Broadcreek Malinois Maryland
reviews and complaints

I purchased a 2 1/2 yr old Malinois from Susan Legg of Broadcreek Malinois. She sent me a few very short 30 sec videos and assured me the dog was solid and definitely service dog material. Upon getting the dog that I had ground shipped with a very experienced handler from Maryland to California he was very skittish. I assumed he just needed time to settle in. This was in Aug of 2019 it's been 10 weeks and to date the dog is fearful in the house simply runs into his crate and does not want to come out. He is terrified of loud noises on a TV. When outside in a dog area he just circles and paces. He is very nervous out and about in public. He does fine at dog shows and does have a major but aside from his area with Susan outside and dog shows he knows nothing else of the outside world. I kept Susan aware of the issues and as soon as I told her he won't make the program she has not responded to any text, phone calls, or email. I simply want help placing him and she won't even call me back to assist with a dog she said she loved. This has been a disappointing experience and responsible breeders should at a minimum be there to help and support anyone that has a dog they brought into the world. Also knowing she not only is hurting the dog I feel she took advantage of a non profit simply trying to secure a Malinois for a veteran with PTSD. Susan was happy to get our money and then vanish.

We bought an 8 week old male Belgian Malinois pup from Susan Legg at Broadcreek Kennels on Sept 27, 2017. He came down with the parvo virus almost immediately and Susan promised a refund of his purchase price of $1, 500 to put toward his veterinary bills (which totaled approximately $10, 000). This is in line with consumer protection laws about 'lemon' puppies.

We are still waiting on that refund nearly 5 months later. Our calls go unanswered and the owners have moved from Maryland to Florida. We don't even have a current address to send a registered letter.

We decided on Broadcreek Kennel in part because Susan was so willing to have long conversations with us about the breed, suitability, training, etc. The pup she chose for us was raised in part by her son, who had a small child - important for us as we were expecting a baby. He was an adorable pup with a fun personality. All that attention stopped as soon as we had an issue with the purchase - which was within 72 hours of her dropping him off.

We were willing to spend the money on his care (our choice, and at the time we had no real concept of just how expensive it would be). Susan was reachable by phone when we first went to the vet, and she denied that the vet's diagnosis was parvo - the results of the test were in front of us, very clear, and coming from a veterinary professional. Susan had taken our pup to a dog show the same day she brought him to us, which was after a long drive from Florida stopping at rest stops to relieve the dogs. In both cases, he would have been exposed to a variety of dogs and feces -- perfect conditions for Parvo transfer, and he was not yet vaccinated or immune.

When Susan finally accepted the diagnosis, she said that she would refund the cost of the dog with the birth of the next litter in about two months (so, November). She also indicated that she wanted to assist with some of the vet bills -- not required by law, but certainly a wonderful gesture. I now wish we had not given her the benefit of time and instead insisted on an immediate refund.

We have not heard from Susan at all since the 30th of September (when she learned he was sick). Neither she nor the kennel answer their phone or have returned multiple messages. We only have the old address, not the new one in FL.

I am extremely dissatisfied with a number of things about this purchase (to include some temperament issues with reactive aggression, biting, and separation anxiety). However, I will keep our complaint focused on the refund issue for now.

I would love for the kennel to contact me and prove me wrong here. They certainly have both my and my husband's contact info. Given the response thus far, I am very doubtful that they are motivated to resolve the issue.

I cannot recommend Broadcreek Kennel to anyone. It is easy to be swayed by their record at dog shows, knowledge of the breed, and their apparent interest in you as a buyer prior to the sale. But for most people -- e.g. those wanting a 'good', healthy dog and a breeder who is responsive to any issues -- this is not a good fit.

I first must set up this story with some background. Last week my family lost our 13 y/o lab and it was devastating to my kids. We originally thought our next puppy was going to be a Belgian, so after some Google searches I found Broadcreek Kennel, which I choose because it appeared to have some quality dogs and was within about a 4 hour drive. I contacted the kennel multiple times and got short answers back each time... almost like I was bothering them.

On Friday 20 Jan 2011, I contacted the owner again asking if it was ok to come up and view his pups either Saturday or Sunday. The owner didn't contact me again until Sunday morning. Meanwhile, over the weekend (Jan 21-22, 2011) my kids and wife decided the best dog for our family would be another lab and so we spent the weekend searching for the perfect pup and breeder, finally settling on one late Saturday night.

Sunday morning the owner of Broadcreek emailed me to let me know that it was ok to come up that day. I simply replied to his email "Disregard, we found a puppy elsewhere." Apparently he did not like that very well and decided to reply with the following:

From: [protected]@
To:
Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2012 5:03 PM
Subject: Re: Puppy Application

You are not real smart you could have gotten a puppy from the #1 breeder in the country and went and bought a puppy from someone that has done nothing with their dogs good luck you will need it
—

Bottom line - I don't know what type of dogs that kennel produces or how they treat their animals. What I do know is their customer service sucks. For all potential buyers please remember that old saying "where there is smoke, there is fire."