# Did I buy from a puppy mill?



## Magnet (Sep 11, 2013)

In short, this message is a long time coming and I'd love to hear what some of you think.

I took in Magnet (originally named Rodney) from a breeder in Oklahoma (prairie pup vizsla), health guarantee and all that. In less than 24 hours I remember giving him medicine for 2 different worms (roundworms and giardia) and then within 10 days, tapeworm. The poor guy had zero exposure to outdoors with us and from the documentation we received, he was suppose to be dewormed. Also, his docked tail is missing hair from my guess was his own fault but he was a puppy and should of been supervised. 6months old now and the promised hair hasn't grown. To us, it's Magnet, so what. To a 'reputable' breeder, I doubt that's acceptable. Another empty promise was the absence of white in his coat. There is already traces of white on his shoulders and neck. 

I kind of wish I could speak with some of magnet's litter mates to see how they are doing. Is that even possible? 

Also, we may want to get another V, so some info on the credible/noncredible breeders that are around might be useful. 

Now, on the other hand, Magnet is amazing. Holds many if not all character traits a vizsla should have. He sleeps through the night in our bed (8 hours). Went through and finished his shark attacks. Never barks or howls unless he can't see us but hear us. Mamas boy for sure! In the open field, if I hint that I am walking away, he will stop and come running to me. He counter surfs and tries to eat everything. HE IS A VIZSLA and we love him. 

Just want to make sure the right people are breeding and inexperienced buyers like I was can find them.


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## emilycn (Jul 30, 2013)

normally I would say that all those worms sound suspicious, but i had a similar experience with my pup. Despite the fact that I even witnessed her getting dewormed at 6, 7, and 8 weeks, she still had roundworms and giardia at her first vet check. my vet said it wasn't unusual for a puppy from her area, and none of her litter mates had issues. i think she must have picked something up on our long drive home (despite my best efforts, of course). it took two or three rounds of treatment to get rid of the giardia; although Lua wasn't particularly ill because of it (no vomiting, mild, infrequent diarrhea) the vet thinks it must have been a particularly virulent strain that she picked up. Now she's a great 6.5 month pup with no other health issues, a beautiful (if gangly, right now) conformation, and an even better temperament. I think it was just one of those bad-luck flukes; now I lovingly refer to her as my little lemon.


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Magnet is your pup now - love and cherish him - train and play !!!! if looking 4 a second V !!!! use this forum 4 advice on finding a great breeder - no quick answers - you have to do the work - sorry the forum did not get you before you got the pup !!! God speed Magnet - he is in good hands now !!!!! I would wait at least 1 1/2 yrs before adding a new V 2 Magnet - let him grow up and you will V wiser !!!!!!!


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## Magnet73 (Sep 10, 2013)

Thank you everyone, this forum continues to be great. 

If by chance magnets brother 'Marvin' is out there, we would love to hear from you. Can't remember any other litter mates. 

The year and half sounds like what our approach will end up being. Certainly by then we would have seen most of the growing up phases. 

Yes Emily, definitely irreplaceable and wouldn't change a thing.


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## Watson (Sep 17, 2012)

I agree with organicthoughts, sounds more like a backyard breeder, and also would just enjoy the dog you have and not worry too much about what was.
A quick google search shows that she used to, or has bred Weims in the past.

Also, great post to bring light to backyard breeding. There was a lady posting on the facebook Vizsla page yesterday about a litter of V's she had available, with a link to her facebook page. It took me all of five minutes to go through her page to see she was having litters of several different breeds, within days of each other. At least 20 litters that I could count in a year. After a bit of pressing her for more details, she removed her post. By the pictures she posted, she kept her smaller breeds in her home, however the V's looked like they were being whelped and raised in a unkempt garage of sorts. Bottom line for buyers is that it's important to do your research.


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## tknafox2 (Apr 2, 2013)

Magnet said:


> . Another empty promise was the absence of white in his coat. There is already traces of white on his shoulders and neck.
> 
> Just curious Magnet, is it really "white" or just light?? It is very common for V's to develope "Angle Wings" on their shoulders... my first V didn't have any, but Fergy's are very prominent. he is also very light on his neck and butt, he is 6 mo.s. Here are a couple of pic's of Fergy, and a copy of one from the random photo section "Rusty" that just happend to pop up. See if this is what is happening to Magnets coat???


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## Vizsla Baby (Nov 4, 2011)

The presence of worms wouldn't bother me, some dogs vomit up their medicine and it doesn't "take".

I'm sure he's beautiful no matter what. Have you contacted the breeder?


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## Ksana (Mar 30, 2013)

Are you sure those are white marks and not a lighter color? My puppy while growing had long and wide marks on his neck and shoulders so I thought it was just part of his fast growing. Then I found postings on this forum referring to those marks as "angel wings". My V. is now ten months old and he has small "wings" on his neck.


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## VelcroV (Apr 25, 2013)

I live in OK also and ALMOST got our pup from a puppy mill (not to say your pup is from one).. or at least not very reputable breeder (Red Canyon Kennels) but got some bad vibes so THANKFULLY cut the deal before we were too deep in. I ended up finding a mentor who is familiar with different breeders around and she was so helpful in pointing us in the right direction when we were read to get our V. Her website is: http://www.sunmeadowsvizsla.com/index.php?p=1_2_About-Us. And she is very quick to respond by email or phone.

We ended up getting our pup from Linda and Paul Collins in Missouri (per Leah's recommendation) and are very happy with them and our 6mo old puppy we got from them. There is another breeder called Renaissance Vizslas in ?OKC that is very well known and quite competitive to even get on a list with http://www.renaissancevizslas.com/ if you don't plan to do showing but they have a very good reputation so might be a good place to start by even just asking them recommendations as well. 

Hope this at least gets you started as you start your search for another sweet Vizsla and glad you're doing your research to get a well bred dog from breeders that have the dog's best interest at heart. Good luck!


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