Urgent question please!

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Patchworkpony

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I have fallen across a 4 month old cocker spaniel puppy (calm, kind breeding that I know) to be rehomed as new owner is ill, as is her mother etc. My question is on the photos its bottom eye lids seem to show quite a lot of white and are a little droopy rather than being tight brown skin round the eyes. Maybe I'm being over cautious but woman wants to sell it quickly so I don't have a lot of time to think before I go and see it. Would it have eye trouble with dust or grit problems in the future. Nice little dog already house trained and not barky at all. What do you spaniel experts think?
 
ask if you can take it to a vets for a check or that she has it checked cant really comment beyond that.

would you but a horse unseen without a vetting if something about it looked wrong in a photo?

if it is a working cocker and calm at 4months then that would possibly ring alarm bells or me-well behaved and calm are not the same thing for me
 
Possibly Horners syndrome? Not so much a spaniel issue as a dog thing. One of mine (the one in my sig) has quite droopy bottom lids, but it's never been an issue. At 4 months, they should only be asking some sort of token fee to ensure its not a free re-home to someone dodgy. Go see the dog in the flesh and walk away if you aren't sure. Give us an update!

Bear when he's tired, it always becomes a bit worse:
imagejpg1_zpsdb52f403.jpg


http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pe...le/animal-health/horners-syndrome-in-dogs/815
 
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Walk away if you have any doubts at all, as has been said, but our yellow lab had droppy bottom lids as a pup and it worried me as she is for shooting, but they have tightened up as she has grown. Looking at the pic they look like spaniel eyes to me but £500 for a rehome! What planet is she on. And £650 if you want it to be a walking womb.
 
Roan and parti coloured cocker spaniels can sometimes give a false impression of having droopy lower lids due to having paler eye rims than their solid counterparts. IMO that's a truly loose lower lid though, with the notch/teardrop shape I'd associate with ectropion. £500 is silly money for a 'rehome' and charging extra for papers makes me think they haven't this puppy's best interests at heart. £150 extra to create a breeding machine indeed...
 
Thanks for all you comments - so helpful. Sweet looking dog but somehow I've got a bad feeling. She won't move on the price anyway and it is expensive given that there will probably be a lot of re-training to do (she said its recall is bad).
 
For just this once, I agree with every other poster! :) Simple common sense.

Walk away, if only because there are plenty of smart, well bred and healthy puppies available at a lot less money that that. I wouldn't want a dog which is show-bred, but if you're looking for a well bred and 'proper' work-bred pup, PM me and I'll make some enquiries on your behalf.

Alec.
 
Alec Swan said:
For just this once, I agree with every other poster! :) Simple common sense.

Walk away, if only because there are plenty of smart, well bred and healthy puppies available at a lot less money that that. I wouldn't want a dog which is show-bred, but if you're looking for a well bred and 'proper' work-bred pup, PM me and I'll make some enquiries on your behalf.

Alec.
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Thanks so much Alec but I think I'm not really active enough these days for a working spaniel and I know that this particular spaniel was bred to be more laid back but - you know what my heart is really with the working lines but I don't want to spoil a keen working animal by not giving it enough stimulation. I have come across a couple of working spaniels that were kept as pets and were quite easy going but I know this is rare so I thought I might look into show cockers. I wouldn't mind a terrier but so many that I have met have been yappy and very stubborn and at my age I don't want to cope with that. The truth is I am not sure what breed to get as SO many dogs have health problems now from interbreeding (just like the native ponies) and anyway I like proper country dogs not the toy breeds.
 
If you find the prospects of a 'hot' work-bred pup a bit daunting (and I understand!), how about looking around the breed-specific rescue sites? Not ALL Cockers are nuts, there are a few about which are sane! The problem with the rescue brigade is all so often that people simply unload the dog on them when they can't cope with it, and so the problem is simply passed on. Research however, may well find you a suitable dog.

Again, I'd reinforce what everyone else has said, and leave the puppy where it is, or ask for a Vet's report. Good Luck!

Alec.
 
If you like working dogs but want an easy going one, and one with no real health problems have a look at working bred whippets. Mine has been the absolute dog of a liftetime! And thats coming from a die hard spaniel/setter person. Mine would have made an amazing working dog, but also makes a brilliant pet so long as we make a nod to his working instincts. Hes tough as old boots, will walk for 5 hours in the fells, but is equally happy with a 30 min blast in the park. He sleeps 20 hours a day if theres nothing exciting going on, but is happy to be up busy bodying if there is :lol: He fetches, swims, retrieves out of water and would be amazing at Flyball if I could get my act together to actually start! He loves everyone and everything. Hes good with kids, other dogs and lives with a cat.

I feel like I am always shouting "GET A WHIPPET!!" but until I got mine I had no idea how absolutely awesome they are!
 
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