This blog is created to warn others of what we experienced so that others will not suffer the same.
On Tuesday, July 17 at 1:30pm, we picked up our new puppy, Athena. As cute as she wanted to be and as tiny as a mouse. She was nine weeks old and was having trouble eating solid food according to the breeder but she had manage to eat solid food for the last 4 days prior to Tuesday. He called on Monday to say that she was ready to be picked up. We were very excited!!!
We drove almost 3 hours to get to Magnolia Hill Kennel in Baskerville, Virginia. We arrived at what appeared to be a trailer home converted into a kennel. We were greeted by Jim and Susan Colacino. They were very friendly but very fast about the transaction. Jim was holding our precious Athena and handed her to me. My first observation was that she was very small. She was nine weeks old and appeared to be very fragile. My first thought was that the puppy did not look healthy enough to go home, but Jim said she was a teacup yorkie and that she had been eating solid food for 4 days. Not knowing the first thing about Teacup Yorkies, I took him at his word. It was not our desire to purchase a teacup yorkie but we were not told that she was a teacup until we arrived at his house and the transaction was under way. His wife, Susan, escorted me into the kitchen to go over the puppy care. She covered everything as if the puppy was healthy and strong. She mentioned that the puppy was on medicine for a common virus. As I hold the precious bundle in my hands I am becoming concerned but Jim and Susan assured us that the pup was ready to go. The pup, Athena, pooped on my shirt twice while sitting there. Very loose stool which Susan said was the result of the medicine. Okay, I thought. Jim took Athena to wash her up at which time he put her on the floor. I could not see Athena at this point but I could see Jim and Susan. Jim asked Susan if this is what she was talking about. I do not know what they were referring to, but Susan said that the medicine that the pup was taking would clear up it up.
I encourage you to be very brave at this point and ask many questions. Being a pet owner can be very different from being a pet breeder. As a owner you may not know how to care for the special needs puppy and if a breeder tries to mask the fact that the puppy may need special care, it could be heartbreaking as is our case.
Athena, the puppy, was taken away from her mom when her mom would no longer nurse her. She was still very tiny and needed milk. The breeder had nursed her with puppy formula which he was up front about. He informed us that the puppy would not be ready for a while and we were patient. We brought Athena home and the first thing I noticed was her stance was awkward. I thought at first that maybe it was because of her size but later realized that little Athena was struggling in everything. She had trouble walking, her stool was very loose, her eyes were weak and mucous filled, and she wouldn't eat or drink when we got her home. I did everything the breeder said to do but she was growing weaker and weaker. I used a dropper to give her water hoping she would not become dehydrated. I had called our vet to set up an appointment for Athena to be look at on July 19 at 8:30am as soon as we got her home. Sadly, our precious Athena did not make it to her appointment. All day on July 18 we cared for her. Calling the vet to determine what we should do as the instructions from Jim and Susan were not adequate. The vet informed us to try to get food into her and keep her hydrated which we did. We used the dropper and eventually gave her puppy formula. She was so weak she would not take anything. It was hard trying to get her to take water. I held her close and loved on her as I continued to try to give her food and water. She stared at me with her tiny little eyes. I wanted to help her but did not know what to do. It was around 10:30pm on July 18 and she was growing weaker. We continued to try to give her food and water until 12:30am when her body became to weak and she passed away.
I can not say that I regret the sweet precious time that we had with Athena, 36 hours, but I would never purchase a dog from Jim and Susan Colacino at Magnolia Hill Kennels. We took Athena's body to the vet this morning for her scheduled appointment. The vet said that just from looking at her body she was too tiny, her teeth were not ready for solid food, and she was under developed for a 9 week old puppy (10 weeks old today). Why did the breeder not know this? He stated on his web site that they have been doing this for 15 years and specialize in small breed dogs. We contacted the breeder to let him know what had happened and as we were expecting to be reimbursed immediately. He stated that he would not reimburse us until we have a test performed on the dog to determine the cause of death. We found out that there is only one vet in the state of Virginia who performs this test and that is not very reliable. We expected that the breeder would express his sorrow for our lost, but nothing doing. Perform this test and he will try to work with us. His words! Really! Work with us??? They sold us a puppy that had special needs and assured us that she was healthy and ready to go. I don't think so.
I write the post to warn you not to purchase a puppy from Magnolia Hill Kennels, and to encourage you to be educated about your purchase and ask questions. NEVER bring home a puppy on medication. NEVER bring home a puppy that has not been eating solid food for at least 2 weeks. NEVER bring home a puppy that is not playful and energetic. ALWAYS ask to see the mom and dad. ALWAYS ask to see the puppy playing and walking around.
Please be very careful when purchasing your new puppy. As a dog lover, owner of several pets over the years, I urge you to decide carefully on where you purchase your pet. I also urge you to inform others of your good and bad experience. File complaints for your bad experience. You can help others by doing this. I hope and pray that what happened to us does not happen to you.
This happened to us as well with a puppy from this breder the dog passed away after being in our home for 2 days. The dog would or eat or drink and was very weak he said the dog needed to adjust to his new home obv this was not the case. Please beware
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ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. We left a message for this breeder and now we do not intend answer when they call.
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ReplyDeleteWe have a 5 year old bichon that we purchased from this breeder when he was a puppy. It was summer and he was so filthy that we had to stop and buy a dishpan and water to bath him on the way home (we were actually gagging from the urine smell). He tested positive for gerardia when we saw our vet at home and it was several rounds of meds before that cleared. He also had a terrible cough. I asked for reimbursement for the vet bills since he was sick when we picked him up. No cooperation there. We could not walk away from the place and leave this cute puppy. He is a healthy member of the family now, but I think we are lucky that he made it. I tried to report this place at the time, and no one would listen to me!
ReplyDeletewhat did your dog have? was it giardia? or can you please let me know what gerardia is.
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It is so sad to hear your stories because there are so many similarities to mine. Last summer my daughter, Grandson & I picked up our sweet puppy, Gino, from the Magnolia Hills breeders. We met Jim and Susan in a parking lot in Richmond, instead of their home. They explained on the phone that they had house guests and that they were also going to deliver another puppy to someone else nearby Richmond. When we pulled up to Jim & Susan in the parking lot, I first could not see any puppies near them standing in the grass until I walked closer. I noticed that the puppies were in the grass and were so small you could hardly see them until you were almost on top of them. My first reaction when I saw this puppy was that he was way too small to take home. Jim assured me he was a normal size for 8 weeks. So, we put aside our doubts and became very excited to get to know our new puppy! He was so tiny and cute and already very loving!
ReplyDeleteWithin 2 days of bringing Gino home, he became very lethargic, had a horrible cough, runny eyes and would not eat or drink. I bought canned baby food and also used a dropper to get water into his mouth. When I told Jim that Gino did not know how to drink from a bowl, he said it was all very normal. The puppy seemed to weaken during the day so I called our local vet and took the puppy into them right away. The vet did a chest x-ray and said the puppy had pneumonia and would probably not make it because of how pronounced it was. We then decided to admit Gino into the hospital and asked them to do all they could to save him.
I called the breeder several times during this time and had the veterinarian talk to him as well, and he was defensive and evasive. I asked if there was something wrong with the mother since the puppy born in the same litter passed away. He told me the mother had shunned the puppies and wouldn’t feed them. That was news to me!
The veterinarians kept him in isolation, on IVs and medications, and in a humidified area and provided him with “around the clock” care. Our happiness turned to deep sadness and worry over this puppy we already loved. Three days later at a cost of over $2000 for treatment, isolation, medications, etc. the vet still gave him a 50/50 chance of surviving. We decided to take him home since he was all alone in isolation and give him a loving home for as long as God decided he would live. The moment the vet handed him to us he already began to perk up. He seemed very sad and lonely before that, probably feeling very sick and abandoned, and now he was so glad to see us. He seemed to thrive on our love and attention we gave him.
We purchased a humidifier and kept it near him all night to help break up the congestion. We gave him prescribed medications and kept a constant eye on him. The next morning we could see a slight improvement--his cough wasn't as bad and he had a bit more energy. We hoped he had turned a corner. By that time we had him 6 days!
Thanks to God, Gino is now a healthy & happy 1 year old puppy and continues to give us constant joy! All this time I was wondering if it was something that we did wrong--maybe when we took him for his shots the day after we brought him home, he contracted something. Now, hearing that others have had similar experiences, this answers a lot of questions for us. These breeders are definitely in it for the money, even if it means sending home sick puppies. They never offered to reimburse me in any way.
I have been looking for a Maltese puppy and came across their webpage. Thank you for posting your stories and I am sorry for your loss.
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ReplyDeleteThe Colacino's old neighbor told me they had a puppy mill that was absolutely horrible. I don't understand how no one shut her down, or maybe they did and that's why they moved, I have seen pictures of the metal building where they kept hundreds of these babies. The neighbor said that the building would flood so they put cement blocks to raise the cubbies where they had the dogs, the barking was non stop, they had so many they had put some in a shed and had a few in the back of their house. Please stop buying from "loving" breeders, they are all out to make a buck off these poor babies and don't care about their suffering. If you'd like to see pictures, let me know, her neighbor took some before they moved.
ReplyDeleteI just adopted a dog that, according to the paperwork, was purchased from this kennel. She was born in 2009 and had been to 3 homes before I got her this weekend. She is supposed to be a Coton de Tulear, but I have my doubts with that. She's much bigger and her fur feels nothing like a Coton. The records I was given show that she was sold to her first owner at about 7 weeks. The first owner kept her for about a year, then she went to another owner for 3 years, and the last owner for 6 months. She's current on rabies, but needs her other vaccines. I feel for her because she has had no stability. She pants a lot, even when she's resting. I am wondering if there is something wrong with her that started from the conditions there.
DeleteAnyone who would raise puppies and treat them this way is sick. You don't release puppies too soon, you don't release sick puppies, and you finish all you're supposed to do. I am praying she doesn't have anything super wrong with her, as she is such a playful and happy dog. If there is a number to call, or an agency to report these people, please post it here and I will be onboard to ensure these people don't sell any more puppy mill dogs.
Contact Humane Society, they have a puppy mill investigation group. Unfortunately, I gave them the information, e-mailed them and then after the initial reply, they didn't write back to ask for more information. These people are still selling puppies, they moved to a different place. Hope your puppy is alright, must've been hard on her being in so many different homes. Sounds like she will finally have that stability with you.
DeleteContact Amanda 240-620-2068 she is the puppy mill investgator for the humane society
DeleteIf the blogger would reply I would like to get a website started denouncing these puppy millers, it appears that in Mecklenburg area everyone goes unchecked, I actually talked to a few people besides their old neighbor and they couldn't understand how she ever got a license, I understand the place is still empty, but it sounds horrible. People say hundreds of little dogs were kept there, what is sad is that even the woman that told me about it had bought a dog from them, or was given to her and then she bred the dog herself. Please reply, I will be checking your blog. I am so sorry about your little Baby. They also have a website, I will go and post something there to make people aware.
ReplyDeleteWe purchased our mini poodle from Magnolia Hill Kennel and had a similar experiences, though it had a happy ending. We arrived in February 2009 to pick up Ruby. I sat with Susan and went over all the paperwork while my husband sat in the living room with Jim and watched the entire mini poodle litter play together. All the dogs seemed relatively healthy -- no alarms went off in my mind other than a semi-cramped and dirty trailer-type home. Susan boasted a clean bill of health for Ruby and said she had been eating solid food and even gave us a sample of a powder vitamin specifically formulated for puppies to sprinkle on the food, as they had been doing. We signed the papers and took Ruby home. She was very engaging and playful, as puppies are supposed to be. But within a day she stopped eating completely and we couldn't interest her in food no matter what we tried. It got so bad that she started going to the bathroom on herself and couldn't lift up her head. We rushed her to the vet, who said her blood sugar was dangerously low and they needed to keep her overnight. After that, we coaxed her into eating solid food with a nutrient-rich gel. We called Jim and Susan to explain what happened and they acted completely surprised. After that, Ruby went back to being her normal self. Then, about a month later, something strange started happening. Ruby became very lethargic, itched her eyes constantly and had difficulty going up and down stairs. This was during the stage of her growth in which she was getting rounds of vaccines. We took her in to get her second round and the vet said she couldn't give her the vaccine because Ruby had a fever. She said it was probably an ear infection and gave us meds for an ear infection. We came back to the vet the following week and things had gotten worse and her ears were swelling. The vet said Ruby might be having an allergic reaction to the medicine she had given us the previous week. She sent us home with some doggie benedryl and a new medicine. But things quickly got even worse. Ruby's eyes began swelling shut and her ears were producing mucus and were swollen. Her joints were so sore that she couldn't walk up or down stairs. The vets had no idea what was wrong. Luckily, my husband's friend from high school is a vet that specializes in rare animal diseases. He diagnosed her as having "puppy strangles," a very rare immune disease that affects an extremely small percentage of dogs. It's not entirely understood what causes puppy strangles and it could not be specifically traced back to Magnolia Kennels. Ruby recovered like a champion and today is a thriving, loving, friendly and an important part of our family. She is a wonderful dog and are so lucky to have her. That being said, the complications we had after we picked her up are disturbing at best.
ReplyDeleteSo happy you had a happy ending. I have been talking to more people and they said that they were able to get the kennel license being deceitful, I don't know why the town didn't call Humane Society since they were having a hard time dealing with these people and getting rid of them. Yes, they are very cunning, they even had their pastor give stellar reviews, doubt he ever saw the place they kept them. Please call Humane Society puppy mill so they can investigate them. They are cruel, only interested in making money, could care less about these dogs. I finally went and checked the place where they kept the dogs, horrible. I broke down and cried.
DeleteI got the humane society investigators direct number if any of you want it just ask
DeleteI had the same issue with hypoglycemic shock and it's common with Yorkie puppies no one can say what puppy will go into it an what puppy won't
DeleteIt's to take action people and call humane society puppy mill hotmail at 1877. 645 5847 option 0 and ask for the puppy mil investgator stop feeling sorry for yourselves and save the dawn dogs get law enforcement involved contact the news media local tv channels lets put these model dog breeders on spotlight
ReplyDeleteThey are not a puppy mill
DeleteI bought an 8 week old mini-poodle from Magnolia Hill Kennel in January 2013 and am extremely pleased with my purchase. Jim and Susan were superb in their description of our puppy through communications on the phone and email prior to our arrival. Our puppy was just as described when we arrived and all the take home tips and care worked great as they described. Our now, two-year old mini-poodle is solid, physically fit, can out run dogs three times her size, can trail rabbit scents and flush them, and cannot stand to be away from her human family. She is extremely smart and was easy to potty train for going out doors. Magnolia Hill Kennel provided a great experience for my family, and I would recommend them to anyone looking for an AKC registered puppy.
ReplyDeleteAt this point I am extremmely worry. Any of you had a similar problem with their Malteses puppies?
ReplyDeleteWe bought our mini poodle from them in January of 2013, after a 2 1/2 hr drive each way. Their trailer was absolutely disgusting. They came out in sleep clothes in the middle of a Sunday- dirty, no bra ( needed one badly)ashtray with about 100 butts in it ( ewww) kind of creepy, actually. Our pup was in a crate in the "living " room of the hoarded trailer. He was super quiet and lethargic... even all the way home. He smelled SO bad, we bathed him numerous times over the next week. Vet said he was healthy and he has been since. I would never go back to these people again, just for the disgusting factor.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if this place is still open and if they have gotten any better?
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