HORRIBLE PUPPY MILL So sad to see all these goldens in need of homes You had to pay 5.00 to see them. I cried when we left. Such a beautiful breed treated this way and they just keep breeding MORE read more

Gap View Ranch and Kennel is a place that I thought only existed in my dreams. I do not know of anywhere else I can play with over 35 Golden Retriever puppies at once. They frolic outside happily playing on a ranch. I heard they are soon making a little pond for the puppies to play in so you can join them and swim with them (don't quote me on that though). As a JMU student I learned that the secret to getting A's on finals was to take a chill day to pet some pups. All of their dogs are up for adoption! I would love to get one someday. The pups are popular so make sure you get on the waiting list if you want one. Also, you can just visit if you make an appointment online and donate 5 dollars (CASH) or more when you visit the ranch. **You can not visit without an appointment so call ahead first!** read more

See all

I wish I could give 0 stars. The poor puppies are in horrible living conditions -- in metal cages outside with concrete floors. It has been incredibly hot recently and I can't help but think of those poor dogs outside all day. I'm honestly surprised they let people visit as it is incredibly depressing and seems like one big animal rights violation. read more

We attempted to board our dog the other day. We scheduled, and had confirmed the visit to coincide with our trip out of town. No one was there when we arrived. No one answered the phone. We waited 30 minutes, and no response from anyone. We ended up being over two hours late for our trip because we had to scramble to find another kennel. I would never recommend this puppymill of a rat trap to watch even a snake. read more

I visited Gap View Ranch and Kennel today and was heartbroken. In 93 degree weather, golden retrievers were outside under the hot sun with one bucket of water and no shade. The poor babies were panting so hard. The farm was just as hot, with maybe one or two fans. The puppies looked sick, the one mom doggy I saw was so skinny and so sick. I want this place to be shut down. These animals are living in unsafe conditions and it makes me cry. Do not go. read more

Nothing more than a glorified puppy mill. I've been trying to rescue one of their overbred girls for a year but they just keep on breeding her. Even though she only produces one puppy at a time. Profoundly disappointed in "Dave" the owner. He cares more about his deep pockets than he does about the dogs! read more

Every time that I had to take my dog that came from Gap View to the vet because of their lack of care for her when she delivered her last litter at via c-section, which her current vet said was "sloppily done" and has caused her to have kidney disease, I feel anger and contempt!! Gap View sold her to someone else when she was no longer of any use to them. And when the person who initially bought her could not afford her expensive care, she came to me to keep her from being returned to Gap View. They left others to pay the bills and provide the care they neglected to give while making money on her multiple litters of puppies. But in all fairness, she was a lovely Golden, easy going and friendly, no doubt because of the JMU students which you make pay for the "privilege" to play with the puppies, and walk the parents - More money that solely lines the pocket of Gap View Kennel. We have lost "her" because of renal failure, but I'm sure no one at Gap View would even care if they knew who "she" was - They made their money and have moved on and continue producing and selling puppies to the unsuspecting public who have no idea that Gap View only cares about their bottom line. read more

We have visited Gap View several times in preparation to adopt a puppy ! Each time we went - it was an exceptional experience!! All of their dogs were happy and sweet ! It was very organized and you can tell they genuinely love each golden ! We picked a mother and father that we wanted a puppy from and unfortunately had to pass because of timing. When we came back they were going to allow us again to select a mother and father - however we fell in love with Mabel and eventually got one of her puppies! One of the employees that works at Gap View .... Sierra was beyond helpful !! You could tell she knew each of the dogs personalities, answered any and all questions ! Texted me almost immediately everytime ! Our puppy Sadie has been nothing short of a blessing and joy to our family !! She is beautiful ! read more

See all

I recently went to the farm this weekend. To be honest, it reminded me of a puppy mill. The dogs are separated by fences and many are just lying on concrete. Some are isolated while others may be in the enclosed area with a few other dogs. There are no toys with any of the dogs. I'm not sure how they're kept at night or if it is any more humane than how they are kept during the day. Overall, the experience was very sad. The male dogs are separated and put at the top of the hill. Many of those dogs appeared anxious as they paced back and forth. The female dogs are kept at the bottom of the hill. Many people love this place because they claim it is cute and they see everything they want to see: cute puppies and their parents. I disagree. It is only a decent place for the puppies. Of course anyone that comes in looking for a dog is more interested in the cute puppies and they are quickly bought out. The adult dogs aren't. I also went on their website afterward to see if any of the male or female dogs were up for adoption but there were not. It seems like the mother dogs are just used to pop out babies and then enclosed behind the fence once their older. Where is their love? As an outside of Rockingham County, I watched many people walk into the dogs fenced areas to take selfies or play with the dogs for 5 minutes. These adult dogs are hungry for attention and love. The other surrounding dogs would try to put their head as close as they could to any human for touch. It was just really upsetting. Even when I was there, some of the puppies situations seemed off. There were 3 day old puppies in a small little box with a towel. Those puppies kept moving their body towards the towel and trying to drink milk, as they believed it was their mother. This showed me that they were probably hungry. Also, why would they be separated from their mother at this age? No one was watching them either. They were just on this table inside the barn. I'm not sure what the $5 entry fee goes to but I really hope people can come together to boycott this establishment. Or at least, provide more humane living conditions for the adult dogs. It is not fair that they are used to pump out puppies and not given equal adoption rights/treatment or overall care. read more

We visited the kennel today. First impression - it seems nothing more than a puppy mill. So many dogs with a small staff. Of course, the dogs and puppies are beautiful and some seem to have space to run but others were simply in fenced-in cages with concrete floors. Every single one of them was begging for love and attention and were desperate for human touch. It was just really upsetting to us to walk away knowing that they would be left alone once again. We can only imagine what it is like on a weekday or in the winter when nobody visits. Or when it is freezing on a cold winter's night. We also noticed that the dogs had nothing to play with such as toys. One was actually mouthing a stone which is a sad sight. Secondly, we were taken aback by the $5 dollar per person entrance fee as nowhere on the website is the fee mentioned. We were also expecting a guided tour of the facilities. Nope, you just fork over $5 each and are told to walk around on your own. Frankly, this is disappointing given they are well aware that those driving more than two hours to visit will have no choice but to pay. Why hide it? Be up front about it. NO tour was provided other than being handed a sheet for the winter litters. Seems incredibly bad business to put off a potential $1500 sale for a measly $5 charge. SAD trip and DISAPPOINTING experience. We will look elsewhere for our golden retriever puppy. But please think about these wonderful animals - they aren't simply a business but loving and beautiful souls that need much more personal attention than they are getting. read more

Love love everything about this place from the dogs to the other animals roaming around. The only reason I give this place a 4 instead of a 5 was because some of the larger male dogs had matting and hadn't been properly brushed in a while. Other than that this place was perfect. read more

See all

If zero stars were an option, I would've chose that. Gap view is a horrible place and needs to be shut down immediately. My family was in the market for a puppy in April of 2020, we visited the ranch and were super impressed with the puppies and the atmosphere, we added our name to the list. December 2020 we received a call from the owner that he had a puppy available at no cost although she had a heart condition, she had been seeing doctors and was on a medication, of course we jumped on that offer. Unfortunately we did not have baby girl Rosa for more than 24 hours before having to put her down. We picked her up on a Friday and overnight she had gained 5 pounds of fluid, we rushed her to the ER and a few hours later had to make the devastating decision to put her down. We tried reaching out to the owner to inform him of rosas passing, we got no response. No condolences. Nothing. Over $10k in vet bills, and we didn't even get an email to acknowledge her death. It's now February 2021 and they have offered a friend of mine that happened to be on the waitlist the same deal we were given in December but with a new pup. A new litter with the same heart condition.. you make the connections. I'll attach a few screenshots for reference. I hope that if you do chose to buy a puppy from this ranch, you immediately take them to the vet and constantly get check ups. read more

See all

We visited Gap View Ranch and Kennel on 3/30/19. We noticed quite a few of the dogs did NOT have any water in their enclosures, and the temp with in the mid 70's. The dogs were stressed and panting. I thought we would see some of the dogs out in grassy areas, that was not the case, they are caged like criminals. It broke my heart, my daughter actually left there crying b/c she was sad for the dogs. read more

I have been to Gap View 3 times to see all the golden retrievers. Yes the dogs and puppies are beautiful and playful but the establishment does not seem to care about their dogs whatsoever. You pay $5 to get in but I am honestly not sure where the money goes. Today will be the last time I go to the kennel. It was pouring today and all the dogs are soaking wet with only a very small dog house to shield them. One dog (Cooper) was pacing in a circle the whole time, even when I approached him. This is very concerning, indicating Cooper was either under a lot of stress/anxiety or pain. None of them even have any kind of toys or stimulation to play with while they are stuck in their cage. I am all for supporting small businesses and I love dogs but I will not support establishments that do not care for their animals. read more

If you care about puppies don't go here. They like to breed dogs knowing they have puppies with heart conditions. Instead of seeking medical help for the puppies they try to sell them off because it's too expensive to help them. They only care about the money they don't care about the animals at all it's extremely inhumane. read more

POSTING MY REVIEW ON HERE SINCE THE OWNER DELETED MY GOOGLE REVIEW: This place is an inch above from being a puppy mill, with the way these dogs are treated and how the owner handles this business. Not professional. Not reliable. Most definitely not worth a single minute or dollar to be spent there. These dogs deserve to be in much better conditions where they aren't treated SOLELY for BREEDING. Shame on the owner. Take your interest in adoption somewhere else, where an owner will actually care and look after the needs of every single dog. Don't trust the owner, there is no guarantee he'll hold his own end of the deal. Require everything in print, otherwise he will change his mind at the last minute or charge you MUCH MORE than what the intended adoption fees are. I'm sorry for the dogs and the way they're being treated but I'm definitely not sorry for how lousy and unreliable the owner is. read more

I'm saddened that there is no option for no stars. This is a JOKE of a breeder. They knowingly continue to breed dogs with health issues then offer to "give" the dog away because "they don't have the resources" to fix a treatable. Absolutely repulsive. Go to a rescue. Or at least a decent breeder. I'm nauseated. read more

I bought a puppy locally from the Gap View lines. The owner of the dam had bought her directly from Gap View and then had her bred to a Gap View stud. I bought this puppy two years ago. The owner of the dam had taken excellent care of her and the litter was healthy and under a veterinarian's care. My pup passed the OFA hip and elbow certification with "good" which I was happy with. But failed her eye exam with a cataract. Monday (November 30) she started having seizures. I attribute these events to poor breeding. Of course, I love my girl and will always share my home with her. But I will never purchase anything related to Gap View again. read more

This is a puppy mill - 30-40 dogs are bred constantly. They have 40-50 puppies at a time. The dogs are all caged with concrete floors, no toys, no socialization besides school classes coming to pet the dogs once in a while. These are goldies - family dogs who love to be around people and learn things. When we were there two female dogs fought each other and were badly injured. Both were sitting with large wounds in their concrete-floored cages. The bitches get bred with no breaks - I guess until they die. They supposedly retire their breeding dogs and we got on a list to "adopt" them, but we never got a call in two years. I feel like I want to rescue all these poor breeding dogs. How can this "farm" not be considered a place of animal abuse? Most dogs are neglected- too long toenails, mats, and dirt all over them. The owner has all kinds of other animals there, too - a peacock that screams all day, free-roaming donkeys etc. Totally out of control place. Oh, and the few handlers are rude and non-responsive read more

We recently bought our english creme golden from Gap View. We love her and she is very sweet. However, we have been battling round worms with her since we got her, she is now a little over 10 weeks old. The breeder must have known that she and their litters have issues with worms because they sent us home with a healthy dose of medicine to treat it. Gave her all the meds and she pooped out worms. We thought it was over, gave her heart worm medicine and she pooped out more worms. Got our vet involved and she gave her Drontal (parasite medicine) a few days ago and she recently vomited a worm. Vet said that this is common for pets who are infested. This is nothing but a puppy mill with no regard to their "pets," if they loved these animals they would take the steps to control this issue. Be careful. read more

The puppy we got from Gap View was infected with round worms, which is gotten directly from their mothers. After paying $1500 for our little guy, it cost us another $365 to get him healthy. Gap View accepted no responsibility for selling an infected / ill puppy. They claim to guarantee their puppies for up to six months, but when we presented them with this problem they did nothing to help us get our puppy healthy. We can't recommend this place and will never do business with them again. read more

the puppies are adorable but badly bred. there were multiple puppies there (from the same litter) with hips problems. they waddled like penguins. they were also far too young to be handled by that many people. the dogs were in mud and had no toys to play with. the dogs were sweet (it's in their breed) but so sad. DO NOT BUY A DOG FROM THERE. read more