what kind of horror stories have you heard? I didnt know bostons were sickly breeds. Emo tends to get ear infections a lot, but thats because she likes to sit her head in sprinkler.

Just reading through this community and others experiences, it seems like problems are common. It could be that people are just sharing their stories to alert others to be cautious, I don't know.

Your dog actually SITS her head in the sprinkler? That's priceless =)

lol i meant sticks instead of sits. she sticks her head in the sprinkler and attempts to bite at the water shooting out. its so funny. she loves that yet gets so upset when i give her a bath. go figure!

Aww!

I guess it seems like all you read is the bad stuff, but over all, I think if you do the correct preventative care and such, you should be all right. when we got Porsche, we took her to the vet the first day for an assessment, and then we made sure we had her worming and shots done right on time. I think it saved us a lot of headache...but maybe we were just lucky.

You could try searching northeast boston terrier rescue on google. I live in Syracuse and used to run a boston terrier meetup with my husband, and we had a member that did foster work for that group.

I would recommend a boston! I do not think they are any more sickly then any other breed. And if you choose to go a breeder route just try to check references ( Our breeder is in Auburn and we like her!)

Good Luck!

Oh really? Auburn is not far from me at all - do you think you could send me a little more information about your breeder?

Banjo had kennel cough when we got him but a week of medication was all it took to fix that and he's been fine since. It was probably $30 worth of medication.

The drive is worth avoiding the hassle of finding a trustworthy breeder plus you'll be doing the world a favor!
Seriously, we get so many Bostons at the rescue I work with. They're great dogs but there is no sense in supporting more breeding of them when there are so many who need homes.
Those two in PA are ADORABLE!
http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=8418198
How about this guy? He's in New York and just got back from training :)

I know - I saw him on there. Unfortunately, I have no means to travel very far.

i found emo with a breed 8 hours away from my house. i didn't have the means to travel that far either so i begged a friend! it worked. He drove me down there and back to get her:)

that one in ny that cass4canines gave you the link for is so cute!

Haha, not to sound terrible but uhm...I have no friends...that's why I'm getting a dog =/

this rescue will ship anywhere in the US!

http://wanderz.net/Rescue/Dogs.htm

also, they now have a lot more dogs than what you currently see on the page. here is a note i got from the organizer of the rescue:

"I took in 10 dogs from a puppy mill bust week before last and on Friday took in 5 dogs from a cruelty case and still have another one coming in that the shelters vet wouldn't release cause he was in such bad shape. I was full before I took these dogs, now I am stuffed beyond belief. But they were special circumstances.

I am way way way way past full now and we have not one single app in house so I cannot take any more dogs at all probably for a couple of months until I can get some of these adopted out. We haven't had an adoption in over 2 weeks. :(

I want to help all of em, but I can only do so much before I crash and burn. I have to adopt out at least 10 dogs before I can take one more other than the one that I said I would take from the cruelty case that is in such bad shape as soon as the vet ok's him to leave his office. I have no more room."

so yeah, they REALLY REALLY need people to adopt!

i wish i had an edit button. you know i'll probably be responding again after this ;)

check out petharbor.com like, every day. you never know when a boston will turn up in the shelter, and you never know how quickly they will get snatched up. there is one totally adorable white faced boy guy available in toronto right now but thats like, 4 hours away from you. which would be an 8 hour drive. if i lived near you, i'd totally drive you down there if you wanted to adopt him ;)

also check craigslist.com and see if there is anyone that needs to rehome a boston.

Most of the Bostons with health issues came from pet stores, puppy mill outlets (like farmers or flea markets), or back-yard breeders - who are all in it for the bucks.

Well, when we got Violet she had a small case of worms. I know it sounds gross, but she apparently was dewormed, but I had it done again because we only saw 1 worm so it was done to be 100% sure that she didn't have them. She does have a heart murmur, but it's caused by a small tiny little extra piece of tissue that slightly moves when her heart pumps blood. We've had an EKG done but it hasn't changed since she was a puppy. I don't think they're a sickly breed, but I feel that you do have to check references when looking at a breeder because I personally think they are inbred. I know when I got Violet, there was a lot of inbreeding around my area because they were becoming popular. But I think inbreeding can come from any breed. Hopefully the person who got her dog from the Auburn area can help you out and you'll find a Boston :-) But puppies get sick so don't focus on the bad parts. Violet one time was thought to have parvo, but it turned out she was constipated and the Dr. didn't think about Xrays sooner :-P

Good luck!!!