We bought a "silver" lab puppy from Wicks Silver Labs (Pat Wickliffe-breeder) in Dec. Five days after having her home she started losing the fur on her face. We had her tested for manage at our local vet, testing was negative for manage ($75). The fur loss progress in patches over her entire body. We notified Mr. Wickliffe regarding the hair loss. He replied that he had contacted all the other owners of our pup's litter mates and none were having any problems with fur loss. Mr. Wickliffe stated that in 11 years of breeding our pup was the "first" puppy that had ever had fur loss. He recommended using an ointment that is used on horses and Nu-Vet vitamins. As the fur loss progressed (keep in mind we had only had her about 3 weeks), we decided to take our pup to MichiganState University Veterinary Clinic, which is considered the best possible place in Michigan to take your pet with difficult health issues. At our first visit at MSU vet for the fur loss, we also found out that our pup has an inverted vulva. This condition can causechronic urinarytract infections and usually has to be corrected surgically ($?). Mr. Wickliffe professes that he has been breeding for over 10 years and he didn't know that
our pup had this vulva defect. Any quality breeder would know and should know about this defect and either not sell the pup or at the very least inform the buyer. Shortly thereafter our pup started urinating blood, we had to take her to urgent care and wastreated for urinary tract infection ($347).
Keep in mind that this is still within the first 3 weeks of owning our pup. At our first visit at MSU vet another set of skin scrapings for manage were taken and found to be negative. MSU vet recommended that we take a "watch and see" approach and if the hair loss continued to return in a month and have skin biopsies done ($157). The fur loss continued at such a rapid rate we returned to MSU vet and saw a dermatology specialist vet. Three punch skin biopsies were taken under local anesthsia with stitches to close each biopsy site ($200). The skin biopsies were positive for genetic-color dilution alopecia. Prognosis was that the fur may grow back completely, however she may lose her part or all of her coat in the
future and if she does it will be permanent. The good news is she has grown her coat back with the exception of one of the biopsy sites.
The bad news is that now we sit on pins and needles wondering if she will lose her coat in the future. Mr. Wickliffe was emailed throughout this whole process. He stopped responding to us after the second email was sent. We called the Clark County Humane Society to see if Mr. Wickliffe had ever had any complaints against him. We were so frustrated that he would not respond to us, we paid $1000 for a "healthy" pup and he wasn't going to honor his health warranty. Well Mr. Wickliffe finally responded to me by phone, when the Humane Society showed up at his door. He called me screaming at me about the Humane Society. I found out from the Humane Society that he did not have a kennel license. Mr. Wickliffe was finally reached by phone and agreed to replace our pup-but that our pup would have to be "put to sleep most likely".
Mr. Wickliffe further stated that he didn't know when he would have a "replacement" puppy.??? We should return our pup (which we have bonded with and spent a lot of money on already), so he can have her euthanized and we can wait for him to provide us with a new pup! He doesn't even return emails let alone a new pup! The last email that Mr. Wickliffe sent to us stated that he knew that I was "going to be nothing but trouble" after I picked up our pup at his house. Why because I asked questions? Because I had a gut feeling that this guy was a scammer. I should have followed my gut and walked away from the transaction. I wasn't impressed with him or his "breeding" dams and sire (one male to six females). One dam had completely lost her entire coat:. He told me that "she always blows her coat after having a litter"'. He did not allow
me to have any contact with the parents or litter mates. He further stated that my husband and I are not welcomed on his property and if we come to his house, we will be considered "trespassers and the proper authorities will be called"! Seriously, trespassers! I wasn't a trespasser when I had that cold hard $1000's of cash in my hand/. He stated he would only communicate by email (that's funny dude, you don't even return emails)! Mr/. Wickliffe treated us disrespectfully and worse yet he could care less about our pup's health and well-being;.in his last email he stated 4 times about our
pup being put to sleep/. He plays on people's emotions and counts on that to solve his poor breeding problems. Mr. Wickliffe use to have the buyers name, city and state by each puppy he sold on his website.
I emailed one of these buyers to let them know our problems and all of a sudden the names andaddresses of buyers disappeared off his site as did his address. He then added "alpaca" (which should have been "alopecia" and any quality breeder would know that) was not covered under the health warranty.interesting to me. I would NOT recommend that anyone buy a puppy from Pat Wickliffe at Wicks Silver Labs or Blue Jean Bullies.
The sole purpose for posting this report is to share our experience of purchasing a silver lab puppy from this breeder. Other buyers of a silver lab puppy from this breeder may have had the same experiences or may not have had any health issues with their puppy. Potential buyers from this breeder will have to draw their own conclusions after researching this breeder. No malicious intent is intended. All information in this report has been stated as accurately and honest as possible.
0 comments