So yesterday my hubby receives an interesting phone call. A lady calls him and says that she thinks we may have her husky puppy. She described him perfectly and she has all the paperwork/vet bills to prove that he's hers. Apparently what happened was her father passed away so she had to fly across the country to help her mom out. They (her and her husband) left their dogs at home with her hubby's brother. They thought the puppies would be in good hands since her hubby's family also breeds husky's. Brother in-law forgot to shut the doggy door when he went to the store or something and a three of the pups got out and climbed under the fence. Their mom dug (which she supposedly never does) under the fence and got one back and helped him find the second one. I guess we picked up the third before they could find him. Brother in-law called them and she came back ASAP and by then we had already taken down the posters. They live on the outside of town 1/4 mile from the highway hubby found him on and we only put up posters in the center of town around the college my hubby goes to so they never saw them. A friend of hers found a poster that we forgot to take down and that's how she got our number. Weird I know. She was very excited that she found him and that he was being so well cared for. So it's bye bye to Loki. We're all sad to see him go but glad to know he has owners who really care about him. So now we're on the lookout for another friend for Demon.

That's sad. They were right, Loki was in great hands. Are they planning on keeping all pups??? If they were breeding to sell, I think they owe you a pup.

Why can't they let you keep Loki? I'm sorry guys, you'll find the right dog eventually!

^ I'm with Mindy! I think they owe you a pup!!! Or at least a stiff discount on one! Hopefully Loki! Good luck!

She already had buyers who paid in full for all the pups. She called a few minutes ago and told us of a friend of hers in Idaho who has two pups that buyers back out of after submitting a down payment. They heard of what happened and are willing to let us have one for "pretty cheap". We've read a lot on what to look for to see if they really are actual breeders or a byb and we're going to check them out either tomorrow or early next week and see how much "pretty cheap" is.

Don't know if you are up for a drive down to the Willamette Valley, but there is a rescue available in Albany, OR.

http://www.tovik.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=83&Itemid=101

CrazyDogs wrote:

She already had buyers who paid in full for all the pups.

You've had Loki for about 2 months now, right? You'd think that once she told the "buyers" that the puppy had been lost that she would had have given them their deposit back? I mean, can't she just not tell them that she found the pup? You can pay her for him or something?

That really sucks! I'm so sorry that you've had this horrible luck with doggies =(

We've had him for about six weeks I think. I don't even know if she told the "buyers" that he was missing. I would love to rescue but the husky rescue closest to us won't adopt to us because 1- we have children under 8 years of age. and 2- because we have 6ft wire fencing (not chicken wire, it's small rectangles) so it's not a "husky proof" yard. We're going to keep our eyes out in the local shelters, huskys sometimes show up there.
Also, "the friend" they have in Idaho gave us a ring and so far they seem reputable. They have generations of paperwork on all the husky's they own. They are papered, and have health certificates & guarantees. The wife volunteers with a shelter over there and helps rescue & place dogs also. They breed their females every other year and do only one litter at a time and won't do another litter until ALL the pups from the previous one are placed in good homes. The pups are born and raised inside their home and handled by their children and neighbor children come over and play with the pups also. They currently have two 12 week old pups who people put down a deposit then backed out at the last minute. One is a red & white female and the other is a pure white male that they are willing to let go for $125. They have their shots, crate trained, and she said they're doing excellent with house training. We're going to check them out in the next few days and if we like what we see and hear then we may be getting a new pup.

To be honest, I really think the owner should have refunded the money back to the person who reserved the pup and let you keep Loki. I think that is very bad judgement on her part, and personally, if I was the person who had a reserve on the pup, I would want them to stay with you.. why would I want to take a puppy from it's home for 6 weeks? But I hope the puppy from the other family works out.

I agree with Heather... They should at the very least refund you what you have put into Loki.

Heather- I agree. I wouldn't want to take the pup away from that family if it was a reverse situation, I would just ask to have first pick of the next litter. I don't know for sure if she told them he was lost. The pups are staying with her for another week then they're going to their new families so I am just assuming that she didn't tell them or wouldn't until it was closer to the time they had to pick him up.

Mindy, she did repay us for what we put into him and bought us a new bag of dog food (of our choice) and she's offering to pay the $125 if we decide we want her friend's pup. I'm not sure I want her to pay for our new pup though, I feel like it's dirty money...lol

sorry to hear that, I really think they should let you keep Loki

I've been thinking about this all afternoon as I worked on my yard.

I would be extremely loathe to give up Loki. If they can prove (microchip? litter picture? vet?) that the dog is indeed from their litter, they should let you buy him. They lost the dog. You didn't. You took care of a lost dog. The burden is on them. They should have to explain to the prospective buyer why the dog is unavailable. This is not your problem. It's theirs to solve.

You could look at the archives of the local paper or Craig's List for an ad at the time Loki went lost. For me, a physical description of a black and white husky would not be enough.

Michael- She described his coloring, facial markings, ect. to a T. She does have pictures & vet bills to prove that he was hers. We asked to see them all and even talked to her vet before we handed him over otherwise we wouldn't have. We would have loved the chance to purchase him but she didn't give us that opportunity.

Ashley- I am so sorry. You have certainly had a "Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School" as the old Warren Zevon song said.
We are all pulling for you.

We're going to check out her friend's ranch today after church. I'll let you all know how that went.

Take pics of both of them!!

Emotional as this situation became, honestly you know you did the ethical thing by returning Loki.


QUOTE: she's offering to pay the $125 if we decide we want her friend's pup. I'm not sure I want her to pay for our new pup though, I feel like it's dirty money...

I'd say the lady feels as badly about the situation as you do and has made a real effort. Take up the offer. Just be sure to receive a receipt on the new pup. My heart aches for you and Loki, so do what you feel within your heart is best.

As much as my hubby and I would have loved to fight her for Loki we both felt like it was the right thing to do. Wasn't easy, but the right things are sometimes the hardest to do. I think she does feel bad and I still don't know if I'll take up her offer, DH is more than happy to of course but I'll just have to wait and see how we feel about it after we meet her friends pups...which we get to do in four hours. I'm excited, I just hope we can bond with one of them.

Why does the Idaho breeder breed? So far so good, but the most important question for me on the ethical/reputable breeder list is "Why have you chosen to breed?" Do they show? Race? And if not, what characteristics of each parent do they hope to achieve in the pup? Why do they feel this litter was a good decision to bring into the world?

If those questions are answered, then I agree with Len. Let the owners of Loki pay and I hope you bond with a pup.

You shouldn't feel dirty about the money. Consider it as a "boarding fee"- you took care of this pup for weeks and did amazing with it. I do hope it is a good breeder.

So we went over there a little early to catch them off guard and we were pleasantly surprised. They acted very happy to see us, even though we were early. It was very clean and there were acres for their husky's to run around in. They let us check out the birthing area and it was very clean/puppy friendly and safe with a door close to the birthing box. They said that they start house training as soon as they can walk and they have a one door rule, where the dogs are only allowed to go potty out one door so they don't confuse them. We loaded them with questions and loved all the answers they gave. They also did their research on us, they called our vet yesterday and our vet was more than happy to give us a good recommendation, luckily. We checked out the pups but forgot to take pictures. We fell in love with both of them. The copper and white girl was a little more reserved but warmed up nicely and was super cuddly. The white and tan boy was very active, in your face, but very lovey and vocal, and a total goofball. We talked and visited with them for over 3 hours getting to know each other. I wanted the copper & white girl but I have a weakness for coppers, always have and will one day own one but after talking with DH and the breeders about it we decided it would be best for us to get the white and tan boy, Demon is too high energy for the copper girl and he would probably scare the crud outta her. So we came home with the vocal white boy who cried "momma" the whole way home lol but has been totally fine since he met Demon. After only 30 minutes they were chasing each other around and jumping all over the place. I'll try to get some good pictures of him and post them tomorrow.

That's wonderful!
I am so happy for you.
You deserve good sledding with what's happened.

Welcome to the puppy club! I have to ask, when is his birthday?

May 23rd. He's actually only 11 weeks tomorrow, found that out when I counted earlier lol.