Hi! I’m new here and I need help. Upon picking our puppy up from the breeder’s driver last week, I noticed that she was bunny hopping around and her feet weren’t totally underneath her. It was really bothering me, so I called the breeder. The breeder said she had been nursing so much on her belly and her legs just needed to gain more muscle to get them underneath her vs out to the side. The puppy is fast and never skips a beat, but you could just tell something was “off.” She also does the splits a lot... especially when eating. The breeder had her vet (who checked the pup before departure) call me and that vet explained to me that she just simply needed exercise to gain muscle mass and I believed/trusted her. So against my better judgement, I took the puppy. Introduced her to my 3 children (2nd big mistake/poor judgement.) The next day I had her checked at the vet and he had concerns about her hind legs as well. I brought it up, but he said he noticed they were abnormal. So we did x-rays (special kind of X-ray that can be used on young pups?) and discovered that the femoral heads are in the joints correctly and the hips are symmetrical, she’s fine when weight-bearing but he could lay her on her back and “butterfly” her hips all the way back to where they’re parallel with her tailbone. This is the problematic part and said it will be “lots of headaches and lots of money” if we continue down this road with her. It makes her hind legs basically go all over the place when she runs. He suggested I contact the breeder and take her back. I was absolutely devastated. Told him that my kids would be crushed, so then he advised we take an alternate route bc kids are involved and try to just strengthen those leg muscles to give her a chance And see if she can adapt to the abnormality. He said 50/50 chance. Has anyone been through this??? Obviously we are having such a hard time returning her. Breeder is offering full refund but refuses a partial refund even though I sent her our appointment recap. This whole thing is a nightmare. I can’t sleep or eat, I’m so absolutely devastated. I have beat myself up so much for putting my family in this position, I’m physically ill over it all. This is our first experience buying a puppy and I can tell you it’s been awful. Live and learn....
I must be honest, I would return the puppy now for a full refund. Your children will be happier in the long run with a perfectly healthy puppy that doesn't have to be treated like china, or could possibly need operations with long recovery times. I believe that if the breeder is sure that the puppy will come right, it is their duty to keep it back until it is right. Did the puppy come with with insurance? - usually this is the free six week variety which you are invited to continue. If you do decide to keep the puppy, I would keep it going for the present. My big doubt here is that it sounds as if there has already been a vet opinion on this puppy before you took her - which could already be on her record. Did you buy her from a Kennel Club Assured Breeder? No guarantees by doing this, but it could give you a bit more clout in a dispute.
I agree with @CaroleC. If the puppy's hips rotate like that when she is on her back it means that even though the head of the femur is in the correct position they are not held firmly in the sockets. I do not have any experience of hip problems in puppy but had years of heartbreak with all the hip surgeries my daughter had to have, starting from when she was 13 months old. If your puppy needs surgeries - and it will quite possibly mean more than just one operation on both hips, it is going to cost a lot of money, cause her a considerable amount of pain recovering, and with still no guarantee that the puppy will end up with perfect hips. If the breeder offered a full refund there is a very good chance that she knew about the problem before you took the puppy, as hip dysplasia is a known genetic trait in French Bulldogs, among other breeds.
Unfortunately I’m in agreement with the others. Frenchie’s are extremely difficult and expensive to keep healthy regardless of pre existing conditions. It will more than likely get much worse before it gets better. Best of luck to you and your family in this difficult situation. I feel so sad for the pup.
As this thread is over a year old and the OP has not returned since, she is highly unlikely to read your post.
