In August of 2008 we purchased two pure-bred Spanish Water dogs from this breeder. We asked her about the parents health, and were assured that they were healthy and had no hip or eye problems. We were told that she would register the dogs with one of the dog registration organizations. We paid $3200 for the two dogs and left with a packet of papers. We failed to look at the packet to make sure the papers were in the tabbed folders. When we found that there we no papers included to prove the health of the parents nor were there any registration papers, we contacted the breeder and insisted upon receiving these papers. After many attempts and threats of returning the dogs she sent us copies of barely legible papers that showed the sire was rated in the 30% percentile for hips. The testing organization suggest that any dog that rates below the 50% percentile not be used for breeding. Thus, Shawn Soldon lied to us about the hip health of the parents. She also provided an OptiGen eye exam sheet with the dam's name on it and pre-printed with a Veterinary Ophthalmologist, but the rest of the form was blank. When I called the eye registry they had no record of the dogs eyes being examined or registered. Shawn Soldon said that she does not register the exam with OptiGen because it costs too much. Shawn Soldon also claims that the blank form shows that no problems were found. I called the Ophthalmologist and they had no record of the exam and said there would be some notes on the paper if they had done an exam.

With regard to the registration papers, Shawn bragged about how many organizations she could register the dogs with and said she would send us the papers in a month. We have not seen them after over 4 months. I tried to write to her, but my registered letter was returned.

After purchasing the dogs from her, I was contacted by another breeder of this breed that I had contacted earlier in my search for available puppies (they had none at the time). They contacted me to tell me that they had a puppy available. When I told them that I had already gotten my puppies and told them where I got them they said that I should be very careful about dealing with Shawn Soldon and said "I hope to God your puppies are healthy". Apparently Shawn has a bit of a reputation among breeders.

I intend to sue Shawn Soldon and Starlight Kennels as the State of Pennsylvania has a puppy lemon law allows me to recover 50% of my purchase price if the registration papers are not provided within 120 days, but I wanted others to be warned about this unscrupulous breeder. Aside from the registration papers, we hope to God that our dogs remain healthy. Only time will tell.