Looking for any info on South Dakota Doodle breeder Nancy Locke

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

Max my rescue/rehome was purchased at an upscale pet store in NJ but bred by a Nancy Locke of Corona, SD.....There is absolutely no information on this breeder anywhere on the internet so I am assuming the very worst....Just for clarification...Does anyone out there have a pup pf hers from SD or know anything about her and her breeding practices?

[Leslie and Halas]

Just a thought to try to track her down, if you haven't already tried it...

goldendoodles.com doesn't list any breeders in SD, but it looks like there are a couple on the western sides of Minnesota and Iowa. It looks like Corona is on the eastern side of SD, so maybe those breeders may know something about her, just because of their proximity. It's a shot in the dark, but maybe worth a try if you really, really, want to find her.

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

Great Suggestion!...Thanks...I already put a call into Janelle at Doodles To Love in SD....She's a reputable breeder on IDOG's list....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jac:
You can use this link to track down all of Max's background info:

http://www.petshoppuppies.com/request.asp

There is no charge. Hope it helps.

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

Thanks Karen...What a great resource!....This just in from Max's original owner......I had found a number for Nancy Locke in White Pages and forwarded it to her.....From the sound of it, Nancy only sells to "brokers".....In my book that spells puppy mill!!......

Hi Jacquie,

Thank you! I was so curious I had to try to call and I actually got through to Nancy. Of course I don't know a lot so I didn't ask all the questions you probably would but here's what she said: She's been breading goldens for years and goldendoodles for about 5 years. The father, Jed is 4 years old and a silver poodle (88 to 90 lbs) and the mother Misty is 2 years old and a Golden (60 lbs). She said Misty had to deliver by emergency c-section when she had the litter with Max last year so she hasn't been breeding since. She said neither has had any health issues (except Jed who had a tooth infected and extracted). She said Misty is a calm, sweet dog and Jed is playful and loves to run and stands up like Max. She said there's something on the back of our registration form we got where we can send in for the pedigree information. She said she both breeds for families and sells them to brokers. I didn't ask her why but I wonder....

Anyway, it wasn't a lot but I appreciate that you were able to get their number. Please feel free to check them out any way you want too. I didn't mention that we were giving Max up for adoption, I just said I wanted to get some information on his parents.

Dorothy

[Leslie and Halas]

I agree with your puppy mill comment. What I've always heard, and what breeders on this site seem to confirm, is that a good breeder always wants to know where their puppies are going when they sell them - the family, living situation, etc. A good breeder wouldn't sell to a broker or a pet store, because then they wouldn't know what type of owner their puppy would end up with.

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

My response to Dorothy:

Hi Dorothy.....FYI-Anyone who sells to brokers is direputable right off the bat....No reputable breeder would EVER do this!........Brokers supply the pet store trade only.....Their main source of inventory is puppy mills, particularly Amish and Menonite owned mills......Now we know that Nancy is not Amish because she has a phone but the fact that she is not endorsed by ANY Doodle associations as a reputable breeder and the fact that she sells to brokers spells- disreputable breeder in it for profit only....Just to let you know....I'm glad that you had a chance to speak with her regardless....

J

[Noble Vestal Labradoodles]

I agree! you know I had a breeder call me the other day and wanted me to sell her pups (no testing, no records, no papers, no pedigree). She wanted me to sell her pups from my website because in her words "my website was amazing and should help her sell her pups". yea ok let me think about it... uh NO thought about it and NO

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Why not? Isn't that a sign of a responsible breeder? Some people are unbelievable. Like a nice website is a prerequisite to why I would buy an animal. I guess when money is your only motivation, you'd do anything.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

People who sell to brokers are running puppy mills, pure & simple. In my area, there is a broker who sells directly to the public; she used to own a petstore, and found this much more profitable. She tells her buyers that the puppies are from breeders. Well, if I put 40 cages in my garage, I guess that makes me a breeder, too.
I have never heard of any poodle weighing 90 lbs, or even 80 lbs, and believe me, I know poodles inside out & backwards. (Breed standard calls for average weight for standards @ 55 lbs.)So there is something wrong there. And the C-section business goes to the point that there is a reason that the vast majority of F1 breedings are poodle dads + retriever moms...the retriever is USUALLY the bigger dog. It is very dangerous for the mother to carry puppies from a much larger breed than themselves. In my opinion, Nancy Locke has no business "breeding" anything. This type of person usually moves around a lot, either physically or by changing the name of the "kennel."

[Adina P]

Good points Karen. I thought there was something fishy about the 90 lb poodle myself!
I always tell people not to be afraid of buying a pup from an out of state breeder, but that's HARD to do and risky when there are people who have NICE sites like this lady and claim health testing, etc.

Not having precise definitions for puppy mill vs. BYB I'm not sure what to call it. I usually consider large volume output + poor care to be a mill. It doesn't matter what you call it though...this "breeder" appears quite disreputable.

Were you around the Zoo when a longtime Doodle Zoo member was found out to be running a mill (it was never known if it happened due to an emotional/family breakdown or if it had always been so...but horrible conditions were found in her home, neglected dogs of many breeds, some dead I think)?? While some had suspicions, many were close online friends of hers and were just floored when this happened. Ya never know!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wasn't familiar with the Zoo then, but it doesn't surprise me. These are the things that get my blood boiling to the point of no return.
Here's a copy of a post I made on our "Rescue Doodles" group recently. Take a look at the link for the mill..."Almost Heaven". This is exactly what you're talking about; how can a buyer know? I think the only answer is research.


Another PA puppy mill busted by the SPCA; they had lots & lots of dogs, doodles included.
Here's the video:

http://video.nbc10.com/player/?id=718061#videoid=718061

And here's the website...note the pictures of the cute puppies with all the flowers, etc...."almost heaven"! This is the perfect example ofwhy you can't just buy a puppy from an internet website.

http://www.almostheavenkennel.com/

[Ali]

A red flag of a unreputiable breeder would be the huge variety of dogs they have, and there rescue page.