Rufus lasted just 3 weeks from diagnosis. We were too late for K9kidney to be of any use. Also there is not much you can do if the kidneys have not grown and developed.

Carrie, I am so sorry to hear about Pippin. In answer to your question, I did get in touch with the breeder to ask if there were any other problems in the litter and I was told all the others were fine. I specifically asked about the puppy that she had kept as she was very similar to Rufus and I was told that she was fine.

After Christmas I decided to e-mail the other puppy owners. I got 2 replies back straight away. One had a bitch who had become incontinent and was going off her food - an especially bad sign for a retriever! I spoke with the lady and she told me that the pup the breeder had kept was totally incontinent from the first few weeks - so not fine. She had also been in touch with the breeder and asked about littermates. She was told there were no other problems! This was about 2 weeks after Rufus had been put down and about a month after I had first been in touch! Very economical with the truth!

On monday the other pup was diagnosed with JRD with only a small amount of one kidney working, so her best outlook is 6 months.

On the bright side the breeder has stated that she will not repeat this pairing.

Should we inform the kennel club? or the golden retriever club GB?

Any thoughts?