It's so hard. We love our puppy mill rescues, but we also recognize that what they were born into health-wise is simply unfair.
Well... that can be argued both ways. We have an almost 14 year old Amish bred dog whose bloodwork just came back 100% perfect. There are also some breeds that I believe are healthier coming from non-show (read: non-AKC) stock. Dalmations and Standard Poodles are on that list.
I have been doing a lot of research on Juvenile Renal Disease, because of a non-sheltie litter I just heard about. In most breeds, JRD is a simple autosomal recessive. That recessive gene can hide for years, being passed down through generations without producing affected dogs. Then suddenly, you have three puppies in a litter with JRD. It's unfortunate that Shelties don't generally show clinical signs until they are 3-4 years old. By that point, they could have already been bred. If you have a less than honest breeder who is hiding health problems, or assumes it was a bad litter, and it couldn't possibly happen again, then it just keeps getting disbursed through the population.
JRD also tends to happen in clusters, with multiple puppies in a litter being affected. There were two that we knew about in my girls litter of 8.
Can you blame the breeder? Absolutely not. It doesn't matter where the dog came from because this gene is everywhere. There is no test, there is no marker. Even the most conscientious breeder can produce it, it's how they choose to handle it that sets them apart.
There is also a dominant gene known to cause JRD, it is known to be in Standard Poodles. The difference is that Spoodles are symptomatic between 3 and 6 months old.
With all that said, until they do a sonogram or biopsy, we don't know this is what Gypsy is dealing with. She could very well have acute kidney problems brought on by something else, that can hopefully be resolved with treatment.
