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I got my 'mini' Blue heeler puppy in August from Rightway Ranch located in Eastern Oregon in August. I am now convinced they are a puppy mill. There is a Facebook page called "Rightway Ranch, Right Way Ranch Heeler Owners" where other owners share the same opinion.
Their website has many puppies on it, but didn't think too much of it at the time. They also weren't keen to me coming out and seeing the ranch. They offered to meet me at a half way point, which I figured was them just being nice. Looking back both these things show they are a puppy mill.
When I met my puppy he came out of a dirty van and smelled strongly of manure. He was shivering in the man's arms who was wiping off buggers from his eyes. When he was placed in my arms he clung to me and buried his head. The image of his terror will forever me in my mind. They didn't have me sign a breeding contract, and informed me when I got him that he had not received any of his shots yet.
We believe he was given some drug to calm him down for the drive by the breeders. He was tired the whole first day, and didn't pee or poop or eat for the entire first 13 hours we had him when he was only 10 weeks old. He acted like he had never seen grass or the outside at all and would stand paralyzed with fear when we set him down on it. We planned on crate training him but he acted like the crate was the most scary thing in the world.
He was afraid of everything, new people, cars driving by, other animals, even out neighbors moving around. He would just sit quietly most of the time and shake with fear unless we held him in our arms. When ever we would take him outside he wouldn't use the bathroom and instead just try to jump into our arms and cry out of fear. This went on for about a month after we got him.
He progressively gained more confidence after we worked with him a lot. He is a lot better, but still reacts very negatively whenever we see other people or dogs. He is scared and reacts aggressively. He doesn't have any social skills with other dogs at all and doesn't know how to interact with them even after extensive exposure. He is highly bonded with us and loves to snuggle and play though.
I believe Rightway Ranch is not interacting with the puppies they are breeding. They are making far too many litters at a time and not giving them and human or outside interactions. They may even be keeping the puppies in cages and not with their moms and other puppies since he has no social skills with other dogs.
I wouldn't recommend buying a dog from Rightway Ranch. They do not treat their dogs correctly and you will be supporting a puppy mill.
I’ve been doing cattle dog rescue over 25 years.
The dogs that have come from that place are a MESS.
One adopter just put her boy down at 10 yrs… he was “ok” until a few months ago, when he flipped a switch, and began biting the owners. They did everything to get help, but nothing worked.
This place is a hell hole and a puppy mill.
They need to be SHUT DOWN. This has gone on way too long
There is a special place in hell for vile human beings like the ones at rightway ranch.we lost our dog susie we had for 3 years to an accident. We were just devastated and for months cried and was so ad we decided to look fir another friend. We have had the sweetest little girl the last month and a half. The story is the same as the others. Met In Prineville, the lady was smelly and disgusting. The poor baby smelled awful. She was drugged and till the next night we didn't know. She has horrible trust issues to the worst extent with separation anxiety worse than I've ever encountered. She had a bladder infection peed in the house continually. When i took her to the vet she was not 5 months old as we were told . She was older but we did not know how old and never will. She feared everything. Every sound, every movement. We tried everything and it would be calm for a day and not pee everywhere. Then it would be complete chaos and craziness of peeing inside. And doing strange things that I couldn't understand almost as if she had dementia. I literally just came from the vet on this day may 13th. This little girl has polycystic kidney disease to a terrible degree. She threw up this morning and cant control her bladder for days now getting worse and worse. I was told that I could choose to do the blood draw to check or wait to have her spayed and they can literally look at her kidneys and see. It made me think back 5-6 weeks ago when that horrid wretched woman looked me straight in the eyes and said don't get her spayed right away. Docs say around 5 months but wait at least a year because it's causes hip problems later. She said this because she knew this poor little dog.was sick. She was so scared she wouldn't get any money to feed her fat disgusting self she didn't care. I now know these dogs are just left in kennels fed bad food and neglected and abused then just sold off as fast as they can pump them out. We've had dogs our whole life. Blue heelers most all of them were so its not like we don't know anything about dogs. Now we bought and spent a lot of money in toys, crates, the vet bills, gates for her to have a place to run and pee. Medications, snacks, and ya new carpet to come. Not to mention the amount of money to buy her. The time and frustration without a moment of rest due to fear of watching for her to pee or simply her being scared out of her wits to be alone. But where you would think a person would be mad about all that ,none of that matters to us. Through all of this she was always so sweet, not ever bad, through pain we didn't know she was in. We knew she was worth it that's why we kept going even pulling out our hair. We got to give this girl no matter what she really is,.or not knowing what terrible things she's endured, a loving caring comfortable warm home before we have to say good bye. That is worth every cent and the sadness we feel.. As for that woman at the supposed rightway ranch I hope that 350.dollars served you well. Because people like you always get what you have coming one or another. I am absolutely completely in utter shock as to why these types of places are legal and not shut down. Im making it my mission to make sure that some kind of justice comes to that ranch. This should not be allowed to go on at all. Anywhere. I'm terribly sad we both are my husband and I. But if you will excuse me I have to go tell my daughter when I pick.her up from school. And you see that's when I do get mad. Having to see the hurt, the sadness and the not understanding why someone would do this. Please speak up when it comes to this ranch. This has to stop.
I baught my first healer about 7 years ago from this place. Was met in Sandy. My dog was the coolest and smartest dog I've ever owned . And very active, caught frisbee in mid air naturally and jumped into Detroit lake to chase and retrieve balls and toys. This dog would play catch in the pouring rain dident have a care in the world . This dog is a protective animal, and he's a dog that requires alot of training . Of course the people can smells they live on a ranch. They don't live in down town Portland with all the yuppies that drink there crapachinos . You wanted a working heard cattle dog guess what you got one. They nip and bite in nature. All the complaining I hear on here are basically animalistic instinct. My dog is the raddest toughest dog I've ever had.
Dogs piss bite and bark .
Next time buy a goldfish
My boy from Right Way Ranch is 8 years old now. Like so many others, I didn’t know. The husband pulled him out of a filthy, stinky blue Astro van, gladly took my money, gave me his registration documents (I never filed them), and left. Boomer was scared out of his mind & rode between my cousin’s head and car headrest the entire drive home. The man also met me in Sandy, OR. They wanted NO part of anyone coming out to the “ranch.” Boomer was super lethargic the next day and had white gums. I drove WAY too fast to the vet and found out he had Giardia. A course of wormer later, he was ok. The vet said he was way too you g and was closer to 5-6 weeks old and not 8 weeks. He couldn’t have his shots until 8 weeks, so I was a wreck for a bit.
Boomer is an incredible dog, but he’s not entirely right in the head. He’s great with kids, dogs, cats and most people, but not new people in my house. His hips are also bad. I’m certain it’s from bad breeding practices. It’s a puppy mill. They want volume of puppies for money. What they spend it on is lost on me, it’s a ramshackle piece of property. How these guys are STILL able to pedal dogs is beyond me. Do not support these people. There’s so much info now about them being terrible people and a known puppy mill that if you buy there, you can’t say, “I didn’t know.”
Bought a puppy from them in 2015 he is small and very docile but the best blue healer I’ve e ever owned
After 5 years of putting my heart and soul into my little healer, I finally had my vet come to my house and put him to sleep. He’s always been fearful and anxious. Then he began to get aggressive when least expecting it. I spoke to my vet about how to help him and correct that behavior but nothing worked . He bit me several times; not just a nip but all out attack mode. Most of the time he was loving and sweet smart and obedient, but he would unexpectedly go ballistic. Finally he bit my adult son through a down coat and sweatshirt leaving a bruise and bite mark. Then I knew it was only a matter of time before someone would be seriously hurt. I am broken-hearted and devastated at having to put him to sleep. After reading other issues with this puppy mill, I understand why my little dog had problems. I am elderly and miss him terribly. To avoid the heartache I’ve experienced, please don’t get a puppy from these people!
Don’t buy from this breeder
I bought a miniature blue heeler within the last 2 months, took her to vet got DNA test she ended up only being 50 percent blue heeler she had 37 percent chihuahua in her. I've had some difficulties with her thus far with her being a little nippy. Hoping to start training her and get through our obstacles.
Please read my entry posted January 16, 2021
I got my heeler from RWR in 2016. I thought I was educated enough to recognize if it was a puppy mill but the online interaction seemed legit, until I picked out my puppy thru photos and offered to pick him up and they were very reluctant about me coming to the ranch. Instead they agreed to meet in Bend, Or. I thought it was strange but still unsure and assumed it may have been a concern for their own safety. A friend had picked out a couple photos too and couldn't decide, so they offered to bring both and when we met we met in an abandoned parking lot and the woman who drove them stank herself, as well as the beat up van and all 3 puppies were very lethargic and hardly responsive to being picked up though they were awake. By then we couldn't just walk away from them but we started to think it was all very strange. It was hard to leave the 3rd puppy behind. Our puppies slept the entire 3 hr drive home. They told us they had not had shots because it was unsafe to give this breed shots before they were much older. According to their birth dates listed on the site they were 2 months old. They got along with each other but we all lived together the first year and a half but mine had aggressive issues when other dogs would come near, growling and nipping at puppies smaller than him. He attached to me very quickly, and both pups seemed to recognize they were safe now, but potty training was extremely difficult, much more difficult than the other two breeds I had in the past. He was very weary of all new people, especially men. I am fortunate enough to have a good friend who is an amazing dog trainer, and worked with me thru numerous sessions to get my heeler to trust me to take of situations and to keep him safe around other dogs and people but to this day, he is 4 now, it takes multiple visits for him to begin to warm up to new people, again especially men, enough to even come close to sniff them and let them touch him but he is not aggressive anymore. He trusts me enough to keep his distance from new people instead of coming up to attack. He is also not a purebred Queensland Heeler but possibly a Texas Heeler- I believe he is part heeler, part border collie and the photos of his parents-he has outgrown them both in health and does not have the same body or tail shapes. And though I have worked hard with him, he still experiences separation anxiety and will not eat his food if he cannot see me. I can't even go to the bathroom real quick while he is eating or he will abandoned his food and the 2 times I had to have his watched overnight for 2 days, he did not eat anything at all and he was weary of my friends who watched him and had extreme diarrhea from stress. If I go shopping or am gone for more than 2 hours, when I get home he is whining up a storm and can barely contain his anxious relief that I've come back for him. My friends pup is the same way to this day-seperation anxiety and fear of anyone coming up to the door or walking by the house. He stays near her always and keeps a constant eye out.. i have had to check on him when she's put of town overnight and he too will not eat much if she is not there, and he only eats a little for me if Im standing there beside him but he knows me from that first day and spending the first couple years together. He has been aggressive also and its not for lack of trying with training.
She has to kennel him when most guest are over. These dogs love US though and we will forever keep a home for them and they are still amazing, good dogs. But as with humans, trauma in early developmental stages causes lasting, life long effects.
May right way ranch be shut down and all puppies rescued and may justice be served to all those responsible for the irresponsible breeding and lack of care of these animals.
Queensland Heeler, Blue Heeler, Australian Cattle dog, Red heeler = same breed by different names.
I have 2 healers from that ranch and they are healthy and happy. I had no problems with these pups. They are well mannered and good with people and other dogs and cats and instintive herders with my goats.
I Also bought a puppy from here her name is Grace and she is a loving and very smart dog and when we meet her she was also very dirty and wow did she stink a lady brought her to us in a dirt beat up van and I could tell right away that she was from a puppy mill but I couldn’t leave without her also just so everybody knows that this couple also goes by high desert heelers
i got my mini heeler from the right way ranch also. His name was Bumper. they agreed to meet us in town i live in Prineville we got Bumper in August of 09 we just loss him aug 9th 2019 he had a heart condition and was on medication, he never showed any signs and was taken to the vet on a regular basis for shots and what not. he had just turned 10 . I'm a firm believer this place is a puppy mill and needs to be stopped Bumper died in my arms and that's the worse feeling ever. when we moved to prineville in 1990 my parents owned the crystal corral on ochoco hwy, we heard strange rumors about the female and what she did to horses back then to collect money. my ex was the one that bought Bought is was leery at first but thought ok its been yrs. everyone should get a second chance and they were just rumors. Bumper was an awesome dog very smart they only way we even found his heart problem i was going to have his teeth cleaned and had all the preop stuff done first. The vet didn't know when or . this was Bumper like 3wks before he passed i just given him a bathhow long Bumper was been sick he never showed signs. All i can say is this beast and any one involved with her needs to be stopped and chargers need to be filed.I contacted the man im friends with on fb to let him know about Bumper first thing he asked me was you want another puppy i asked if he was still involved with RWR he said kind of. this place needs to be brought down
Do not attempt to stop here, you might be greeted with a shotgun.
This is the ranch location
They are 100% a puppy mill. I was young and stupid when I got my dog there, and it wasn't until it was too late that I realized how horrible they are. I love my pup, but I deeply regret having anything to do with them. Adopt instead! And if you must go to a breeder, please don't make the same mistake I did, and research to avoid giving places like this any business.
I purchased a blue healer from the ranch. They were unwilling to allow me to come out and view the conditions. I ended up meeting one of the owners in the parking lot of Harbor Freight in SE Portland when I picked up the pup. He was driving a dirty beat up pickup and the pup was lethargic. I had the dog for about 1 year when he without mistreatment and going to work with me every day started becoming increasingly aggressive. He bit me, my wife, and an employee after having him start to seemingly lose him marbles I transitioned him to a friend who has property in Bend, Or. My close friend is very good with dogs and has another healer. In the course of 1.5 months, the dog bit his wife, his daughter, and my friend. My friend took him to the Bend Humane society where they did an aggressive dog evaluation and he was deemed aggressive. I chose not to have him euthanized and instead transitioned to a ranch. My friend picked him up to transition him and he severely bit my friend upon pickup. I would not purchase another animal from this puppy mill.
Please check the Facebook page 'Rightway Ranch, Rightway Ranch Heeler Owners'. There are multiple tragic stories. Or drive around Prineville and ask locals. I didn't. I love my girl but I regret supporting this disgusting practice and the lies they tell. At 2 years of age my girl already has hip problems. This is directly related to the breeding and many other dogs are afflicted similarly and worse. The stories are on the Facebook page. You can read for yourself and contact the buyers.