We had a long, dragged-out experience with them that lasted almost two years and did not end with…read moreus being offered a puppy. We first filled out the application in October 2021 and made the reservation fee shortly after. At the time, they had a long waitlist due to the pandemic and we were about 25th on the list. Our only request throughout the whole process was that we be offered a female puppy when the time came. They were very communicative for the first few months and their website showed where we were on the list, so as litters were born, we could see ourselves moving up.
As time went on, they moved their location, changed their business name and redesigned their website, so we were unable to see our progression up the list. I reached out in November 2022 as to where we were and was told we were still in the top 20.
Shortly after that in December 2022, they reached out and asked if we were ready for a dog as a litter was about to be born and would have been a February take home. Seeing what we were told just the month prior and knowing February would be difficult for us with our work schedules, we informed them we would not be ready in February but were open to subsequent litters. Again, we were in the top 20 just a month before (to our knowledge, no litters were born between that time) and we were not actually OFFERED a puppy in December 2022 because one was not physically available. Our impression was that if we were being asked if we were ready in December, we would be able to have a puppy from a subsequent litter sooner rather than later.
By September 2023, there were several other litters born and yet we were still not offered a dog. They, on the other hand, claim that we were "offered" in December 2022 but declined. That could not be further from the truth. If there was actually a female puppy born and available, we would have made it work with our schedules since we had been waiting over a year already at that point. All they did was ask us if we were ready, not said "I have a dog for you." There's a big difference between the two. Furthermore, why by September 2023 were we still being told we were "near the top" and "should be in the next litter" if we were actually offered in December 2022 as they claim? Any reasonable person would assume that if they were being asked if they were ready for one litter, they would be coming close to the top of the list. As I noted above, there were several litters born between December 2022 and September 2023 but it is pretty clear that we were passed over for other people on the list.
The most infuriating part of all of this was their email that they sent in early September 2023, which read "If you are willing to budge and accept a male that would be easier for us to get you one from this litter, otherwise we will be breeding the next girl in the upcoming months but we will not breed if we have available puppies." What that said to us was basically "take a male dog or keep waiting." We found that to be totally unprofessional. When I questioned them about that, they said "nothing was implied" in their previous email, but we don't see how that email can be taken any other way.
Because of this nonsense, I requested my reservation fee be returned which of course was refused. Yes, when we first completed the application, we understood that the reservation fee was nonrefundable, but what we hoped would happen after almost 2 years is that they would do the right thing and try to make things right. After all, we made the reservation fee with the assumption we'd be offered a female puppy at some point before hell froze over, but their last email from September indicated that hell might in fact actually freeze over before we received a puppy. It seems that besides breeding, their business model includes taking $500 from people to be added to this mystical list, just so they finally wait long enough to throw their hands up and walk away like we did. We also noticed that the pricing of their dogs went up $500 since we were put on the waitlist 2 years ago. It wouldn't surprise me if they were taking people from the "bottom" of said waitlist and offering them dogs before us just so they make some extra bucks.
There are many, many other breeders in the tri-state area with AVAILABLE, AKC approved and genetically tested females. Hopefully this game that they play will not last much longer because other people will start to catch on. Their dogs may be beautiful and supposedly come from a great genetic background, but unless you feel like waiting for an undisclosed amount of time for a dog, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.