JonBoy

It's hard, but it's not $5K hard for me. I had my dog nearly 13 years before he died and I had him put down. Loved him as much as it's possible to love an animal. But I don't think an animal takes priority in my life, especially when that $5K could go a long ways towards helping my wife or daughter at some later point in life.

vader1

Sorry to hear that Wantone. I have had some doggie medical bills recently myself. I myself would probably shell out the money if it were my dog and it were that young. If it were 12 years old that might be a different story. Good luck with trying to recoup some dough from the breeder.

I got my dog from a VERY well respected breeder and was assured their would be no defects and he has had a few, though none serious. My dogs litter mate was best in breed at Westminster a few years ago. Just goes to show that even a reputable breeder and great breeding stock can sometimes give you a bad luck combination of genes. That does not make me love my dog any less though.

Maybe you can use all that moviestar money.

Austblue

Someone brought up a good point the other day about purebreds.... the inbreeding that goes on to achieve the good results is what makes them a bit of a hit and miss.

My french bulldogs have been incredibly expensive to maintain and we've had to get one put down at only 18months old due to a pinched nerve. For the most part they are fine but every couple of years something else happens and it slogs the wallet but they're family and I couldn't sleep knowing that I'd spent 1000 on a fancy phone but put my mate to sleep to save some dollars.

I read the saddest story a while back where a kid's house had burnt down and his dog had run back in the house to save him and the dog's little eyes bursted from the heat. That type of loyalty is rarely found in humans let alone animals and I respect that about dogs so I remain loyal to them.