Ms. Barbara Becker, Owner/Breeder, Shih Tzu Palace Puppies, Westminster, SC, agreed to give me an AKC registered female shih tzu puppy in exchange for my AKC champion bloodline stud. She did not have any puppies at the time, so she asked me to go ahead and sign over my stud's papers to her, so she would be able to register any puppies when they were born.in good faith, I gave her the stud's registration papers, pedigree papers and DNA certificate, along with pictures of the stud, Koko, as she requested, and never heard any more from her.
My stud, Koko, was at my friend's house when Ms. Becker first saw him. My friend told her I wanted to find Koko a new home and that he had an awesome, champion bloodline. She said she would love to have him. My friend called and told me Ms. Becker would love to have Koko, and would I take a puppy in place of him. I asked several questions about Ms. Becker, and they were answered to my satisfaction. I even spoke to Ms. Becker myself, and asked her some specific questions, to make sure Koko would have a good home. It was during that conversation that she asked me to go ahead and give her all of the papers, and that when there were puppies, I would get one. I stressed that my puppy would have to be a "female AKC" and she agreed.
After a few months I found out that Ms. Becker had two new litters. I checked her web site and there were several puppies listed, and Koko was listed as her new champion bloodline AKC stud. I thought it a little odd that she hadn't called me to let me know that Koko had sired puppies. I sent her an email asking her to contact me choosing my puppy. No answer. I emailed again, plus I called and left a voice mail, asking her to call me. No answer. My friend also tried to reach her. No answer.
I sent Ms. Becker an email again, telling her which puppy on her web site that I liked, and asked her, again, to call me so we could work out me getting my puppy. I looked at her web site again, and that puppy was no longer listed. There was a blank space where the puppy's picture had been. I thought that was pretty strange. She then emailed me and told me that the reason she hadn't gotten back to me was that she "didn't trust me." I was stunned! She made an accusation that she thought I had abused Koko because he couldn't climb steps, and that she had been out vet bills on him. Koko had never been sick or injured and had never been abused. Two of my breeder friends verified that Koko had no problems prior to Ms. Becker getting him.
I was worried now that I had lost my Koko to this breeder who had not intention of holding up her end of the deal. I had been taken. I felt so bad, for myself and for Koko. I wanted to get out of this mess as soon as possible and get my Koko back. I offered to come and get Koko and give her the $300 she said she had in vet bills. She refused to let me have him back.
I reported Ms. Becker to the Better Business Bureau and she denied to them that she had accused me of abusing Koko. She told them that the vet told her he probably had arthritis. The stories were changing. I just wanted to get Koko back.
I still do not have Koko back and I have not received a puppy. I have not heard from Ms. Becker. The problem has not been resolved, yet.
I suggest to anyone reading this, that you know more about the person you do business with when it comes to dog breeders. I have known and dealt with a lot of wonderful dog breeders and I fault myself for being naive and so trusting of others. I stand by my word and I expect others to do the same. I guess from time to time these things occur in all types of hobbies and business ventures. And, we have to learn by our mistakes. I hate it that getting burned makes me more cynical. My shih tzu friends have always been so much fun. This is the first time I have ever had anything like this happen in 18 years of dog breeding. I continue to enjoy my dogs and I still love meeting new shih tzu lovers and breeders. Hopefully, these types of occurences will be few and far between.
Have a good day and luv your shih tzus. They are the best breed there is!
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