Our breeder just told us our puppy died

[Rebecca Matthews]

So, sad.  We just found out from our breeder that our goldendoodle we had put a deposit on died.  From what we were told the 2 reds of the litter passed away from a strange internal organ bleeding condition.  We have since decided to go with another breeder (which we need to find in Northern California).  Please feel free to PM me with any great Goldendoodle breeders in the bay (there aren't many- most seem to be labradoodle breeders).  The wait lists are so long and we were so ready to have our girl home now!  We are heartbroken.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

That is good news that they may do a necropsy - it could be a genetic thing.... with 2 of them dying, and a good breeder needs to know that. 

[Bonnie and Kona]

This is so encouraging, Karen. It's wonderful that you have communicated this so we can see that there was nothing untoward about this incident. Hoping it was not a genetic fault.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

So sorry to hear about that two babies dying.  That is sooo sad.  I have a 5 year old standard F1 Goldendoodle who owns my heart!  I live in San Diego and my breeder is local.  I just looked at her website and she has two litters ready to go soon but they are all reserved.  She is taking names for a fall litter.  The website tells all about them and you can also go check out the parents of the litters.  I just friended you on your page.  I can't send you a PM until you friend me back.  When you do I can send you the link to her site.  My daughter lives in San Jose and we drive up with our Gracie Doodle a few times a year. It is exactly an 8 hour drive.  You could always arrange to come down and pick your pup up if you decide to use my breeder.  She does not ship!  Let me know if you are interested.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Nancie,

When you make a friend request you can add comments. I did it when I asked to make Rebecca a friend. If you have already sent the friend request I don't know if you can add a comment now.

[Rebecca Matthews]

Thanks so much for your offer.  I really appreciate it.  We just want to stick to local-Ish breeders (less than 3 hrs drive away).  So far we've found 5 in Northern California.  Hopefully our puppy will be at one of them :-)

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

That is sad and we had a similar experience with a puppy that was suddenly mysteriously missing after playing the in yard with some children. I liked the breeder and know she was very sincere in apologizing, and her concern for the pup. But we had a time crunch and I couldn't wait for the next litter or I would have stayed with this breeder. I trusted her and felt comfortable with her otherwise. But as it turns out, our Murphy was waiting nearby for us to come pick him as he knew he was meant for us before we did , I like to think that anyway.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

So very sorry to hear this.  Hope all works out in the long run though it is difficult now.

[Billy Woody]

Hello everyone, my name is Billy Woody and I am the breeder mentioned here. Let me just say it was more tough for me to send the email to Rebecca and the other families on the wait list for the puppies than it was being there in the emergency room at the vet for several hours.

I only wanted to chime in to clear up some questions. Yes, there are certainly some breeders out there who pull these "tricks" in order to sell dogs at higher prices, this is not us nor is it something we condone. We have been breeding goldendoodles for 10 years now and we stand behind our dogs and our integrity is our foundation.

The two puppies in question were from the same litter from a first time mommy (even as a breeder I can't use the word bitch, sorry) names Cricket. All of the puppies had been doing great. Cricket was a little removed from her puppies but this is normal for some new mommies but she still took good care of them. One morning one of the red males was very lethargic. I immediately examined him and noticed he had swelling in his belly. He was immediately taken to our breeder vet and care was administered. After several hours of working on him they said there was nothing more they could do as he was not responding to any care. So instead of allowing him to suffer any more we had him euthanized. A few days later the same thing happened with the female and we went through the same horrific ordeal of having to lose yet another puppy.

We spoke at length with the vet and she said it seemed as if they had ingested rat poison or some other poison. Well we knew it could not be rat poison because we purposely do not use any posions around the home because of both puppies and our young children. After more examination by Dr. Jackson it was revealed that there was an abscess on the right front leg. This had originally gone unnoticed. We now think that both puppies were victims of spider bites, possibly black widow or brown recluse. Because of this we have moved all of the puppies and dogs to a new location while the home and dog areas are treated by a pest control company.

I just want to assure you that while there are bad people in every line od business, there are also many good ones. if anyone has any questions about us, our dogs, or our business, I am an open book. 

...and Rebecca, I truly am terribly saddened and sorry about this. Part of what makes this so much fun for me is the joy I bring into people's lives when they take home their new puppy. I wish you and your husband the very best and I hope you find that precious doodle you have been looking for.

Billy Woody

Jennifer's Canines

[Bonnie and Kona]

Dear Billy,

It must have been difficult to read speculations about what may have happened to the puppies when you knew the heartbreaking truth. I am glad that you kindly posted this message for DK readers. It sounds like the loss of the puppies and the disappointment you had to share with your families was very difficult. We live in Northern CA, also, and have black widow spiders in our garage. I hope the rest of the litter is thriving and that the new mommy takes to her job readily this time and every time you get to breed her. 

Thank you for sharing this with us.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Thanks for the information. We wonder a lot but it is always best to get good information. I am so sorry you lost the pups. It is very scary to think a spider bite could be so lethal but puppies are so fragile.

[Rebecca Matthews]

Thank you, Billy, for your honest, kind and heartfelt post.  I'm sorry for all you have had to go through.  I hope this next week brings lots of smiles and happiness as the rest of the litter moves on to their forever homes.  All the best!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I am so sorry you had to go through all of this and how scary to think it was a spider. Sadly, sometimes even though we do our best, things still happen. I wish you all the best and thank you for your response.