a sick labradoodle pup-any ideas?UPDATE!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Hi everyone--I have a friend who just got an F1 labradoodle from a "backyard breeder"--my daughter is familiar with the breeder and she has had very healthy pups in the past and has shown herself to be a good person who cares about her pups and raises them in her home where they get lots of love--so that made us feel secure about suggesting this litter to my friend --who could not afford to pay a lot for a pup.
So, there were 12 pups--one died right away and one, that my friends has chosen as theirs early on from a photo, has some vomiting issues--he was very small and had trouble eating--but then he seemed to improve, so they got him anyway (the breeder had offered them another pup). Now, he is home with them and at 8 weeks old, he weighs 6 1/2 pounds--he is small but also quite skinny. (Parents are a full size lab and standard poodle, so he could be much bigger). He is also adorable, with an apricot cream coat, a brown nose and green eyes!
Here comes the hard part--two days ago, one of his brothers had pnuemonia from aspirating food and the vet determined that he had megaesophagus. The people did not want to deal with that incurable condition, which requires you to feed the pup in a special chair for the rest of his life and they put him down.
Of course, this made us all very nervous about my friend's pup--but despite his small size, he was acting normally otherwise--until last night. I got a call to come over quickly to see if I could help my friend because the pup was vomiting his dinner for over 40 minutes. By the time I got there, he was sleeping, but a bit raspy and uncomfortable. We are hoping it is not the megaesophagus issue. He had been playing hard just before dinner and maybe he ate too fast, or maybe he ate something when they took him outside, we just don't know and we are hoping it is nothing serious--but he was really having trouble swallowing. I gave him a bit of water with a syringe and he threw up another little blob of kibble--then after i left, he vomited a few more times about an hour later. The he slept well thru the night.

This morning, he is acting normal and ate his breakfast just fine--he played and did his business with out issues. I advised them to feed him just half of his meal at a time since, being the smallest in his litter, he gobbles the food like it is an eating contest.

My question is--can megaesophagus come and go? Can a pup have episodes of it (especially if they eat after hard playing) and be normal otherwise? Has anyone had experience with it? I told my friend that if they had another night like last night, they should have it checked out--I think you just have to do an X-ray. I sure hope this little cutie (who will hopefully be joining DK soon) is OK!!!

UPDATE:  The pup went to a vet today at the best facility around here--they said his lungs were clear, no fever (so he didn't aspirate any food) and they saw no obvious signs of Megaesophagus, but if there is another vomiting episode, they should bring the pup in for an Xray. He did not think it was necessary to do it today (That doesn't seem very helpful to me, but that is what happened.)

THEN, the breeder called and said that 9 out of 11 pups have it so far--OMD!!! I think she must have gotten the message to not repeat that breeding--if she didn't learn from that statistic, nothing is going to convince her! So sad to think that all those pups are sick--her family must be very upset as they kids help raise the pups and they are very sweet people.

I will see the puppy now and then and I hope I see him gain some weight--he is so thin, but he eats well, so hopefully he will gain now.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm guessing that people who can't afford to buy a puppy from health tested parents also can't afford to buy insurance for their pets, either. :-( 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

You know the hard fact is that some people cannot afford to have a dog whether it is cheap, free or costs a lot. The first cost is often the smallest part.  If you want to be a good dog owner then you need money, there are no two ways around it. Just basic costs of good food, vet bills, preventatives and insurance are not for the faint hearted. I didn't even mention grooming or training.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Exactly. 

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Soooo true Nicky!

[Ginny Nightingale]

You are missing the point-these people have plenty of money to care for a dog, but they have a deep down cultural belief that you don't PAY a lot for a dog--I don't know where that comes from, but it is true around these parts! When people see the gorgeous multigen LD pups I raise, they ask if I am giving them away!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Excuse me, Ginny, but I don't think anyone missed the point. We can read. You said: "...made us feel secure about suggesting this litter to my friend --who could not afford to pay a lot for a pup."

So which is it? They couldn't afford to buy from a reputable breeder, or "they have a lot of money" but it's their cultural beliefs and your recommendation that led them to support a backyard breeder who is breeding untested dogs and who produced this litter of poor sick puppies who are suffering, one of whom has already been killed? 

[Ginny Nightingale]

They made a choice, not me--i have tried and tried to get them to do something different and the wife was with me, but the husband was not--there is only so much a person can do to interfere with another person's personal decisions--I felt that all I could do was point them to someone honest and relatively responsible. They do not have a lot of money, but can certainly afford to take care of a dog, they just refuse to budget more than a certain amount to BUY the dog--I hear this over and over from people and heard it again today--"how much is the puppy? Oh, my husband would never spend that much for a dog."

and gee, Karen, I think you are terrific and SO darn smart and helpful, but could you try to tone down the rhetoric once in a while? You make a person feel 2 inches tall--totally unnecessary IMHO. Maybe you don't realize how venomous your emails sound, but they do. I guess that the ONE time i said something that is a bit less than sweet and nice like "you are missing the point" I get blasted--take it easy sweetie....this is a friendly forum!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I apologize for my tone. I guess I am just dumbstruck that anyone with the knowledge of proper, responsible breeding and the importance of health testing on breeding dogs that you have would recommend a backyard breeder, no matter how "nice" that person might be. Very few people are angels or devils. Most people are basically nice, decent people. But nice people can do bad things, and nice people can do stupid  things, especially where money is involved. 

Nobody expects you to interfere with someone's personal decisions, but you also don't have to encourage them or give them recommendations.   If someone I know says "I really want a labradoodle but I can't afford to pay $2000 for one, do you know where I can get one cheaper?" I just say no, I don't. I cannot recommend that anyone I know, let alone a friend, give their money to someone who breeds untested dogs. To do so is to participate in rewarding irresponsible breeding. Look right here at the pain this has caused, to humans and dogs alike. It's caused me pain just hearing about it. 

I understand that some people will not pay a lot of money for a dog. It's not just in your part of the country. I know dozens of people right here who don't believe in buying a dog for any amount of money at all when the shelters and rescues are full of wonderful dogs. And if anyone doubts that, I guess they will to tell me that JD is not wonderful, lol. 

The thing is, nobody has to have a labradoodle. It's not a necessity of life. Most of us here have owned dogs of other breeds, and we loved them just as much as we love our current dogs. Dogs are dogs. I love JD beyond reason, but not because of his breed mix. There is no shortage of puppies and dogs available for anyone who wants one. So there is no reason to endorse or recommend breeders who are not doing everything they can to ensure that the dogs they are deliberately bringing into this world purely for profit are the healthiest dogs they can possibly be. Nobody has to breed dogs, either. 

Ginny, I am sure that you didn't mean any harm, either to your friends or to those of us here, but this kind of story breaks my heart. And it's all so unnecessary. If there is venom in my tone, it's not for the sake of rhetoric or to make anyone feel small, it's born of frustration and hurt, that a long time active DK regular, an HDA, who advocates health testing and is proud of the healthy beautiful puppies she raises, from healthy beautiful parents, would in any way publicly  try to justify or rationalize the kind of breeding that brought about all these sick puppies, let alone recommend the BYB. I am truly sorry, and I should have said it this way to begin with, but I just don't get it. 

[Ginny Nightingale]

I will ask my daughter to explain to them that the sister should not be bred--she is a bit reluctant to get involved in my doggie issues (she is a dairy and equine vet!) but maybe she can tell her small animal vet colleague about it.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

That's great Ginny, anything that might help is worth while. 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Another idea may be that this pup's new owner can introduce this concept. Convince this breeder to do their own research! If we here in DK can find the information, certainly the breeder can.
Talk with your friend and encourage her to confront the breeder about this horrible genetic condition

[Ginny Nightingale]

The couple just heard from the breeder again--1 pup has been returned and they are looking for a home for it--a chocolate pup-then 1 was put down as I mentioned and the other 7 are being loved and cared for by the people that bought them despite the diagnosis. The breeder has no female to breed now and is not going to breed anymore. She is very perplexed by the fact that her vet missed this and that everyone who took a pup home knew within days that their pup has it. Yes, that is certainly strange--why didn't the breeder see what the new owners must have seen? When I was at my friend's house yesterday and the pup was vomiting, it was not a normal type of vomiting--poor thing was struggling to breathe and swallow--I think they will eventually find something wrong, but they do not have to face it until they get that Xray.