I don't know where to begin! I purchased my 3rd Havanese from Noah's Little Ark in 2012. Their website addresses almost all of the concerns potential buyers have so I decided to "reserve" my puppy with a deposit. While waiting until the puppy was weaned, I REPEATEDLY asked to see pics of the parents and asked for proof of their eye and health cert tests. Duane always had excuses of being on the road delivering puppies and/or how busy he was. I never received proof of testing he claims on his site, never given registered names of parents, and did not receive pics of parents. There was no information or pics on parents available on his site. At this point, I was becoming worried and suspicious. But, I couldn't do anything about it except to keep emailing and asking. My requests were ignored. I made plans and set a date with Duane to pick up our puppy. It was extremely important to me to see the parents and and their breeding environment. About a week before my husband and I were to make a road trip to pick up our puppy, Duane emailed me on a Sunday evening letting me know that my puppy was being flown in to Tulsa the next day (Monday) and that I would need bring an additional $200 to cover flight costs. At the time, I was so excited that I didn't think much of. The puppy was delivered to me at the airport by a lady friend of his, not Duane. Duane did not send any registration paperwork on my puppy or the litter registration. Again, after REPEATED requests and a personal phone call, Duane told me that his buyers usually don't need/want registration papers and then told me that he hasn't had time to register the litter yet. He assured me he would send in the litter registration papers. Again, Duane continued to put off and ignore my request. The website claimed that all of the puppies were "paper trained" and well socialized with top of the line health guarantees. Our puppy WAS NOT paper trained! She pottied everywhere all the time and even when she was being held which contradicted his website claims! She was not well socialized because she was not affectionate and growled at us the first 2-3 weeks we had her! We also noticed that her baby teeth were in a well defined protruding underbite . I didn't think or have any knowledge of underbites until she went to our vet for vaccinations. The permanent lower canine teeth came in in an outward direction sticking out like tusks on each side of her upper lips and all of the lower teeth between the two canines are slanting forward out of her mouth. The vet had to pull some baby teeth that we're protruding out in sync with her permanent teeth. She has a severe and very noticeable underbite. I contacted Duane and discussed why I was not informed of the underbite defect, and he said he must have just overlooked it. The underbite was present while in his care. He stated it was not considered a "health defect" . She requires extra dental care to help keep the teeth sticking out of her mouth clean and breath from stinking so bad. Because of my own experience with Noah's Little Ark, I highly do not recommend purchasing from them. Because of all of the things I've mentioned, Duane should not be considered reputable, honest, or trustworthy to expect a quality Havanese puppy from. I was angry with his misleading and false claims. I told him that every buyer should expect to be informed of any defects before their purchase so the buyer could choose the puppy or not. Instead, he failed to demonstrate exceptional breeding practices in every phase of our purchase and was deceiving! A warning I should have been clued into is the large number of females he is breeding. This can be verified by looking at the many different mommy names attached with past and present puppy pics. He may have satisfied customers, but consider this...are you willing or even open to the possibility of sharing my experience? Keep in mind...best pups will come from breeders that have limited number of litters annually and those breeders will not advertise puppies for sale on widespread numerous "puppies for sale" websites.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer's satisfaction.
I have a followup for this complaint. When my family and I were thinking about getting our first dog at Noah's Little Ark, we drove up to Duane's house and walked inside. The first thing I noticed was that the house reeked of dog dung. When Duane went down into the basement to show us the first option for us, we heard very many dogs barking and barking and barking! We asked Duane how many dogs there were but he kept avoiding the question. For all those new puppy owners, I warn you about Noah's Little Ark. It's nothing but a puppy mill with a fancy website!
typical puppy mill fashion- using a naples, fl phone number for a georgia miller!
For all these negative comments, can I get a follow up on how puppies are doing now? these comments seem to be 2 to 3 years old?
How does this website know HE DID EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER TO RESOLVE THE ABOVE ISSUE? Did they even read the complaint? Are they taking his word over the word of the owner? THIS MAN SHOULD BE PUT OUT OF BUSINESS. I have requested copies of inspections from the state of Georgia and he has passed each time. He is clever enough to satisfy their checkpoints but unfortunately other issues are not involved in the inspection. (for example, do you know how many elderly people pass driver's license tests who should NOT be driving?!)
Irene: The issue is not the puppies...it's the "mother" who bred those babies. No matter how clean the facility, adequate the lighting, waste disposal, ventilation, temperature control, record keeping: it still boils down to dogs kept in crates and in a continual medical state (which is not always pleasant, if you've ever been pregnant). And how would you like to deliver a baby, the baby taken away, and then immediately impregnated again...and again...and again. Please, please, please do NOT use this breeder. This is definitely a puppy mill with 55 dogs, 41 stalls and 52 breeders. I will repeat, 52 breeders! With 52 dogs, there is no way these animals are treated as domestics. They are kept in a building(s), indoors, in crates with little human interaction and no socialization. I have a retired mother from there who was 6 y/o and she has NO IDEA what a toy is. These breed dogs live their lives confined and in a continual state of gestation. With the gestation period for a dog being 58-68 days, this means a poor Mother may be forced to produce a litter 5-6 times a year! What a lucrative business---at $[protected] plus per pup you do the math! In my opinion, ALL large-scale breeders for business need to be eliminated by law. Please try to find an owner who has PETS kept in the house which are bred once, maybe twice a year. You will be helping at least one abused "mother" and hopefully decreasing sales for this breeder.
A terrible puppy mill situation. My pup from there has severely deformed front leg. After sending pics to Duane, never heard from him again😩
Why does this company have 5 stars? Please review and revise your "Star Policy". There is no way this business has even 1 star!
This just doesn't sound anything like the experience I had. Mine is now 2 years old and was delivered to me clean, healthy and a perfect personality. I can't imagine her having come from a puppy mill. I am so glad my experience was a good one.
We have had a little girl for 2 months now she was 10 months old when we got her. Never had her nails cut, no bath (she was so nasty) and her hair was so matted the groomer had to shaved her. The first thing the Vet said to me after examining her was that she was from a puppy mill. She had worms and I don't think her shot record was real. She has not been socialized or "paper trained" and barks like crazy. She attached herself to me from the moment she saw me and has extreme separation anxiety if I am out of her sight. She is smart though and takes to training so easily, we even have her potty trained already. It will all just take time, she is a love bug and is now a healthy girl, She was so starved she ate her own poop every time she went, was so sad. With good nutrition she no longer feels the need to do that and has put on a couple of pds. I am glad I paid a fortune for her and "rescued" her from this environment. My husband and I love her with all our hearts and am glad we got her out of there. That being said he needs to be put out of business.