Puppy mill & byb stories- This could happen to you!
Ok, here's where you all can help. These are stories from members who have had boxers from either puppy mills or Byb's and what has happened..I'd like anyone that has a story to please share it, the more we educate, the better off we are!
This first one is Shari's, ChloeBellesMommy:
I like many other’s never knew what a BYB or puppy mill meant until after the fact I had already got my baby and fell in love. Now , 2 and a half years later I wish I did my research a bit better. I will NEVER regret getting my dog but the journey so far has not been easy. When I first got her it was an easy few months…then the problems started. At 6 months old she developed what we thought was just a eye infection but her vet also told us she had Corneal Dystrophy which is something she could lose her eye sight to it’s basically just a waiting game to know for sure if it will progress or not.
Then when she turned about a year we started noticing sores and bald spots on her. She was also sleeping more often. Once again a trip back to the vet.. After numerous skin scrapings coming back negative the Vet wanted to take her blood and check her Thyroid. Her first blood test her levels were okay but the vet wanted to do another thyroid test later on.
We have also found out that her brother has boxer cardiomyopathy and after my vet heard a heart murmur we had to take her to a cardiologist to have a ultrasound preformed. She did not have cardiomyopathy but still has to go back every 6 months to a year for precaution.
Few weeks ago we just had another blood test done on her to check her thyroid again and it came back with her having hypothyroidism. She is now on medication for this and probably will be for the rest of her life.
I won’t even get into lumps she also has that has to come off and biopsy because that is just something that can happen with boxers but these other things I have mentioned above are issues that could have been prevented and not passed on.
We haven’t even hit her 3rd birthday yet and we are already well into at least 3,500 dollars in vet bills. Would I shell out another 3,500 to make sure she see’s her 6th birthday? Without a doubt . But it also breaks my heart to see her have to go through all of this. Even though I only paid 600 for her you can see for yourself how quickly it adds up when genetic diseases come into play. Don’t learn the hard way like I did of how important health testing really is.
And Lisa, Tootsie:
My first boxer, Buster was purchased from a pet store, a product from a puppy mill. Or what the store was calling a “reputable kennel.” The first week we had him he was so sick with kennel cough, ear mites, and intestinal parasites. Within a few weeks we had him feeling better and acting like a real bouncy little boxer puppy.
In the first year of Buster’s life he was diagnosed with knee and hip dysplasia. It wasn’t severe enough to require surgery at that point, but was in need of medication. It took about a good year to find the right products to help with the aches and pains of his knee and hips. The first year was also very busy in doing research and going after the pet store to try and stop any future breeding of Busters parents. They really didn’t seem too concerned and didn’t care. Because this was a hereditary condition the pet store offered to take Buster back and replace him with a new pup. Yeah right! So they can euthanize him? I don’t think so!
The second year of Buster’s life was pretty uneventful. He would have the occasional injury from playing or running too hard. But, other than that he was a happy boxer boy. My daughter, Brianna was born in this year and they eventually became the best of friends.
In the third year of Buster’s life he started having fainting spells. He would basically just fall over. After tests, and more tests with the vet and cardiologist he was diagnosed with boxer cardiomyopathy. I thought this is the end. This is how my baby is going to die. I was always afraid I’d come home to find him dead. With the compassion and knowledge of my veterinarian, we were able to find the right meds to work for him. He began to live a normal and happy wiggly life again.
The fourth year of Buster’s life was pretty uneventful also, just loving life and living like any other boxer. I was finally thinking, maybe he will live a long and healthy life with us.
In the fifth year of Buster’s life, it seemed he was losing his eyesight in his left eye. This happened very fast, within weeks it seemed. The eye specialist said it was from the high blood pressure he had. I really never understood that, but he was put on yet more meds and eye drops.
My son Brandon was also born in this time, and again Buster just proved how gentle and loving he was with a new baby in the house.
In the sixth year of Buster’s life, he started having seizures. I was never so scared in my life. It was about 10:30 at night when he had his first seizure that I was aware of. I immediately called my vet who said to give him some Benadryl, maybe it was an allergic reaction. Well, at midnight it happened again. I called my vet again, who met me at her office in ten minutes. She kept him overnight, ran blood tests on him. Everything came back normal.
After months of going through the changes in meds, the seizures kept happening.
It also appeared Buster was losing sight in his right eye. Within 2 months I now had a blind boxer. I really didn’t know how much more Buster could stand. The vet started talking about how it could be a brain tumor. I just knew it was. My dad died from a brain tumor and Buster had the same symptoms. Talk about weird. The seizures, the blindness, and then the meanness came out. Buster started snapping at the kids. I couldn’t really blame him, he couldn’t see anymore and the kids were just being kids around him. For about one month Buster was seizure free, but just was a part of the couch, wouldn’t get up anymore, just for some food occasionally and bathroom breaks, which I had to get him up for.
Then one night it happened. The scariest longest seizure he’s ever experienced. It happened in the middle of the night. I got up with him and just sat with him talking to him while this was happening. After what seemed like an eternity he tried to get up and couldn’t. I called my vet and rushed him to her office. We think he had a stroke with the last seizure and couldn’t move after that. He could barely pick his head up. After two days in that condition, he just looked at me with his blind eyes and I knew we had to help him. God that was the hardest decision we’ve ever had to make. With tears rolling down my face and my husbands face, we knew it was time. I got down on the floor and held Buster as he lay on my lap. I couldn’t leave him alone. I told him what a good boy he was and that we all loved him as he took his last breath.
Buster had a pretty rough life from the start, which was no fault of his own. I guess the moral to my story is please do not support these pet stores that purchase puppies from these horrible puppy mills and backyard breeders who are clearly just in it for the money. Absolutely no thought is given to these puppies, the lives they will live, and the grief the families will endure. I won’t even buy a rubber bone from any place that sells puppies. Do your research. Find a reputable breeder or adopt one of the deserving boxers sitting in shelters or rescue organizations.
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