If you were a breeder and you found out the puppy you sold a buyer had Valley Fever..would you give them back their money? Give them back the cost of treating the golden? If the cost paid was $1400, would you refund the cost of the treatment, which is $500 plus the tests? Or what would you do as an ethical breeder?

That's unfortunate, but I would have to ask, what does the contract state? Since you have an older pup, what medical examinations were conducted prior to the pup being sold?

I know through rescue, the goldens have a health check to include HW/tick borne disease tests & treated if necessary. We encourage new adopters to set up an appt with their vet within a week of the adoption & I've seen if anything should come up, the rescue foots the bill.

The contract favors the breeder. But I wanted to see what others would do. I know what I would do. And having the 8 month old for one week , and having paid a price for a golden with excellent heritage, I would have felt that the treatment costs should be paid up to the price of the golden. That is what another reputable breeder wrote me that she would do.

Have you contacted your breeder?

Yes, and the result was not what I had hope for.

I had to look up Valley Fever but now that I know - I would not think it has anything to do with genetics, more so location and exposure. If you just brought the dog home a week before diagnosis, then I think it can be a safe guess that the puppy was exposed while with the breeder, since it takes more than a week for symptoms to show up.

I am not a breeder, but I would think they should cover the cost of diagnosis and treatment. I find it hard to believe the contract does not allow for that in the case of an illness where exposure clearly occured while in the care of the breeder.

Regardless I would of course have already incurred the cost and begun treatment before I would have ever thought of asking the breeder for reimbursement - I sure hope your pup is on the road to recovery and a long and happy life with your family.

Thanks so much for your thoughts. Obviously we have incurred visits to the vet, paid for the compounded pills for the first month, and have spent the first week home with this girl in an anxious state.She has been with us just one week. I called the breeder as soon as the test results were called to me.The full treatment will be for 6 months to one year if we are lucky and have no complications. There are four or more titers that will be needed, as well as the cost of the pills and other Vet visits. I expect we will be over the cost of what we paid for her in about 6 months. And yes we are already attached to her, so there is no way we would want to bring her back. But if she does not completely recover, I feel that more consideration should be given. But doubt that that will happen. On top of all this, she was the girl we purchased because we lost our Ashley at the beginning of December. A double sad event.Again, if I was the breeder, I know what I would have done.Contract or not.

I am so sorry you guys are going through this and can only wish you and your pup well in battling this illness. I read about it and it is scary!

Good luck!

Not knowing the terms of your contract, it would be understandable that you were purchasing a "healthy" dog, which she is not. You may want to consult a lawyer to review the contract.

Paws crossed that your little girl will recover without complications and it was caught early!

Thank you again.. this is not a good thing for any dog to have. Any the treatment can go on for years. Even if we caught it early, which appears we may have, there are still issues, and it can come back , even without exposure.
Sad really.. she is a sweet girl. And we as her parents ..we did not need this double heart ache!