The problems I'm experiencing are my fault, and I feel badly for my dog. I should have known better.
An internet ad by Dream Team Kennels had a photo of 2 gorgeous "breed and show quality" pups that were initially "picks of the litter" but were now for sale. Prior to purchasing one of the pups, I spoke on the phone with Ismael, an owner of DTK, who assured me that the stud and bitch are OFA certified with "good" hips and elbows. I explained that I was not looking to breed or show, but that we are a very active outdoor folks looking for an active Cane Corso to be an integral member of our family.
On behalf of the co-owner, I picked the pup at the airport. He was a gorgeous, chubby ball of kisses and it was instant love. Shortly after, things went south. I took him to the vet for the obligatory 72 hr vet check, but had to return him because his right eye was still very runny. Initially the vet thought that my puppy was affected by the dry air in the plane. However he had entropy of the R lower eyelid. I called DTT and spoke with Kim, who was very nice. She offered to have me put him on a plane and ship him back in exchange for another puppy. I'm a softy and declined to ship him back to the East Coast. Kim assured me that as his head grows, the entropy will resolve. It ultimately did. But still it bothered me that an experienced, reputable breeder would ship an expensive "breed and show" quality dog to a buyer, when the pup clearly had a problem from day one.
Then the pup had persistent lameness, which the vet attributed to Pano. I emailed Kim and she made several dietary suggestions, none of which worked. The limp lessened, then seemed to go away. We enrolled in puppy obedience classes and puppy agility. Then he began to limp again. The vet X-Ray'd his right elbow and leg, because he was favoring it, but the radiographs came out clean.
We gave him 3 months of rest, which was hard on him, being an active naughty little man, but he still didn't get better. We had an appointment a week later for a bone scan in Los Angeles when I heard the dreaded click from his hips. Back to the vet we went for hip Xrays, and the worst was confirmed: hip dysplasia. He was actually limping on his right leg to compensate for the bad right hip.
I called Kim, sent her a copy of the vet report and mailed a CD of the radiographs about a month ago. She said she would be "looking for another puppy" for me. I also asked, belatedly, for copies of the stud and bitch's OFA results but my request was not acknowledged. I've heard nothing back from the breeder.
My pup is over 2 years old now, and sometimes cannot get his right leg under himself. He trots sideways like a crab, and often needs help getting up into the truck for a ride to town. In the middle of a short morning walk with the other dogs he will lie down in the middle of the trail, not wanting to get up anymore.
So bottom line: before you buy a Cane Corso puppy, be sure you see the OFA or PennHIP results for yourself. Don't take anyone's word for it. Save yourself a tremendous amount of heartache. read more