My dog is at the vet today. It’s happening again; just like the last time. You see, I purchased a dog off the street two days ago from a middle aged man with a cage of puppies near the entrance to a narrow alley close to my apartment. As soon as I saw the chihuahua with the brown spots I knew that she was the one for me. Of course, she was not a purebred. Not for 200 RMB. Actually, the original price was 320 but after some fierce ‘bargaining’ and throwing the money in the man’s face I took her home for a good discount. I was happy; perhaps this puppy would survive.
The next day she was throwing up all over my apartment. Her feces were half brown and half red. When she tried to stand up she would fall over. Her eyes looked glazed over. My heart sank as I realized that I had another sick dog on my hands. Just like last time. I should have known better.
An hour later, we arrived at the nearby veterninarian hospital. The tests were expensive; about 160 RMB. But they were conclusive and sombering. My new dog tested positive for the dreaded parvo virus. The doctor confirmed for me what I had read on the internet. My puppy had a 50/50 chance of surviving this virus. They would have to keep her under constant watch and give her a series of treatments. Or we could put her to sleep. I decided to give her a chance.
The last puppy that I tried to raise also came down with the parvo virus but she did not display the symptoms until a few days later. By that time it was too late. The veterinarian sent her home with me and told me she had about 10% chance of surviving. Truer words were never spoken. She died in her little house a few days later.
Before you jump on me and accuse me of being a bad dog owner, I would like to have the chance to defend myself. My Chinese friends tell me that most dogs that are sold on the street are already sick. Their living conditions prior to being given a home are crowded and unsanitary. My only mistake was not taking a closer look at the dog and observing its movements and reflexes. With all the money that I have and will spend on trying to save this dog’s life, I probably could have bought a dog from a pet market and saved myself a lot of trouble. But I am not complaining. If my little puppy survives, I will be very happy.
Posted in 
Tags: 
Why buy from the streets? It only encourages the cruel over breeding of dogs. Every dog bought from some guy on the street is replaced with another from a puppy farm.
Search for a good breeder, ask people where they bought their dogs. Ask where a good pet shop or grooming parlour is (i mean pet shop as in pet accessory shop) and then ask them where to buy a dog from.
I was lucky (?) in that my dog was found as a stray, she wasn’t going to be mine, but the girl who found her then left her with me and disappeared off somewhere never to return. When i realised she was not coming back, i took the dog to a vet (recommended by the local grooming parlour and a chinese teacher who had a dog) who told me the dog was younger than the previous owner had been told, and that she was actually really healthy. She got her injections and a good check up. She’s now flown from CQ to here in Jiangsu without a problem and is living here happily and healthily.
See if your local supermarket has proper dog food. The chinese i have spoken to often think that dogs can live on rice or human food. If your local supermarket doesn’t have proper dog food (normally Pedigree Complete) then i would guess that there aren’t any good facilities for dogs in the area. If you move with your dog, check the local area to see if you can get what it needs. If you can’t buy locally, can you buy on the internet regularly?
I know two foreign teachers who have dogs, myself and a friend. My dog came to me by chance. My friend’s dog is the second one. The first one succumbed to Canine Distemper. The dog she has now was recommended to her by a student who knew the breeder.
Always, always take the dog to a vet as soon as possible to get them checked over. You can print off export forms for dogs in Chinese. Even if you’re not planning to export your dog, it has the diseases that the dog needs vaccines for written in Chinese. If you can’t say the names, then let the vet read the form. Distemper, Parvovirus and Rabies can be vaccinated against, and should be when the dog is 8-12 weeks old. A dog should not leave it’s mother until it is at least 8 weeks old. Before you get a dog, stock up on worming tablets. I paid 60Y for 4 tablets made by a European company here. My dog is wormed every three months. The 4 tablets will last us a year. A puppy should be wormed at 8, 12 and 16 weeks and then every three to six months after that. I worm my dog more here than i would in England because i believe there are more chances for her to catch them either from unsanitary conditions or from the strays.
Taking in a stray is probably a better idea than buying from a pet shop. Look at most of the strays, they’re fairly healthy (might have fleas or ticks or mange). Anything that is wrong with them can be fixed. It is rare to find a stray that will die a week after you get it. You’re also saving a dog from a miserable life on the streets being abused and mistreated by locals who don’t look at an animal with the same compassion we do.
[Reply]
does it support china killing does if i buy a dog in china from being killed?
[Reply]
the exact thing happened to me. bought my Beauty from a petshop in guangzhou, and she passed away 10 days later from parvo. we also discovered she had ticks/mites, and she had worms. please think twice about buying from petshops in china
[Reply]
[...] puppy for sale, however, it’s best not to buy from roadside vendors, as their dogs are often quite ill with the fatal parvo virus and drugged up just enough to make them look lively in the box. Instead, [...]
I was planning on bringing my mini dachshund with me to Shanghai. Can I get the vaccine in the states before I go?
[Reply]
[...] has had some bad luck with puppies in the past and even wrote about it in an article aptly named My Bad Luck with Puppies in China. You might want to check out that article for more details about the pitfalls of buying puppies on [...]
This is a hard lesson to learn and I don’t need to tell you again. I have heard similar horror stories of the bad treatment of puppies in China, especially vendors off the streets.
My wife and I were on summer holiday in Beijing and saw six puppies on leashes lying on the hot pavement as the vendor sat in the shade next to them. I literally poured my bottle of cold water on the puppies. We had a student with us who started screaming at the vendor.
Do yourself a favor do some research before giving your heart away to some cute puppy while in China.
Peace.
Laoshir
[Reply]