Buying a dog in Hanoi

Distemper is very common in young dogs here, we lost our first pups to it, the 2nd, even after preventives shots. 3rd time we were lucky.

It is very common for young pups to get it every where that's why you give it the prevention shot for them to avoide it. She lied to us and told us she already gave both of them the shot which our doctor told us she haven't. He ran a test and they both had very low antibiotics in their blood. They had no change again this deasese because of that. Immune system were to low to even try to give them a new castle vaccine. We were told that it is super common that the dealer have fake vaccine booke, the buy it cheape from korupted vet, to save money on the vaccine:-(

Sorry to hear that.

With puppies, there are a lot off issues to consider.

1: Age of the puppy
2: Where it was raised? by a responsible breeder or just someone who is attempting to make a huge profit?
3: How long has been the puppy uncared for? Assume, it was "delivered" by bus. So a few days, without food, water, mama and brothers/sisters. Possible even in a dark noisy hatch of the bus

As to vaccines: they should be vaccinated against the so called 7 diseases, not only 4. The dogs passport should have all the labels inside. This could be, depending on vaccine and age of the puppy, at least 2 and max 6 labels. All vaccines should be done once every year.

A Vet should be contacted before ordering. Some of them (at least our one) are very good and helpful, next to dog friendly. We have our Vet already 7 years now on call (currently 4 dogs).

We had just a couple of weeks a delivery date for  a Tibetan Mastiff, the puppy should arrive ` 10 days ago. However, the breeder was responsible enough to inform us, that the weather is far to cold and bad (coming from somewhere in China BUT NOT TO Nha Trang). So they went back with the puppy and reserved a new one from the next lot, which they plan just after Tet. We agreed and still got our down-payment refunded), just have to make it again, around Tet.
That will be a spring/summer delivery. Better a healthy puppy coming year, then a sick one this year.

Don't buy from a shop, just pay them some money, to introduce to a breeder, where you can look and see the parents. Enjoy the waiting for it. We had 10 weeks and will have again 10 weeks +. In Saigon, there are quite a lot of breeders and so called "shops" to. What you can get in Hanoi, you will get for sure in Saigon is well

And finally, remember, not each dog is an "easy" dog. They all have a certain level of demands on care and attention, which is simply not given in a small box in a dark/cold hatch.

I used to breed Border Collie dogs in the UK for explosives search. As well as the vaccinations and general health and welfare matters very well described by four eyes above, you need to study the pedigrees of the breeders dogs. This needs an expert to do it but it is important to ascertain whether or not the breed bitch is being bred to exhaustion and whether or not the dogs are being "line bred", with the possibility of genetic faults being amplified in resultant litters.

All breeds of dogs carry some genetic imperfections as a result of line breeding to produce a dog which fits the breed standard (looks, characteristics, temperament, colouring, size, head shape etc etc). Whilst producing the type of dog desired, line breeding can also amplify genetic traits, such as "Cocker Rage" in Golden Cocker Spaniels, a syndrome which makes those dogs affected, become suddenly aggressive for no apparent reason - there is a lot more to it than that, but those are the basics,

So, in essence, care is needed when buying a dog from ANY breeder.

Before choosing a breed of dog, do some careful research on the breed of your choice and its inherited faults. This can be very revealing and the information is available online and by contacting the Kennel Club in the UK and the American Kennel Club in the USA and many other sources.

Check the backgrounds of the Sires and Dams. Have they been tested for genetic problems? In the west, dogs and bitches are screened before breeding, but things can go wrong.

We received a beautiful Border Collie dog from Australia. He was stunning in every way except......

He hadn't been tested for CEA, commonly called Collie Eye in the dog fraternity. It leads to blindness and there is no cure. Border Collies rarely suffer from it, but it is there in certain blood lines. Our dog hadn't been tested "because it is rare in Border Collies". And at about 5 years old our magnificent dog started to go blind and suffer pain. With no treatment available we had no choice ....

Any reputable breeder will show you their dogs pedigree lines and you should be able to research the lines for inherited problems of which there are two types: Firstly a dog (or bitch) can SUFFER from an inherited problem. Secondly a dog (or bitch) can be a CARRIER whilst not suffering from the problem. Both can pass the problem on to their offspring.

It is routine now in the west that more and more pedigree dogs are screened for genetic problems. Our breeding dogs and bitches were free from all testable genetic problems AND all puppies tested for such problems as well as being hearing and sight tested at around 6 weeks old. Some breeders here in Vietnam may be doing the same, but you will need to seek them out.

Probably the best bet for a healthy puppy in most places in the world is to find a healthy well fed pregnant mutt and have her cared for during pregnancy - and then get her spayed and keep her as a house dog -and then have the puppies tested for hearing and sight anomalies, etc. Mutts generally carry a lot less genetic abnormalities that the average pedigree dog, because their breeding is more random, as nature intended.

Thank you for the warning. And I am so sorry you had to go through that. I also have thought about getting a dog but can't find a reputable breader.

James

You may have to import the breed of your choice. It can be done. I have exported dogs from the UK to Finland (for use as rescue dogs), the USA, (for working trials), Brazil (for working trials), Germany (working trials), Belgium (working trials) etc. I no longer export dogs, but can offer some advice on importing dogs.

First, Check on the rules for importing dogs into Vietnam. Second, choose a reputable breeder with known bloodlines that are tested for genetic diseases or faults. Third, book a puppy from a litter which will be been similarly tested. Make sure you get the test results - you should get originals do not accept copies, the vets stamp and signature along with the surgery contact details should be on test result papers. Fourth, do not accept a puppy less than 8 weeks old. Fifth, make sure that is has a pet passport with a record of all relevant inoculations. Sixth, Choose a reputable carrier, who will stipulate a minimum sized air transport kennel / cage.7. The kennel/cage MUST have food and water (in an unspillable bowl). Eighth, The cargo hold of the transporting aircraft MUST be heated. Ninth, the aircraft crew Must be able to visit the animal regularly if the flight is longer than 3 hours. Tenth, Make sure that all your paperwork is absolutely correct before getting the animal put on the plane. Eleventh, Go and pick up the animal yourself on arrival. Twelfth, take the animal for a full vets examination as soon as possible after arrival.

Or alternatively, give a local mutt a good home.

You also should also be aware, that most countries will not accept an animal FROM VN, for obvious reasons.
  So don't get a pet unless your are staying long term, ( especially a dog ), I wouldn't trust giving my dog to anyone, if I had to leave unexpectedly. If you have seen photo's of dogs cramped into cages, for their long trip in the hot sun, without food or water for days, you would understand why.

Both dog flew from Hanoi to HCM, we don't want a dog to be 7 days in the back of a bus. And before we decided to get this type of dogs we did a lot of research as each dog or different and their requirement as well.
This woman had a website and it all looked very legit. That why we after a lot of consideration chose her.
They don't have this type of dogs here, believe me I tried to find it here! We search for two weeks online and in this city they where no where to be found.

I wish it was like that here but sadly it's not. Vietnamese don't treat dogs like you treat dogs in the west:-/
Here it's just a dog where back home it's a part of the family.

She shown us a video of the parents before we said yes.
And of her brother too.
She looked healthy and happy. This is the first time I have heard about this disease. In Denmark if you have a dog or  are a dog breeder you need to give your dog the vaccines and heart worm, those things just goes hand in hand, so I've never seen this type of disease before.

It's just hard when you are realizing that most breeder wanna save that little for something so important for a little puppy.
To hear and see dogs die and suffer here in Vietnam because they choose to save money.

silkehongthipham wrote:

I wish it was like that here but sadly it's not. Vietnamese don't treat dogs like you treat dogs in the west:-/
Here it's just a dog where back home it's a part of the family.

She shown us a video of the parents before we said yes.
And of her brother too.
She looked healthy and happy. This is the first time I have heard about this disease. In Denmark if you have a dog or  are a dog breeder you need to give your dog the vaccines and heart worm, those things just goes hand in hand, so I've never seen this type of disease before.

It's just hard when you are realizing that most breeder wanna save that little for something so important for a little puppy.
To hear and see dogs die and suffer here in Vietnam because they choose to save money.

" Here it's just a dog "
Not ' just ' a dog, it can also be someones dinner.

" To hear and see dogs die and suffer here in Vietnam because they choose to save money "
Quite the opposite in fact , it's not only to make money, but they also believe it can make the dogs meat taste better, by inflicting pain on the dog, before brutally killing it. ( in front of the other dogs as well ).

PM me your e-mail address, and I'll send you some photo's, and stories about how much they suffer, if you like

I know it's horrible.
I've seen dog meat in the street and I'm trying to avoid seeing it.
I think I will try shipping the picture and the video you wanna share. I can't bare to see that kind of stuff.
We got both our dog cremated so they will not end up as someone's dinner! We got the remain and buried them after.

silkehongthipham wrote:

I know it's horrible.
I've seen dog meat in the street and I'm trying to avoid seeing it.
I think I will try shipping the picture and the video you wanna share. I can't bare to see that kind of stuff.
We got both our dog cremated so they will not end up as someone's dinner! We got the remain and buried them after.

" will not end up as someone's dinner "
I've seen some really old , and sick dogs in dog buyers cages, so maybe Karma will catch up with some dog meat eaters if they eat a diseased dog?

Hi,

Any advise or recommendations for someone in Hanoi?

I am looking to adopt rather than to buy, too many speculators around. Rather give a home.

Hello Athanasius Pang and welcome on board Expat.com

Kindly note that you are participating on a thread that is inactive since October 2014

I invite you to create a new thread in the Hanoi forum stating you are seeking adoption of a dog or to directly drop in an advert in the concerned section : Hanoi pets classifieds

Regards
Kenjee
Expat.com Team

Thanks for the advise.

I didn't know there is a focused group Hanoi. 

Can u tell me any information of that woman cause im looking for a shiba inu too and i dont want to get any dog from her