Stories - when you first met your pup

[Kate]

Well, we braved a major snowstorm to go meet our pup for the first time. Although I like the dog and the breeder very much, the whole experience was a little strange. So I come here for advice and for people to share their experiences.
The first weird thing is that we were not able to visit the home/facility where the pups are raised, nor did we meet her parents, even though that is what we were told in the planning.
We all met at the house of the breeder's friend. She was lovely and very friendly, and we met her beautiful 1 1/2 yr old Maltese while we were there. Another weird thing was another person who was also there to meet his puppy at the same time.
The breeder arrived with 2 pups, one male & one female. At first sight, I was a little concerned. Our girl did not look like the picture we saw. The boy pup was much bigger than her. And he had a big adorable fuzzy face, where our girl has a lot of tear staining and her hair seemed much thinner. And they both smelled pretty bad. Like that pet store smell when all the dogs are together all the time. The client/friend said they all smell like that at first but when you get them home & away from the other dogs, it goes away.
So I have no reason to doubt that. But it just wasn't what I expected for our first meeting. As far as the dog is concerned, we love her. She's mellow and friendly and seems to like us. We still want her.
But since I've never owned a puppy before, I was wondering if this kind of scenario is normal. I see so many beautiful dogs on this site. Did your pup look a lot different when he/she was young?
Do any red flags go up for anyone about the way we met our pup? Thanks Again! :confused: K

[Sophie]

Congrats on your new puppy! Red flags went up for me - I don't know who or where you got the puppy from, but it sounds like it was a possible broker, back yard breeder or puppy mill pup. Puppies should not smell like that. If they have been well taken care of they should be clean and fresh smelling. How did you find out about the availability of puppy, how long have you been in contact with the breeder?

Hope this all works out for you and you have many wonderful, healthy, happy years together.

[Kate]

Hi Sophie,
Thanks for the welcome! We have been in contact with this breeder for a few weeks. We checked out others, but she seemed to be the best and had good referrals.
I was taken back by the smell, but was put at ease when the home owner said her dog smelled at first too. I don't want to disparage the breeder at all, but I don't have any other experience in this field, so I wasn't sure if that's normal.
In every other way, the dog seemed healthy and happy. And what we want is a family dog after all. We are scheduled to go back next week to see her again and visit her vet, get her records etc. We are planning to bring the dog home too. (And we will bring her right away to OUR vet to introduce her and double check everything).
The breeder guarantees their health for a year, and others have been happy with her dogs. Should I insist on seeing the facility? Or trust the vet to ensure the pups health?

Thanks so much for your feedback! :o

[Zo zo's mom]

Just my own personal opinion, but those who have nothing to hide hide nothing. I would wonder why your weren't allowed to see the parents. It is true you can't bathe the puppies when they are really young, but even so, my pup didn't smell bad when I went to visit.

JMHO Good luck on the puppy search

[Eklectic]

Do not like the idea of not seeing the parents or not being at the breeder's'
We drove 10 hours to go get our first baby!
And both of my babies were clean when we got them!
And, yes, we brought them to our vet's right away!

[Morkie4]

I'd want to go and see the location and the conditions that the pups are living under. A puppy might have a puppy breath smell but should not "stink" or have an unpleasant odor. I think I've watched too much Judge Judy because so many times on that show I have seen where people bought puppies from what they thought was a breeder at a "meeting place" and Judge Judy always exposes them for what they are..........back yard breeders. Most back yard breeders do not want you coming to their homes because of the kennel conditions or the parents are overbred and not in the best condition for viewing. It would be a red flag to me and I would not go by what the person who has one of her dogs said.........remember they are "freinds."

[JesBred]

When I first went to get a puppy I had gone to get a yorkie. I arrived at the womans house and we went back into a room where she had about 4 different kinds of puppies. She showed me the yorkies and I picked one out then saw these other yorkie and white puppies. When she showed them to me I asked her why so many. She told me they were morkies mixed yorkie and maltese. The parents were there and she told me they were 4 months and had only sold one with 4 left. She said if they were not sold soon she would put them down. I felt sick. I actually asked to see Mitzy and she seemed a lot healtheir than the yorkie so the woman gave me her for half the price cause she was "old". She was a sweet lady but I still feel weird about going there. I don't regret getting Mitzy she's the love of my life but I do wonder if I did the right thing and what kind of breeder she was.. But I wanted Mitzy so bad and feel I made the right decision.

I do think you should push to see the parents and what condition their in especially the mother..

[Morkie4]

When I first went to get a puppy I had gone to get a yorkie. I arrived at the womans house and we went back into a room where she had about 4 different kinds of puppies. She showed me the yorkies and I picked one out then saw these other yorkie and white puppies. When she showed them to me I asked her why so many. She told me they were morkies mixed yorkie and maltese. The parents were there and she told me they were 4 months and had only sold one with 4 left. She said if they were not sold soon she would put them down. I felt sick. I actually asked to see Mitzy and she seemed a lot healtheir than the yorkie so the woman gave me her for half the price cause she was "old". She was a sweet lady but I still feel weird about going there. I don't regret getting Mitzy she's the love of my life but I do wonder if I did the right thing and what kind of breeder she was.. But I wanted Mitzy so bad and feel I made the right decision.

I do think you should push to see the parents and what condition their in especially the mother..

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ......:mad::mad::mad: Stupidity runs rampant in her family obviously!

[jazzysmom]

Red flag for sure to me.

Welcome and congrads on your new furbaby

[LittleDogLVR]

Hi Kate

Doesnt sound like Kim at all, Im surprised.

I would call and talk to her and explain how you feel and that you are nervous.
Go to her vet for the check up and definately go to yours too. Did she say where or who her Vet is ? I know one of them,Dr Poling he runs the Holiston
Animal hospital. Very nice man, he will certainly be able to put you at ease in regards to your pups health.

Both Lizzie and Codie are happy healthy pups, other than Lizzie having allergies........didnt get them till this year !

I know Kim has been doing this for Many years.

Cant say I like the idea of being present when someone else was looking at a pup too.

Good luck kate, let me know if there is anything I Can do for you.

John

[zeek's mom]

Congrats on your new puppy! Red flags went up for me - I don't know who or where you got the puppy from, but it sounds like it was a possible broker, back yard breeder or puppy mill pup. Puppies should not smell like that. If they have been well taken care of they should be clean and fresh smelling. How did you find out about the availability of puppy, how long have you been in contact with the breeder?

Hope this all works out for you and you have many wonderful, healthy, happy years together.

Very good post Linda.

I am sorry but I have to say after reading only three post in this tread to walk away. JMHO

[zeek's mom]

Hi Kate

Doesnt sound like Kim at all, Im surprised.

I would call and talk to her and explain how you feel and that you are nervous.
Go to her vet for the check up and definately go to yours too. Did she say where or who her Vet is ? I know one of them,Dr Poling he runs the Holiston
Animal hospital. Very nice man, he will certainly be able to put you at ease in regards to your pups health.

Both Lizzie and Codie are happy healthy pups, other than Lizzie having allergies........didnt get them till this year !

I know Kim has been doing this for Many years.

Cant say I like the idea of being present when someone else was looking at a pup too.

Good luck kate, let me know if there is anything I Can do for you.

John


John may I ask how is Lizzie doing now? Didn't she have high bile acids when she was young? Please forgive me for not remembering. :confuse2::confuse2:

[LittleDogLVR]

John may I ask how is Lizzie doing now? Didn't she have high bile acids when she was young? Please forgive me for not remembering. :confuse2::confuse2:

Hey Becky thanks for asking she is fine, never had any issues.
Just a money hungry vet elevating the numbers to make them alarming.

After learning about it as well I am sure you are aware its common for Maltese to have slightly elevated BAT levels, Im not saying normal but common........and again since you are a breeder you already know this.

[zeek's mom]

Hey Becky thanks for asking she is fine, never had any issues.
Just a money hungry vet elevating the numbers to make them alarming.

After learning about it as well I am sure you are aware its common for Maltese to have slightly elevated BAT levels, Im not saying normal but common........and again since you are a breeder you already know this.

OH John I am sorry that vet did you that way. I remember how scared you were. And how scared we all were for you.

Yes in the past year it is safe to say that a lot of us have learned that slightly elevated BAT's are common.

And again I am sorry that vet did that. :(

[LittleDogLVR]

OH John I am sorry that vet did you that way. I remember how scared you were. And how scared we all were for you.

Yes in the past year it is safe to say that a lot of us have learned that slightly elevated BAT's are common.

And again I am sorry that vet did that. :(

I can say I have learned alot in a year, thats for sure.
Lots of good information on the web......
One thing my New Vet said to me was that you need to use Numbers as a guide and LOOK at the dog. and ask yourself is the dog showing any symptoms.
That is the one thing the first vet didnt do, came to all these conclusions without even looking at Lizzie.

Seemed more like he was purchasing a new boat and needed to finance it.

Live and learn !

[OpalescentFire]

I just got my puppy, and there were 7 other dogs in the house the first time i went to visit Ava. And the puppy's smelled like fluff and love. (because that makes -total- sense....e.e;;;) I mean...dog food breath and stuff but that's normal. She was clean. i went to a broker at first (unknowingly) and they wouldn't let me see where the dogs were kept. Also, the little female was FILTHY. covered in her own poop. and i washed my hands three times and STILL smelled the filth on me.

Now, I don't know a lot about breeders and stuff, but I would want to see the parents and how they are live. A lot of problems are genetic, and aren't visible in a 9 week old puppy, but will def. be obvious in the parents.

So i would ask to see the place. And with the whole smell thing? If the baby's with it's mom, the mom bathes it....so...

[Ashley V]

Puppies actually smell good. They smell so fresh and puppy-like. Oh and their little breath is to die for! Then they grow into big ol' stinky dogs! lol jk.

We bought Chip from a broker and he was really sick. The broker actually called us back after we talked the last time because they "forgot" they had a puppy left. How do you "forget" there is a puppy in the house? They also told us he was eating dry food and it was obvious he didn't even know how to chew dry food once we got him home. Also when I asked when his birthday was, they said "sometime in the beginning of January... he's almost 9 weeks". His birthday was in the middle of January and he was only 7 weeks. I bet if you ask any REAL breeder they know EXACTLY when their puppies were born. Chip was also completely petrified of us. A well socialized puppy from a good breeder should not be that petrified of meeting someone new. Most puppys have a sense of invincibility and don't sense danger, just like little kids.

[OpalescentFire]

i agree. Ava is scared of new places. Like, when we went to the mall, or to petco for the first time, and she'll shake, but she has no problem what so ever with strangers coming up and giving her attention and pets. she loves it.

And i know the exact birth date. September 25th (She's 3 months on christmas >D)

[Ashley V]

Chip even still to this day at 2 years old does not like strangers. He has even given warning air snaps at a few people that won't leave him alone and we've done everything to socialize him that we can. He won't even take treats from people he doesn't know.

[plumie]

lets just say.. I wasnt thinking about getting a 3rd dog. I was bored one day and always know I want a Maltese. After doing alot of search on Maltese I came upon a breeder in OK who happens to have a precious little girl available for my price. She was on the site for a while, So I decided to call the breeder and after hearing about her story, I just want a forever home for this little girl, she was already 7 mos.

Since I was going to my bf family reunion in OK, mind as well get her at the same time instead of flying her down here. We didn't get to see the parents, the breeder and I decided to meet half way cus we didn't want to stress Pani driving back to Houston from Tulsa. I admit I was a little disappointed for not being able to see the parents, I would love to see her Fur family..:D
But since I heard so many wonderful comments about this breeder. I trusted her.
When I saw Tammy with Pani in her arm to greets me.. I was thrilled! It was love at first sight!!!:hearter:
14927her first day arriving home from OK.:tounge:

[Ashley V]

lets just say.. I wasnt thinking about getting a 3rd dog. I was bored one day and always know I want a Maltese one day. After doing alot of search on Maltese I came upon a breeder in OK who happens to have a precious little girl available for my price. She was on the site for a while, So I decided to call the breeder and after hearing about her story, I just want a forever home for this little girl, she was already 7 mos.

Since I was going to my bf family reunion in OK, mind as well get her at the same time instead of flying her down here. We didn't get to see the parents, the breeder and I decided to meet half way cus we didn't want to stress Pani driving back to Houston from Tulsa. I admit I was a little disappointed for not being able to see the parents, I would love to see her Fur family..:D
But since I heard so many wonderful comments about this breeder. I trusted her.
When I saw Tammy with Pani in her arm to greets me.. I was thrilled! It was love at first sight!!!:hearter:
14927her first day arriving home from OK.:tounge:

HAHA That tongue! I love it!

[LittleDogLVR]

Well I did a little research here on Laptop Maltese, no complaints at the BBB
cant find any issues at all.

Also came across this site, maybe you all should check it out.

http://maltese.meetup.com/2/

This does not sound like the MO of a BYB OR Puppy Mill operator.

Please read some of the comments.........

FWIW

[Miss Melanie]

Well I did a little research here on Laptop Maltese, no complaints at the BBB
cant find any issues at all.

Also came across this site, maybe you all should check it out.

http://maltese.meetup.com/2/

This does not sound like the MO of a BYB OR Puppy Mill operator.

Please read some of the comments.........

FWIW

I wanted to thank you for posting this url. I had been looking and looking for other Toy Dog Breed owners locally to me and poked around on this site and not only found others but I FOUND photos of Mr Wookie there, that someone else took at other local events and posted. :lol2: I was able to joint two local groups and they have one event coming in January. YEAH! I had belonged to that site for a while, but never thought to look for other doggie lovers there.

[Tobey's Mommy]

It was love at first site. He was so tiny and I held and he cuddled up with me. He licked me like crazy and I fell in love. He snuggled up in my hair and tickled me. I knew he was the one! I put half down on him and went back a week later to get him. He was the only one left besides his brother. His parents were on site and were healthy. They looked so adorable. I could tell the momma was thinking "Hey, where you going with my baby?"