If you are unsure whether to buy or adopt a dog, then you should adopt one. However, if you are set on buying a puppy because you want a specific breed, some very important research must be done. Why so? Well, let me explain to you by taking you through our bumpy journey when we got our Rodrigo.
It was the year of COVID, 2020, we had just moved into our apartment, and we could finally adopt a little puppy that we had dreamed of getting for a while. Our first stumbling block was when we found a waiting list of 100 people in our local shelters for puppy adoption. We signed ourselves up and waited patiently… Until we had a Eureka moment. We had a little holiday coming up in Spain that was planned pre-covid...Due to restrictions, we did not have much planned until we realized that Spain is the ‘hub’ for Spanish Water Dogs, a breed we had just come across after researching dog characteristics. Considering he seemed like the best fit for our lifestyle, we decided we would make this trip a mission to return one home… (and my boyfriend loved that he kind of had the exact same hair as me).
And so the research started. Prices weren’t cheap. Which one to choose? It’s even more difficult if done remotely, you can’t even get to see them in person. I found a few options on a Spanish marketplace website, but it was tricky finding one with the right age and vaccines that also coincided with our already booked flights. Eventually, we stumbled upon a supposedly professional and reliable vet clinic, that also sold pure-breed puppies. They gave us a few options of available puppies and sent us a few videos. In the videos, they used gloves and didn’t even let the puppies touch the floor because they said they wanted to make sure they did not contract any diseases from other dogs that visited the clinic. Sounds professional, right? The age and vaccine situation also perfectly coincided with our return, so we chose the fluffiest-looking one and sent a 50 euro deposit. What could go wrong?
It was only on the flight towards Spain that I happened to come across a chapter on Puppy Mills in the book that I was reading, and suddenly, I started noticing all the red flags that there were. The vet clinic said that they provided extra reassurance of health, which they titled as a “warranty”. However, when I started asking for information on Rodrigo’s parents, they were unable to provide any. Not only could they not provide a breed certificate and family history with health certification to prove that the breed line was healthy (pure breeds are the most likely to suffer from all sorts of different possible illnesses), but they were also unable to even provide a picture of his parents. After a lot of back and forth, they eventually provided a picture (which appeared to have come off Google images) of an older-looking Spanish water dog, stating that it was his father. At that point, we knew something very fishy was going on, but we had come too far to give up.
Lots of butterflies, anxiety, and 4 hours driving later, we arrived in Guadalajara (close to Madrid), where we were going to pick up our little pup. We enter the establishment and see lots of other puppies ‘on display’.. as if in big aquariums which we found odd. Sausage dogs, Pomeranians, Little poodles, among others, but no sign of Spanish water dogs. They greeted us, and told us that they would get him from “the back”. They went to get him and walked right past us to take him straight to another back room to ‘’wash him’’. We found that very odd as well. In the meantime, we asked to see his other 2 siblings, but they were miraculously now both sold and with their new owners. They also told us that they had no documentation of his family history or breed and that we were to apply for it when he was 6 months old. “It’s a very easy process,” they said calmly. 20 minutes later or so, they came out with our tiny pup and placed him in our arms. He did not move even 1 inch, he was not interacting at all, and he felt super thin and frail. We already suspected we were being screwed over, but at this point, we knew we were f****. We looked at each other concerned, but we agreed we could not leave him there, so we took him home regardless of all the red flags. We only got as far as the car parked outside, when we noticed that this freshly washed pup was infested with jumping fleas. We went back in, and they brushed it off as something normal, sprayed him with some stuff, and gave us some to take with us home.
The next stop was the vet clinic that they recommended us to. Why they couldn’t do this themselves, supposedly being a vet clinic, is beyond me. At this point, we had agreed to name him Rodrigo since he was of Spanish nationality, which the vets seemed to love, but even that could not get that worried look off their faces. Their hands were even slightly trembling as they moved him around and checked him up. They must have realized that he was in rough shape, but of course, having direct relations with the other ''vet clinic'', they did not tell us anything. They put his passport together, gave him additional vaccinations and a microchip, and off home we went.
We spent two weeks in Portugal before flying back from Lisbon. During those two weeks, we took him to the vet at least 4 times. Rodrigo would barely eat, barely move, and his number 2s were very runny and even bloody. Upon the discovery of the first runny bloody poop, I couldn’t stop crying as I knew that could be a sign of parvovirus, a deadly disease for little puppies. However, the vet tested him for it and it turned out negative, which gave us some hope. There was not much else that we could do. It was unclear what was wrong with him, so we just kept up the regular vet visits, patiently trying to feed him little by little, and trying to engage him in play. He slept a lot, and the most we could get out of him was perhaps 1 hour or so of play.
Eventually, our day of flying back home had arrived. The vet cleared him for flying, and said that he was doing better, at least from a weight and responsiveness perspective. We had a very comfortable trip back home, with the crew even allowing us to have him on his little bed on top of our laps during flight. He was extremely calm and well-behaved,
and even peed on his nappies when I took him to the bathroom. He slept most of the way.
Two days or so after getting back, he seemed to take a turn for the worse again. His stomach was very bloated, he wouldn’t eat even the most delicious meals I’d put together for him (rice, pumpkin, and chicken), and he would sit in the corner on his back with his legs up, and look at me with pleading eyes.
My heart felt like it was crumbling to pieces. I was so sad that this was happening to him, I was scared that we would lose him. During our first vet visit in Malta, he could not determine what was wrong with him. We tested him again for Parvo which turned out negative, and discovered that he also had a fever. He was given some medication and we were to return for another checkup. In the meantime, we would keep ice-cold cloths and packs by his face to keep his temperature down. On the second vet visit, I was scolded for "not looking after him", as he claimed to have spotted something in his stomach after doing an ultrasound on him. I found this very strange considering he was barely moving and I was working from home. I was told to squeeze a lubricant into his throat three times a day to help him poop out this mysterious object, and another checkup was set up for 7 days later. He claimed that if by then the object did not come out, he would have to do surgery to remove it. After 7 days of squeezing this stuff into this poor puppy’s’ throat, I was meant to take him to the vet at 1 pm that day. At approximately 8 am, I started to get extremely worried about his ever-growing bad-looking state, and I tried to call the vet to see him beforehand. To my surprise, he would not return my calls, and after 30 minutes of frantically trying, I opted to call another vet. They agreed to see him immediately as they acknowledged that this was an emergency. Tears come to me as I write this. I was so afraid, so emotional, I was sure that we were going to lose him. I took him to the vet and she shared my concerns.
He was not in a good state. Considering the claims of the previous vet, they started with an ultrasound to see where the object was, but to everyone’s surprise, they could not see anything there. Considering the circumstances, they suggested doing a whole 6-7 hour x-ray procedure, wherein they would inject some blue fluid to help them with identifying any potential difficult-to-find object that is in his stomach. Eventually, this also came out clear, and they couldn’t quite place a finger on what was wrong with him, but they suspected that it might be kennel cough as he was also making a gagging sound every now and then. They gave him some antibiotics and some other treatment, and we all hoped for the best. We were lucky enough that he did not have to undergo surgery for no reason, and the antibiotics seemed to have worked. His health condition took a turn from then on, and he started to get better and better day after day.
Nowadays, we are blessed with a very healthy, full-of-life, clumsy and fluffy Rodrigo, who gets to join us on most of our adventures. Ever since that time, he never got sick again, he hates going to the vet, and although still very picky with his food, chicken has become his favorite thing to eat. Luckily, the bumpy ride had a good ending, but we were probably only a few hours away from losing him, and I wouldn’t wish anyone to have to go through this journey when getting a puppy as a new member of the family. So, if you do really want to buy a dog, I would recommend at least doing the necessary checks and getting the necessary documentation, and for everyone’s sake, to ensure that you are not supporting puppy mills by purchasing a puppy from such a shady place like we did.
**Side note: What are Puppy Mills? Imagine a piece of land or farm, full of cages with unofficial pure-bred dogs. These dogs are kept in terrible conditions, not vaccinated, and bred between each other constantly without any health or safety checks. It is pretty much a breeding farm, like we get chicken farms, and most of these puppies end up facing a terrible faith like Rodrigo due to the diseases contracted from such an uncontrolled environment, and god knows what happens to the adult dogs once they are unable to reproduce anymore after a lifetime of slavery. To add to that, the puppies are not socialized properly with their parents and their siblings as they should, and are rather kept in cages until they can be transported directly to the vet clinic to be sold. Unfortunately, I did not know what this was at the time, and I aim to share this information to prevent anyone from ever purchasing a puppy from such a place. If there is enough awareness and people will eventually stop purchasing puppies produced by puppy mills, these places will eventually stop existing.
Comments