hello.
WE wanted a puppy, and went through the internet and found some breeders and asked for prices etc we were happy so bought a pedigree white boxer pup with papers, 8 weeks old.
Now i suppose we were very nieve having been only cat owners for 20 years. but after 5 nights of no sleep (we did ring up breeders for advice but it didn't help) and really at our wits end we asked if the breeder would take him back. as we thought it was better than selling him on. he was 9 weeks old when we took him back
She said we would have to wait for our money until she sold him we said ok
She then told us after a week she had people coming on the day he was 10 weeks old. she would have to take his vccinations fees out of the money she owed us...i was a bit put out at this, but said ok....the people came to pick him up yesterday the dog was 10 weeks and 2 days. she said as he was older they wouldn't pay full price and only paid £200 so we are only due back £170 out of £315 we paid her (£15 was for food which we returned).. does this seem wrong? i am fuming i really think this dog breeder/rescuer is taking me for a mug!

Nope. It sounds reasonable. Did the pup come with a contract? If so, returns would have been spelt out.

Usually you get the pup health tested at the vets within 7 days and if there is anything wrong with the pup the breeder will refund in full if you return.

If you want to return the pup for any other reason - and the contract usually stipulates that you must return the pup to the breeder not sell it on - then most breeders will refund the cost less any losses they incur (lower sale price, innoculations, boarding included)

Well done on returning the pup to the breeders rather than selling it on - but in the same breath - you gave up after 5 nights

I always warn my puppy buyers to expect hell for the first couple of weeks overnight - if I make it worse than it really is, then at least there can be no illusions.

If bred responsibly, having and raising a litter costs a lot of money - finding what you hope and pray are suitable homes takes a lot of time and effort.

Personally I would cut your losses and be grateful the pup has found a new and hopefully forever home this time.

Try 3 years of sleepless nights, then you will know what living with a difficult dog is like (and no - she will never be bred from).

We had a beagle cross who was a complete lunatic - first time I left him alone in the kitchen, he chewed up the chairs! He was a very loveable dog, good temperament, but almost untrainable. If he escaped while on a walk, I'd just have to wait until he decided to come back, so I usually walked him on a long lead instead. He ate anything he could find, edible or not. Oddly enough, he could do two things very well: you could put his food in his dish, tell him to wait, and he'd not go near it until given permission, and when he was out with me in the car, he'd behave beautifully, even when left in the car alone. We persevered with him, had him for 8 years before he had to be put down because of untreatable epilepsy, and we did miss him - he was a real character.

so sorry to hear of his early demise

The quiet ones might be easier to live - but it's the characters that leave the biggest marks on our lives.

Sorry but I agree with the others. Just goes to show that internet research on prices of puppies is just a tiny bit of the research you need to do before taking on a puppy (or adult dog for that matter). Anyone who's had a puppy could have told you that sleepless nights are part & parcel of having a puppy!

I think you are right in that you probably were naive but equally the breeder should have vetted you thoroughly & explained what having a 8 week old puppy is likely to entail. And as with any purchase, reading the contract & the smallprint is down to you.

Thanks. To be honest, at the time it was a happy release for all of us, his condition was pitiable. He had fits about three times a day, usually with incontinence, and you could almost see the embarrassment on his face. I took him to the vet that day and said if there was nothing more to be done, I wanted him put down. It was one of the most horrible days of my life, I'm crying about it now, but it had to be done.

hi all.
thanks for your replies,
Yes we were very stupid in not even thinking we might get sleepless nights, but as much as we came to love the pup even in the few short days we had him, my family's health and well being have to come first my husband nor 2 schoolage children had proper sleep and it was begining to take its toll, i couldn't see an end to it and so for what we thought was best we gave him back
the breeders asked for all paperwork to be brought back with pup..which we did..in good faith, but have no info to read back on now either.
i guess the moral of this story is give it up moaning about losing £145 , just be glad pups got a new home without too much upheaval and upset...and do wayyyy more research when wanting a puppy!
thanks
ann

I can relate to this problem.
We got an 8 week old labrador when my missus was pregnant.
Didn't go down well on here with people judging me that the pup would be rehomed as we could not cope

How wrong were they?

She's just over a year now and my little boy just over 5 months. Yes we had some very tough weeks but it was all worth it

TL

I don't think you could realistically have expected a full refund for your puppy and I hope he'll have a happy home.

Personally, I think that if you 'gave up' after only five days of having your new puppy and were not patient in giving him more time to settle in, then you did the right thing in returning him to the breeder because puppies are like babies and for your puppy to feel settled being away from his siblings and parent after being with them constantly for nine weeks, will possibly take more than a few days for pup to feel comfortable enough to cope being on his own at night.

When we got two sister pups together, neither of them has ever so much as whimpered, probably because of already being together for the nine weeks before we got them, but I know it's not always possible for someone to have two pups together, but it's certainly an immediate way for them to feel settled!