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Pampered Pups review: sick puppy 22

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2:36 pm EST
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My husband and I purchased a puppy from this "breeder" and he has a bad cough and "fake" vaccination record. I am interested in seeing how many other have had bad experience with these people...I would like to hear from you ! please email me at [protected]@suddenlink.net

Update by MsLara
Jan 18, 2013 10:21 pm EST

You are correct...my husband found their site because he was looking for a dog to replace the doggie he had for 13 years and died. He looked for several months and found these people...who claim to be Christian. They make me sick...I am not giving up easily. I have several calls to several organizations/police depts/dog wardens/Human Society and PA Attorney General. The lady from that office is very helpful and she is sending me a packet to fill out to file a formal complaint...have you had dealings with these people ?

Update by MsLara
Mar 21, 2014 3:57 pm EDT

Pampered Pups --jason and heather McDowell are from PA. Pennsylvania has a Puppy Lemon Law which states the seller has to reimburse vet bills. I used this law to seek restitution for my sick puppy..If you want additional information please email me and I can help you.

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22 comments
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Debby Blinky
, US
Dec 20, 2020 10:47 pm EST

Did you file any formal complaints?

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Deebo$$$$
, US
Jun 10, 2020 8:27 am EDT

I bought 3 dogs that were supposed to be small. Mom and dad were 7 and 4 pounds, pure bred Maltese. 1st one died within a week, 2nd one ended up weighing in at 14 pounds, had knee surgery on both knees, diabetes, developed cushings and died at age 9. 3rd one ended up weighing 18 to 19 pounds, they could not provide akc certification after they said they could, had knees operated on, diebetes, developed cushings, has liver and heart disease and spinal problems.
All three were expensive and said to be their dogs puppies, raised in their home with their kids. I will look elsewhere as these were not Maltese, they were probably a combination as they were too large to be pure Maltese.

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KHeiny
, US
Apr 10, 2019 4:04 pm EDT

He wouldn't let us see the mother**

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Debby Blinky
, US
Apr 15, 2019 6:38 pm EDT
Replying to comment of KHeiny

Yes, we never got to see the parents of either of our dogs. I think thy buy from puppy mills.

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nbm818
, US
Jul 13, 2020 8:22 pm EDT

After a fear of this, I finally looked at the AKC papers for my female Bichon Frise that I got from the McDowells. There was an ad in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. I called and said to Jason, "I've never purchased a pup before. Is there anything I need to do?" He said, "You come look at her. You like her, you buy her." No parents on premises and I was totally ignorant.. Yes. I am heartbroken to know she is the product of a puppy mill because her "brother", which we adopted from Angels for Animals when she was 6 months old, is from a mill. He had bad teeth, his little front paws point outward instead of straight, he has luxating patella, has issues with strangers and protection of me, ate his own poo for 2 weeks after we got him, had NEVER been outside on grass, and had to be taught how to be a dog...by the puppy mill puppy. This breaks my heart. I was ignorant back in 2008 and incredibly lucky that she's been healthy for 12.5 years. I looked up the name on the AKC papers and then Googled him; he had one of the 10 worst puppy mills in Ohio. How horrible.

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KHeiny
, US
Apr 10, 2019 4:01 pm EDT

My family and i purchased a "Yorkie" from these people 10 years ago. As soon as we walked in i felt an odd vibe, you could tell these people were up to no good and that they didn't earn/deserve a home like that. There were so many different types of dogs, they were very unorganized, he would let us see the mother and i swear he just found a dog and said this is the father. When he was 7 years old he had hip issues, when he was 9 years old he had more issues than we could count. He started pacing around, not eating or drinking, he would just stare at his bowl as if he had no clue on how to drink anymore, he stopped playing, he stopped barking. $6, 000 later, test after test, no vet had a clue what was wrong with him, but he was suffering and it was heartbreaking. For a dog weighing 10-12 pounds, he shouldn't have gone that quickly. Something needs to be done and I will do what I can to help prevent families for going through what we did. It's devastating seeing these dogs go through this.

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Debby Blinky
, US
Apr 15, 2019 6:45 pm EDT
Replying to comment of KHeiny

It’s time consuming but if there are no complaints, there’s no reason to investigate these people. Please contact the attorney general, humane society, dept of agrilculture and representatives.

Attorney Generals Office
Bureau of Consumer Protection
15th fl, Strawberry Square
Harrisburg, PA. 17120
[protected] PA only
[protected]

Humane society.org/puppymills
The Humane Society of the United States
Puppy Mills Campaign
2100 L Street NW
Washington, DC. 20037

Pda.pa.gov
Pa Dept Agrilculture
Dog Law complaint form, submit claim online

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Dana Richardson
, US
Dec 21, 2017 5:04 pm EST

We had the same experience. We purchased our dog from Jason last February. We went to his home and he had a little "adoption center" in his garage. He brought the puppy (Bichon-Yorkie mix) out for us to see and let him run around in a little playpen type of enclosure. We held the dog and inspected him as best as we could. He also gave us some sort of blood sugar speil and gave us some food to take home with the puppy. We made a vet appointment for the puppy (Zion) asap just because we thought that would be a good idea to have him checked by a professional vet that we trusted. All was well for the initial visit. However, within the first week that we had the puppy we noticed a cough that became more persistent. We went back to the vet and our Zion had kennel cough and pneumonia. He also had fecal tests that game back Giardia Elisa positive. We have no other pets so the dog did not get any of these things from our house.I never contacted Jason back because I knew he would most likely not do anything about it. We treated our pup and went on with life. Then, when it was time to have him neutered we found out he was a Crypt Orchid, this condition can be hereditary. This guy needs to either stop breeding dogs or seriously clean up his act.

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Michele Borkovic
, US
Dec 08, 2016 10:19 am EST

I am so sorry to hear that so many people had such a negative experience with Jason and Heather. I purchased my pups from them - a cockapoo almost 10 years ago and a maltepoo almost 7 years ago. I can honestly say that i did not have a bad experience with them. The pups were in their home...which was very clean and well kept. Jason bathed them, kissed them on the forehead and said, "Good luck in your new home." (before placing them in the travel crate. He even told me in advance to bring a crate to transport the puppy. The cockapoo had ear issues - they sent med to me. (Lop-eared dogs are prone to ear issues) I left with dog food (the kind they had been feeding her so that she would not have stomach issues), treats and fortical gel. They required a vet check within 10 days, with the vet's name, etc. My vet said they were both healthy. They were spayed and did well. My dogs are healthy and happy and sweet as can be. The maltepoo is comical and amuses us every day! They had 9 dogs that slept on their bed every night at the time I purchased mine. I do not know what happened in the past seven years but they certainly do not appear to be the same people that I purchased my dogs from as there was no feeling of a "puppy mill". They appeared to be honest and trustworthy back then. It would be nice to see them return to the kind of people they once were!

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Lauramm
, US
Jun 27, 2016 6:06 am EDT
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My DNA test came back. Phoebe ( as suspected) has no poodle in her at all. She is Maltese & Yorkshire Terrier. I did contact Jason & he defenitely is not a nice person. He wants the "dog" back & he will give me back my money. He doesn't even say puppy or Phoebe. Its the Dog. I did report him to the Pennsylvania Attorney General. This man is suppose to be a Christian- well Christian people don't treat people the way he does. Nor do they do dishonest dealings with people.
And no he is not getting my Phoebe back. He did the underhanded deed- not me or Phoebe.

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Lauramm
, US
May 05, 2016 4:32 pm EDT
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I feel so bad for everyone & angry at myself for not checking these people out better. That house is beautiful. No wonder they can afford it with the amount of dogs he is selling & the prices.
I did check the Pennsylvania Pet Lemon Law & by the sounds of reading it they don't seem to do much. You have so many days for this & so many days for that. #1- many times problems don't show up for weeks or months. I did give mine the Kennel cough again. She had a funny little cough. He marked she had it. So far not noticed any health issues except the cough & also she seems to have a problem swallowing at times. Keeping a close eye on that. She is also very high strung, anxious & hyper.
I saw a post on this board from a person from last August about the Westie she bought & some of its social issues. So, it made me think. I never saw any advertisements for Westies on his website. But last August he was under another name. I started checking out different mixes. The picture I found is a Westie & Maltese Mix. I showed the picture to family & friends and they thought it was Phoebe.
I see that Lemon Law doesn't cover anything re: selling a dog as a Designer dog ( Maltese & Toy poodle mix ) and then finding out it is not to be that type dog.
It takes 2-3 weeks for DNA results. I won't give up Phoebe- but I will report them.

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Lauramm
, US
May 02, 2016 2:04 pm EDT
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I am horrified with all these posts. I just got a puppy at the end of February. I found their ad in the Pittsburg Gazette. They are under furyourlove.com now. Heather & Jason McDowell are the owners. I lost my 8 year old Bichon right at the beginning of February. My husband & I were just devastated. Crying everyday. Maybe, I wasn't paying good attention. When I checked under furyourlove.com for info. - I didn't really find anything. But, when I put their names in today I came up with alot .
When corresponding I told Jason that I was interested in the maltipoo's or even maltichons. Oh yes he told me they were available. Then when I was ready to go & look at them= he told me he didn't have any that were ready to go. But, he had Shih tsu & bichon mix & yorkie mix that were ready. He said I could come & see the maltipoo's & put a deposit on one & come back mid to end of April to get her. OK. So I drive there- just about 3 hours.
Then of course he says he doesn't have any maltipoos. There were some other cute little puppies- shih tzu/bichon mix . I asked if he would have any maltipoos being born. Then he said he had one that was born in November 2015. She was pretty scroungy when I first saw her. He had his mom give her a bath. She was just a fluffy little thing when they brought her out.
I decided on taking her.
Her name is Phoebe. She is cute & like a devil. She was only 1#8oz when I got her. Its been 2 months now. She's a little bigger & as she has grown she looks less like a Maltipoo. I think these people pulled the wool over my eyes. I had this in the back of my mind- but too many people have questioned if she is actually a maltipoo. Maybe some maltese- but everyone says they have never seen a maltipoo that looks like her.
So, I did a DNA & am waiting for results. I love her to death. I am very happy that so far there have been no health problems like everyone else has had.
I should have paid better attention & I like to have faith in people. But, he had too many conflicting stories now that I think of it. Also, I did not see the parents! When I asked him a couple weeks ago for pictures it was a major production. They couldn't remember me getting her & then I gave the date I got her. Then they couldn't find paperwork for sale with parents information- Like how many parents are we talking about. They sent me the pictures.
So, I will wait to see DNA results. If they are what I suspect, I will report them. I attached a couple photos. On bottom left is father (maltese) & right is mom ( toy poodle). The top is Phoebe.
I guess I just need to see what others think. These people are just not on the up & up.

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Patience Best
, US
Feb 09, 2016 7:58 am EST

Jason and Heather McDowell make me sick they sale sick dogs and it is heart breaking. Why are they still being aloud to run a puppy mill and have all these puppies and breed these adult dogs they say are their pets but they keep them at a hidden location. Jason is rude once you purhade a puppy. He acts so nice and his wife emails all friendly and then bam you purchase a sick dog and they don't care. He was busted in 2011 and 2012 for owning over 40 dogs of his own and selling over 60 some puppies failed 3 inspections and still is running a puppy mill today over 6 years later. It's a shame that no one will stop these people. These poor animals are being mis treated the puppy I got has fleas so badly sore eyes kennel cough and still having breathing problems and it has been over 2 months since I got her. It's heart breaking. I have seen he has mailed others medicine that has to be prescribed by a vet thru the mail along with he mailed it to me also. I took her to the vet and found out she was very sick I still have the medicine and envelope he mailed it in hoping that one day I can get these disgusting people shut down for good.

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kmr58
, US
Dec 30, 2015 3:31 pm EST

Purchased a Morkie puppy from these people for my niece after the death of her mother (my sister). Very cute puppy. A few weeks after, we found the puppy unresponsive, laying in her own vomit, with no readable temperature. Thousands of dollars and millions of tears later, the dog had to be put down due to a liver shunt. Don't think the nice house is any indicator of the quality of their animals. They bring the puppies out from the back so You don't get to see their actual living conditions. Don't buy from these people. They did nothing to make things right.

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das58
, US
Oct 30, 2015 11:10 am EDT

Do not buy a dog from these people. They are not family breeders, I believe they run a puppy mill disguised as a family business. We bought a cavachon puppy from them that was diagnosed with a congenital knee disorder. A vet recheck before her first birthday revealed Lt knee was worse and Rt knee also had same problem. Jason told us when we purchased pup there was a one year health guarantee for congenital disorders. He stated none of his puppies was ever diagnosed with a congenital disorder. Well, I guess I was the only lucky one to buy a pup with a congenital knee disorder. When I contacted them, first got the run around, then one excuse after the other. And no compensation for a puppy that will have knee problems for the rest of her life, and may require surgery for it. They have a lot of conditions and wiggle room for their supposed 1 year health garentee. I believe there is no guarantee. Puppy also had severe diarrhea and had giardia, from their tainted farm well water. Jason' s answer to this was he "drinks the water every day and maybe he'll die from it". I wonder if his family and kids drink it. Stay away from these people, any one who has that many varieties and puppies for sale all the time run a breeding business (puppy mill).

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vjp24
, US
Apr 15, 2014 10:05 am EDT

Hi,
Im responding to your comment on Pampered Pups. I bought two Yorkies from this couple, one day Im outside with them and my sister noticed one of the puppies eye looked funny. Turns out that it is a birth-defect called Persistent Pupillary Memebrane, its where( the strands of the iris tissue) connect the brown iris tissue to the cornea, resulting in a scar. This pupil is smaller the his other one and will get worst as he grows with no way to correct it. He has a cloudy spot in the center of his eye.

They wanted me to bring back the puppy and get another one, I said no I was attached to him already. I also asked for some of my money back for future vet bills, of course that isnt going to happen.

I had to drive back to Ohio from Pgh to see their vet and he it thought it was a corneal abrasion. They did pay for eye specialist. I had them send me a check for the payment first. I guess I just trust to easily. I'm really upset about this.

Not sure what we can do about any of this. I guess turning them into the Better Business Bureau would be an option, not sure.
Please feel free to email me back or post this to other sites.

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Kls0521
Juneau, US
Mar 18, 2014 4:34 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I also recieved a sick dog. I did research but at the time when I bought her there was nothing bad online. I thought it was weird I was receiving emails from many different email address's from Heather and Jason Mcdowell. The whole time I was purchasing our dog I was dealing with Heather up until the time we have problems that he gets on the phone...

Our Daughter had 600 dollars in her piggy bank. I told her I would match what she had in there she wanted a maltipoo. It took along time to find the right one heather sent pictures of her kids with the puppies so I thought it was hands on. The dog my daughter picked out needed to be shipped to Juneau, Alaska we received her she had a cough. I contacted Heather and she said they would send medicine. At that point the vet had already gave us meds. Few weeks later I contacted her about biting, then about her peeing herself while sleeping, peeing frequently, drinking excessive amounts of water, falling over, having seizures... She has just been diagnosed with a liver shunt and will be checked this next week for Addison's disease! It is 5, 000 dollars for the surgery and we already have a vet bill of 3, 000.., I have requested that they make this right be reimbursing us the money we paid for our dog...These people are a joke! He told me to put my dog to sleep and he would send us another one. I'm sorry but that isn't how this works..this is so hard on my family!

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tamara jane
Smithville, US
Jan 28, 2014 9:57 am EST

We had a similar experience with Jason. Our puppy was purchased as a surprise gift (we would never have purchased a puppy from a puppy mill, which is what this is.) Our Morkie arrived seeming quiet for a pup and within two days she was very, very ill. She had horrible kennel cough and pneumonia. Because my kids loved her immediately we did not take her back to Jason's "vet" to be "cured." He indicated we should "trade her in" for another dog - as though she was a pair of shoes that didn't fit. After dealing with him several times on the phone about her health, my opinion is that he is simply in this for the money and really doesn't care about the health of the dogs - at all. My friend did not ask to meet the mother dog or see where the pups are kept, etc. but I feel certain this is puppy mill in the worst sense. What's more, Jason does not care if he sells pups that are ill and must not do much to keep them well in the first place. My advice is to STEAR CLEAR of any kennel in New Castle whose owner is Jason. Our experience was in 2013 so this has been going on for years. We ended up spending $2, 000 to get our pup well. She is great now but almost didn't make it.

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p90
, US
Sep 09, 2011 7:46 am EDT

I attempted to purchase a Morkie puppy from this particular breeder after searching on the internet and reading a positive review of the experience from a mutual friend. After meeting with Jason and looking at the available puppies I saw from the internet site, I chose a Morkie puppy for our family. While waiting to fill out the paper work the puppy had a small cough and I asked Jason if she had been doing this. Jason informed me she had been fine and may have a small cold or picked up something from the floor playing with his daughters. He gave her a vaccine and medication in envelopes to take home "in case" she continued with the cough. During the car ride home the puppy vomited in the car and didn't appear to act like a normal puppy . The puppy wouldn't eat, drink or playwhen I got her home. I text Jason with my concerns and his "treatment" was to make sure she had the fortical to prevent low blood sugar that she'd eventually eat "she's just adjusting." The coughing continued and got worse during the night and she continued to vomit and gag. In the morning I called my vet and they immediately wanted me to bring the puppy in for an evaluation. The vet checked the puppy and said I purchased a sick puppy that needed immediate care (puppy had fever, possible pneumonia, and the puppy had no molars to chew food at 10 weeks old). I text Jason with the information and to acquire more info. He gave me the info. I needed but hung up on my vet when he tried to talk to him and wanted the puppy back at his house for "his vet" to see per contract. I immediately took the puppy back to Jason that night because "his vet" was supposed to see the puppy that night to start treatment. The next day I contacted Jason to see how the puppy was doing and was told she was doing "great." No cough, eating and playing with his children. No way this puppy could completely become cured from possible pneumonia in less than 24 hours of treatment! This of course sent up a red flag and I did some further research and contacted the mutual friend about her experience with this breeder. I found this websites of complaints from this breeder and talked with other families that have had a bad experience (one particular family's Yorkie puppy died a week after they purchased it. supposedly after receiving treatment from Jason's "vet" and being taken care of by Jason.) I contacted Jason after all this information and decided to not purchase the puppy since I did not receive a healthy puppy. Fortunately for me I did not lose my money in this situation but I feel sorry for the puppy and hope she honestly received the treatment she needed. I also hope others thinking of purchasing a dog from this particular business read these complaints like I did and choose not to purchase a puppy from a puppy mill.

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Hallie's Mom
Elizabeth, US
Jan 26, 2012 9:05 pm EST

Thanks for your post! Your experience was just like mine. The only difference is that I drove all the way there to come home with a pure breed Yorkie. I didn't realize until months later that I got a Morkie. Jason told me that both dogs were Yorkies. When they are only 10 weeks old, it is hard to tell the difference. After a lot of money at our vet, I finally got my pups at an ideal weight. They are eating and happy. But, this was not a good experience. Jason needs to stick with his main business of selling deer urine and stop the puppymill.

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Erica Jordan
Bliss, US
Nov 03, 2011 5:15 am EDT
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NO reputable breeder breeds mutts. Lots of mutts in the pound... adopt one of them rather than supporting an unethical breeder.

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AnnMarieTheFlameThrower
Mobile, US
Oct 21, 2011 7:47 pm EDT

By the way -

There are NO full grown dogs at 1 and 1/2 pounds except for the world's smallest dog or one on the verge of DEATH