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02-12-2012, 02:36 PM | #1 |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Cleburne, TX
Posts: 23
| My experience with Starlight Yorkies in Venus Texas Warning - outlined below are my personal thought and experiences only-- your "mileage" may vary, and I may be totally off base in my opinions!! I have been looking for a second Yorkie puppy, not only for another "baby" for myself, but also as a playmate for the love of my life (besides my husband, that is!),, my two-year-old female 4 lb. Yorkie. I ran across the website for Starlight Yorkies in Venus Texas (which is apparently owned by Kathryn Harrison). There was one puppy on the website I really liked and it was priced much less expensively than most of the puppies on the Starlight website. I live only about 20 miles away from the Starlight kennel. I called the telephone number listed on the website, and spoke with someone (I didn't get her name, unfortunately) to request a personal visit to see the dog I was interested in. To my surprise, the lady I spoke with said she would not allow me to come to her location to see the puppy and the parents of the puppy. Instead, *the lady I spoke with said her daughter would have to meet me *"somewhere" to show me the puppy I was interested in (with no chance to see the parents). That set off all kinds of red flags, visions of horrible puppy mills dancing before my eyes. But, giving her the benefit of the doubt, I asked her why she would not allow perspective buyers to come onto her kennel premises. The lady (who seemed to be the owner although she didn't say so), said that her dogs aren't all as prettily clipped and groomed as they are when they are posed for pictures--apparently trying to leave me with the impression that she just couldnt bear for people to see her dogs when they weren't at their "prettiest." Although warning sirens were *definitely going off in my head as soon as she told me this, I didn't want to completely alienate her – or the opportunity to see the pup I was interested in – until I had a chance to do a little research on this particular kennel. So, the way our conversation ended was that I was to wait for this person's daughter to call me to set up an appointment to meet me "somewhere" so I could see the puppy I was interested in. That call has never happened and I now suspect (after researching the reputation of Starlight Kennel) that I didn't receive the return call to set up an appointment because the breeder knew from our conversation that I was interested in buying a Yorkie with a very specific appearance (face shape, size, and confirmation– and that when I personally inspected the dog, that it wouldn't look very much like the picture on their website --which was exactly the type of Yorkie I was hoping for!! Now that I have reviewed posts about this breeder on Yorkie Talk (and found a complaint about Starlight on Ripoff Report | Scams, reviews, complaints, lawsuits and frauds. File a report, post your review. Consumers educating consumers.), I will definitely steer clear of this breeder. I know that some people on Yorkie Talk posted that they did indeed have a good experience buying from Starlight Yorkies in Venus, Texas, and i congratulate them. In fact one purchaser posted a picture of their very pretty little Yorkie purchased from Starlight and subsequently shipped to that lucky purchaser. But, it appears that more people have had bad experiences with Starlight, or believe that Starlight's breeding program deviates substantially from AKC standards on Yorkshire Terriers. Even if I hadn't run across all the negative posts, the fact that I couldn't inspect the kennels or see the parents *of the puppy I was interested in – I was already very wary of this breeder. Just about everywhere *puppy mills are discussed or warned against, that is one of the prime warning signs-- when a breeder won't let you see their kennels. FYI, just so all of you won't that I was actually contemplating paying the exorbitant prices of $3,500 to $4,000 listed for most of the puppies on the Starlight Yorkies' website, the very attractive pup I was actually interested in was listed for a very reasonable price of $700, given that he seemed to be a pretty good looking AKC-registered pup. There have been lots of posts discussing Starlight's extremely high prices, the fact that Starlight apparently doesn't show its dogs, and the fact that Starlight's owner is breeding for those "extreme" brachiocephalic faces like Shih Tzus have. *I totally agree with all of those comments. (The pup I was interested in didn't have that Shih Tsu type of mushed in face.)*I questioned why there was such a difference between the prices (from $4000-$3500 for most of them, and only $700 for the particular pup that I was looking at. *She told me he was so much cheaper because he did not have the "extreme face" – her words, exactly) --which basically meant the pup didnt have the brachiocephalic type nose that she is breeding *for. *I was happy with the fact that he didn't have that type nose; yet it wasnt a long nose, because I don't like those either. But it pretty much killed the deal when I couldnt go look at the kennel--and the death knell actually sounded after I researched this kennel"s reputation on this website and on the RipoffReports website. Just thought I'd share my experience to warn others, who lived too far away to ever request a personal kennel inspection from this breeder. If it didn't specifically come up, you wouldn't know . . .
__________________ L.LaPan ( Mommy to my three Yorkies, Miss Kitty, BabyCakes, and PaddyCakes, and my Corgi, Buffy) |
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02-12-2012, 10:24 PM | #2 |
YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 2,234
| I have read the complaints about this kennel and I would run don't walk. I think you are right on. I would never buy a puppy from a breeder that didn't allow you to come see how the puppies are raised and to see the mother and father. Those poor little babies. Looks like a puppy mill to me too. |
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