I contacted Delana Ross, Dec 27, 2009, responding to an ad she had placed on Puppyfind advertising a Norwich Terrier show prospect female, being sold with full AKC registration. I told Delana I was looking for a female show dog and was interested in her girl so she sent me some flip videos of the girl she had for sale. The video's were only a few seconds each so I asked her for some still pictures but she told me her camera was broke. In one of the videos I noticed a large white patch on this females chest and ask her about it. She told me that it wasn't a big deal and it would lessen over time. She told me that an AKC judge had visited her home at one time and told her that most Norwich's have white on the chest. When I looked in the AKC standard it said that white on a Norwich was undesirable and then she told me that it wasn't a big deal. Being new to the breed I believed her. When a Norwich handler later saw this girl she told me this was a VERY large white patch and would probably not go away, she was correct.
Anyway, despite warnings about buying from Delana, who doesn't belong to the Norwich Terrier Club of America and show her own dogs, I went ahead and bought the female because I didn't want to wait for another female to become available and Delana kept telling me how nice she was...so I weakened and purchased the girl. I paid TOP dollar for her and Delana then had the gull to make me pay for her to be microchipped. I should have just told her to keep the dog but I wanted a Norwich so badly I kept ignoring the backyard, puppymill, behavior, Delana kept displaying.
After receiving the dog in mid January, I took her to a groomer to start handstripping her coat. She was 3 months old and had never been stripped so she was very "hairy". When Olivia got done with her she made a comment about what a strange coat she had but thought it would improve and to bring her back again in a couple weeks. I worked a little with stripping on her and then took her back to Olivia again after 3 weeks. Again, this girls coat acted and looked strange with tons of undercoat and other hairs that stuck out at a 45 degree angle from her body. We kept working with her hoping the hair would start to hard like a terrier coat should and we couldn't get any results.
Then, in March I was introduce to a very nice terrier handler that agreed to take this girl and start to groom her for show. At our initial meeting she told me this Norwich had a very different coat...didn't lay flat to her body...very elevated but she would work with it and hopefully she could train the folicle to lay more flat. She then also pointed out the girls weak areas...straight rear making her high in the rear and throwing off her topline, shoulder lay back wasn't great, tail was cropped to short, and the coat flaw. I had told Delana I would show her so despite the handlers findings I told her I would send her out and have her try and see if she could get some points on her.
Shortly after leaving her with the handler, this girl came into heat in April at 6 months old. While at the handler, she continued to work on her coat, trying to get hard coat to come in and get her in condition. She traveled with the handler as she went to the shows and she continued to be worked with the entire time. She started to show in May and picked up 1 point. As the handler continued to struggle with her coat, she kept in close contact with me giving me updates on what was happening. The end of May I went to the shows where this girl was being shown. Not only was I embarassed at what she looked like (her coat was so poor), I decided at that time not to continue showing her once she was finished with the shows she was already entered in.
My handler contiuned to show the girl and then one day called and told me her coat was doing weird things again and undercoat was flying out of her like a cattail. The coat kept blowing out and was totally out of control, then about a week later she came into heat again. It was the middle of June.
At that time I call Delana and told her what was going on with her and I had decided not to show her anymore because of what was happening with her coat and her other flaws. Delana never once said she was sorry about all that was going on with this dog or showed concern but was disappointed I wasn't going to show her anymore. She never offered any compensation for this girl not turning out for show...just told me I needed to grow her up some more and then take her back out.
Well, after the last show she was entered in I brought her home...I talked to some breeders about breeding her...taking her to a nice male and maybe I could correct her faults and produce better puppies. Several of us talked together and a handful of males were offered thinking she would make an okay breeding girl if taken to the right male. We decided we would make the final decision closer to the time she would come into heat...around Dec.
Then, the middle of August I noticed her coat started looking very strange, again I thought I would do another good handstripping on her and when I began stripping her hair started falling out like crazy...way extreme for no longer than her hair was. As I worked on her I discovered she was in heat again...that makes 3 times since April. At that time I made a vet appointment to try to find out what was going on. So many heat cycles so close together wasn't normal.
I feed my dogs Holistic Select dog food and supplement with Missing Link plus and fish oil. My other dogs have lovely coats so I don't think nutrition is playing any role in her poor coat and either did my vet.
When I called Delana to tell her about what was happening with this girl all she would say is, I've never had any of my girls here have any problems, then ask me why I took her to the vet...DUH!!! She never said she was sorry to hear that this was happening...never offered any advise, just kept saying...that's strange. My vet did a thyroid test that came just back just slightly elevated...nothing drastic and told me not to use this girl in a breeding program...she suggested spaying her. The vet also noted the strange hair, something she said was definitely not normal but because the girl is young and in heat this wasn't a good time to do hormone testing.
When I emailed Delana to tell her about the test and what the vet suggested she didn't answer my email. I explained to Delana that she had sold me a show/breeding Norwich that I could now do neither with. I emailed Delana again the next day and she finally anwered saying that I should have not shown her once she didn't do well and that she had a 6 months health guarantee from life threatened diseases from the date of birth and that I hadn't proved anything was even wrong with her and now this girl was 10 months old, she offered no help at all. When I pointed out to her that I tried to show this girl and she didn't do well and now I couldn't use her for breeding either, I didn't get what I paid for and ask her what she wanted to do...she offered nothing and told me I was being rude and she was tired of it. OOOO, that sound like a responsible breeder, huh? I explained to Delana that she needed to stand behind her breedings and not advertise everything as a show puppy. I also told her that it takes more to be a dog breeder than just collecting the money. Breeder support (whether for pet or show/breeding) is very important and she offered NONE and it should be a #1 priority. My handled and other Norwich friends offered me more help than she ever could have. I also found out she does no health testing on her dogs so how would she know if she was passing on genetic defects, anyway.
I know now that I should have been more patient and bought my Norwich from a reputable Norwich Terrier breeder that does health testing and that's is looking to improve the breed and NOT from a backyard breeder that just wants to make money selling pets. Delana charges top dollar for her pets so if you take the time and look around, you'll be able to buy a quality pet with lifetime breeder support from someone else. Delana didn't even offer to help me find a nice pet home for this girl...what kind of a person doesn't care about the dogs THEY bring into this world. If she can't stand behind her dogs, she shouldn't breed them.
I tried my best to do what I agreed to do with this girl...show her to her championship and breed nice Norwich puppies but because of the circumstances that surrounded her that was not possible. So, I found a good pet home for this girl. I got NO money when placing her but I have a good feeling that she's in a wonderful home where she'll be loved and cared for like she deserves.
As for Delana, she shouldn't be breeding dogs if she doesn't care enough about them to take them back no matter what the problem. Please think before you get ripped off by her....buy elsewhere and support the NTCA.
