ComplaintsforVon Sederhaus Rotts

• Initial Complaint

  03/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On Feb 18/23 we purchased a puppy from this breeder. On March 1/23 we learned from our vet that the puppy has multiple congenital health problems including a heart murmur, limb deformity, umbilical hernia, developmental delay, likely neurological deficits, and our vet feels there will be more issues identified as the puppy grows. Several of these issues will require surgical intervention at a considerable cost. This breeder claims their puppies are health tested and come with a health guarantee (as posted on their website). I contacted the breeder immediately upon receiving this information and was very coldly told to return the puppy for a refund. We are committed to this animal for the duration of his life, however long that *** be. We requested financial compensation for the costs to be incurred and they are refusing, going against all of their alleged guarantees. The animals at their facility are kept in deplorable conditions.

  Business response

  03/16/2023

  Greetings, 

  Our apologies for not replying- we did not receive the first email. 
  

  Our policy is if the pup is defective, to either return the pup for a replacement or refund. We notified the client of the existence of the hernia and discounted the sale price to more than reflect the cost of that surgery (cost was determined by our vet who said such surgery could not be done before 4 months old.) the client was aware of this picking up the pup. 
  

  as for other health concerns - often times this breed will have a fluctuation of heart murmur in early life - more often then not, it resolves itself. And the other complaints we requested the medical transcripts- which we have not received.  
  

  This client has received multiple pups and a retired dog from our kennel in the past - the complaints are from his new bride, who instead of calling and having an proactive conversation with us - reached out by text and approached the situation with aggressive text, not resolution approach. 
  

  Returning the pup for a full refund is our best option. We are will to refund once the pup is returned.
  

  ***********************

  Customer response

  05/04/2023

   
  Complaint: 19524621
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  As a follow up to this breeders response to my initial complaint, I would like to point out that no health records were requested by the breeder for our puppy. We advised them that when we had a complete assessment from our vet, we would provide those records and further discuss financial compensation. However, the issues are ongoing. As we speak, our pup, who is now 4 months old, is undergoing surgery to repair his umbilical hernia. It was also discovered by our vet that he has either an undescended ********, or it is missing altogether. If the surgeon can locate it during the hernia repair, she will remove it. If not, further testing and surgery will be required. Initially our puppy was to have this surgery much earlier, and was cleared by a cardiologist on March 15th (despite identifying a grade 3/4 heart murmur on echocardiogram). However, surgery was repeatedly delayed due to multiple rounds of treatment for medication-resistant Giardia, which he came to us with. I made our vet aware that this breeders wife is administering totally inappropriate medications at dangerously high doses to these puppies (250mg metronidazole, which is a highly toxic dose for puppies as young as ours was when I observed her administer it to him - 6 weeks). Per our vet, these doses can cause neurological damage in young puppies. It is worthy to note that our puppy is exhibiting concerning behavior (unprovoked aggression), and is going to be evaluated by a neurologist, and we will be working with a specialized trainer once he has been medically cleared. This has all come at considerable cost.

  It is true that my husband was a long-standing client of this breeder, and purchased a healthy puppy from him 5 years ago. He is a wonderful dog. We then adopted a retired breeding dog from them in 2021, but he came to ** in poor condition and has required upwards of $12K in vetting to get him healthy. This is when our mutual concerns began with the breeder and their practices. The breeders response to my complaint insinuating that I as his new bride am the problem is untrue, and highly unprofessional. 

  I made multiple attempts to contact them when we first learned of our puppys multiple congenital issues, and received no response beyond return the pup for a refund. When I persisted, they requested that there be no further communication in writing. Upon receipt of a full and complete report from our vet team, including cost totals, we will be providing this information to this breeder. Meanwhile we have concerns that the deplorable conditions at this facility, coupled with the practices we observed at this business, more sick puppies are being sold to unsuspecting people. 

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  06/03/2023

  Our policy is to offer the family a full refund with the return of the pup which we did offer - they declined the offer

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩