BILLY BOB'S STORY

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The photo at the right shows the puppy sound asleep and the hand shows
how tiny he was at the age of about 8 weeks.

I made arrangements with the breeder for us to meet with her the on that Sunday. That gave us time to purchase a new bed, some toys, little dishes, etc. By the time we left that morning we were both excited beyond belief. When we arrived, a lady was waiting outside for us, a little unusual because it was cold and light snow was falling. By now we are even more excited and even though we both heard a bunch of dogs barking, neither one of us commented about it to the other one.

We entered the house and there, in a cage, was THE PUPPY. We feel in love with him on the spot. The breeder had already started the paper work, and was taking down our personal information. She told me two times to make sure that we got him to vet first thing on Monday but for sure no later than Tuesday. At one point I asked her about the puppy mother and if we could see the mother. She said that right then was not a good time because of the rain and snow. That seemed like a reasonable explanation.

I asked what the puppy was used to eating and was told, after a pause, to feed a well-known commercial puppy food. After I had signed all the paper work and handed over the check, we got our puppy. We were ready to head home. On our drive back home it didn't take us long to name him Billy Bob. On our drive home I mentioned to Teddy that Billy Bob had a foul odor about him.

We picked up the suggested puppy food on our way home and now we were set. The minute we arrived home I phone Vicki Felmlee to tell her about Billy Bob. She was very excited for us and she and her husband Tom came over to our house immediately.

At first glance Vicki saw that Billy Bob was not in the best of shape. The first thing she asked was where did we purchase him. Red flags were going up right and left for Vicki as we told her about where we had purchased Billy Bob. She questioned if he was even old enough to be away from his mother, he was so tiny and wobbly on his feet.

The next morning I called our vet office to get Billy Bob in for his shots and a check up. That is when we found out that Billy Bob had ear mites and two infections that he had picked up from the other dogs at the kennel. We also discovered over the next day that Billy Bob would not drink water nor would he eat the recommended puppy food.

For the next few days Billy Bob was very sick and had to have several medications at different times of the day and night. We had to make his food because regular puppy food made him vomit and also we made his formula because that is the only liquid he would drink.

Without the 24-hour a care and love that we gave Billy Bob – and all of the vet visits – he would not have made it. Because of where we work my husband was able to keep Billy Bob in his office during the day to make that possible.

Seeing our puppy now, no one would never know that he had such a touch-and-go beginning. He is now a whopping 17-lbs., has been neutered and is healthy in every way.

My husband and I were uninformed pet shoppers. We had no idea that we were buying from a breeder with these problems at the kennel. I hope our organization can help people find good breeders and educate consumers about these issues BEFORE they purchase their pets!