As breeders of beardies we do the best we can to make sure the puppies we produce have the best conformation, health and temperaments – even if type is something we may never all agree on. We also try to do everything we can to ensure those puppies go to the best homes
there are. We do everything to safeguard their futures with contracts stipulating what will happen if the owners decide they no longer want to or are unable to keep their puppy, when pets should be spayed or castrated,
and a lot more guidelines for those puppies we send to show homes. However, contracts are, as we all know, very hard to enforce.
We also spend a lot of time talking to the new owners about every aspect of puppy care, feeding, grooming, training, house-breaking, sports,toys, crates and health problems that they should be aware of within the

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Breed. We also know that in their excitement of adding a new family member most of it went in one ear and out the other. If we have established the right bond with the new owners we hope they will come back to us for every question they have, and at first they do, but many want to
just enjoy their own puppy and communication
begins to dwindle. Staying in touch and frequently checking
in with all the owners is something we should be doing though, and not just to make sure they are participating in the registry. We need to know how every pup we produced works out, for our own information, certainly
to improve our abilities to assess future litters, but what about once they are grown up?

We need to know of any health problems, but particularly those which are known to be inherited or may be inherited. There is a scenario that was presented to us recently though, and it is one that may help us try and formulate
a plan in case we find ourselves in the same situation. An adult Beardie was diagnosed with Addison’s disease and the owners opted to have the dog euthanatized before letting the breeder know. I don’t know the reasons for the owners’ decision, although we can speculate
on them. I do know the breeder was very unhappy. She would have wanted the opportunity to recover the dog and treat it. On the one hand we can look at this as a decision that was solely the owners to make. It may
have been made based on their financial ability, there unwillingness to care for a dog with an illness that would require constant monitoring and would not be the healthy companion they wanted, or it could have
been based on the recommendation of the veterinarian. Sadly, many vets feel it is their business to make decisions based on their perceptions of the owners and their circumstances. Many vets will not have
treated cases of Addison’s and not be able give an accurate prognosis –
that most dogs with hypoadrenocorticism can live happy and pretty healthy lives with appropriate treatment. At this time, making the decision, the owners were probably not thinking about the breeder. Obviously,
there are times when a dog is in pain, failing fast, has been in a bad accident when the owner should make the decision without consulting the breeder, with the best interests of the dog only being important. This was a situation in which the breeder felt she should have had the opportunity for input, to ask that if the owners did not want to pursue treatment they return the dog to the breeder. Given that adoptive homes rarely want to take on a dog with chronic (and expensive) illness, that is probably committing herself to caring for the dog for the rest of its
life. She was not given that option, however.
While she could stipulate in her contract that the owner should consult the breeder whenever the dog becomes sick or euthanasia is being considered – a useful clause, but as with the rest of the contract basically
impossible to enforce – is there anything more the breeder could have done? It’s not easy to bring up the subject of what if…. we don’t like to consider the possibility that
those cute fluff balls could ever develop a life threatening, chronic disease, especially when they are at what should be the start or maybe the middle of a long and happy life,but to prevent us from finding ourselves in this situation, it is what we need to do. We need to be comfortable
discussing the health problems that afflict our basically healthy breed, particularly the ones we know to be prevalent in the breed. We can tell the buyer we have done everything currently possible to give
them a healthy puppy, but that there are no guarantees, and some puppies will be afflicted despite our best efforts. Having discussed the possibilities we then need to go one step further. We need to lay our commitment
to the puppy on the line, to say that if the dog becomes sick, and the owners for whatever reason feel they cannot cope with the illness, that we will take that puppy back, whatever its age, just as we would take it back if it was healthy but the owners changed their minds. We
made the decision to bring the puppy into the world, and want to be there for the decision as to when it should leave. Then we need to remind the owners of this commitment at appropriate intervals. Say something once, even something of such impact, and it will be forgotten,
it takes at least three iterations for anything to be remembered. Hopefully, all your puppies will live full and healthy lives with their new owners, but if that is not to be the case, we have a lifelong responsibility
to them, and should make it clear
that this is so.
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A grateful thank you to Linda Aronson, DVM for this article.