Puppy Health Guarantees and cashing them in????

[Bridget Bodine]

At the English Setter kennel I manage , we have a TEN year health guarantee for hips/elbows and hearing. WE return 100% of your money, you keep the dog, for issues that affect the dog. We do NOT guarantee they will pass any time of certification (OFA/Pennhip) .

[Takem_brewer]

I feel when you buy a pup, you know what you are getting based off of the parents. I understand that (using hips as example) you can get a dysplastic dog out of two good hipped dogs. Some of this can be environmental and some genetics, so should the breeder really have to pay for the environmental factor when there is no way to tell why the dog came back dysplastic? When you buy a dog, it is a gamble. It's not like you are going into wal-mart, buying a camera with a warranty, and using that warranty because something went wrong. You drop that camera off a building, should the warranty cover it? No. You let your dogs play on the ice and they injure themselves, should any warranty cover that? No. You let your dog become overweight and doesn't pass hips? Should warranty cover that? IMO, no.

Any dog I buy, the warranty means nothing to me. I made the choice to purchase a dog, knowing that somewhere down the road, there are going to be vet costs, and those are my costs because it is MY dog. That's part of the gamble with any dog. My breeders did the best they could from doing health clearances on the parents, running hunt tets/showing dog, and whelping/socializing my pup.

[FOM]

My last puppy failed his PennHip evaluation at 6 months (I do them prior to sending off for professional training), the breeder had a guarantee in place and honored it at 6 months after his Vet looked at the X-rays and agreed there was no possibility of him passing his OFAs. He did not have to, he could of waited the two years, but he knew I got the puppy for FTs and didn't want me to have to wait. He did offer a replacement puppy down the road also but we discussed the fact I did not want to wait another year. I also agree a guarantee is only as good as the person behind it. BTW the puppy was placed in a wonderful pet home and is loving life, best part of it is I get to doggie sit him every so often....it makes me happy to know how much he loves his new family! It was the best thing for him, his new family and us.

[hotel4dogs]

Friend of mine breeds (pet) labs, her warranty is full $$ back and you keep the dog, subject to examination by a vet of her choice. However, she has just added a clause that, if the dog is found to be 10% or more overweight by the vet of her choice, the warranty is void.

[DropinBack]

I think most breeders that "make you return" the dog/puppy know most people never will once they get attached... Thus, very rarely taking them back/honoring it...