Puppy Vaccination Card Inquiry

Rogueish

Well to start I have the privilege of being owned by Jackie, my seven month old boxer baby.

She was bought for me by my bf for my birthday in January. At the time she was thirteen weeks old. When my bf bought her all seemed above board. She was the last of her litter (of five I think), her mum and dad were both there on view, she herself was lively vibrant and well looked after. I think my bf paid €250 for her. Her previous owner said that she had received all her shots and was purebred with her papers but as he had yet to settle his bill with the vet (the mum had been ill during the pregnancy) the vet was with holding the documents.

It is now almost four months on, numerous phonecalls, text messages (I even got a friend who was from the area to call into the man by arrangement the next time he was home visiting his parents and guess what the man wasn't there) and still no papers or vaccination card.

My questions are

Given the fact that the previous owner has failed to provide the relevant documentation (vaccination card) would it be detrimental to the dog to get her shots again (if she did actually have them in the first place)?

If it would be detrimental to her health is there any way of knowing whether she has already received her shots?

Is there any other avenue I can go in order to get the dogs papers (it is not the be all and end all as I do not think that I will breed her but I would like to have them)?

I have had her checked out (and microchipped) with the local vet soon after getting her and he was happy with her. At this stage I believed that she had all her shots.

Does anyone have any ideas/ suggestions regarding my next step forward?

SuzyS1972

I help out at an animal clinic and the vets there always tell people who have bought a puppy and got no cards or papers to err on the side of caution and assume the dog has not been vaccinated considering the " breeder " has been so sly.

I would get the dog booster shots at least and would deffo speak to your own vet asap.

There is no avenue you can go down I'm afraid to get the papers - I would nearly be 100% sure they do not exist - A vet would not be privvy to such papers if they even do exist - There would be no reason in the world for someone to hand these over to a vet .

It's a pity you were fooled by this man - I'm not giving out to you at all but it goes to show that people need to do their homework before buying a dog from someone unknow.
Any breeders I know have the potential people over to their home to discuss things before the puppies are even born.

You should always see both parents and the set up for the mum and pups. Ask how many litters mum has had - ask to see both sets of papers and IKC registered means nothing.
I could safely register any of my mongrels with other stolen papers as westies and then go onto register a litter - they don't check any info so safe to say it's easy to fake them.

It's a minefield but a bit of careful research and planning can really pay off.

Rogueish

SuzyS1972 wrote:

You should always see both parents and the set up for the mum and pups. Ask how many litters mum has had - ask to see both sets of papers and IKC registered means nothing.

Thanx Suzy for the reply. My bf did see both parents and the set up for them. He said that both the mum and dad were very well looked after both had glossy coats and generally looked in good condition. This litter was the mum's first litter - according to the 'breeder' - and would be her last as they had almost lost her during the pregnancy.

As I said it is very unlikely that I will breed Jackie so the papers are not very important but I am concerned regarding her vaccinations. I wanted to enrol both of us in Puppy training school but I cannot (and quite rightly too) attend unless I can present the vaccination card.

I'll make an appointment as soon as possible with the vet for at least her booster shots.

Thanx once again

EGAR

Hi there,

when I take in dogs I often don't know their history etc and I always give them the full vacc just in case. You would be surprised how common canine diseases like parvo or lepto are. Better safe than sorry. And if you meet alot of other dogs I would advise for a kennel cough vacc as well (this is also necessary if you want to kennel her (boarding) as this is a requirement of alot of boarding kennels).

Sarah