This is a report about Pomsky Perfection – a Pomsky (Pomeranian/Husky) breeder in Eau Claire (Boyd), Wisconsin. I will also send documentation of the medical test and one of the medical bills (names redacted for privacy) to this website to be attached to the bottom of this report.
Here is a Summary of what happened to us, with more details below:
Dogs start showing symptoms 5-10 days after being exposed to Parvo. Our Dog started showing signs four days after we received him from the breeder. As you can see, he was exposed to Parvo at least one day BEFORE we received him. Multiple Vets told us the same. Parvovirus is very serious. If you are not familiar with it, please read about it. It is very contagious and very durable. It can live on soil or flooring for a very long time. Secondary infections can also occur as a result of the weakened immune system. Other dogs within the same household/kennel may not exhibit the symptoms of Parvo, even though their feces carries the virus. Our puppy was not tested for Parvo when he received his wellness exam (it's just not a standard test) by the breeder’s Vet.
Our puppy then had Veterinary care on each of the next several days, by the mobile Vet service who had cared for our previous dog. He received fluids and meds each day. His status improved, but then quickly deteriorated. He started coughing and became extremely lethargic. He had a high fever. We took him to the VES (Veterinary Emergency Service) in Madison. He was immediately put into isolation (because of the positive test for Parvo) and was again tested and treated. X-rays showed that he had pneumonia, a secondary infection to the Parvo. We notified the breeder again, the day he was hospitalized (Sept 21 - Breeder did not respond at all for three days, when we contacted them again). The breeder mentioned that they’d never had Parvo before (and did not offer any other advice). The Vets were quite certain that he had the Parvo before we received him. We had never had any experience with any of these VES Vets before, but they took great care of our puppy.
After seven days of hospitalization, when we finally were able to bring home our puppy from the VES, our Vet bills were at $3700, and he would still need some follow-up appointments and continued medication. At this point, we notified the breeder that his health had improved, and we asked (begged) the breeder to refund the $1500 we had paid for the puppy. We could then use that to pay for some of the bills. After all, the breeder had given us a puppy that was unhealthy at the time we received it from them. The breeder refused. In previous communications, the breeder had claimed no responsibility, and also insinuated that there was something fishy going on. However, now that she knew he was getting healthy, she "kindly" offered (she tried to make it sound SUPER nice, like they were going "above and beyond") to give us the $1500 - if we gave back the puppy!!! We would then be out nearly $4000 with no puppy to show for it! We’d have simply paid all that money to restore the health of their puppy. Of course, then the breeder could sell the puppy to someone else, and would be out nothing.
This breeder’s health agreement guarantees the puppy for FIVE DAYS, or for one year if the puppy dies of a congenital defect. It is basically worthless, unless the puppy dies within a year, and only if from a confirmed congenital issue. Or if the puppy becomes so sick within five days, that you return it. If you are considering getting a puppy, please read about ‘puppy health guarantees’ as they can vary greatly. This breeder referred to the health guarantee over and over during this situation. Many "health guarantees" are to protect the breeder, not the customer. Get a copy of the agreement before you go to pick up the puppy. Our state laws offer you, as the buyer, very little protection. Although the health guarantee didn't entitle us to anything, we were hoping that a breeder would stand behind their puppies, as a responsible breeder would, if diagnosed with Parvo six days after delivery.
I would also recommend looking at how often a breeder has litters. I wish we had done more research before puchasing. And do not buy a puppy without visting the breeder's kennel in person, and seeing the puppy and its parents. I feel like this is a mistake we made. We had never before encountered a breeder who wouldn’t let us visit their property. We knew this was a red flag, but ignored it. Before purchasing our puppy, we had searched the internet for info about the breeder, and had not found any complaints. However, on the day that our puppy was hospitalized, I again searched for Pomsky Perfection. Now there was a complaint near the top of my search results, and the complaint had just been filed during the previous week! Another customer’s puppy had been very sick from the day they received it.
We are experienced dog/puppy owners. Our house has a completely fenced-in backyard, which has not had any other dog in it for the past 18 months (our last dog passed away in April of last year). Same for the car we drove our puppy home in.
I do not normally write reviews or complaints on the internet, but I am writing this one in the hopes of saving someone else from the heartache and expense that we went through. Imagine standing in a Veterinary hospital, looking at your new family member lying in isolation, occasionally coughing but not otherwise moving. And you’re crying and thinking that he really may not make it through to the next day, and there’s nothing that you can do. And then the breeder denies the medical consensus (that the puppy had Parvo before we received him), and blames you for the issues and costs of the unhealthy puppy they have given you.
Please do not make the mistakes that we made in locating a puppy to purchase. Get a copy of the health agreement in advance, and negotiate its terms, if needed. And look for a breeder who is breeding dogs for the improvement and health of the breed, and not simply to make money. If you notice any red flags regarding a breeder, please take them seriously. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a very stressful, expensive situation, like we did. Next month we will be receiving a huge credit card bill, so we are still paying for our mistake.
jenerali
Columbus,#2Consumer Comment
Tue, November 10, 2015
I bought my puppy from Pomsky Perfection and we picked her up on 8/15/15. She got kennel cough the first week, but other than that she has been absolutely perfect! I don't know where you have taken your dog, but Parvo can be spread through any human who has had contact. It could be possible that someone who transported your dog had contact with a carrier/sick dog. You CANNOT blame the breeder who clearly took it through the vets and got cleared. If the breeder had Parvo in their kennel, almost all the dogs would have caught. Leave them alone! There have been several outbreaks of Parvo that I have heard about already. My dog is perfectly healthy and we have had her for almost 3 months!
Seriously, this breeder is great. They breed, raise, and take care of all their litters with good care. I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever with my dog. Hope this helps anyone else!
Angela
Hastings,#3Consumer Comment
Thu, October 22, 2015
We experience almost the exact situation with this breeder only our puppy died after spending almost $5K in vet bills to treat the parvo. We purchased our Puppy at the end of August and the breeder also told us they have never had parvo onsite. The investigation cleary confirmed the puppy had parvo before we purchased it. They refunded the money we paid for the puppy stating that all they were legally responsible for. My family is still heartbroken. Please file a complaint with the department of agriculture about your experience as well.
https://mydatcp.wi.gov/Complaints/complaint/create/f0813c2d-1189-e311-add8-0050568c06ae
Pomsky
Boyd,#4REBUTTAL Owner of company
Sat, October 17, 2015
Pomsky Perfection makes every effort be the reputable breeder that people are looking for. While the owner of this particular puppy is claiming that we are not a reputable breeder we go thru extensive efforts to vaccinate, worm and provide proper nutrition to all puppies prior to leaving our care. Every puppy is wormed at least 3 times and vaccinated at least 2 times prior to leaving our care. The puppy in question passed a health exam by a licensed veterinarian two days prior to the transfer in ownership. It was not sick nor showed any symptoms of disease after the health certificate was issued. The health guarantee that the owner claims to have been unfair and biased was read and signed by her before the transfer in ownership.
The owner of the puppy in this case is claiming that their puppy got sick with parvovirus 6 days after they brought it home. There is insinuation that the puppy was infected with parvovirus before they brought it home. As mentioned earlier, the puppy passed a health certificate two days prior to leaving our kennel. There is a tremendous amount of ambiguity in the incubation period of parvovirus. The incubation period is the period of time between infection and clinical symptoms. The Merck Veterinary Manual says the incubation period is 2-14 days.
Frequently pet owners get their puppies home and then proceed to show them to every person they can possibly think of. While the excitement can certainly be understood, this is certainly not in the best interest of the puppy. Not only does the puppy need to get used to its new owners and surroundings but they also have to deal with all of the people or other dogs that it comes in contact with. It is for this reason that we don’t allow people into our kennel. The owner of this puppy is correct, parvovirus is very serious. It is very durable and contagious as they suggest. We have not had any other puppies display symptoms within our kennel. Parvovirus doesn’t just “kind of” or weakly infect a litter of puppies.
If parvovirus were to run through every single puppy would be sick or dead. To date not a single puppy has ever displayed the same symptoms this owner suggests. Parvovirus decimates a kennel. We do not have and never have had parvovirus. Our vaccination program was designed by a veterinarian to provide some safeguards for the puppies in our care. We cannot guarantee what the puppy comes in contact with after it leaves our care and our health guarantee is designed to reflect that. Every puppy is sold with a health guarantee that must be agreed to and signed by both parties. If there was a problem with our health guarantee they certainly did not voice their concern with it prior to signing it.