My Nonprofit Reviews

This is a long review, but I have to put this out there:
I seem to have had the same experiences with TLC and the owner as almost all of the other people who adopted pets from this organization and commented here on google reviews. I had been looking to adopt a puppy that would remain less than 25 lbs because we have very young grandchildren & were concerned with a larger dog possibly, even accidentally, hurting the children. I saw information about a litter at TLC that they said was part cocker spaniel & dachshund, with a possible “other” mix since it was a rescue litter. We traveled to the TLC location to see the litter. When we drove up there were several large dogs loose in the fenced in, back yard area of the house. Immediately we saw a large pit bull dog humping on a large black or brown dog (that appeared to be a Lab) at the fence. We wanted to see the dogs where they were holding the litter but the husband insisted that he bring them out to us (in the rain) to see if we could choose any. Melissa wasn’t home so her husband tried to answer our questions about how old they were & how large they would get, etc. He just said that he didn’t really know but Melissa was always rescuing animals. Later, Melissa explained over the phone & by text that the mother was a cocker spaniel & even sent me a photo of her. She stated that the puppies should get to about 25 lbs.
The following morning, we contacted her & told her we were coming out to adopt one of the dogs we had seen the day before. She said she had just given it a bath & she was all ready to go. When we arrived, Melissa came out & had me sign an adoption paper and pay the $250. The $250. included shots & chipping at her vet in McKinney. I was also given a 6-month supply of flea & tick pills, (which had expired 6 months prior & I later brought this up to Melissa & she said they don’t expire so just ignore the date on the box). It was raining so my husband took the puppy to the car while I spoke with Melissa. I told her I wanted to make sure I was not adopting a dog with any pit bull lineage & she assured me that was not possible. But she did tell me she had about 12 (it seemed she said 12) pit bulls of her own & they were wonderful dogs. At that moment I should have followed my gut feeling & left without the puppy but I didn’t.
When we arrived home, our son & daughter-in-law had the grandkids there waiting to meet the new family member. We took her out of the crate for the 1st time and she was covered in giant fleas & had dog poop embedded in her paws. She had not pooped in the crate, she was obviously given to us that way. Everyone left immediately because we were being bitten by the fleas & we gave the puppy 3 baths before we could get all the fleas off her. Poor thing had sores on her from the bites. We took her to our vet the following day. She had a terrible case of roundworms & extreme diarrhea for a couple of weeks before we were able to get her healed.
We also had a DNA test run on her as part of our wellness plan with OUR OWN vet. Our dachshund/cocker spaniel is actually 25% American Staffordshire Terrier (aka Pit Bull), 25% Labrador Retriever, 12.5% Australian Cattle Dog, 37.5% Terrier, Sporting, Middle Eastern & African, Herding. I sent her a text showing what the DNA test results & Melissa became extremely rude saying “I DO NOT BREED PIT BULLS”. I hadn’t said she did but I’m sure she lets all types of dogs run around & breed with whatever is in the yard, including pit bulls, because we saw it happening. She also insisted that I have the TLC chip put in our dog, which we had already had for about 5 months. I told her I wouldn’t but she even rudely commented that she would be at the Banfield vet the day they were going to chip her to make sure her chip was used. I wanted to make sure our dog had no connection to her or her organization. Luckily, we haven’t communicated since.
Today our girl is almost 10 months old & 48lbs, all muscle. She can be very loving but she’s unable to adjust her emotions to just playing without aggression. She has had formal training at K-9 University & has made some progress but her strength outweighs everything else. At her last vet visit a week ago the vet said it took 2 of them to hold her down to examine her. She wasn’t being mean or trying to bite them, it’s her strength that overwhelms her emotions. The vet even said that she is a bit concerned with her strength because of her American Staffordshire Terrier DNA. We are still trying to figure out how to go forward with training but we do have a problem with her around the grandchildren.
I love her but she is a constant problem around other people. We have been in constant training now for 9+ months. I would not recommend the TLC organization to anyone who is looking for a pet. It’s a business to Melissa but for those of us trying to add a family member the qualifications and temperament of a pet is too important to make any mistakes. And by the way, those flea & tick pills DO EXPIRE.