 My Yorkie from Collier Ranch
I got my Yorkie from Collier Ranch about 5 years ago. First off, I LOVE my boy and would never give him up under any circumstances. I can not imagine not having him in my life. I'm not writing this review to slander (so please don't jump all over my post), I am writing to inform you about my personal experience and leave you to decide wether you want to get a pup from them or not. I am sure there are some who had a great experience with Collier Ranch and have very healthy pups as a result.
When I arrived to choose a pup, there were only two left. They were in a crate inside a mobile-type home in Sunnyvale. There were kids running around screaming—kind of a chaotic scene. Kelly was very friendly and easy to talk to and she let me spend time with the pups. The pups parents were not there (red flag 1) and I was told that the dogs were bred off-site, miles away, at a "ranch." I also found out that she was not the breeder, but that her Uncle Bill was (his name was on the paper work as the breeder, not Kelley's). He was there too as well as other family members. Uncle Bill never uttered a word to me. He just sat on the couch….mute I guess.
Anyway, I chose a pup and was told that if I got him neutered in a certain length of time, I would receive a refund of $50 back. So I filled out all the paperwork, paid for my pup, and went home.
All was fine in the beginning. He was adorable and he checked out OK at the vet. I found out that he had a severe under bite which the vet said is genetic and that could be a sign of bad breeding (flag 2). No big deal I thought. He can eat fine and we'll deal with the dental problems if they come along later. So I scheduled him to be neutered and have some of the baby teeth extracted at 5 months of age. I sent the receipt of the neutering to Collier Ranch so I could get my $50 back. No response. I called and emailed. No response and no refund. (flag 3)
I decided to register him with the AKC and filled out all the paper work and sent in the money. 8 months later, I received a letter from the AKC stating that they could not confirm his lineage and therefore he was no longer AKC certified (flag 4). I didn't get my money back from the AKC. I would have probably gone to court with that one if I was buying a dog for show, but, since my Yorkie was pet quality, I let it go. I did contact Kelly about that and sent her a copy of the AKC letter but got no response. I wasn't expecting to get a response, but I just wanted to let her know that the AKC was on to her.
At about age 2, our dog developed severe allergies. He is allergic to EVERYTHING. So it has resulted in vet bills and he has been on maintenance medicines for the last couple years. Recently, (he's almost 5 now) we had his hips x-rayed because he has been walking a bit funny and we hear clicking sounds when he walks. The vet showed us that the femoral heads of his hips (which are supposed to be round in healthy animals) are flat. So now we are looking forward to hip dysplasia when he gets older. The vet told us that a lot of these traits are usually inherited. (flag 5)
This was my first time dealing with a "breeder." All I can say is do your online research and ask a lot of questions. Get anything you can in writing. And hope for the best . . . |