IS BURKHART KENNELS IN ONTARIO A PUPPY MILL?

[Daina Kerbel]

I was doing some research into purchasing a labradodle or aussiedoodle and came across this information... does anyone have a comment about this?

"My partner and I just bought a dog from Burkhart Kennels in Wallenstein, ON and we would not recommend them at all!!! The pictures on the website were nothing like the real experience. Most importantly, we did buy a puppy from these people at a hot discount because we were going to walk away at a price of 1500 (800 instead of 1500). Our puppy came home with an awful PARASITE that had him severely ill (intestinal hemorrhaging, vomiting, losing weight) for over a week, and only after a few hundred dollars at the vet did we figure out what was wrong with him. Turns out this parasite is from CONTAMINATED WATER (fecal matter in water). It's no wonder the water was contaminated though given that high number of puppies in such a small area. When we called to let her know that at least one of her puppies were ill (and likely more) the best she could say was "good luck with that". We also had to treat our older dog for this. Despite spending a long time picking a "calm" puppy, our puppy cried and yelped when he was fed....which seemed to go away after a few days of being in our home (you can draw your own conclusion about what this was about).

While at the "Kennel" (aka puppy mill), puppies were being 'temporarily housed' on the lawn in an enclosure without ANY water. We felt pressured the entire time by this scam artist woman who always seemed to have a trick up her sleeve for getting rid of puppies fast (e.g., after being there for 15 mins, she said to us to hurry up and choose one because another family was waiting for us to leave so they could see the puppies at 9pm on a rainy monday night (yah right), etc.). There were probably 20 adult dogs, all of which were housed in this old barn with no room to run or play. As soon as the puppies or the adult dogs saw anyone, they freaked out with panic barking. When we finally agreed on a puppy and were ready to talk pricing, we said we wouldn't pay 1500 for him, she got very angry and left us to 'talk about it' slamming the door behind her.

This woman is very good at making a sale, she has to be because she has so many litters of pups at once. It's no wonder she didn't realize our little guy was so ill, how could you notice with so many dogs? If you want a golden or labradoodle, there are plenty of family homes who breed them. This is where we got our first goldendoodle from, and the experience was 100% better than this one. If you want an Aussiedoodle, there ARE other people who breed them in the area, they just don't advertise as much. Track them down, because this experience has made me wish we had!"

[Lorraine Bromley]

We have our doodle from Lavina and We were very impressed with the whole thing other than the number of dogs they have there. The dogs are housed in a barn with separate runs off the side of the barn onto what I would call patios! THe dogs did bark when we arrived and it seemed very happy barking to us, tails wagging ect. Each run was very large and although we did not see inside the barn based on the patio the indoor part would be the same it would be a good size. It is a farm and she has 12 kids I think. They all get out on a regular basis.We were there in winter weather though too. The nursery is spotless. You could not even smell dog at all. We had to disinfect out shoes hands ect before entering. There where about five moms and pups, three different kinds. Golden doodles F1,F1b and australian shepards, not from australia the australian cattle dog. All of the dogs had nice groomed nails, the coats were all in very good condition, I had been at another home breeder that had a matted mess of a mother saying its because of the puppys. Not one dog mommy was matted that I could see. She was very knowledgeable about each breed. Not all of the animals housed there are hers. She has homes that they live at and only come to have litters and mate. So there are more dogs there at certain times. There was a corner were she allowed the pups into to be played with kids, The pups were not allowed to be put down on the floor at all unless it was in the actual kennel so that no germs ect would be transferred onto their paws. We were able to interact with the moms and pups only after a certain age. All the moms were very happy and healthy looking. Our mom was obviously cautious when we wanted to come into her area but warmed up very quickly. The saw dust was clean and fresh and it was not the dust it was the shavings. We had not planned to purchase a puppy at all that day as I had been visiting several breeders over the past year and a half or so. I would not recommend any of the home breeders that we saw. The web sites do not reflect the reality. We were not pushed to buy but my husband found his puppy and I had to talk at length to him regarding this step. We were given a two year guarentee for genetic disorders they test for which are alot, more than alot of other breeders. We were given the parentages back three generations.We signed a form saying that we would be neutering as well. I did have a follow up conversation with her on the phone and although it wasn't important she did take my call and was always very considerate.  I did worry about the amount of puppies there but a year later our friends went there to see the pups and she also had some older 12-15 week old pups that hadn't been sold so he got one of the older pups and it has lived up to their expectations our dog had given them. This put my mind at ease that she didn't sell off her older pups to brokers. We were also given their vets names and contacted them and were very impressed with them. We discussed how they managed to get all the adult dogs genetically tested, which is a very laborious way since Lavina is part of the mennonite community that do not own or drive automobiles. The vet explained that the genetic testers came from Guelph the closest university of veterinary medicine, to the vets. Lavina had the adult dogs all crated and put into a big farm trailer and had a friend tow the trailer to the vet in Tavistock where they tested all of the breeding dogs. Again a massive undertaking. And did not do the minimum testing at all. They did several tests that other breeders did not include when I was looking for another breeder. The vet also told me that they would not be working with Lavina if they thought that she was a puppy mill. They can decline working with someone if they want and have no obligation to work with people they don't feel comfortable with for what ever reason.

That is our experience and my friend would also like to say that he agrees totally with me and he was at the facility a year later and had the same experience. I guess it is what your opinion is on what constitutes a puppy mill. 

[Corinna and Krimmi]

Well, I have a Burkhart aussiedoodle.  If you want to PM me I will tell you my opinion of the kennel and of my now 3 year old Krimmi.  There are several people on DK that have a Burkhart dog.  Let's just say when my husband and I visited the place,  everything was clean and looked good.  I have no reason to believe that the dogs are mistreated.  BUT after paying our deposit and driving home, I was so down and almost in tears because I "felt" that we made the wrong decision.  You know that gut feeling that you should listen to....well my husband really wanted this merle aussiedoodle and I let myself be convinced that I did too.  I know it was the wrong decision but it has been made and Krimmi is here to teach me something of that I am sure.  Although he has MANY issues we do love him very much and he is now our forever dog.  But believe me, when the next time comes around again many years from now, I will not make the same mistake and listen to my gut.  Again, this is my personal opinion only and feel free to PM me if you would like me to elaborate on my "feelings" about the kennel

[Daina Kerbel]

how do I private message?

[Daina Kerbel]

I was a off leash dog park in my area and met a woman who had purchased a dog from burkhart kennels and the dog died at 10 months from cancer.. She has contacted the ospca and apparently they are launching an investigation of some sort

I understand that there are good and bad aspects to every breeder, I just feel that when you are breeding so many dogs at once ( f1/f1b goldendoodles, f1/fb labradoodles and f1/f1b aussiedoodes and shitzus ), it just seems like things can start to go wrong.

I really wanted to purchase an aussiedoodle and am not able to find any other breeders in ontario

[Lorraine Bromley]

This lady at the dog park do you or will you see her to update her conversation that an investigation of some sort is launched? Did she say when that was to happen? I would love to follow that up and see what they say. After Christmas I may have more free time to do a little more research. Although that would be a good thing to set the record straight I would think. Too bad all breeders could not be registered and regulated period.

[Adina P]

at the bottom of the post click "message" or go to the person's profile and under their profile photo a few lines down click "send a message"

[F, Calla & Luca]

I don't recall ever seeing message come up except under your posts. I have wondered about that but I thought it was some kind of administrator thing.

[Adina P]

You're right I think.  I don't always realize all my special powers :-D

[F, Calla & Luca]

We admire you restraint and modesty : )

[shelly]

There you are, Corina!!! Fellow Burkhart -brother!  I just told her to pm me too!  Well.... live and learn!  But I do LOVE my Tori-girl! Just wish she was the dog I expected to take everywhere with me....Good to see you here!

[Lorraine Bromley]

Why not call Tavistock Veterinary and ask Their opinion. I might also say that Lavina is a mennonite and the description of her behavior can also be somewhat cultural. She is definitely in business and can be blunt, again also many mennonite people tend to say little and make what they say get the point across. They do not take part in the making of the web sites and have a friend do them as it is not part of their faith to use that type of technology. When we talked to her she was very informative about her dogs and their coats size ect. BUT I had been looking for more than a year at other places and "home raised"  kennels and had seen and heard alot. I was also there to look into the kennel not the puppies as I had been doing for some time. The puppies didn't sway my decision. In my opinion the dogs are very socialized as she has 12 kids and an extended family. Not all the dogs are hers as she has them under gardian homes as breeding stock, I have seen her advertise for retired breeding stock as well.

The fact that some people do make a decision based on the cute puppy and not the kennel or the information they are hearing is not the kennels fault. In a discussion with Lavina we discussed the aussie doodle as that was my first pick. The real aussie doodle from Australia. She made it clear they were not that type at all. She also told me that they required alot of attention and training and excercise.

I am also concerned with the comments about her dogs dying. Could any breeder detect cancer if it was not a genetic thing that was tested for? Do any breeders test for cancer? Puppies are also very susceptible to disease and could pick up things from the inside of your car on the way home from someones shoe ect. I would be very careful of having any breeder blamed for things out of their control without a vet backing some of that up.

I would be very disappointed if that it was found to be a health problem that should have been caught by the breeder and not taken care of or the breeding parents retired ect. 

There is another breeder we were interested in seeing in Lucknow but she was not very welcoming but seemed to think that her behavior towards people was in protection of her animals. She explains that in detail in her web site. Yet I would really have liked to visit and assess her and her kennel for purchase at the time and maybe if it comes to the time we are interested we will try again.

I had that feeling about what happens to puppies who aren't purchased and older breeder stock? Both those questions have been answered to me by seeing friends purchase an older puppy at great discount. Also seeing an ad for a retired breeder as well as a guardian home.

With everything I have seen and heard I wonder what more could one ask for? other than her to be in her house brooding over her dog instead of out in the barn with her "stock" making sure they are ready for showing off their puppies to prospective buyers.

I really like to hear and see these discussions so we can and do have the information we need to make informed decisions.

But please do not go the other way and believe all these house hold bred breeders stories. I have visited many and none  did I think I wanted to encourage to breed again. 

[BG and Gavin]

Lorraine, I too tried to go to the Lucknow breeder.  She was recommended to me and I met a nice dog from her kennel.  We communicated through email for a while and I made two different dates to go visit, but she cancelled both at the last minute.  I did not get the feeling that she was being dodgey with me at all, perhaps just a bit disorganized.  But because its a bit of a drive for me and I couldn't really nail her down, I went elsewhere :(