Menu
Login
I purchased a puppy from Gemstone Shelties on July 30th, 2006. I had been looking for a Sheltie for some time. The website portrayed pride and integrity. We discovered that the entire operation is driven by greed and money and absolutely no empathy for animals.
They lied to me about a number of things. Example: When I noticed bloody stools from several puppies, Vickie Robinson told me they had Coccidia and that Coccidia is "nothing to worry about". Coccidia can be FATAL in puppies. They even mention Coccidia in their contract as a waiver of responsibility!
I took my puppy to the Vet immediately. He was diagnosed as deaf, possibly blind and he had Coccidia AND Giardia. He had a seizure and when we took him to the Emergency Specialty Center, he was diagnosed as having a genetic brain defect or progressive virus. The prognosis was poor and euthanasia was recommended.
We had to euthanize our puppy after only 2 days. Gemstone Shelties (Vickie Robinson aka Kathie Robinson) would not give me a refund. I had to go to Court and now have a judgment against them. They didn't even show up for Court. You can read more about my experience at: www.courtyscorner.com.
I later discovered that my puppy's mother wasn't even a year and a half old when she was bred. Too young. There were 4 litters of puppies going on while we were there.
Gemstone Shelties has unhealthy dogs, poor conditions, the puppies have never seen a vet (if vaccinations are administered, she does it herself). They are a greedy money-making machine abusing beautiful, innocent animals.
I pray that this doesn't happen to anyone again and that they can be put out of business.
This was my "very demanding" email, 08/14/06:
"Hi Vickie, I hope you are all well. I encountered a local small breeder who had sables for sale and when I went to see them I fell in love with one. I am unable to wait and would like to request a refund as I intend to pick up that dog this weekend. You and I have gone through quite a traumatic experience together and I hope that you understand. "
If you bought a puppy from someone (who you really didn't know) and it had to be euthanized after 2 days, would you, WITHOUT RESERVATIONS, get another puppy from that same person? That was the kindest way I could say, "I don't want to get another potentially sick dog" without being insulting.
The end result was that my puppy had to be euthanized because of a progressive condition and she NEVER offered me a refund. Whether the puppy was visibly ill or not when he was there is a moot point. I have all the documentation to support my claims and “Vickie” (or whatever she wants to call herself) has received all the documentation that she and her husband ever requested (some redundantly requested to “play games”). Legally, I was entitled to a refund and all veterinary expenses. They scoffed at my amiable request for just the refund. If there had been any validity to her case, she would have appeared in Court and she wouldn't have a judgment against her.
I will maintain that "Gemstone Shelties does NOT stand behind their puppies". Unless you would like to gamble on a heartbreaking and insulting experience, I implore you not to buy from this breeder.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I agree with "YukiraSnivy".
What kind of immature little [censor] goes on websites and talks about people? My mother is a great breeder she loves ALL of her dogs and I helped her raise them. My mom has had more positive transactions with costumers than negative ones. I miss Iceman dearly, its been about 5 years and I STILL think of him. My mom does not run a puppy mill she has litters about twice a year. She does not use the same female dog every time either. The most puppies we've ever had was 10-12. My sister and I gave them all love and attention every single day.
We have 4 beloved Shelties with us today. My mom's dogs are of champion breed lines.
So you can all kiss my [censor]. (;
We purchase two puppies - a male and a female- from Gemstone Shelties in January 2007. The female has had ongoing bladder/urinary tract infections and when I pulled her medical folder to make an appointment with the vet today (August 20, 2010) I noticed the Gemstone Shelties website address. I was curiouse to see what was on it and that is when I found these stores. I cried when I read about poor little Ike. My husband & I love the sheltie breed and we lost all three of our shelties in 2006 - they were 14, 15 & 16 years old. That Christmas my husband surprised me with a certificate for two puppies from Gemstone Shelties. We too were told things that later turned out to be untrue. When we went to pick up our new canine kids we were beyond shocked at the filthy conditions they were in. We wanted to take them all just to get them out of there. We paid $700 per puppy and I thought that was high especially since they didn't have papers. Papers weren't important at the time but in hindsight that is one way to insure that they are probably not inbred. Gemstone Shelties is located in a rural area in Anza. Upon leaving the property with our Boomer & Bailey our headlights shown on several kennels with multiple dogs in each as well as the ones roaming loose. We mentioned to each other that Vickie had a puppy mill going. Yes, their website is impressive but try to visit the operation before you put a deposit down and I bet you won't be allowed. I wish I would have found this website years ago. I would love to receive any info on the abnormal intestine as this might help us fix Bailey's ongoing problem.
I too bought 2 gemstone puppies from Vickie Robinson. The 1st dog died (so she says) before we ever received the dog. She would not give us a refund. Said she did not have the money. The second dog (which arrived a day late) died at 11 months of age. Our beloved pet died as a result of something he ingested, but while he was in surgery the vet found an abnormal intestine which he wanted to send off for testing. We never got that far because our beloved dog died that night. I contacted Vickie immediately and she sent me a terrible email with all of the puppy rules and basically made me feel terrible. In the same breath she tried to sell me another puppy and I declined. I never had a good feeling from this breeder. She was not upfront and was very cold.
I have ran the Free Sheltie Classifieds at Tripod now for almost 5 years. During that time period I received 8 complaints about the breeder named Vicki Robinson of Gemstone Shelties. These complaints were of such a nature that I refused to put up her ads.
Due to the serious nature of some of these complaints. I would advise anyone with problems with this breeder to contact Linda and the others that are compiling further documentation for further legal action.
By the way to whom it may concern,
'I'm not rich by any means . And do not "live off"my dogs by any means. I breed Shelties because I love my dogs and enjoy it. This is my treasured HOBBY and NOT a business. I do not make any money selling dogs. If anything I lose money. It's a A very expensive hobby that I happen to love. I show and breed my dogs because I enjoy it. IF YOU ARE DOING IT RIGHT,THERE IS NO MONEY TO BE MADE IN BREEDING DOGS.
The money I do get... any and all... pays for their well being/care. This is not my life but a big part of it. Please enjoy your visit on my site.
Vickie Robinson
GemStone Shelties
http://www.gemstoneshelties.com/
So.Ca
As the breeder of said puppy, I Vickie Robinson: GEMSTONE SHELTIES, Will indeed stand up and defend myself, the love I have for my dogs and my integrity as reputable breeder for 18 years and who is in good standing with the AKC and animal control as well.
This particular puppy was born and raised here, and dearly loved by my family until the day he left us. He was my daughter's favorite and she cried when he left. He was known as (ICEMAN) and was a special puppy to us. He was a beautiful Sable Merle (the reason why he was sold as a pet :he had blue eyes and couldnt be shown. A sable merle is a striking lighter shade of SabIe that I refer them as "Strawberry Blond" in color and which are known to have blue , brown eyes or one each; and/or "Merled eyes" like Iceman had . He was a mellow boy with a sweet disposition. This is totally NORMAL l for them to have. Her vet said they looked ODD? She also told me that this puppy was running into things? Puppies DO/can run into things! He NEVER showed ANY obvious signs of anything abnormal and I would have definitely detected it as I sit and watch my puppies for hours on end! She came, picked him out from several other litter mates; other puppies 4-5 boys that I had here.. do you honestly think I would have had him out there for viewing if he was known to be DEAF/BLIND.. AVAILABLE etc.. I dont think so! AND do you Think she would have picked out a SICK puppy; deaf AND blind who was running into things ..who was also supposably staggering all over her house?
Bottom line is, this woman was having buyers remorse because she originally wanted a typical, classic Sable and white male puppy and it did take her a long time to decide to take this puppy because of his different shade of Sable.. in which at the time of sale he was absolutely fine ( in my opinion to go to a new home )and was running and playing with the other puppies and her and her husband and had been fine; all over my house for the past 9 weeks of his life with his littermates which by the way are all Healthy, happy puppies in their HAPPY new owners homes ... UNTIL he went home with her.The next day she informed me that he had been to his vet check and had cocci and I had and always do treat my puppies/mom for this for it as it "can" be common and is a treatable condition. I feel She was unhappy with him from the start and was looking for a reason to bring him back. She made comments like I "think he's deaf.. I think he's blind.. never had the vet check or run any TESTS for this and I NEVER seen anything that suggested that he was indeed tested for hearing or his eyes. I kept all the emails from her. This was all on her part, just speculation. I at that time knew she was not going to be happy with him so I offered her another puppy and that she needed to bring him back to me the following day. She agreed and said ok. SO.. I went on my way that next day as we had a time set up for her to bring him back to me and I had time to run down the hill for shopping . Well, when I returned home, there was a message that said she was taking him to her vets and then another email about 2 hours or so later saying that she euthanized him. I was FURIOUS and was devastated to hear this and cried for an hour straight and wondered if he would still be "here" with my daughter and us if he didnt go to her house.This was done without my consent. She had already agreed to give this puppy Iceman back to me/us. At best she should have let him stay at her vets until I had time to contact her. My daughter was also devastated.. I was actually excited and told my daughter Tani that he was coming HOME! She was so happy and couldn't wait to see him again. I had already,. at that point agreed to let my daughter keep him since he was coming home ,I felt it must have been fate. she had agreed to return him to us, and DID indeed agree to take one of these other RED sable boys that I had and that she wanted origially in color). I held the the other boy puppies back from selling them for her.
I have never had a puppy returned to me for any reason in the 18 years that I have been breeding/showing Shelties. I would have taken Iceman to my vet for a second opinion . I would not have put him to sleep unless I as his breeder agreed to this.
HE was Put to sleep (killed) in my opinion. I always try a do my best to insure that each of my puppies/dogs and their new owners are happy. I was VERY upset that she did this without my consent... without permission by me. EVEN after all of this, I STILL offered / honored her another puppy choice of some other puppies that I had available at the time in which she did see when she picked out this particular puppy 2 days prior .she said she was so upset about Iceman that she asked me if she could wait and choose a puppy in a weeks or so and wanted time to get over him mourn. I told her I would hold onto the sable boy puppies that she was going to be choosing from. I kept my word, kept the the puppies for nearly 2 weeks and DID NOT SELL THEM.
THEN one day out of BLUE , she emails me and says , and may I add..VERY demanding.. I want a refund and I'm buying a puppy this weekend which was like 3 days away.. and said she DID not want one of my puppies . AND that she wanted it in 3 days! WHAT NERVE! I was very hurt by this to say the least. I told her fine and told her that I needed to sell a puppy first before I could do this.. after all I was holding these puppies for HER and wasn't selling them so I didn't have the money.. She didn't want one of them so what was I suppose to? After all that we'd been though,I was very shocked at her actions. I did tell her that I would honor the refund under these circumstances, In order for a cash refund, I normally ask for the puppy to be returned to me first / or written proof of death or illness; I asked her for written proof of his illness from her vet and never received anything from her from her vet. She agreed to return him to me and didn't. I talked to her vet 's office via phone but didn't hear anything about any genetic or hereditary defects for 3 years. They advised me that they could have had the puppy kept there ALIVE until I arrived or contacted them before he was put down. I never got the chance to pick him up. The next thing I know is I'm getting served papers at my door to be sued and to appear in court! Thanks Linda. I would still offer her a puppy as a token of my generosity. I feel she took advantage of my kindness as my weakness and took me through the ringer.. and threatened me as well. She is trying everything to ruin my life over this . Life is too short. This has been blown way out of proportion and Very unfair to me and my family and my reputation.
Please contact me for references regarding my puppy buyers. Please, also visit my website for testimonials. I will always stand behind my puppies/dogs and I'm very proud of them and my achievements in this wonderful breed.
Sincerely,
Vickie Robinson/ GemStone Shelties