Breeder: Marla Norman of Tiny Tim Poodles review: Buyers beware of Marla Norman of Tiny Tim poodles 3

This is a letter regarding my experience with Marla Norman of Tiny Tim Poodles.
I purchased 2 tiny toy brown phantom poodles from Marla Norman of Tiny Tim Poodles from Sun Valley, Nevada, U.S. They were very expensive purebred poodles. Marla states on her website, as well as, I have written gaurantee that these poodles were vet checked and genetically tested. I have emails from Marla as well gauranteeing the health of these poodles. Marla assured me that she had been breeding poodles for 40 years and that she had a university degree in vetrinarian medicine.
Marla shipped the poodles to Toronto, Ontario, Canada on May 14, 2008. When I recieved these poodles, they were obviously in great stress and very sick. They were covered in bloody feces and severely bloated. The male could not walk at all and could not breathe from the severe bloat. I rushed the pups to the vet and the vet had to perform emergency puncture in the abdomen to relieve bloat. At that time the vet stated that the pups looked somewhere between 4-6 weeks of age and should not have been shipped. The male pup was x-rayed as well at this time as his condition was worse. The vet did not know if the pups would survive, especially the male pup.

Marla disagreed with the vets opinion and declared that someone on the airplane must have been playing with them and dropped them.

It is now September 20. I have continued trying to nurse these pups back to health. My vet bill is huge. I've spent a lot of time and money trying to save them and make them well. My vet has gotten 2 other opinions from other vets including a orthopedic pet specialist. It is there opinion, and I have the vet report to prove it, that these pups are severely deformed and will never recover. The pups still suffer bloat regularly due to digestive system that never developed. Marla weans her teacups and tiny toys at 4 weeks old. I found this out later. It is my vets opinion that these pups were shipped under the age of 6 weeks. She has had 2 vet opinion to support her opinion.

Marla Norman will not answer my emails. Marla Norman of Tiny Tim poodles will not even acknowledge that there is a problem. Further more, Marla Norman was aware that she sent me 2 deformed poodles before she ever sent them. Originally we thought that the damage to the pups was caused by flight trauma, shipping pups too young. Marla told me the pups were 8 weeks old. We have found out that in addition to this problem, Marla was aware that she was selling deformed unwell poodles for a very high price. The deformities that these pups have are genetic.

Marla Norman ripped me off for over $4, 000 and caused undue suffering to innocent puppies for financial gain.

The vet report is available to view by clicking "view images" on right side of page or email me at hoskin.[protected]@sympatico.ca and I will send it to you.

Thank you for your support.

September 22, 2008 Update: Please continue reading my response to Marla's rebuttal.

Marla mentions the third pup. Indeed there is a third pup. I originally purchased 2 brown phantom pups from Marla. Approximately 2 weeks after I gave Marla a deposit to hold them, she emailed me and asked if I would pay in full early, as she was having terrible financial problems. I was happy to do this. I trusted Marla was telling me the truth. I now realize that Marla realized there was something seriously wrong with those phantoms and wanted to make sure she got my money. At that time, I told Marla that my intention was to pick the puppies up. I was concerned about them being shipped. The pups were very expensive. I was very excited about them and wanted to travel to pick them up in person. Marla insisted that I NOT pick the pups up. She said that if I flew down to pick up the pups, she would still have to charge me $300 for shipping. She insisted that continental airline was totally safe. In retrospect, I now realize that Marla did not want me to pick the pups up in person as she knew there was something seriously wrong with them. I was very trusting of Marla so I went along with it. But it did confuse me and I couldn't make sense of it when it happened.

Meanwhile, Marla had another litter. I had already payed for the 2 phantoms. I was giving one to my daughter and I was keeping one for myself. Marla emailed me and said she had another litter and there was a black and red phantom. I really struggled about getting her, however, I did put a deposit on her as well. By the time I recieved the sickly brown phantom pups, I had already payed in full for the third pup. I was terrified of taking that third pup. Marla was blaming the state of the pups on the airline. I could see that there was something seriously wrong with her pups and I did not want another. I told her that I did not want the 3rd pup. Marla would not refund the money so I told her to put the third pup up for sale from her home and that she could repay me if it sold. Marla would not even return the $300 shipping money I sent her, even though she was not going to be shipping. I did not want the third pup under any circumstance. At this point I was starting to not trust Marla. Her explanations did not make sense.

Marla did put the third pup up for sale but the pup did not sell. In the end, I had to take the third pup. I called the airline and complained to them about my experience with Marla and told them how Marla blamed them for the condition of the pups. I expressed to them that I was fearful of the pup being shipped. They assured me that they would give the pup extra care as they do all their pups. I called the airline several times that day to see how the pup was. I spoke directly to the airline staff who were looking after the pup. I recieved the third pup in good health. I thanked Marla and apologized to her that I had given her a hard time, not wanting the third pup. I explained that my experience with her first 2 pups had terrified me but that I was happy this new one was ok.

I do not believe what Marla is saying in her rebuttal, that her vet stands by her. I will be faxing a copy of her rebuttal to her vet and see what he says about that.

At first we thought the severe bloat was caused by shipping them too young. We thought maybe the severe bloat warped the growth plates in the hips. When the pups did not recover, the vet did another assessment and got an opinion from an Orthopedic pet specialist in Guelph, Ontario. At that time I was given the bad news that the pups would never recover as they were genetically deformed. My vet told me that she would get the report to me within 2 weeks. That was in June. It took longer. It was summer and the vet was away much of the summer. I finally recieved the report and sent it to Marla on September 19. She would not answer me or respond. Marla was convinced I was gone for good and had forgotten. At that time, I decided to let the world know about Marla Norman. Now she has decided to email me to let me know that I am 2 days past the pups 6 mos birthday so she does not have to honor the 6 mos gaurantee. Marla is aware that I have been struggling with these sick pups for the entire duration of having them. Marla has been aware that a vet report would be sent, documenting that the problems began upon recieving the pups.

Marla thinks that she looks more credible by calling everyone a liar, including my vet, accusing me of bribing the vet. Marla says I just want free dogs from her. That's a very weak defence Marla. There are a lot easier ways to get a free dog. Why would I concoct such a story? Why would I go through such trouble. I am a full time social worker in this community. I have a family to look after. I have no reason to make up a story about someone. But Marla Norman, on the other hand, sure has good reason to lie.

I don't expect to get anything from you Marla so you can rest easy. I just want to make sure you don't do this to anyone else.

Please feel to contact Marla Norman at [protected]@aol.com
Pretend you are wanting to buy one of her lovely pups. She'll tell you whatever she thinks you want to hear.

In a strange way, I feel that this happening to me is a blessing. I've learned a lot. Despite how embarressed and ashamed I am of myself for trusting such a dishonest person, I am glad that light has been shed on Marla Norman.

Marla's recent news is that she is selling her "cherished" 7 year old "champion" breeder dog. She brags of how she loves and treasures this old poodle, yet, she is selling her as a breeder at age 7. If she had a heart, she would at least neuter her and re-home her into a loving family. By the way, this 7 year old "champion" breeder dog is the mother of my deformed phantom pups. Marla doesn't mention that. Have a look at this poor 7 year old breeder dog on the "available pups page at:

http://www.tinytimpoodles.net/

Debbie Hoskin