I also purchased a puppy that was from Pinyan Labs through a pet store in August (my dog was born in May so he is almost 4 years old now). We saw the puppy at the store and fell in love with how cute he was. I hate the idea of buying from pet stores, and had told myself that I never would, but this puppy was adorable. Before we purchased him, we called the breeder (Ron Pinyan) and he said we could come to his house to see the parents if we wanted. We drove to Ankeny to check out the parents (Duke and Roxie/Roxey Ron spells it both ways on his website, which should have been a red flag) and everything seemed okay, so we went back and purchased the puppy.
Since then, we have had a lot of trouble with him - he has a very sensitive stomach and for the first few years we had him, there was no dog food we could feed him without him having constant diarrhea. We tried everything fish based food from the natural pet store, lamb based, chicken based, then food without chicken because our vet thought maybe he was allergic to chicken, then food without wheat because the vet thought maybe it was a wheat allergy, browned hamburger and rice (a very bland diet to try and get the diarrhea to stop), supplementing his diet with canned pumpkin, raw chicken, etc. Etc. We even fed him green tripe (which is canned and smells TERRIBLE its the stomach of lamb and includes the partially digested grasses that the lamb last ate before they were slaughtered so its a horrible smell). We have tried everything and he is getting better maybe it just took him a few years to develop solid stools. We were taking him to the vet all the time because sometimes he would have blood in his stools since they were so loose for so long. We rented so many carpet cleaners from all the diarrhea we were having to clean up in the house that we finally just broke down and bought one to save on rental fees.
He also has problems with his coat it is always flaking and seems dry and he is always itching himself. We try not to bathe him too frequently as we want the natural oils in his skin to protect his skin/coat, but we have a spray on conditioner/deodorizer that we use between baths to help moisturize his skin. When we do bathe him (which is maybe every other month) we use a medicated shampoo and conditioner.in the winter, when his coat is especially flaky, we will give him salmon oil supplements.
For a lab, he is not a very smart dog. It took us until he was about 1.5 years old to get him potty trained. He is also very aggressive for a lab. He is the only dog in our house, so I dont know where he learned these behaviors as we have never mistreated him. We have tried to get him safe exposure to other dogs and have taken him to obedience classes, agility classes, the AKC good citizenship classes and even anger management classes that were offered by our trainer. It has maybe helped a little, but he is still very aggressive around other dogs. We tried to foster a dog last spring, but that didnt work because he was always after her, and even attacked and bit her at one point. We had to keep them in separate rooms or on leads if they were going to be in the same room at the same time (she wouldn't fight back - she would just crouch down on the ground as he was attacking her - so it was definitely all on his part). I think his behavior problems are due in part to the fact that he was separated from his mother way too soon. Ron had sold him to a pet store (Pet Land) and separated him from his mother at 6 weeks old. Reputable breeders keep the pups with the mother until they are at least 8 or 9 weeks, sometimes up to 12 weeks, so that the puppy can learn proper interactions with other dogs. I think poor breeding also caused his health problems (diarrhea, constantly flaky coat, etc). I shudder to think about the bone and joint problems that will likely develop as he ages. With that being said, I love my dog and would never get rid of him, and I do like the color of his coat (charcoal), but I would never purchase another puppy through Pinyan Labs again. I think trying to breed these "designer" colors causes more problems than it is worth. The next time I am ready to get a dog, I am going to do a lot of research to find a reputable breeder that cares about the quality of their pups and improving the breed.
Also, I do think it's suspicious how many times a year Ron breeds his bitches. I keep an eye on his website and he has been breeding my dog's mother twice a year for multiple years - which is WAY too frequently and is dangerous to the mother and the pups. I also think it's suspicious how many female dogs he has and breeds. Buyer beware.
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