The Shar-Pei Forums-Health Behavior Diet & Rescue Info and Discussion Group

I am just frustrated right now. Some of what I may say will hopefully not offend anyone, but I just need to vent.

After having Oscar seizure today, and Pogo going down hill quickly, I will never understand why breeders feel the need to breed dogs who are ill. Pogo and Oscar both came from the humane society, and both were ill. Pogo, who has FSF, and Oscar who is an epileptic. I do not think the breeders who continue to breed sick dogs realize the emotional drain they can cause on a family. For one, the amount of money I have spent on my boys could have bought a car, or put a down payment on a house. The financial strain to try and afford their health care has taken a toll on us completely. Now the emotional aspect is I will never see my boys get better. In fact the end result of all the medication they are on will eventually cause damage to their kidneys, liver, and heart, in which this may be the case for Pogo already. It breaks my heart to see them have to suffer. I would never change the fact they are with us, but it just really URKS me that BREEDERS do not research their bloodlines throughly. Even taking a chance if a breeder knows that somewhere in the line one of the pei's were ill is irresponsible.

For me I can only mask their symptoms for so long with medication and diet. Eventually the illness will take over. That is the reality. There is no easy way around that fact. Like I said I love my boys and Luna. As of right now I do not know if I will ever bring another pure bred Shar pei into my home after all of this. I think there are too many issues that plague the breed. I love them with all my heart, but I personally can not stand to see what is happening to them. Oscar has to take Pheno twice a day for the rest of his life. It makes him spacey, and honestly after 4 years of being on Pheno I have to wonder how much damage has been done on his organs. He gets a full Chem panel drawn twice a year, but still there has to be some damage that is eating him up inside.

That brings me to Pogo. He is collapsing, and I just can not help but think that the meds have done damage to him. On the reverse side if he did not have the meds he would not be around.

I just want to really voice my opinion. I wish breeders would stop and think before they really decided to breed. I am not talking about the good breeders that actually research, but the BYB's or people who continue to breed sick animals. From my standpoint I have spent well over 10K in the last 5 years on m pei's, I could open a pharmacy on the amount of meds I have purchased for them, and not to mention the frustration of them never getting better.

So the point of this is if you are a breeder who comes onto the forum and are just breeding to make a few extra dollars, think about the pain that a sick dog will cause on the family. 10K is a lot, and is it really worth the 300-500 dollars you just made off of someone? I really will never understand how these breeders can have a clear mind and continue to do this.

Sorry for the rant! I just needed to get this off my mind.

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Peaches, Oscar, Pogo, and Luna
RIP Peaches 1-1998 - 3-2011

I hear you loud and clear. I'm in the same boat as you along with many more Pei owners. We love the breed so much and will bend over backwards to make their lives better. I've spent a fortune over the last 18 years on Shar Pei vet bills, supplements and medications. MeiLi is probably our last Pei because, as I'm nearing retirement, the funds won't be available for another one. We can all hope and pray for a better future for this breed. Greed will always be there for the bad breeders without a conscience. So sorry you are experiencing so many issues lately. Hang in there. You can only do so much.

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Leia 12/29/02 to 11/01/11 Will be forever missed.
MeiLi Birthdate 02/28/06

Kristy, I completely understand, I think several of us here have dealt with or are dealing with peibies who have lots of medical issues, this breed can be extremely high maintenance, i try to warn people who come on the board before they buy that shar pei puppy.......you have alot on your plate now, 2 peibies with health issues my Bei-jing goes in tomorrow for more eye surgery with the opthamologist, the bill will be close to 2k, her vet bills in the last 2 months have already reached 5k, not including tomorrow's surgery i cant even remember how many 10's of thousands of dollars i've spent in the last 7 years, but it is over 50k, that's why i work 7 days a week, many people here are in the same boat and very frustrated, it's stressful! i always suggest pet insurance for anyone buying a shar pei, it is a wise investment. i have to laugh because before i bought my horses, people would say, " oh they're so expensive to maintain" well my horses have not cost me 1 dime in vet bills, i cant say that for my dogs! yes breeders "most of them" are only looking at their bottom line, their pockets are filled, ours are empty maybe a mutt is the way to go i will say a prayer for your boys, and send a hug for you. we do know what you are going through. xoxo

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These Pei are not coming from BYB there are coming from known breeders,,Some try for health but the sm gene pool and the amount of breeding has brought this breed to there knees....I know breeders that just keep breeding and they know whats in there lines..Buyers tell them in most cases there ill they LIE try to blame it on every thing and anything including the owner.
We have all spent huge sums of money I could buy a luxery high end car with what I spent..You wipe out savings ,run up credit cards theres no end to it....
I have health researched, studied this breed for 18 years in depth and watch hundreds and hunderds of pei have my own FSF list on yahoo..Watch pei on health groups...When I offered a genetic scientist to do private consults to help breeders programs out of hunderds only one took me up on it and she already knew a lot.THis is only about money and over looking what they are doing..
I was going to breed my Emmie she comes from close held lines and the ped is excellent for health..When it came to breeding her I just could not because I had to worry about the male and his lines were good...I could one not trust the puppies would have the kind of home or love and care..[I would have to keep them all]But mostly could not take the chance to bring a pei in the world that would suffer.Plus I had a mentor that knew pei from the first Pei that came to the USA and was a historian of the breed.
Its about money who in there right mind would want to breed suffering? Pei breeders...
Even the ones that try to breed for health are not successful because the genes mutations are so breed in for so long.

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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shar-peifsf

I think that is what it boils down to:money. It seems that this day and age people are more concerned with money. When I meet an honest breeder I still have a hard time trusting them. I find myself searching for there bloodlines history. Sadly, the gene pools are mixed and I am not sure there is one line that is not plagued with something. With that said I know that other breeds have issues. I just am really frustrated right now. I feel that only a small percentage of us are truly fighting for the better of the breed. It breaks my heart to log on each day and see all the new members who are having to deal with these issues. That is one reason I took a break from the forums for awhile. Of course my silence can only last so long. I think these things need to be discussed. I am not saying people should never rescue, what I am saying is the issue starts from the breeding. I know there will always be corrupt breeders out there. I also knew what I was getting into when I started rescuing. I just believe that people need to fully understand what they are getting into with this breed. Yes, the pei's are cute, but so many are dying young or go through years of medications. I have only known a handful of pei's who lived a normal life.

Greed will always exist in this world. We can not stop it. What we can do is educate people. I was using a very low number on what I have spent. The price is much higher. TN is high when it comes to vet care. Maybe one day I will travel around the world and educate people on proper breeding. Do I think it would help, not much, but at least I tried.

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Peaches, Oscar, Pogo, and Luna
RIP Peaches 1-1998 - 3-2011

This is just so heart breaking to read all these stories, I literally feel the pain and anguish from all of you. These regal dogs have been brought to their knees, yet they still have the courage to endure so much.

My tears and prayers go out to all of you. Right now I do not have a pei, but I will again one day.

I know all of you will unite and do anything and all that is necessary to try and correct this horible situation. I don't know how I could help, but if I can let me know.

It is hard not to vent , the burden on a pei owners shoulders is very heavy and inside our hearts are breaking as we never see in improvement toward betterment of the breed.