Finally Telling Sadie's Story...Greenwood Kennel
 

I have finally decided to come forward and tell the whole tale of my little Sadie's breeder and all the "red flags" I should have seen but didn't truely understand until it was too late.

The breeders name is Marvin Greer or Linda Greer, they operate Greenwood Kennels in Joplin, MO.

They breed yorkies, maltese, morkie, bolognese, goldendoodles and more!

I never looked at their kennels, but some pictures make me believe they put the puppies in x-pens on dirty rugs in their garage floor. The breeder strips the pups from the mother at 5 weeks old and puts the mom back outside in the bitches kennel and seperates the pups for sale. He said he has 11 bitches and several males.

When I started to learn a little more about breeders and began to ask some of the questions that YTers were suggesting he go defensive and told me if I did not trust him then I did not have to get a pup from him. He was upset that I had so many questions and wanted to see more photos of the kennel area and their home. He brought the pup to me in Kearny, MO near where I lived in Liberty. His daughter worked as a vet tech in that area for awhile and I was supposed to trust him more because of that and I did meet him once before Sadie came to me and saw a Morkie puppy and another pet owner and her dog that she got from him. I still should have known better.

His wife brought the puppy to me at Mcdonalds on the first Friday in August. She was tiny, she was cute, and I already fell in love with her. I took her home after paying for her and took her to the vet later in the day. She got a clean bill of health and luckily no parasites. She was 7.5 weeks old. She was registered APRI if I wanted to do so. I never gave a dime to that registry. She had a few dewormers and no shots given at my request. My vet did all her shots and spay.

At ten months of age Sadie was running up a pup step to my bed and fell backwards and when she got up she was limping. She was diagnosed with grade 3 luxating patella. Remembering something on the Greenwood website about a one year health guarantee I emailed Linda. She told me that if surgery were needed they would have to have their vet look over the dog before they would do any reembursement. At that point I knew who I was really dealing with and let it go. About 4-5 $60 chiropractic treatments later Sadie was recovered from her limp and hasn't had any issues since. One day it will likely slip again and she will have to through a $1400 surgery to repair the lux. She is only one and half years old now. She has been sick several times with stomach problems, she is very very unstable, she cannot ride in the car without panicking, she has trouble around people, noise, laughter, new situations and more. She bites and plays with her mouth on our hands too much. She is going into puppy prep school for all her behavioral problems. I firmly believe many of these would have been avoided if she came from a more stable breeder and had been socialized with the breeder and her puppy siblings.

I DO NOT recommend this breeder, and will not buy another dog from him ever. Nice he may be, but he will turn his back on the health of his dogs and he breeds too many different breeds and mixes them for money. He doesn't truely care about the dogs even though he will act all sweet and try to convince you he loves the puppies and only does this to make people happy with the puppies he gives them.

He told me a story about giving a lady TWO puppies that was a truck driver and how she had lost and/or let two pups die and yet again he was going to replace the lost puppy to her. He likes to sell to truck drivers. How can a truck driver properly care for and potty train a baby dog????

So many red flags and I can't believe I didn't see. Maybe I did start to see the truth but by then I didn't want baby Sadie stripped from her mama and left to her own devices. I did buy into a BYB and I regret ever supporting his business.

Please please do your research and don't support these breeders. Pick a breeder that wants to always be there, backs their puppies up for life, and cares enough about their pups to make sure they are perfect examples of the breed in physical apperance and most importantly health. Don't make my mistake and don't support Greenwood Kennels.

It's so sad that so many of us have to learn about this type of breeder the hard way.

I can't speak to what a breeder should do about an owner whose puppies die -- but I can tell you that I know a couple of pairs of long range truckers who have small dogs that have thrived on the road. They make frequent stops to walk the dogs and they team drive - so the dogs actually get more attention than they would if the owners had traditional 9-5 jobs. Perhaps they are the exception rather than the rule but I would suspect there's more to the story than that breeder gave you.

Good luck with the training. I'm looking for a place to train me (Tallulah is fine - I'm the one that needs to be trained) right after the first of the year.

I take back that puppies cannot thrive with a pair of truck drivers. The one he was speaking of seemed to not be a very good owner and he just kept giving her more puppies. How many times does a dog have to die before you realize she was irresposible?

I glad Sadie found you....she's a lucky girl. Hard tell where she would have ended up. She has a wonderful home and a loving mama for sure.

Thanks Rachel for taking the time to let others know of your experience! I know that little Sadie is so very lucky to have you in her life and vice versa! Sorry she had a bad start but you are making up for it! Wish we could stop all of the breeders who have poor breeding practices. Maybe we can't stop them all but small steps like this are in the right direction! Hopefully your post will show up whenever a prospective buyer googles Greenwood Kennels and they will know she sells puppies too young, uses non-AKC registeries, breeds multiple breeds and mixes dogs, and takes puppies away from their mother at 5 weeks old among other things!

Have to tag the thread in order for it to show up on Google searches. Just a reminder :) I'd do it myself, but I'm lame and don't know how. :rolleyes:

The best thing you can do is exactly what you are doing; being the voice for Sadie and for Sadies mother too! They can't speak up for themselves and need us to do the talking for them! The animals that suffer the most are the breeding bitches that spend their lives in deplorable conditions doing nothing but breed and breed until their bodies give out from the stress and disease that is likely surrounding them. :(

Education is the key to making people aware that "breeders" like this exist. Spread the word and one day we will be able to stop the BYB and puppy mills!!!

Oh, my! Sadie has you now and that's a wonderful thing.

Your post brought tears to my eyes. It takes a very mature person to tell "the whole story" and help others with their honesty. What a wonderful thing to do.

So glad Sadie has you and is so well taken care of and loved.

Thanks for sharing Sadie's story. I agree that these stories need to be told. There are far too many dogs that come from exactly the same situation. I'm so glad you have each other.

Rachel it takes maturity and a lot of pride swolling to step up and be a voice that needs to be heard. You have grown a lot over the past year and a half~good for you! Boy if you would have shared that website and information way back when :eek: Sadie is very lucky to have you and your husband to take care of her. It's little ones like Sadie that come from poor breeding that end up turned into shelters~all in the name of profit. Continue to be an advocate for good breeding practices becaue together we can all make a difference. It is one of the biggest reason IMO there is some that protest so loudly. It's their livelyhood that is at stake and they will not go down without a fight.

I'm so glad that you have shared your story. I think the best advocates are those who've learned the hard way why it's important to support good breeders and those who are not breeding for profit. Thanks for sharing your story, and don't ever forget the reasons why you did what you did, it will help you help others to not make the same mistake.

I got to say something about truck drivers and yorkies, we have a member here who husband and her are truck drivers and have a yorkie companion. It works out for them, you can crate train in a truck, and use a pee pad for pee breaks, or actually train outside. It can work.

I am so glad you told your and Sadie's story to help to expose the Greenwood Kennels so that buyers in the future can make an informed decision before purchasing from them.

As an aside, I have to agree that truck drivers make as good of pet owners as any other good pet owner. What you do for a living is not always a good indication of how people treat their dogs. Our member here who is a truck driver has been to my house with her baby while passing through town. Not only is that baby spoiled like crazy with all the bells and whistles, he is friendly and social and very well cared for. They have strong convictions about responsible dog ownership and would stop at nothing for that dog.

Rachael, Im sorry you and Sadie went thru this but glad you clued in future buyers. Give Sadie a kiss from us.

Oh myyyy HUGGIES to you and Sadie...I know how you feel.

I bought Snick from PETLAND!!!:mad::mad::thumbdown:thumbdown:mad::mad:
I had no idea!!!!!!!!!!! My husband and I think to ourselves the things Snick prob went through as a baby and how he was more than likely stripped from his mom at about 5-6weeks old. Our heart breaks and we feel horrible. Horrible for Snick and horrible for supporting such TRASH!!! I contribute all this to separation anxiety, and believe you me, we already spent the $1400 on his LP surgery. Horrible!! That is why I am ECSTATIC about Reesie coming from such a fabulous breeder. THANK GOODNESS FOR YORKIETALK or else so many more of us would still be dumb dumbs buying poorly bred, sad, doggies!!!!!

The Petland I bought him at shut down 4 months after we bought him. :thumbup::)

Love-
Vivian

Aww Sadie is so lucky that you ended up with her. She will be taken care of now. :)

Isn't there someone to turn the kennel into? I have no idea on any of this. I have never dealt with a breeder. My sister in law gave me Rosie. (And I must say it was the best gift EVER!) If there is neglect I would hope there is something that can be done. I know it happens everywhere with "puppy mills". But if he is doing improper things he needs to be shut down!

Thank you for telling your story.
Im sorry to hear about Sadie's tough start to life but she has you now, and she couldn't have wished for a better mommy.

YAYA that's good news. i wish the one close to me would get shut down :mad::thumbdown

he's licensed by the state now. so according to MO he's doing nothing wrong, but we all know that breeding for money no matter how nice you are or clean ur kennels is still breeding wrongly. i wish MO had a lemon law on selling dogs under 12 weeks if nothing else at least for toys under 20lbs.

Thanks for sharing!!
 

It's sad what people would do to make a profit. I'll also share my story...

I have also made the same mistake as you. We bought Carmel at 8 weeks old for $400. He was suppose to come with AKC registration, but we didn't get that until 8 months later! We were getting on her back about it and through that, we have learned who she truly was! Her name is Debra Tripp from Farmersville, CA. She constantly talked about how she didn't have money to send in the AKC papers, which was $25! Then she came up with other various excuses. She was also telling us about how she wasn't making profit with yorkies, so she decided to switch to bulldogs. She gets these dogs from other states for really cheap prices (so I suspect from puppy mill or brokers). She wanted to sell me another female yorkie of hers because she just want to get rid of them as she's starting fresh with bulldogs. :( She said she's giving the older female yorkies to her mom so her mom can make some money on the side. :thumbdown Finding all this out really struck me hard! I couldn't believe that all she cared about was money. I also realized that she didn't bring the pups to the vet. She gave them shots & dewormers herself. She probably bought it from Smith and Foster's because she kept their records in a little packet from Smith and Foster's. Oh, we originally was going to buy another pup for $300, but we ended up choosing Carmel for $400. She then told us that she didn't give the $300 pup the 2nd shot because she thought we were going to take him. All these red flags, but didn't register it until I made my mistake. However, I love Carmel and I'm happy he's with us. I hope his brothers are also with good owners.

Well, as for Carmel. He has Luxating Patella so the vet told us to restrict him from jumping. He may need surgery in the future which will cost $1000 per a leg! So, learning the hard way. It's really cheaper to buy a pup from a reputable breeder for $1000-1,500 than paying smaller up front cost, but making up for it in the long run with medical bills. The bills is only part of it, but the possibility of losing your baby? That's even worst! Or, having to see them suffer due to a condition...:( I'm scared of what will happen to Carmel because I love him to death! I often believe he's my little angel God sent me for all that I've been through. If anything ever happens to him, I don't know what I'll do. I just pray and hope that Carmel will be lucky and that his knees will be fine. Next pup that I get, I will FOR SURE do my research and NOT buy from a byb! We just have been lucky that Carmel is 1.5 years old and hasn't had many illness (after reading other's story). We are truly blessed. Emma, on the other hand, was also from a byb. However, she was better than Debra. Emma has no problems so far...but you never know. Luckily, she has good knees. Do yourself a favor, buy from ONLY reputable breeders. Don't just buy the pup, buy the breeder. It's important to support good breeders and stop greedy byb and puppy mills!

Hiya Rachel!
I'm the lady truck driver that Nancy & Cathy spoke of :)
I really have to agree with what they're both saying & at the same time perhaps give you a different perspective of a "not so typical" Yorkie. Tuffy has been on the truck with DH & I over a year now & IS totally well provided for. It sickens me to think this other woman driver you mentioned allowed 2 poor little babies to perish in her care; we would do ANYTHING for our little guy. He loves traveling, is very well socialized & is potty trained on the truck as well as at home or in hotels. He lets us know when he needs a break & we stop. He's had so many adventures including swimming in the Colorado River & meeting a cow nose to nose (of course we monitor all of his interactions). He is with us a whole lot more than a lot of pups; in fact I think he has NOT been with one or the other of us for a total of 48 hours since he's had us & part of that time was when he had his nueter done.
Please don't think all truck drivers are like this horrid woman :(

thanks for the insight. i think having two owners makes that a lot easier of a ride ;) you guys always have someone to drive and someone to love on the yorkie. i'm sure it can be done and did take my words back at the top of the thread because who I am to judge ALL people based on one woman's carelessness. i'm sorry if i offended anyone by that statement and i'm happy to know that you can drive a big rig and still love a little companion. :D you sound like a very very sweet person and a good yorkie mama. i hope you can forgive me for assuming all truckers would be unfit yorkie owners based on one person's story

No offense taken, really :) I do a lot of PR for truckers I suppose but it's in my nature to be that way. In my other life I was an electronics tech/customer service rep & found that a lot of the women I worked with just couldn't seem to stand up for themselves on the job...so guess who did?! DH tagged me with the normarae nickname & it stuck (Sally Fields in an older movie). Didn't mean to highjack your thread & I sure hope this won't keep us from getting to know one another :)

Tuffy came from a broker :eek: I was led to believe this person was his parents owner then found out the truth but like you & so many others here found it was too late; we were already in love. Our next pup will either be a rescue or from a reputable breeder; we've learned so much all thanks to YT.

i'm glad we can be friends and i'd love to get to know you better. thanks for telling Tuffy's story too! :)