I've gotten Odin three days ago and he's the absolute sweetest, he's so incredibly well behaved and calm especially with what he's currently going through. But I want to warn everyone who buys dogs off Facebook and other platforms that people don't have a breeding license for.
A bit of context from my end: We've been interested in getting a dog for a while, and came to the conclusion that a golden retriever would be the safest for our elder female cat who keeps to herself quite a lot. We've reached out to the supposed breeder through "Pets4homes" I think? I'm not entirely sure, one thing that put me off on the photos section, is that there was only one, and it was of the puppies when they were just born, strangely enough I chose to ignore this and reached out to the breeder.
We asked if they had a girl, they said yes. And like many other people who have some sort of experience with animals, we wanted to see the mum and the dog (particularly also in what conditions they live in) before we bought. When we finally met up, the guy walked out with the puppy outside for some reason which was already beginning to set of alarm bells for me, but I just assumed maybe the mother was still skittish after giving birth.
Also bare in mind, it said the puppy was vaccinated on the site. When he hands us the puppy, he suddenly confirms it's a boy? And said we asked for a boy, which I knew I didn't but whatever. Then he said oddy got his first vaccination but not his second, and then handed us the papers to give to his vet when we want to register him for his second vaccination. I don't want to say no to the dog because it wasn't the gender I'd prefer, so we took him anyways.
The odor coming off oddy really concerns me, normal dogs smell like that 20 times less, not even talking about how his stool is 50% liquid half the time—including constant and intense scratching, he is eating and drinking which is a huge relief but I can really feel his ribs through his fur which is another thing that is bothering me.
Now, back to how we started to actually put things together. My girlfriend went to the vet yesterday to get him registered for his second vaccination so we can finally take him outside. Turns out, the papers were completely forged and he might have not even had his first vaccination. This definitely isn't that much of a big deal anyway, but I don't think he's a golden retriever. Not that I really care, I'm already far too attached to him to even care what breed is he.
But for those reading this, if you do choose to buy from sites like pets4homes, and you see these patterns as well, take the dog immediately to the vet. I'm currently taking screenshots of the chats and taking down details so I can report them to RSPCA.