he would survive the trip since he was getting less and less responsive with each passing mile. I got to the clinic and before they would even register him, they wanted a deposit of $600. I told myself – I’ll never see that money again; I was right.
That money and almost triple that amount in addition. The staff at the clinic pretty much knew what was wrong, but they wanted to run every test imaginable to rule out any other possibilities. Diagnosis: he had become hypoglycemic. This is a common occurrence in the toy breed puppy. The hypoglycemia was a result of my exploring new and different puppy foods without watching to see if my puppy was actually eating, which he wasn’t, and he became hypoglycemic within 6 hours. I will speak more on hypoglycemia below. After IVs at the clinic, he rebounded and was ready to go home about five hours later.
Everything about this puppy was wonderful and he gave us a million laughs with his adorable personality. But little did I know - I was about to get another surprise and it wasn’t going to be a good one.
Checkers was one year old when I purchased my first breeding female. They were close to the same age and both were developing beautifully. While watching TV, Checkers would put his paws on the edge of the couch wanting to sit with me. He was too small to jump up on the couch himself and I never gave it any thought as I picked him up and put him beside me. The female could easily jump onto the couch. This evening, Checkers was feeling really good and he jumped off the couch. I noticed nothing wrong until the next day; he could hardly move his head.
I was able to get him in to the vet that same day. Aside from the cost of all the x-rays, blood tests and exam, I got the worst news a breeder could ever hear: “This dog has a collapsing trachea, deformed vertebra in his neck, luxating patella, and HE WILL NEVER BE FIT TO BE A BREEDER.”
How could this be? I just couldn’t believe this seemingly perfect dog could have so many problems. I purchased him from a highly qualified breeder. His full brother that was born in the same litter with him went on to make Champion. It just seemed unbelievable. But that was a very expensive lesson that I hope I can share with others so they don’t make the same mistakes. I learned a number of valuable lessons from that particular dog, and I will explain each lesson more fully below.
In loving memory of Checkers