I contacted Kelly McKinney, owner of Splendor Farms in Bush, LA, in March 2026 to inquire about the…read morepurchase of an adult mini dachshund to enjoy a wonderful life as a companion to my 75-year-old mother. I paid $3650 and flew to Gulfport, MS to pick up this dog, "W." Almost immediately after she was in our possession, our communication with Kelly became contentious and our nightmare began.
It would be impossible to describe what an emotional and physical wreck this almost three-year-old dog was in without sounding like I am exaggerating. She would not eat, would not walk outside on a leash, and was not housebroken. She was frantic, ran, and cringed every time every time we tried to gently approach her. We asked Kelly multiple times what could be going on with W but she either gave us a condescending answer (e.g. "you are apparently scary to her") or didn't respond at all.
These troubles were soon surpassed by much more pressing ones when, weeks later, she W developed a hacking cough and began to completely refuse the little bit of food we had been able to get into her via hand feeding. We sent a video of her coughing to Kelly and begged her to please offer her knowledge to help us figure out what was behind W's rapid decline. She did not respond.
Sedated X-rays ordered by our vet revealed that W's lungs were filled with either a fungal infection or lymphoma. She was immediately transferred to an emergency hospital two hours away for oxygen support and diagnostics, where further testing (urine assay test and bronchoalveolar lavage) solved the case: W had Blastomycosis, an often-fatal fungal disease. Again, we had had W for seven weeks at this point.
My final text to Kelly said "if you are at all concerned about the unbelievable suffering [W] - and we - have experienced in the past week, please contact me." She didn't.
W spent 11 days in intensive care, receiving IV meds, constant oxygen, and nutrition through an NG tube. W survived this ordeal, miraculously, but it took someone like my mother who was willing to spend $25,000 on a dog we had only had for two months to save her. She may have permanent lung damage and the treatment for Blasto will be long and expensive. She will be on anti-fungal meds for many months and will need ongoing testing. The total bill for saving her life will likely be in the range of $35,000 but we think she's worth it. Nonetheless, it has been an exhausting, terrifying, expensive nightmare.
Everything above is our own experience and our own opinion. I only wish that, before buying W, we had read reviews available online about adult dogs sold by Splendor Farms, as I now have done and encourage others to do. PLEASE - BUYER BEWARE.
