In June we purchased a blue female great dane puppy from Trish Hanson at Niobrara Great Danes in Nebraska. She arrived at our house on August 21st 2010 at 9 weeks of age. She suddenly dropped dead at my feet in my living room on August 8th at 13 months old.
During 11 months she was with us we had multiple vet visits for health issues starting upon her arrival. Upon arriving to us I knew something was not right as she had zero control over her bladder, we saw the vet multiple times for this during her first few weeks in our home, her testing eventually came back with extreme amounts of e-coli in her system. I did have many conversations with Trish about this; she listened but not helpful and did not offer any solutions, except for getting angry when I told her that she arrived with it and most likely had contracted it in the whelping area. I did not expect to receive a puppy that required hundreds of dollars of vet care within her first few weeks with us, especially since this was supposed to be a quality dog for which we paid $2200.
Over the next few months I found Trish to be quite responsive to my calls as I had many questions. My girl was very small and not growing as expected, I was surprised as Trish had told me that her dam was 33 & 135lbs and her sire was 36 1/2. She also had very bad haws and very high visible 3rd eyelids.in one of my conversations with Trish I asked about this and was told that her sire had eyes just like this but that it was a common and normal trait for great danes. I also asked why she was so small, to which I was told that her dam was small and only 30-31 which is 2-3 inches shorter than I was told before purchase.
We had also discussed health testing in depth and how important it was before our purchase, I was told that all health testing was done and that the dogs were retested every two years, after we started having some health issues I looked up the parents on OFA but they were not listed, in fact none of the dogs at Niobrara are listed. I contacted Trish about this, she responded that she does test but does not send the results in, so I asked to please send me copies of the tests done on the parents for my records. I received no response and at this point Trish became very hard to get hold of. I was never able to get her on the phone nor did she respond to my e-mails.
I sent many e-mails over the next few months as I had questions that only she could answer, that related to her line, I also called regularly and left messages to call me that I would like to talk and had questions no responsenot one.
The last time I actually got hold of Trish was in April when I actually got her on the phone, however she told me she was running out and would call me back in 10 mins, she never did nor did I hear from her again. Also in April my bitches allergies kicked in resulting in more vet visits, her haws were getting worse and her 3rd eyelids were getting higher. More unreturned calls. Life went on, we loved that dog, allergies, bad eyes, small, didnt matter she was our baby girl!
On August 8th lovely lazy summer day, we had spent the day relaxing, nothing unusual at all. At 5.30pm she came over to me for some lovings, and laid on the floor at my feet, I was just about to get up and get her dinner ready when she let out an awful howl, I dived to the floor to her side, but she was DEAD. I was shocked it happened in a matter of seconds, literally I was right there, yet in the time it took me to dive to the floor she was gone.
I cant even describe how awful it was, my husband was deployed to Iraq and I was home alone. I was hysterical and devastated. My neighbors came over and helped me take her body to the vet. We did not even have her 1 full year, she was only 13 months old. I told the vet I wanted to necropsy but wanted to talk to my breeder first, they agreed they would hold her until they heard back from me.
I called Trish multiple times that evening, constantly, I called her cell, her home, I left messages on both phones. I e-mailed her, I posted on her facebook that I needed her. For some reason I thought I needed her, I dont know why, but she was my breeder. Thankfully two of my friends came over to be with me.
Trish finally picked up her phone at 7.20pm, I was hysterical I told her what happened, Trish said oh Im so very sorry, was she bit by snake, was she bit by a spider I said no I think she had a heart attack. I told her the vet was holding her body waiting to hear from me as I had requested a necropsy but told them I needed to talk to her first as I did not know what to do. I was so upset and all I could think of was that they would be cutting up my baby girl, I wanted answers but all I could think of was my poor sweet girl lying there dead and being cut open L
Trish said she was fine with whatever decision I made, that she understood and then said when your heart has healed a bit give me a call and I will work with you on another puppy. While this conversation was happening my vet called my cell phone and my friend answered, they needed an answer as they could not hold her much longer, so we told them we would skip the necropsy and to go ahead and arrange her cremation.
That night I had to sit here and wait for my husband to call via skype from Iraq so I could tell him that we had lost our baby girl, he was due to come home 1 month later and our baby girl would not be here waiting for him.
Early the next morning I received a facebook message from Trish stating that she had spoken with her vet and that she had showed him pictures of my dog and that they were all in agreement that she did not have a heart condition, that it must have been something else
(not doing the necropsy came back and bit me fast)
We knew that we did not want to be worked with on another puppy from Trish b/c of what just happened and with the other problems she had during her short life we felt that another pup was out if the question as we did not want our hearts broken again. Trish at Niobrara Great Danes gives a 2 year health guarantee, and since our baby girl passed at only 13 months we felt a refund was the only option.
During this time I joined an online dane forum where I learned of other Niobrara dogs with health issues, some had allergies, some had cherry eye and entropian, and another died of auto immune. This of course only solidified our decision that we could in no way trust our health to another Niobrara puppy and a refund was in order.
So the messages started and yes they got nasty, our request for a refund was ignored, instead Trishs e-mails concentrated on talking in circles, using big words trying to confuse us, and deflection. She was angry that we were questioning her, yet we were the ones who lost our baby, WE had the right to be angry!
We also learned that our pups great grandsire died of a heart condition at 3 years old, to which she responded that he died of a heart condition b/c he was standing too close to a lightening strike. Also that her grandsire also died young, her story here is that he died from a run in with a porcupine. Once I told her about the other dogs that I knew about and their health issues she promptly deleted me as a friend and blocked me from her facebook. Still never addressing our request for a refund. Leaving many of my responses unanswered.
During the months that followed I learned of more dogs/pups from her program with health issues, and met other owners who have also been left high and dry and ignored by Trish. There is one in particular who is only 18 months old and is a genetic mess he is blind in one eye and partially blind in the other, he has severe allergies, and is very small, his owner has had no response to her many messages from Trish. Upon further research I also realized that many of her dogs die young even those on her in memory page died young, the average seems to be 4-6 years old.
After 6 months I finally felt ready/able to address Trish and some of her remarks she made in our earlier communications, also to address the lies that she told me before purchase, and of course to again address the fact that she never responded to our request for a refund even though we asked multiple times.
We had to do this via regular e-mail since she has me blocked on FB. She did respond although she did not address anything other than to say that I was being nasty and that she had offered me a replacement puppy and that I had to Feb 15th to tell her if I wanted one.
I told her that due to the number of dogs with health issues that I had learned about which I had mentioned in our previous communications and 3 more than I have learned about during the last few months, that we in no way wanted another pup from her, and that we were firm in our decision and felt the only option was a refund, which considering circumstances we felt any reasonable person would agree. There was no way we could trust our hearts to another of her pups, that would be setting ourselves up for the possibility of more heartbreak.
Trish responded stating that she would NOT refund our money, that we could not prove anything (not doing the necropsy coming back to bite me again) and that as far as she was concerned the dog died from eating something in our back yard, or a neighbor gave her a poisoned treat and we could not rove otherwise. She also stated that she was only responsible for the health of the pup up to when it left her, that after she arrived in our home WE were responsible for her health. So much for her 2 year health guarantee.
In closing I have found this whole experience distasteful and Trish to be a truly disgusting, nasty and dishonest person who refuses to stand behind the health of her pups. We had our girl less than a year we paid $2200 plus shipping, during the 11 months we had her, our vet bills totaled almost $1500 a lot for a supposedly healthy, well bred pup! We received zero support and are left heartbroken with a guarantee that was not honored!
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