In Germany Pomeranians aren’t as popular as in the USA, which is kinda weird since they were bred down from the German Spitz… so there aren’t any rescues. It is nearly impossible to find a Pom in a shelter. That’s why we had to get one from a breeder. We found her in a German Facebook group and checked the breeder, everything seemed to be fine. Next we arranged a meeting to get to know the dog and the breeder.
When we arrived there, we saw that the woman didn’t care about adequate puppy housing. For example, she taught the little pups how to walk the stairs and fed them adult food right from the start (even when their eyes were still closed). I wasn’t sure if I was imagining that or not… it was just baffling. We couldn’t wait to take her away from there.
When we arrived home, our little Pom quickly acclimated herself and looked so happy. It was obvious to us that she didn’t miss the breeder… at all. We thought she was so delicious looking that we could just eat her up… so we named her “Cookie Dough”, because, really who doesn’t like cookie dough?
All the happiness and celebration came to a screeching halt when we noticed that something wasn’t right. Her little body wasn’t getting around as freely as it should have been. We took her to our Vet and after some tests we found out she had problems with one of her cervical vertebra and her nervous system… but the worst was she had patella luxation on two knees, all at an age of 3 1/2 months!
The Vet gave us some medication that solved the first two problems. But everything we tried to fix her knee problems failed. At the ripe young age of 8 months old she could barely walk anymore on her hind legs. It was excruciatingly sad to watch! A Pomeranian at this age should have the ability to play with other dogs and run around… and get into trouble.
So we decided it would be best if she gets surgery on both legs.
We tried to talk to the breeder about the situation but she would have nothing to do with us. We then tried to send a grievance to the “breeders” association she was registered with… unbeknownst to us, she founded the association. So that was a bust. We are looking into ways to stop this woman from being allowed to breed sick puppies and selling them to unsuspecting families. We found out that Cookie Dough’s brother had the same Luxating Patellas, so it is no coincidence.
Cookie Dough is a little more than a year old now. Her birthday was May, 12… and received a Happy Birthday Box from Pommy Mommy. She walks 100% better and the Vet has given her the “greenlight” to do what she loves to do… spin around and play with the other dogs.
Everyone who is interested in her and her story can follow her on: www.facebook.com/cookiemalibu
Paws up, Pommy Mommies.