General advice for buying dogs in Vietnam

First of all: Do not buy from any breeder. I haven't seen a reliable breeder in Vietnam. It's all about money. There are some breeds more or lesson fashionable, like Phu Quoc Dogs, Retriever, German Shepard, and some chinese and japanese breeds. The best way to get a healthy dogs is to look around your neighborhood. You may see a pregnant female Vietnamese street dog. Follow and ask the owners. Or look around if there is a small dog between 1 and 2 years old. If so, ask the owners if they sell it. My experience is, that most locals dogs are just smart.

Most important:

Do not buy puppies less than 8 weeks old

First Vaccination should be given:

- the age of 6 weeks and then at 9 weeks old and 12 weeks old (if the mother did not receive vaccine and there is not enough antibody in her body for the puppies)
or
- at the age of 7-8 weeks and then at 12 weeks old (if the mother was vaccinated before)

Rabbies should not be given before 3 months old.

Please inspect the place where the puppies grew up, look at their living conditions.

If the puppies look tired, they may be under medication to keep them quiet. Dont buy

Do not buy puppies in Saigon from Tracy Lee

On the Phu My Hung neighbours list a Tracy Lee tried to sell 5 weeks old Golden retriever puppies. I suspended her from the list. 5 weeks is to early to take puppies away from the mother. She insists that a doctor told her that she can give away puppies when they are 5-8 weeks old. She also mentioned the dogs would be vaccinated, but did not mention what vaccinations. By the way, the same doctor she mentioned said "The puppies will receive their first injection at: the age of 6 weeks and then at 9 weeks old and 12 weeks old (if the mother did not receive vaccine and there is not enough antibody in her body for the puppies)
or- at the age of 7-8 weeks and then at 12 weeks old (if the mother was vaccinated before)."

She told me first that she can't afford to feed the dogs, that why she is selling, but later she admitted that it is just about money. "Who dont need a business? who dont need money?"

Doctors told me that Puppies were in "terrible conditions" when they saw them.

So be careful, do not buy puppies from Tracy Lee in Vietnam, I think she is irresponsible and only wants to make money with the dogs.

UPDATE: I just rejected a comment who was recommending Tracys service. The reason was since this lady lied to me so many times, I can#t proof if the comments is true or just made or requested by her.

Construction work in Vietnam seems a real threat

The first floor of a shopping mall in Ho Chi Minh City's new Phu My Hung urban area collapsed during construction Wednesday morning.

This is the second building in this area that collapses, since 2 years ago close to that site a fifth floor of an office building (the one where Tokio Deli now is in) fall to the fourth floor. One worker was killed. I remember some houses falling down in the business dictrict this year, as well as some other incidents like a bridge floor collapsed in the north and of course the bridge accident in Can Tho.

I don't know who to blame for that. Is it again that workers save money and use poor quality of cement (what also includes corruption)? Is it the general low level of quality of construction work in Vietnam? In all these buildings were foreigns companies involved, but I was told that even if you have the best architects and engineers from abroad local stuff will mess it up. That's kind of right, just look at new streets.

Cafe Do: tiny cafe with live music

What I like the most about Saigon are the cafes. There are hundreds of them, many are hidden in small alleys, and you have to know the place. These cafes are the real beauty of the city, usually providing a quit place, slow beats if any. Recently a friend took me to Cafe Do. It's in an alley, oneandahalf room, with a corner as a stage for young musicians. I was listening to three singers, one of them, a young girl, said she will sing in English because there is one foreigner (me) there tonight. I was stunned.
These places offer you a glimpse into the world of young Vietnamese people who are not spending all their money for bags and phones (although some of them might do this as well). But at least they are building a scence, something thats quite important for developing a diversified music and events business. In one of this cafe I discovered Le Cat Trong Ly, who is sometimes even on HTV.

Cafe Do
118/30 Tran Quang Dieu
P.14 Q.3, Ho Chi Minh City
(083) 931-4008