Testimonials

Why I wish I would have chosen Puppies Up North…read of my regret!

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Hi Pamela,  We have a wonderful GoldenDoodle, Misa (rhymes with Lisa) She rarely barks, loves to cuddle, and is full of tail wagging happiness. What might be surprising is that we have some regrets about the way we adopted her. We did not buy her from Puppies Up North. This is our story.

When our Brittany passed away, our home felt so empty. We started our search for a new fur baby shortly after. We heard about Puppies Up North from a friend who has an amazing LabraDoodle they adopted from Pamela and Mike. At the time we felt the price was high and the wait was long, so we put our name on the list, but continued our search. We found Misa at a breeder in southern MN for about $500 less. We fell in love with Misa but something didn’t feel right. Some red flags we failed to see…the farm house was dirty, there were many dogs in kennels, the puppies were normally kept in a heated garage but they were in the house for our visit. (The breeder never showed us the garage.)

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 When we got home our fears were confirmed.

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• Our first hurdle, Misa had no understanding of the human voice. She didn’t know the difference between a cheerful voice and a soft “no.”  She had no understanding that we were even talking to her. She didn’t even respond when we called her “puppy”.

• We don’t think Misa ever went outside. Grass was so foreign to her. Potty training has been very difficult.  At 7 months old, she finally knows to go out side, but she will not bark or ring the bells to let us know when she has to go.

• Misa had no taste or understanding for dog treats. We tried so many different kinds. She seemed very wary about this extra food not in her food dish. This has made bell training to go outside and any other training extremely difficult.

• Misa wouldn’t eat the food we were sent home with. We later realized the breeder has scooped adult dog food into a Ziploc. With no label on the food, we didn’t realize it until we bought Misa puppy food.

• When we gave Misa a haircut it was obvious she was malnourished. She didn’t have the pudgy puppy weight most do.  She was surprisingly skinny. When trimming her nails, we found her due claws were still intact. This isn’t a problem for us, just something we felt we should have been told by the breeder.

• It was obvious she had never been introduced to a kennel. This quiet mellow puppy barked and cried ALL NIGHT LONG for 3 weeks as we tried to kennel train her. We eventually gave up.

• We asked the breeder how the puppies do in the car. She said they had never been in a car, the vet comes to her for check ups. To this day, Misa trembles and cries in the car.

 

The breeder never asked what our home was like, did we have a fenced in yard, did we have the supplies needed to take a puppy home, did we have time for a new puppy.  She encouraged us to call our vet if we had any problems. Never offered to have us call her.

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We have a ton of work ahead of us. The saddest thing is that socialization is SO important early on. We didn’t get Misa until she was 4 months old. I fear that during the critical socialization window, she was stuck out in a garage. This has caused her to be fearful of so many things. I am hoping some day Misa will be a Therapy Dog. She has a long road of training ahead of her, but we’ll get there.

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That $500 we saved, it wasn’t worth a single penny. By buying from that breeder, we continued her business that shouldn’t exist. Our training costs are going to far outweigh the money we “saved”. And that doesn’t include the numerous hours of time we have spent trying to associate Misa to the world around her.

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Why you should buy from Puppies Up North….

Luckily we were still on Pamela’s wait list, She called about upcoming litters. I told her about our new pup and how we were having a difficult time. Pamela would have had every right to have said best wishes and goodbye. But she loves dogs. I get tears in my eyes when I think of all the time she spent with me on the phone that day, talking me through how to help get Misa established. She didn’t give up on our puppy. She gave us access to the new owner information she gives to others that adopt from her. Most importantly she gave me encouragement.

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Please, if you think you are saving money by getting a puppy somewhere else, I want to STRONLGY advise you evaluate how that puppy was raised. Pamela and Mike love the puppies they raise. They work hard to socialize them as much as possible before they go to their new homes. As you can see from other testimonials, the outcome of this will be faster house breaking, quicker obedience, less anxiety.

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Puppies Up North puppies come to you with food, in a bag, so you know what to feed them. And you have the option to buy more food right from their website.

Pamela and Mike have worked with them on some commands like, “puppy come”. “treat”, “sit”, and “go potty”. I don’t know if they know them 100% when they go their new homes, but it’s obvious they are getting socialization! She takes the puppies for car rides, takes them on walks,  and introduces them to things like kennels! They let you know how to prepare your home for a puppy, and what to expect as they grow.

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 When people ask where we got Misa, I tell them I wouldn’t recommend the place we got her from, but I absolutely direct them to Puppies Up North. ~ thanks, Amy