Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about Zipper having Parvo. That is so sad. I'd definitely ask for a full refund. As for keeping her if she survives...that's a difficult decision to make. Are you willing, in case she has recurrent health issues, to take care of her for the rest of her life? That would be the deciding factor. Sit down and decide if you really want to deal with vet bills and health problems for the next 10-15 years or so. No one would blame you if you said "No". A sick animal is an awesome responsibility, we had a diabetic dog we had to give insulin shots to twice a day for about 3 years, it can be a lot of work. Many people think that they can do it and then a few years down the line they become resentful towards the animal and neglect and mistreatment follow. It is a hard decision. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

FL, this is a Blue Heeler. Australian Cattle Dog is their official name. Roger was half Collie also so he didn't look quite like that but he would have been a nice looking dog...

 

Thank you very much for your post. You make a lot of sense.

 

wmr,
Thanks, now I understand what you mean Those Aussie dogs are quite attractive!

NTIMD8,
Sorry to hear about your dog getting sick so soon If you want my opinion, well here it is. Since you got the dog for your wife, I would keep the dog til your wife got home, and have her decide. If she wants to 'trade' it in, that's cool, but if she wants to take care of it, then that's cool too. Zipper is supposed to cheer her spirits, right? I think choose whatever will make you both happiest.

 

Sorry to hear about your dog having PARVO. I would suspect she got it from the Breeder or "Puppy Mill" where she was born. The dogs actually pass it through their "droppings". Here in California, we have been vaccinating our dogs against it for over 20 years. I personally saw a young Dalmation get it many years ago. The pup belonged to my best friend growing up. The pup did not survive the disease. My friend was heart broken over it.
Normally, I would agree with Ford Lariat. However, your wife is just returning from a funeral and is struggling with the death of a loved one. I would give a lot of thought to forcing her to make such an emotional decision after dealing with her recent loss. Your good intentions could cause her an emotional hardship.
I am inclined to say return the dog and get her a healthy pet. I would avoid the place where you got this animal, since PARVO is contagious.
This tough decision is yours to make. Good luck with it.

Ford Lariat, I mean you no disrespect. Any other time I would agree with you completely. I lost my Black German Shepherd about 2 years ago to a stomach tumor. Finding her in my garage after she had passed was one of the worst days of my life. I still remember it vividly. I would hate to see NTIMD8 or his wife have to experience this at such a difficult time.

 

aw, yeah, you're right best thing I think would be to get a positively healthy pup.

 

well after speaking to several vets they told me that 95% of the time if a puppy survives Parvo it has no ill effects in the long run. But with that said the Vet told me I should get my money back since it it has parvo who knows what other problems it may have waiting to come out in the future.

The only problem is I can not get another pup for 6 months since the Parvo virus can live in the house for that long.

 

are you serious? that is a real bummer... Is there any sort of spray or cleaner you could use in the meantime? or vaccinate the new pup?

 

Not really. The only really effective disinfectant is bleach. I already washed everything I could that it came in contact with in a bleach solution but I cant do anything aboput things like the carpet in the house and stuff. The wife wouldnt like for me to turn the carpets in our new house white. LOL

As for the vaccine.. well this dog was vaccinated for parvo. The problem is its not effective in puppies earlier than 20 weeks old since the antibodies they carry from their mom will not allow the vaccine to be effective.

I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 

How old is Zipper? Maybe just get a dog older than 20 weeks old? I'll pray about it for you

 

Zipper was 8 weeks old.

The thing is a am doing a lot of reading about Parvo and it looks like if the dog survives it then odds are great that it will lead a normal life. So that part is not hard.

Now the doctor is saying that since it got parvo it may have come from a puppy mill where disease and "defects" are likley so it may have other problems (not related to parvo) down the line.

I think what I will do is talk to the owner tomorrow and try to get some info on the liniage of the dog and basically get more info about her. If I am 100% satisfied I will maybe take her back. If not then I will walk away.

I will say one thing.. The cat is much happier now that the dog is not here.

 

Well, I kinda disagree with ya here.
1) Show her dog
2) Wife extremely happy
3) Break news that dog has parvo
4) Wife extremely sad

So its probably better off not letting her know about the dog (or at least not letting her see it and get the chance to get attached...God knows that doesnt take long).

 

NTIMD8, wow 6 months before you could get another dog. That really sucks. I do agree with the Vet, the person you got Zipper from either operates a puppy mill or got her from a puppy mill. Many, many health issues can arise from the sort of environment they are subjected to in those types of places. In addition she may not even be the pure breed you paid for. A single female dog can have a litter of puppies in which every puppy has a different father. While she may have been breed with another Boston Terrier, if things weren't watched closely she may have had a few other partners as well. The fact that she looks like a Boston Terrier really means nothing, puppies change a lot in appearance in their first year of life.

Here is a web site with some very interesting information on AKC registration and pure breed dogs. I would read it over before talking to the owner because there are a few slippery things that can be done to make a dog appear to be what it might not be. AKC Info

Good luck.

 

Update,
the wife got back home and I update her on what has been going on. She takes it very well and wants to go talk to the pet store to make sure they are taking the correct steps to take care of the other dogs they had.

In doing so we find out what Vet they took our puppy to so we go pay him a visit. He was very nice and informative. He told us that our puppy had a mild case of parvo (No blood in the stool or vomit) and that he is optimistic for a full recovery. He also said that with any disease at such a young age he can not say 100% that it will not affect it in the future but told us that odds a very slim that the dog will have problems in the future related to this.

So good news all around. I will keep everyone updated and want to say thank you for all the kind posts and informative ones as well.

You guys are great.

 

 

Glad you got some good news, and I'm glad we could be here for you. Hope things continue to improve!