[Chihuahua] Is this defect congenital or womb-related?

Question

I am looking into adopting a puppy with a malformed front left paw. The breeder so far seems to be ethical although I have not been able to visit her home yet. She is "giving" the dog to me under condition that I sign a contract to have her spayed as soon as she is old enough, and if at any time I cannot take care of her, I must return her to the breeder to be re-homed. I am reimbursing her for veterinary expenses such as vaccinations.

This is what the breeder has told me about the puppy - she is the runt of a 10 pup litter with 7 surviving. There were many difficulties in the birth of this litter. The dog is from champion lines (I will research this to make sure) and is capable of being AKC registered. The breeder is of the opinion that she simply did not have enough room in the womb to grow, and as a result she has the defect as well as the extremely small size.

A question for Chihuahua breeders: Is this common in large litters, or should I watch out for other defects as well?

I have to add - I WAS invited to her house to inspect the dog and her mom. Her sire was hired out of the next town over so he is not available to see.

I'm going to meet this dog tomorrow, and the breeder is insistent that if I want her, I should visit her often and start bonding with her now.

I should also add - the only reason I'm concerned with "champion lines" is to narrow down the risk of having a pup with many health problems related to inbreeding, as well as temperament.

Answer 1

I raise chihuahuas. Frankly this sounds like a case of inbreeding. There may be other problems that don't show up until later on. If you take her, be prepared to lose her as a young pup/dog and there may be huge vet bills. I do not think this deformity happened in the uterus, altho I did have a chihuahua born with a very crooked tail that was a result of too many pups in the litter(only 6). Still this type of deformity is usually from bad breeding. 10 pups is a huge amount pf pups for a chihuahua. Specially if she was a small chihuahua which the show dogs usually are.

Answer 2

I would definately look more into this situation. It is possible that the dog is malformed due to size of the womb but ask if the breeder has a return policy in place where if you take the pup to your vet to be checked for health and something more is wrong and you decide not to keep it can you return it. Quality breeders hould always have a spay contract and allow you to return the dog if you are unable to keep it so that's good there. You can also go to a Chi web site like the AKC and check out and see what all the health concerns are.

Answer 3

I have never heard of a litter of 10 Chihuahua's but I guess it's possible. The most I have heard of before is 8 when some have died. In one case the mother died too. I would imagine in such a large litter of Chi's at least some would die.

The breeder seems to be putting on all the right conditions like you must spay her and return her to you if you can;t keep her for any reason. I would make sure to visit her home where the dog was bred before going any further though and ask to see both parents. Of course if she has several dogs the ones you see may not be the actual parents if she is not honest.

I would have your vet check her out, (not the breeders vet) If he says she's healthy and you fall for her I see no reason why she should not make a wonderful forever friend.

Answer 4

I agree with you that the breeder "seems to be ethical", based on the questions she has asked and the conditions she is setting. However, I would be very concerned about future health problems with this pup. I would say that it is very likely that she will have issues.

I would absolutely recommend a comprehensive evaluation by a vet. Make sure you explain the entire situation to the vet so they can check for many common health issues.

I would also ask the breeder these types of questions:
- is she a member of the Chihuahua Club of America? If she says yes then check here to be sure:
http://www.chihuahuaclubofamerica.com/AlphabeticalMembershipList.htm
- how many litters has the dam had before this one?
- how many pups in each of those litters?
- how many deaths/deformities?
- how big/small were those pups?
- have the dam or sire had any medical issues?
- have any of the offspring had medical issues?
- ask to see the medical history of the dam and the sire
- ask to see medical evaluation documentation for prior offspring
- ask for a list of people who have bought/adopted prior offspring, especially any that were extra small or have deformities. Then call some of the owners on the list and ask them about their experiences with medical or other issues with their dogs.

If the breeder seems defensive or guarded about answering any of the questions or can't produce thorough documentation on the dam/sire or pups, then those are big red flags.

If the dam has a history of large litters (more than 5 pups) then another red flag - a breeder more concerned about making money than about the health of the dam or the offspring.

Also, lookup other breeders in your area from the Chihuahua Club of America site and ask them their opinion of this breeder. Explain the situation to them and ask their advice.

If you still want the pup after all of this, then at least you are going into the relationship with eyes wide open. I'd advise doing some soul searching to be sure that you are willing to love and care for the dog no matter what happens in the future.

Good luck and God bless,
Gregg DIckson
http://www.chihuahuafanatics.com/

Answer 5

I don't know what caused the puppy's problem, but the breeder seems to at least care about the animals. If she didn't, she wouldn't ask you to bring the puppy back in the event that a problem does occur.

I don't know why you care about the dog's champion lines. I don't think it's of any importance...especially since you won't be breeding the dog.

My only concern with obtaining a puppy under these circumstances would be that the puppy might turn out to have other problems that got expensive. And yeah, I could take the puppy back to the breeder, but I'd be attached to it and wouldn't want to. It also wouldn't be reasonable for me to expect the breeder to pay for the puppy's medical care AND allow me to keep the puppy.

Of course on the other hand, a "healthy" pet could develop an expensive medical problem, as well. I'd go visit the little puppy and go with what my heart told me.

Answer 6

Champion blood lines. That doesn't mean much. Not really. Large litters do NOT normally have these problems. Such defects can be genetic. Usually, they are the result of a vitamin deficiency, either from over-breeding or from poor prenatal care. Not always, but generally.

We had a pug who littered ten puppies, and only one died. It was stillborn because it was breach. I know people who breed dogs (would never do it myself), and out of most litters, there were no fatalities. And these were miniature dobermans (whatever that breed really is called, I'm not sure).

I've also known a breeder (short lived aquaintance) who was quite unethical and kept the dogs in small cages and bred them almost as quick as they were born. These dogs often had pups with malformed or missing limbs (and these puppies were drowned at birth!!!!!) The smell was horrible, and the dogs would whine and bark non stop.

That could be why you aren't invited over.

Or, it could be a one time thing. That does happen. But seven out of ten, and one malformed? And you haven't been invited over? It stinks of puppy mill.

I'd say take the poor dog. A friend of mine had a three legged black lab named Tripod, and it was the best dog in the world.

Answer 7

It sounds like the owner is trying to do the right thing. I would not worry about her being akc registered thats just a sheet of paper.Also I would fix her anyway.If you look at dog adds and resues ect there are alot of chihuase out there way to many and some are homeless or being sold fairly cheap.My parents have three of them.They are so cute.They have one regular one and two mini tea cup ones .If you want the dog you should go for it.So she is not perfect but humans are not either.Also many years down the road when your dog is old you will know that you gave her a good life that alot of people would not have given her.I have taken plenty of animals with stuff .I dont care about akc papers personaly .I have seen so many people get rid of dogs for all the wrong reasons so it would be a really good thing for the puppy if you took her and gave her love while she is here on earth.Make sure you have her blood checked for blie acid levels they can do that in house lab its a cheap test .Its to check her liver acids to make sure she doesnt have a liver shunt that can happen with these smaller breeds.But dont be scared to take her every animal is going to cost some money.

Answer 8

10 is a huge litter for a chihuahua! My friend's mom bread chihuahuas in England for over 10 years and she said that 1-3 is normal with 5 being a big litter.

So far the breeder sounds trustworthy enough. Try to visit her home and see her dogs. See the puppy that you want to buy before you actually buy her.

Good Luck

Answer 9

If you think you can possibly afford later problems (that hopefully won't occur, but as with any dog, you never know), take the little pup - you sound like a loving person, and a little malformed pup is not what most people want. Give it a lot of love and a good home, and thank you for caring about a dog that many people wouldn't want.

Answer 10

The breeder sounds like she is responsible, which is good, however as for "champion lines" that really means absolutely nothing unless the breeder does health testing and also if parents/grandparents have been shown &pointed/championed.

In answer to your question because this was a large litter for a toy breed in all likelyhood it was caused by lack of room, however you need to beaware that other health issues have a high chance of cropping up later.