Advice please

[Dachshundowner10]

If you bought a show/breeding quality dog and paid big $$$ for it to find out it has a hereditary condition and advised by a specialist not to breed, what would you do in terms of contacting the breeder? Would you ask for some sort of refund? What if the breeder reacts in denial even if you have proof? 

 

[Roova]

Are you able to share the breed or problem the dog has? Some issues are bought on or exacerbated because of environmental reasons not genetic.

 

Did you check if the breeder health tested their breeding dogs for known genetic problems? Was the breeder where you were buying for breeding purposes yourself?

[RuralPug]

For the dog to be of show/breeding quality it would have had to be purchased as an adult. Puppies only ever have "potential" and can never be guaranteed.  And to purchase an adult you would not have done your due diligence unless you had asked for proof of breed specific health testing first.

The puppy buyer is also expected to practise due diligence in that they should always ensure that parents have been screened for breed specific conditions, either by DNA screening where possible or by veterinary testing. This is especially the case where a puppy is purchased with a hope that it will grow to be of breeding quality. Anyone planning to breed is expected to have researched problems within the breed and what sort of screening tests are available to avoid those problems/

So to answer your question,  you would most certainly contact the breeder to advise that a particular hereditary condition had cropped up in one of their stock. This is to help them plan future matings to avoid producing more stock with that condition. You would probably not really be entitled to ask for a refund unless the breeder had stated in advertisement or in writing that their stock was free of that particular condition.

If the hereditary condition was one that was rare and not well known in the breed and is not a condition for which screening is done then the breeder is not at all liable - it is just pure bad luck.