Let me start off by saying that I NEVER do this. I never say anything negative as I don't like confrontation, but I felt that this needed to be said as everything clicked together a few weeks ago.
I lost my 8 month old Golden Retriever Pippen in a unexpected and tragic accident last August. My family and I were grief stricken and just in general shock, as he was such a solid part of our family. My 2 year old (at the time) Golden, Evie, was his best friend. They were inseperable. She taught him everything and he taught her patience for sure. When we lost him, it was so painful to watch her search the house and yard for him. She would cry in and out of sleep, and just constantly look for him in their favorite spots. We all agreed it'd be best to adopt another Golden, as I didn't want her to slip deeper into a depression. We thoroughly searched through different breeders, as well as the AKC website and happened upon CMP Kennels. I looked through their website and everything checked out with testing and certifications for the available litter. I contacted Mellissa and have attached the emails between us. Everything sounded great, we were eager to bring another Golden home, as Evie was getting worse by the day. She had sent me photos of two females and the blue collared male. While the blue collared male was definitely adorable, I was looking for a puppy that was closer in features to Pippen, like I said, grief stricken, and was going to continue my search. In her reply email, she let me know that another boy became available, green collar boy, as another family had switched their choice to a female. I've attached photos of both Blue Collar Male and Green Collar Male. Immediately, my family and I had a great feeling about the green collar boy and with the health testing we thought he would be a fantastic addition. I should mention that Pippen was also meant to be Evie's match for a future breeding. Evie is thoroughly tested and trained with an excellent demeanor, so health testing is very important to us. Considering this, we requested full registration. We put down the $750 deposit and chose Green Collar Boy. We were set to pick him up on September 6th, so we had a few weeks until then. Over that time, I asked several times for more pictures of the puppies and never received any. To this day, the only photos of them that I have are the photos that were sent in that one email. I asked for other pictures of the parents, even after picking him up and never received them.
We always bring our dogs Evie and Charlie (brother and sister) whenever we go on roadtrips, especially if we're picking up a puppy. Because of this, we were told that we'd need to meet at a nearby park, as their stud is territorial of their females, as well as for protection against disease-which is completely understandable. A quarter of the way through the 12 hour drive, I let them know where we were. I received a message back indicating that our "girl" would be ready for us with all of her go home supplies. I tend to be more of a positive thinker, so I just brushed this off as a minor mistake as she's probably dealing with several families. I let her know that we actually had Green Collar Boy and all was well. When we get closer, we're told that she's actually not feeling well, so her sons would be bringing us Indiana (green collar boy). Her sons were extremely polite and sweet, so there were no issues there whatsoever. I just found it a little strange to not be meeting the breeder, but as I said, positive thinking. We finally get to the park and meet up with her two sons and they bring out green collar boy. My entire family noticed, but didn't want to say anything. Afterall, we had just driven 12 hours for a puppy and had already put down the deposit, turning him down would've felt like I was abandoning him. The puppy that was brought to us was definitely not the Green Collar Boy we had received photos of. The puppy they brought to us was the Blue Collared Boy. The collar collar on this puppy was green, but the puppy himself was different. I only just now put all of the pieces together, as I had gotten a weird feeling during the meeting. Indiana had a slight raised bump on his snout, possibly a small scratch from his littermates, when we brought him home. A few weeks ago, I was looking back at the email between us, just because I had an urge to look back on it. I noticed that there is a slight raised bump in the exact same spot as Indiana's on Blue Collar Boy's snout. Obviously they have the same facial features as well. We weren't required to sign a contract, although I had asked and clarified if I needed to sign anything. Which was a completely different experience from when we purchased Charlie and Evie from their excellent breeder. Not only that, but it looked as though the contract/bill of sale was outdated and as if someone had crumpled it and then flattened it out again.
While we absolutely love Indi, who has become an amazing part of our family, it's still upsetting that we were deceived and given the wrong puppy than what we had chosen. We had paid $3500 for specific breeding features of the Green Collar Boy as well that would be a bonus to the great health testing. However, we are now needing to get Indiana neutered as we will not be breeding him and he will simply be our forever companion. Looking at their new website, which is now under the business name
Goldens of Goldendale, it seems they have also lowered the price of their puppies. It is now $2500 for Limited Registration and an additional $300 for Full Registration. I'm not sure if this is because of a lower demand in puppy buying, or if we were just taken advantage of with our grief. Overall, I love Indiana, he's our sweet little (we think he may have been the runt of the litter) singer! We're just disappointed in how everything on the breeders end was handled.
The attached photos are of the emails and text messages between the breeder Melissa and I. I've also included the photos she sent of both male puppies. The photos of Indiana with his bandana on are photos that were taken on the trip back from Washington as reference to compare to the photos of Blue Collar boy
