As our family reads these stories, we feel that we can connect with a little of all of them. We’ve had 3 dogs from Don and problems with each one. I don’t even know where to start. Long story short, our first male dog has an amazing temperament but has never been comfortable being touched in certain places. He also had bowed front legs when we got him. Don said he would grow out of it. His legs did straighten out but they are shorter than they should be. He also limps as it’s uncomfortable for him to carry his own weight. He’s turning 4 soon and has been limping since 8-9 months old. However, this is nothing compared to the other problems we’ve experienced with Don’s other dogs. The beginning of our journey started with a delay in pickup our male dog since Don said there were some issues with the dogs, so we had to wait another month. We didn’t mind and in fact we ended leaving with another dog (a female). After a few months she started getting sick so we took her to the vet that Don recommended at the time of purchase. At this point we didn’t tell Don anything since we weren’t expecting anything serious, and we felt that it was our responsibility. The back and forth to the doctors lasted a few more months since the doctors couldn’t tell exactly what was going on. Once again, we ended up at the pet hospital, and about $2,000 later, the doctors figured out she was dying due to a RBC (red bone cell) disorder and there was nothing we could do as she would not be able to grow normally. Also the vet told us our dog had bone issues as her teeth were crooked in the front. We really tried everything we could to save her life. As the situation grew worse, we ended up putting down our beautiful baby girl. At that point we decided to contact Don to let him know what had been discovered as we were concerned and thought he would check his other dogs that could be affected. He invited us to his house. When we met with him, we brought all the documentation from the Vet. Don’s response wasn’t very friendly. He refuted the care that we had provided our girl and denied the level of care from the vet. This is the same vet he recommended we take our dogs to, as that’s who cares for ALL his dogs. At that point we lost all trust in him and told him we weren’t there to attack or judge, but to simply inform him. He went on to say he needed to call the vet to verify what we said, and that we should’ve gave our girl to him and that he would’ve taken her to UC Davis where she would’ve gotten “specialized” treatment that could’ve saved her life. My husband and I became very uncomfortable at that point. I remember taking our dog to the Vet and the first time we went in they said “it’s another one of Don’s dogs.” I didn’t know what they probably meant at the time, but now I do. So, during our meeting with Don, he offered a replacement dog because at that point the cost of our girl plus medical expenses totaled in excess of $3,000. We waited around 5 months for a new litter and a release time for puppies. We received a pickup date for a replacement and went through his usual story of why we couldn’t pick her up due to this and that. Finally, when my husband went to get our new puppy, Don presented a different dog, which is fine, but we weren’t given a heads-up or a reason. According to my husband, the conversation wasn’t very pleasant and Don stated, “You get what you pay for and you can leave without a dog if you please.” We were treated like an inconvenience. We eventually got the papers for the new puppy but couldn’t get him to give us the papers for our male dog. Fast forward a few years, we have spent about $1700-$2500 on recent vet bills because our replacement female at the age of 3 has not put on enough weight, and has actually lost a lot of weight. She is down to 47 pounds. She’s alert, energetic, but starving all the time. After several tests, the doctors cannot figure out why she is unable to put on any fat, or muscle, and recommended the care of a specialist. In fact, one of her ultrasounds, in which they obtained fluid to test, was looked at by a specialist as it’s not normal for a dog of her breed to look like this. We thought she would die and we decided to just care for her with loving comfort until she passes. She’s still with us today, but is always hungry, and can be aggressive with our male dog due to her condition. We’ve been able to get her up to 58 pounds but that seems to be her upper limit. Our boy doesn’t eat as much as he used to, and can throw up easily after eating. We’ve adjusted his food by making sure it’s very moist, and have been feeding him in smaller increments. He also has skin lesions that arise from time to time and we treat them with gentle home remedies and make sure he’s combed out often to allow good air flow. We haven’t been in contact with Don and don’t want to since we got our replacement and ran for the hills. So in the end, our family has 2 dogs, our limping boy that is almost 4 years old and our almost 4-year-old very underweight girl, and the remembrance of our beautiful baby girl we had to put down. I really hope our review will help others make a more informed decision.
