Hello everyone  - I just received my puppy last week, and it was love at first sight!   She is an absolute delight!  Unfortunately, I received some very bad news when I took her to the Vet as she has a serious heart murmur.   We don't know exactly what is in store for her - she may outgrow it, need surgery, medication, or die young.  She will need to have some tests run in the future to see what our options are.  For sure, we know that we cannot breed her as I had hoped to as we wouldn't want to pass on this major defect.   l am really, really sad about the whole thing.  I just wanted to ask for your support because I know that most of you went through the same process in selecting and waiting for a puppy to come from halfway across the world.  I know that Anna is doing all she can to try to work something out for me,  but Russian laws and culture are significantly different than ours and I may have no recourse.  If you already have your pup and he/she has been cleared by the vet, you obviously have nothing to worry about.  And those of you that are looking to import will likely have nothing to worry about because I believe the RSC will now be requiring a more thorough vet check than  is required by the U.S. importation laws.  I wouldn't wish this on anyone else, but it sure stinks that out of the dozens of puppies that have been brought into the U.S. via RSC, mine was the first to have had a serious problem.  My friends have given me a little grief for having gone to such lengths to get the ‘perfect dog’, so I am just asking for some encouragement as I'm sure a few of you had skeptical friends also.  Thanks in advance. 

Tatiana

None of my recommendations and apologies change the fact that this shouldn't have happened. Now, every pup gets examined by a vet-tech before leaving the breeder. But as they say "hind sight is always 20-20"...

I also have an idea... because there is almost nothing we can do to get $ back from breeders in Russia, maybe we can establish a fund. If something unforeseen is found in one of the imported puppies, RSC would use that fund to (at least partially) assist with treatment or purchase of another puppy. There are enough success import stories in RSC, so even if half of these happy dog owners chip in, we would have a nice safety fund. What do you all think?

Sorry to hear about your little on. Lets all hope everything works out for the two of you.  Don't feel bad, everyone laughed at me when I told them how I was getting my dog .When I finally picked up Ivar at the airport, it was love at first site. I could not be more happy with him.Even after hearing about your situation if I were to get another dog I would not even hesitate to do it again.        

Ivars family

It's been a while since I first posted about Leksi so I wanted to give an update.  I will be taking her to see a cardiologist next month as she needs to have a thorough exam before she gets spayed.

I just wanted to let you know that Leksi is doing extremely well.  I am taking her to obedience classes now and she is catching on extremely fast considering that she still has all of that puppy energy!  She has incredible balance, and walks on her back feet almost as much as on all 4, it seems!  She is very confident and sweet, and tolerates my rough 3 yr old very well.

Anyway, I just wanted to share with you all since I was filled with sadness when I last posted.  Thanks again for all of the support.  I hope you all are doing equally well.

Kelli