M And M's High Standards - Michelle Rice
M And M High Standards - Michelle Rice Bait and switch, sent puppy different from one advertised. Refuses to cooperate, ripoff

In early February, I saw a Standard Poodle puppy, Phantom coloring, female, advertised on Puppyfind.com. She was 6 weeks old, the pictures show a puppy, obviously robust and healthy. I would guess the weight of this puppy to be about 7-8 pounds. She was a good sized pup as evidenced by the size of her head, legs and feet. Just what I was looking for.

After many phone calls and emails with the breeder, Michelle Rice, I went ahead and purchased the puppy in mid February. All seemed well, until the puppy arrived. The puppy, who was then 8 weeks old, arrived last Friday night, Feb 18, shipped from Mississippi here to California.

I was shocked when I saw the crate she was in, it was one of the very smallest, and I thought how in the world did she (the breeder) get away with stuffing my puppy in that little thing?

Well, that was not a problem... The puppy in the crate was the size of a, maybe, 4 week old Standard puppy, weighing in at a miniscule THREE pounds!

This was supposed to be a Standard Poodle puppy, which should weigh around 10 lbs at that age. The puppy in the picture in the ad looked to be easily of this build.

I was completely stunned. She is tiny by any
terms, bloated belly, no substance or muscle tone and
unsteady on her legs. Structurally, it is impossible that these were/are the same puppy.

I called the breeder first thing the next morning. She
"assured" me that the puppy was just fine, was indeed
a Standard "she'll grow" and was healthy (she had a
Health Cert, didn't she?)

Needless to say, I was so confused as to how in the world I had made such a mistake... How come I didn't see how tiny she was, and how much she looked like a Toy Poodle?

Later that day (Saturday Feb 19), I was putting away some paperwork that arrived the day after I got her (that's another story to be told) and relooked at the picture of the puppy advertised for sale that I had downloaded from the original ad. And there was the answer to my questions and confusion.

The puppy I received was NOT the puppy advertised, not by
a long shot! The differences in the two is glaring,
one a big, robust puppy, at 6 weeks old, and the other
a frail, malnourished 8 week old.

On Monday morning, I called the vet in MS who did the Health Cert and asked him how he could certify a puppy who was so obviously underweight and frail? After talking a bit, he said it didn't sound like the puppy he examined but he couldn't be sure. He had not weighed the puppy in question.

Also, previously the breeder claimed that she was the
only Phantom puppy in the litter. Later, after I complained about the fact that this was not the puppy in the pictures, the breeder slipped up in an email, saying that there were 2 Phantom females in the litter. Something she had never admitted before selling me this puppy.

Is the other Phantom puppy the one in the picture? Cuz it sure wasn't the one I got!

The "breeder" has refused to cooperate in any way,
saying only that the puppy was healthy (because the
vet gave her Health Cert) and making no comment on the
fact that the puppy sent was not the puppy advertised.

Company: M And M's High Standards - Michelle Rice
Country: USA
State: Mississippi
City: Canton
Address: 3663B Highway 16 E
Phone: 6019371980

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