WHISTLESTOP RETRIEVERS

Puppy Contract and Health Guarantee

Congratulations on your purchase of a WhistleStop Labrador Retriever! Your puppy has been selectively-bred for excellent quality, health, soundness, intelligence, and good temperament. We operate a family owned kennel operated by Billy and Donna Reynolds in Richmond Hill, Georgia. We breed one or two litters of fine quality Labrador Retrievers per year. Our breeding stock consists of active girls in the hunt test and/or field trial arena. Prior to breeding, our girls will at a minimum have an AKC Master Hunt title or HRCH finished title or both.

Every possible attempt has been made by WhistleStop Retrievers to ensure that genetic diseases such as PRA (blindness), Hip and elbow dysplasia have not been passed on to any puppies bred and born by us. Both of your puppy's parent's have had their hips and elbows x-rayed and cleared through the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals), and have been tested for or are clear via parentage for PRA.

Some health issues are also significantly impacted by conditions in the dog's environment or there is only a "suspected" genetic basis but no clear-cut genetic pattern. For example, elbow problems do not have a clear genetic basis, and elbow x-rays are not always easy to read, even for the OFA. Often, elbow problems are due to minor puppy injuries, hard play or running, jumping off steps or a couch, jumping in and out of the back of a truck, walking/running up and down the stairs in the home repetitively, playing Frisbee, leaping on sand at the beach, etc., all of which may appear harmless, but are not at this early stage of development. In addition, such conditions may be simply a fluke of Mother Nature, as we see with humans. We do not cover elbows under this health guarantee, as we have no control over how the puppy is raised once it leaves our home.

Although we do everything we possibly can to remove health issues from our program, for some health issues (such as allergies, cardiac problems, epilepsy, incorrect bites), there is not a “test”, genetic marker, or database of affected or producing Labradors.

These issues mentioned above, without clear-cut genetic basis and a test and/or database for the condition, or those significantly affected by environmental factors, cannot be covered by WhistleStop Retriever’s health guarantee. Incorrect bites, undescended testicles, inverted vulvas or fertility problems are not guaranteed.

If not cleared by parentage, we also test our pups for EIC and CNM clearances. If a pup happens to be a carrier of either, you will be notified of such prior to your purchase. There is absolutely nothing wrong with an EIC/CNM carrier but it is important to know your new pup’s status should you decide to breed her/him in the future. You should NEVER breed two carriers to each other or an affected dog AT ALL.

General Health Guarantee

Your puppy is guaranteed to be in good general health and free of disease as of the time you take possession of the puppy from our kennels at WhistleStop Retrievers. For this guarantee to be in effect, you will need to take the puppy to a licensed veterinarian of your choice within 72 hours (three business days) of receiving him. In the event your veterinarian has diagnosed the puppy as unhealthy from a virus that could only have been contracted while here at WhistleStop Retrievers, we ask that you have him or her write a letter describing the problem. Then contact us to make arrangements for returning the puppy for a full refund of the purchase price. If your puppy was shipped via carrier, there is potential for your pup to have come into contact with other animals or bacteria that may have caused the unhealthy condition. WhistleStop Retrievers cannot offer a 72 hour general health guarantee on pups that contracted illness while in transit for this reason. WhistleStop Retrievers will not be held responsible for any veterinary bills incurred.

Since WhistleStop Retrievers has no control over the puppy's new environment, this general health guarantee will not be in effect after the 72 hours has expired, and will not cover problems caused by neglect (poisoning, accidents, etc.), or exposure to other sick dogs, even during the first 72 hours. If your puppy develops diarrhea, it is likely due to stress, water change, food changes or over-feeding. If it continues more than a couple days, the puppy should be checked by a vet, particularly for the protozoan parasites, coccidia and giardia, which are common in the environment and easily treated. This 72 hour health guarantee will not apply to coccidia, giardia, or worms as these are common in the environment and are activated in times of even light stress.

Hip Guarantee

Research has shown that dysplasia and other joint issues have three main causes: genetics, food (over feeding and/or poor quality, and too much exercise at a young age. This means that new owners can assume a great deal of responsibility in seeing that their dog develops good joints as they are growing. Puppies should not be allowed to become overweight, carrying too much weight at a young age is going to add stress on soft puppy bones and is believed to have an effect on the skeletal development. Likewise puppies should not be kept to thin or underfed as this also has a negative effect on growing joints. Young bones do not fully calcify until 12 months of age.

Your puppy is guaranteed to be free of nonfunctional hip dysplasia for 26 months. Evaluation must be done prior to 26 months of age and must be done by a certified and licensed veterinarian approved by both WhistleStop Retrievers and the owner, as good quality x-rays are extremely important for a correct diagnosis. Due to the laxity of the growth plates during development, while you may have them x-rayed at anytime at your own expense, we will not consider a final diagnosis until the pup has attained physical maturity at the current acceptable age of 24 months. The x-rays must be submitted to the OFA (buyer pays costs) for their diagnosis. A diagnosis of hip dysplasia based on a veterinarian's manual examination, poorly positioned x-rays, or Penn-Hip scores alone will not qualify for this guarantee.

Eye Guarantee

WhistleStop Retrievers breeding stock is examined by a certified ophthalmologist on a regular basis, as well as being tested or clear via parentage from PRA. WhistleStop Retrievers Eye Guarantee covers your puppy for a two year period.

Your puppy is guaranteed to be free of progressive retinal atrophy and other hereditary eye defects that would cause nonfunctional vision problems/blindness.

Conditions of Health Guarantee

In order to be covered by all/any of the above guarantees:

  1. The puppy must be examined by your veterinarian within 72 hours (three business days) of receipt.
  2. The OFA evaluation must be made no later than 26 months of age and not before 24 months of age.
  3. The eye exam must be by a certified ACVO ophthalmologist within the 24 month period.
  4. The dog must not have whelped or sired a litter.
  5. The dog must not be overweight, or have suffered trauma from either accident, neglect or exercise. Any evidence of abuse, neglect, or trauma will VOID in its entirety this health guarantee.
  6. The puppy/dog must have received annual wellness examinations.
  7. Spaying or neutering your dog will void the hip guarantee as research has shown that spaying or neutering your dog affects growth hormones.
  8. Buyer agrees to follow the suggestions for care and proper nutrition for joint development, as advised by WhistleStop Retrievers.
  9. The dog must be owned by the original owner.
  10. Pups/dogs that have been determined to havehip dysplasia by a licensed vet will be required to provide proof of spay/neuter in writing to WhistleStop Retrievers prior to receiving a replacement pup.
  11. Replacement pups may be picked up at WhistleStop Retrievers at an agreed upon date and time or shipped at owner’s expense.

We highly recommend that you feed only quality brands of dog food such as Nutro, Iams, Nature's Recipe, Purina Pro Plan, Eukanuba, Wellness, etc. There are many online stores, such as Petsmart, Petco and many others, that offer online accessibility to the best brands, so there is no excuse not to feed your dog correctly. Lower quality dog food is not a bargain in terms of its affect on your pet, easily causing significant health problems, which may cost many times the difference between dog foods. Your best investment is to feed the highest quality dog food that you can afford.

To Process a Claim

If the dog meets all of the conditions for this guarantee WhistleStop Retrievers will replace the puppy/dog with a puppy of equal quality, same sex, and color of the buyer’s choice. No cash refund will be given. WhistleStop Retrievers will make every effort to replace the dog as soon as possible. The diagnosed puppy must show proof of a veterinary statement from at least 2 different veterinarians to activate this replacement. We do not require that you surrender the puppy/dog back to us as they are your family member and our hope is that you will continue to love them despite their limitations; however, we do insist that ALL supportive documentation as stated below be sent to us before a replacement can be made.

  1. All veterinarian statements, vaccination records, and wellness exams.
  2. The conclusion/diagnosis from the OFA.
  3. Report from an ACVO certified ophthalmologist .
  4. Proof of spay/neuter and AKC registration papers.

In the event that a diagnosis of a genetic defect appears questionable, a second opinion from a veterinarian approved by WhistleStop Retrievers will be the determining factor (buyer to pay costs). We will not under any circumstances replace a dog that has passed away or been "put to sleep" unless we have been informed in writing that the dog was sick and we have likewise given permission to have the dog put to sleep. This health guarantee applies to the original owner only and is non transferable. You will be required to agree to, sign and retain a copy of the WhistleStop Retrievers Health Guaranteed agreement below:

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For WhistleStop Retrievers Date

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New Owner (Print) and Initial Date

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Address City State Zip Code

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Phone# Puppy Sex Breed Color Chip #