Katie Conit/Rogers of Kountry Thyme Terriers is a breeder of English Jack Russell Shorties. I purchased two adult dogs from her, one of which I had bred by her male prior to shipping. The other I chose to purchase just days before the flight. The second dog "Storie" had a prick ear so I was hesitant to purchase her. Aside from that Mrs. Rogers said "She is everything you are looking for" and offered to sell her to me for $400 rather than $800 based on her prick ear. When they arrived both dogs were so scittish they would not let anyone come near them. Mrs. Rogers said she would ship the first dog "Hobbit Hill Sadie Hawkins" "we could try to get her shipped 10-14 days after that just so we make sure we get her covered well." When she arrived she had a yeast infection in her ears, the tartar build up on her teeth was that of a 9 year old dog with no dental care according to my vet, and although she was not thin, her back bone was visible and she had a tick on her that had been there for awhile. Sadie is 3 years old and scared so badly of everything that she does the belly crawl everywere she goes and she would sit backwards in her crate as far in the corner as she could get, shaking and quivering. When asked about her condition I was told she was always shy from the day she bought her, She could not predict how a dog will act in a new situation, and she wanted to make sure she was healthy enough to fly before shipping her. She explained to me that her vet recommends de-worming her dogs 3 times during pregnancy with different broad spectrum de-wormers due to the problems they have with worms, gaurdia, coccidia, etc... in Arkansa. A pregnant dog should not ever have to be given de-wormer as it can cause serious birth defects, and psychological issues.
Storie was one year old. Mrs. Rogers had "accidentally" bred her on her first heat cycle and had one puppy in that litter. Storie had tape worms falling out of her. She was so thin you could see all of her ribs and her hip bones. The tartar on her teeth was that of a 3 year old and her gums were red and inflamed. Both of the girls had a bath prior to being shipped but their faces smelled very strongly of old stale urine. The second girl was so permiated with the smell that her back was stained yellow and the smell was still obvious after her second bath. She was dehydrated and would not come near people accept me after I had lured her to me with meat and calmed her for quite some time. Mrs. Rogers informed me that she had never had a problem with tape worms, and that I wanted something for nothing. I did end up paying only $350 for Storie assuming it was due to her prick ear and that I had already payed $1200 for Sadie. Mrs. Rogers told me that she had several weeks to make sure Sadie was healthy and no advanced notice to be sure Storie was healthy enough to fly.
After looking at her website it was very easy to see which pups had tapeworms and I explained to her how to deal with them since she had no experiance. Those pups are now priced at $400 rather than the $800 she was trying to sell them for. That is how she is dealing with it.
Mrs. Rogers told me that her and her 3 daughters ages 3, 4, and 10 were the only ones that ever interacted with the dogs and that they each had their own 14x14 "area" to live in with a big bowl of water, a pool, and a dog house. She has listed on her website 20 breeding dogs, 13 "older puppies" 4-12 months, and 9 pups under 3 months of age, at least 2 English Setters, and other dogs not listed on her site. That's 44 dogs that she takes care of all by herself while she is caring for her two small children. She also raises horses and is very interested in the disease called "Lavender" commenting that she knew of several cases of the disease in the 2 years that she had been breeding them. Lavender is documented in her horses bloodlines. But that is a whole different story. I would be happy to share our corrispondence if interested. It is very long and detailed as she replied quickly to every one of my emails. After the dogs were sent and I voiced my concerns Mrs. Rogers ceased all corrispondance and has not yet sent any paper work on the girls. I have had them for a month now and they are still very anti social. Storie lunges and bites at other dogs and has nipped at my 5 year old daughter. Sadie is very aggresive when another dog comes near her crate or toys and very with drawn otherwise. Both will "play" with me although it mainly entails them nipping at my hands and clothes in a teasing manner and running back to their crates were they feel safe. They do not want to be held or stroaked. and all who meet them say "It makes you wonder what has been done to these poor dogs"
There are only two words that can sum up Mrs. Rogers "breeding program" and that is PUPPY MILL.