The entire experience was a delight. Dave was wonderfully…read morepatient and thorough in helping us pick out our two Coton de Tulear puppies. The puppies, Sadie and Ruby, are happy, healthy and learning fast. We are fortunate to be within driving distance of 'Family Puppies', so we got to see the reassuringly excellent rural setting Dave maintains for his dogs.

WORST PUPPY MILL ALERT!!! After a strained conversation with…read moreDavid Chupp on the phone and text I decided to buy an Italian Greyhound from him. THANK DOG I DIDN'T. After a quick google search, I discovered HORRIBLE things about this man and his nasty puppy mill! Here's my text message to him: "Just popped in your address to check out my route and OH MY GAWD! All these articles came up about you being shut down multiple times...Being on the Humane Society's LIST OF 100 WORST PUPPY MILLS...Very detailed bad reviews about your business practices, the horrible conditions of your dogs and facilities...Your unprofessional and rude attitude (which I agree with)...Bad reputation with local veterinarians...and the mentally disturbed responses you put to negative reviews. And you totally lied to me when I asked you about all the dogs on that website. You said they weren't yours...but you have hundreds of dogs...And you breed breed breed the parents and make up nonsense about not being able to see them because they need privacy? BULL! Every reputable breeder...EVERY SINGLE ONE is happy to let you see the parents. Happy to let you see the facilities where the puppies are kept. I cannot in good faith contribute to your PUPPY MILL. I wish all the luck in the world...TO THE HUMANE SOCIETY IN SHUTTING YOU DOWN " He tried to argue the internet isn't accurate, but that would be A TON of people "lying" about him. That would be some crazy conspiracy. So, I proceeded to block him but not fast enough. He managed to get in one last jab...calling me a B*TCH. I'm attaching as many photos as allowed showing all the websites making claims and news articles reporting on his many violations...selling sick pups, ripping people off who asked for returns for a puppy never received/shipped, bad reputation with local vets, my texts where he admitted he doesn't take his dogs to a vet but just "does the vaccinations himself", not BBB accredited, license cancelled, on the 100 worst puppy mills list, complete lack of wellness records, anger issues, traumatized dogs, EVEN A POSITIVE REVIEW HE LEFT HIMSELF PRETENDING TO BE A HAPPY CUSTOMER. So, please do not contribute to this man's seriously shady and disgusting business by buying his unhealthy, unvaccinated, unsocialized puppies. You never know what you will end up with.

I had such a positive experience with Trisha! Her website was so easy to navigate. I sent in the…read morepuppy application and she got back to me in a couple of hours. We communicated through text and it was easy to set up a time/appointment and view the puppies! When we met she was very nice to me and my mom and was very patient with us when we asked questions, when I translated all the information to my mom who only speaks Spanish and took a few minutes with each of the puppies we were interested in. You can tell that the puppies are really well cared for so if you're interested in a yorkie puppy this is the place/person to buy from! We took Bruno home that very same day and we couldn't he happier! He's such an energetic, loving and playful puppy!

This is Copper. Almost 2. Beautiful, loving to everyone with the sweetest personality…read more Super great! Best pup around. She owns us. Thanks!

Hard to give a rating since they didn't do anything at all, so I went with one star. We had our 13…read moreyear old pet pass away and were looking for a pup to replace her as our other dog was in need of a companion. We hoped to get one relatively quickly. We filled out an application for a pup they had and got an email confirmation the application was being sent to Heartland. To be sure they got it, I sent them an email directly with a summary of what we were looking for and attached a copy of the application in case they hadn't received it. For the week after that, we had no response at all from Heartland. Nothing. No acknowledgement by phone, text, nor email. I didn't expect much, but did expect something. The adoption process is way too complicated. We wanted to adopt a rescue or shelter dog as our last pet was, but it is simply too complicated and frustrating, especially when the place with the animals won't participate. We ended up going with a breeder and have the pup at home now. To be fair, Elkhart Humane Society called a day after we submitted an application to keep on file to say we were accepted. Another agency sent an email saying the pup we were interested in had been adopted that day but they would keep the application. Not so for Heartland. They did eventually send an email . . . 3 days after we had our puppy at home. We've had 2 dogs in our home for decades. We prefer going the rescue/humane society route, but they make it much too hard and frustrating to use. Not sure I'll even try using them next time. I'm glad some folks had a good outcome with them, but for us it was nothing but crickets from Heartland.

Everything went smoothly with my adoption but I had to give the dog back due to the dog being…read moreaggressive towards children. They re-listed the dog and put that he was good with children.

This is India. We adopted her 3 years ago 3 days before Christmas, she's the best Christmas present…read moreI've ever had. I am very surprised in most of these reviews, Jen was very professional, polite & very friendly as was everyone we met at the shelter. I have to admit that I was skeptical in the beginning as I thought a few things were a little out of the ordinary, such as the cash payment. But my fears were quickly squashed as soon as I saw that tiny, defenseless puppy. She only weighed 4 lbs & she was in need of a bath, but my vet assured me she was healthy. The entire process from beginning to end was professional & without any negative effects. India (then called Dutchmans Dolly by the shelter) had been vaccinated, dewormed, spayed ,blood work & x-rays confirmed she was free from all diseases & she had been vet checked by their vet. I was very confident that she was as healthy as possible & still is...! She is the light of my life, intelligent, very outgoing & loving! I would not hesitate in adopting another dog from Homeward bound...!!!

FIVE (5) unreplied emails asking to view a specific dog. I got the distinct impression from the…read moretotal lack of response that they are not interested in finding good homes for their animals.

Gabe and his wife are too professionals. They love their work as well and as much as they love…read moretheir puppies, it was truly a wonderful experience to get my new puppy from them.

We brought home Archie (Julian) 6 days ago and he is perfect!! He is a 14 week old red mini poodle…read moreand he loves to play, is swimming already and great at playing fetch. The rest of the time he is a Velcro snuggle pup. We met Archies dog parents and they were also amazing dogs. Archie's human parents Gabe and Joyce did an amazing job raising our perfect new family member. This is definitely NOT a puppy mill, they truly care about raising great pups

The way these pets have to sit in a small space on metal grates should be illegal. Manager is rude…read moreand will scream at you if you suggest anything for pets. No water, no beds or blankets. This should be illegal!

Lady working there with red hair, glasses, and pink converse was extremely rude. I personally am…read moreabout to move and I am actively looking for a dog to adopt. I don't know if it was because of my style or if I looked young, but the way she treated us compared to other customers was astronomically different. She was smiling and laughing with other people, but with me and my friends she acted as if we were being a burden for asking to hold a dog. Very disappointed in how we were treated.

Once upon a time, a girl had just moved into her apartment on the north side of Chicago, and wanted…read moreto fulfill her childhood dream of becoming a crazy cat lady. To do this, she needed to adopt some cats. Two cats, to be exact. Knowing that a big city like Chicago had an abundance of animals in need, she figured this task would be an easy one. However, try as she did, the various shelters she contacted in Chicago failed to return her phone calls and emails in a timely fashion, or at all. She had, however, contacted PetsConnect in Indiana, and although it was a two hour drive from her apartment, the girl's eagerness to adopt, combined with the friendliness of the volunteers of the nonprofit organization and their timely response led to the girl driving all the way to South Bend to meet the kitties. And what wonderful kitties they were. Young ones, old ones, brown ones, black ones, striped ones, solid ones, cats with extra toes, cats that were missing eyes, cats that had been abandonned, lovey cats and lonely cats. The organization was not a formal shelter in one location, but rather, a volunteer-run organization that rescued animals from shelters and fostered by volunteers who cared for the animals in their homes. The volunteers of the organization rescued not only cats, but dogs and other small animals as well. All of the animals had names and histories that the volunteers were all too happy to share. The girl met with one woman whose whole garage was devoted to housing rescued cats, and even though this might sound strange, the space was ideal for the animals--heated, clean, with plenty of space and toys. Even better was that all of the animals had been checked out by a vet, had their shots and were spayed and microchipped. The girl was able to take as much time as she needed to meet and spend time with the kitties, and the volunteer made sure that she had a firm grasp of the cats' personalities and the responsibilities pet owning entailed. Additionally, the organization's policy is one that they ask that the animals be returned to them in the event that they must ever be surrendered, lessening the likelihood that the animals would ever become homeless again. Ultimately, the girl would adopt her two kitties, rejoicing in her decision to drive all the way to South Bend, IN. Naturally, her and her kitties lived happily ever after.

Well, all I can say about looking to adopt a dog nowadays....good luck! It is the most miserable,…read moredepressing experience I have ever had, regarding this subject! I did not realize how much the world has changed and not for the best! What should be a basically, easy process to give a poor dog a good home, has turned into a nightmare! I GET IT that there are a lot of abusive, cruel people out there, but my GOD, how much red tape and endless PRIVATE questions must you endure in the process! Years ago you could go to the DOG POUND, now, that ages me, doesn't it? And, you could find a lot of good dogs, of ALL breeds, not just mainly one breed (dare I say it!). You also could get good dogs from your neighborhood. Before the hysteria of FIXING EVERYTHING IN SIGHT! Also from your work, etc. Wasn't too difficult, I remember (those were the days). Because everything is being forced ONLINE, where they can hide more, you basically can't tell really, WHERE they come from (puppymills,pet stores,etc.) I had a breeder tell me that a lot of dogs coming from Asian countries are actually being bred for profit, but are being brought over here as 'RESCUES'. And, they are carrying this disease that can affect our American dogs. The FDA is looking the other way.....Guess my only option is to go to reputable, expensive breeders or Craigslist! Heard so many negative things about them in the past. Yes there is a lot of that, BUT it isn't all bad. Just have to be careful. SO VERY SAD FOR ALL THESE DOGS THAT REALLY NEED GOOD HOMES.............