Karen;
We've been trying to (a) reason with you and (b) hold you accountable for your dogs, contracts, and spoken promise as a "morally responsible breeder" (according to the Canadian Kennel Club's bylaws). We haven't really threatened you or contradicted ourselves as you accuse us of. Both of our dogs were supposedly guaranteed, but both have significant hip displasia (SHP) that you've finally admitted is genetic after much arguing and mudslinging about it being our fault (even though moderate to severe hip displasia can't occur from environmental conditions). Moreover, these dogs never jumped nor did agility training. But we didn't get any apology, which isn't surprising. To quote you from 4/26/09, "There is no possibly (sic) way I could assure you a puppy would have good hips". To quote our 5/2/09 letter to you, "State of Maine lemon laws state in the case of a serious problem with a dog... if a buyer decides to keep the dog, the breeder should return 1/2 of the purchase $. I know St. of Maine laws do not apply to you, but they are fair and protect both parties." So please transcend your bitterness with such a partical refund, to end this argument that you can't seem to end equitably.
When we went to PEI to see your facility in 2005, I asked about the clause in your contract stating that the dog(s) need to be returned if they have SHP. You told me that you wouldn't want the dogs back if such were true, saying "What would I do with them?" I held you to your word, which is why I bought the dogs from you in the first place. Now, after the fact, you're trying to change your story.
My husband did take our male dog (Niko) all the way to Dr. Kern in Portland, ME, a 5-hour round trip. He told us to WAIT on the operation until Niko was older and charged us $100 USD for the visit. So we've gone with his advice, taking excellent, but pricey, care of both or our dogs with numerous (9 each per day), supplements and regular (monthly, not weekly) visits to the vet for $30 Adequan shots, which is helping combat SHP but will need to be done for the rest of their lives. The shots really seem to be helping, as the vet has been able to hyperextend both of Anka's legs fully without pain. We love both dogs very much and will do whatever it takes to help them, but crippling by lameness and arthritis are inevitable for them. By avoiding premature surgery that could prove fatal if complications occur, we've chosen a less-invasive method to treat Niko. One would think that you'd know that, being a dog breeder.
We've been talking to you for 2 years via letters and e-mails, to try to get you to honor your guarantee of Anka, which you retracted because we didn't do surgery on Niko (yet) at the vet's recommendation. As Debbie said, you'd have been better off to return 1/2 our $ back, rather than experience such justified, negative publicity. I have paperwork from OFA, vets, etc. to support my case.
Allthough you now claim that our 2 half-sibling dogs' SHP are flukes of nature, the fact that they came from 2 different mothers suggests that you haven't properly (a) checked x-rays for mother dogs and/or (b) properly followed the genetic outcomes of your sire dog (Harley von Diamondsun). To quote our 5/2/09 letter to you, "Most people don't go through the trouble and expense in having their dog's hips x-rayed at such an early age as we did, so they find out later on". Hence, lack of other complaints isn't evidence that other peoples aren't having SHP problems with their Diamondsun dogs. Indeed, perhaps the present internet complaints will convince others to come forward with their own grievances, or at least help others avoid an unprofessional dog breeder to skirt the big problems that we've had to deal with (both from dog-health and irresponsible-breeder-response standpoints).
-Patricia A. V