New puppy, breeder lied about age and possibly breed?

[shanmac92]

So, my Aunt and her two teenage boys got a puppy off Gumtree. They haven't been dog lovers until recently and are completely new to the dog world, basically meaning they know nothing about what a puppy should look like by age or breed. They thought they were getting a 9 week old shih tzu cross bichon frise as shown in photos sat beside a bichon. Price was around £150 but I think they maybe only paid £80. They were handed this palm sized puppy and a can of ADULT dog food and the breeder flew off. Now, they know nothing about puppies as I've said so they didn't see anything wrong with this.

Anyway, the puppy turned out to be only 5 WEEKS OLD. It could barely stand on its own, or eat, never mind eat a can of pedigree adults soft dog food. They had to feed it baby rice and puppy milk through a syringe, which is a big thing for people who have never had a pet before.

It's about 10-12 weeks old now, happy and healty and they all love it very much. However, I don't think it is a shih tzu X bichon, can anyone shed some light onto what it may be? We are all just curious as to what little Milo actually is!

(pic in hands is at 5 week old, other two are most recent at 10-12 weeks)

 

[eingana]

This is one reason why I hate the way that pets are traded on Gumtree, Preloved etc. If your aunt had seen the puppies with mummy then they would have had a lot more idea about both how old the pups were and at least one of the parent dogs.

As far as breed goes, I think the pup (well done on getting her this far and looking so healthy BTW) has too much muzzle to be part shihtzu, and has far too small eyes, but does have a slightly shihtzu tail. Legs are too straight and already too long to be shihtzu too. If there's anything similar in there, then I think it's more likely to be a lhasa than a shihtzu.

However, I think that it's way too early to be able to work out what mix is in there as so many small puppies look like so many other small puppies. Ears could be a bit papillon, but then again they may look very different in a few months and this little one could be a mix of bichon or any of the small terriers.

 

[Smiley Girl]

If my Shih Tzu had this much muzzle, she may not snore all the time :- ) so thats a bonus for you! She is lovley and well done for helping her thrive, I know there are people out there who will do a DNA test for you and tell you your pups background, probably best to Google.

 

[poppy2714]

welldone on getting her this fair - she is really cute!!