I purchased a puppy through puppyfind from Paul and Cheryl Howard on November 14, 2010. The advertised puppy was from their dog breeding company, old tumble weed ranch. They advertise that they breed a small amount of puppies, that live inside their home. I paid $1, 664.00 for a puppy they advertised as healthy, having registration papers, and 5 months old. I paid through paypal with my credit card.

When I picked up the puppy from the airport, it looked nothing like the pictures. He was dirty, ears were filthy, and much bigger than the picture. I knew something was not right immediately, so I called my vet on the way home from the airport and had him seen that very day. The vet said that he thought he had an ear infection and gave him antibiotic drops. He also found that he had a severe overbite, and wry bite, causing his lower K9 tooth to puncture his soft pallet on the roof of his mouth. He had a hole on the roof of his mouth that kept getting pierced with every bite my puppy took. My vet was concerned that the breeder and breeders vet didn't catch this, because checking a dogs bite is a pretty standard practice when examining a dog. The vet said that this was something that needed to be fixed, otherwise my puppy could get an infection and that could lead to more serious problems. He quoted me approx. $500.00 to have this repair made.

I notified the Howards immediately and they acted like they didn't know how they could have missed it. I asked them for a partial refund to cover the cost of the repair, since it was their negligence and it was never disclosed to me before I purchased the puppy, and Paul flat out said NO! What he did offer was an exchange puppy, but I had to pay $300.00 to fly the puppy I already received back to him. He didn't have a puppy that was comparable in size that he would do an even exchange for, instead he wanted me to pay an additional $500.00 for a puppy of the same breed and size, he originally was going to sell me for the same price as the puppy I picked out ( I was debating between a boy and girl of the same size, breed and price before deciding on the little boy.)

I started doing some research on the internet and found that I wasn't the only one who had experienced this with the Howards. Why didn't I find this before I purchased?! After reading about all the sick dogs the howards have sold, I wasn't about to do an exchange! Who knows what I would get next?

I should also mention that the health certificate is a FAKE! It is a copy that has been altered with white out to match the description of the puppy I received. On the bottom of the certificate it says that the "pink" copy is supposed to go to me (buyer) and the yellow copy stays with seller and original is the Vets. I didn't get any of those. It was a copy and it definitely had been tampered with. I am shocked that the airline would even accept it. ...and let's not forget the registration papers that were advertised, and paid for, but never received!

**Moral of this story...The Howards run a puppymill! They don't take care of their animals or customers. They are dishonest and they are building quite a "rap sheet" with all the sick puppies they have sold to people across the country. I can only hope that the next person who finds a cute picture of a puppy online finds this before they give their money to these horrible people. They have had several websites and will shut one down and open another one when they need a "clean name." This was a LESSON LEARNED on my part. The next time I want a pet for my family, I am going to my local animal shelter
. I am sick that I supported a Puppymill. :(