Please read this before purchasing a bird dog from this Kennel!!!!

privatepilot · January 31, 2008, 05:10 PM

Please read this before purchasing a bird dog from this Kennel. I bought a bird dog named Suzie from http://harriskennels.com/ in Kansas. This has been the worst experience i have ever had in purchasing a bird dog. We watched the dog work and listened to what they had to say about the dog. We liked so we bought her. We get her home, and she is completely not even close to what we thought she was. This dog has never been hunted/trained in tall grass, never seen a hedge row, and acts like she has never seen a wild bird, only pin raised birds that have to be thrown up. We notified the owners immediately with our concern and was instructed to give the dog some time to adjust to the change, which we agreed to do. The dog never came around and in fact hasn't improved at all. We were instructed to give her 30 days and see how she reacted, then never heard back from the kennel. I have just recently contacted them to see if there is anything that could be done, it has been 2 months since I have heard anything. Their response was nothing could be done, but they are sorry we are disappointed in the bird dog. IMAGINE THAT!! This dog is not worth what we gave for her, not even close. If you are considering buying from these people please contact me and come and see the product we got when we arrived home. I will buy some birds and take you on a hunt with her. If this is the type of dogs that this kennel sells I want everyone to see before wasting their money like we have. I will guarantee that they will not receive another dime of our business!! I AM IN NO WAY TELLING YOU NOT TO BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE, ONLY TO VIEW THE PRODUCT WE WERE SOLD BEFORE YOU MAKE YOUR DECISION. Please contact me with all questions and concerns, [email protected]. Thanks!

Hans · February 1, 2008, 07:25 PM

So how do you really feel about it? Sorry, just kidding. Too bad you got a bad deal.

hogan · February 2, 2008, 07:23 AM

Sounds like a lot of information is not being provided here.
Did you buy this dog as started or finished?
What is your experience with dog handling?
Sounds like a lot of breeder bashing without much to back it up.
I checked out their site and the Ehlews are a very good bloodline.
I'm not an EP guy but if I was, they look like very fine dogs.

kingudaroad · February 2, 2008, 06:54 PM

Quote:

The dog never came around and in fact hasn't improved at all.

No offense Mr. Pilot, but these dogs are not built in factories. I can see your beef if they told you this dog was field ready with no additional work needed. I am in no way a professional dog handler, but I do realize that every dog is trainable. They require a lot of work. Daily reaffirmation of what they already know. Lots of exercise, and they need a job. It makes them happy when they have a job that when done will please you!
If the dog is of the hunting breed, and fairly young, all is not lost! You need to get yourself trained in the art of owning and training and maintaining a bird dog. I bet there are places in your area that can help the both of you.
If I had to guess, you own a beautiful intelligent animal with loads of potential. I understand that you did not get what you were expecting and I'm sorry for that, but maybe its time to move on to plan B.

piercfh · February 3, 2008, 11:05 PM

Sounds like the dog put on a good show and you jumped the gun. It takes time to get dogs used to different surroundings, and it may still turn out. I wouldn't be so quick to blame the kennels either. They showed her and based on what you saw you bought her.

I can understand if they sold her with bad papers and lied about that, or if they said she could be bred but she never came into heat. Other than that If you watched the dog hunt I'd say its on you.

predator86 · February 5, 2008, 07:35 AM

recoup some of your loss and train hard with that dog!!!!!

listen to my dad's favorite saying," you want something done right then do it yourself"

i never understand people who buy a dog "ready to hunt"....you miss out on the puppy stage, the training stage when you REALLY get to to start seeing a dog's intelligence shine, then you get mad when its not trained up to your specs!!!!

you need to start working with that dog dude.....teach yourself to train and train the dog....

hogdogs · February 5, 2008, 08:29 AM

As my name implies I am INTO dogs. I am not the best "dogman" and certainly very much less a trainer than most of my huntin' buddies.
Most of what I was going to say has been already... Was it started or finished? I can't tell you how many folks have been duped into buying "the bestest hog findin' machine I ever had!" for 5,000+ truth be told NO ONE SELLS THEIR BEST DOG! At least not in hog hunting circles. I seen some dern fine ones passed around with deals to recieve offspring of a certain breeding etc. Since getting hammered by a 60 pound sledge aka hog head attached to 150 pounds of muscle and heart is not part of the training of a bird dog it seems it may be a bit easier to find a keeper. Work the dog or maybe you have a natural dog trainer buddy who will get the dog acclimated to ya'lls terrain and style for a few months. Some good workin' dogs are straight out of the pound!
Brent

Scorch · February 5, 2008, 01:22 PM

Quote:

This dog has never been hunted/trained in tall grass, never seen a hedge row, and acts like she has never seen a wild bird, only pin raised birds that have to be thrown up.

You bought a "started" dog, now she needs to be hunted to get on with her training. No new dog has ever hunted in every type of terrain and vegetation, so unless you paid $10,000 for the dog what they have trained the dog to do is find and point birds. The rest is up to you. Get out and hunt her, let her learn, and pretty soon you will learn to hunt over her. If not, send her to me and I will hunt her and train her, then she would know how to hunt pheasants in grass and brush.

UniversalFrost · February 5, 2008, 04:18 PM

I agree you need to work with the dog and get it used to your type of hunting and make sure to break them of being gun shy. I only have had one dog that was a natural born bird dog and all the others I have had to spend endless hours training and more training.

You will never get a "finished" bird dog no matter how much you pay. The only way a dog turns into a bird dog is by lots of practice and training.

my one "self taught" bird dog is a white/yellow lab and he is afraid of water (previous owner threw the pups into a lake to teach them to swim at around 5 weeks old), but he is the best field/retreiver I have ever owned. This dog points on his own (never taught him to do it) and he instinctively knows the best way to "work" a field. He is also calm under fire (except for one time when my idiot neighbor took a shot directly over my dog, which almost got shot and I proceded to beat the stupid out of him (the neighbor that is) with a vest full of pheasants).

Go out and get a few good books and videos on training the dog for the types of hunts you want to do (water and ducks, fields and geese, upland birds in a field etc...) .

privatepilot · February 6, 2008, 06:30 PM

I did not expect a finished dog at all! She was sold to us as just needing polished out to be completed. I have no problem working a dog as I actually enjoy that better. I will try to answer all questions posted. I am looking into possible options now on the kennel!!

UniversalFrost · February 6, 2008, 11:06 PM

well, if he has an AKC registered kennel then you can threaten to report him to the AKC. Most reputable (and registered) Kennels offer a buyback guarantee for certain conditions (like health, defects, etc...). Also, all the breeders that I have dealt with always made sure to get the point across that if I for some reason did not want the dog they wanted me to bring the dog back to them. This shows a caring and considerate breeder who is not out to make a buck, instead they are into breading quality dogs.

My guess is that you need to keep training the dog and make sure to stay away from this breeder if he refuses to take the dog back. LIke I said earlier, If he is registered as a breeder with the AKC report him (just report him anyway).

JOE

privatepilot · February 7, 2008, 12:18 PM

I am looking into possible training options now as well. I am not against taking her somewhere to see if she will come around. I would love to keep her and everything work out!

kingudaroad · February 7, 2008, 02:10 PM

Best of luck to you sir.

January 31, 2008, 05:10 PM	#1
privatepilot Junior Member Join Date: March 8, 2006 Posts: 3	Please read this before purchasing a bird dog from this Kennel!!!! Please read this before purchasing a bird dog from this Kennel. I bought a bird dog named Suzie from http://harriskennels.com/ in Kansas. This has been the worst experience i have ever had in purchasing a bird dog. We watched the dog work and listened to what they had to say about the dog. We liked so we bought her. We get her home, and she is completely not even close to what we thought she was. This dog has never been hunted/trained in tall grass, never seen a hedge row, and acts like she has never seen a wild bird, only pin raised birds that have to be thrown up. We notified the owners immediately with our concern and was instructed to give the dog some time to adjust to the change, which we agreed to do. The dog never came around and in fact hasn't improved at all. We were instructed to give her 30 days and see how she reacted, then never heard back from the kennel. I have just recently contacted them to see if there is anything that could be done, it has been 2 months since I have heard anything. Their response was nothing could be done, but they are sorry we are disappointed in the bird dog. IMAGINE THAT!! This dog is not worth what we gave for her, not even close. If you are considering buying from these people please contact me and come and see the product we got when we arrived home. I will buy some birds and take you on a hunt with her. If this is the type of dogs that this kennel sells I want everyone to see before wasting their money like we have. I will guarantee that they will not receive another dime of our business!! I AM IN NO WAY TELLING YOU NOT TO BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE, ONLY TO VIEW THE PRODUCT WE WERE SOLD BEFORE YOU MAKE YOUR DECISION. Please contact me with all questions and concerns, [email protected]. Thanks!

February 1, 2008, 07:25 PM	#2
Hans Senior Member Join Date: September 27, 2004 Location: Montana Posts: 421	So how do you really feel about it? Sorry, just kidding. Too bad you got a bad deal. __________________ G26, Ruger LCP Ruger 10/22, Wyndham AR-15 5.56x45 Savage 111 LWH .270 Win. Without the 2nd Amendment, none of the others would exist.

February 5, 2008, 07:35 AM	#6
predator86 Senior Member Join Date: November 2, 2007 Location: wisconsin Posts: 549	recoup some of your loss and train hard with that dog!!!!! listen to my dad's favorite saying," you want something done right then do it yourself" i never understand people who buy a dog "ready to hunt"....you miss out on the puppy stage, the training stage when you REALLY get to to start seeing a dog's intelligence shine, then you get mad when its not trained up to your specs!!!! you need to start working with that dog dude.....teach yourself to train and train the dog.... __________________ Beware the man with one gun.

February 5, 2008, 04:18 PM	#9
UniversalFrost Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 2,300	I agree you need to work with the dog and get it used to your type of hunting and make sure to break them of being gun shy. I only have had one dog that was a natural born bird dog and all the others I have had to spend endless hours training and more training. You will never get a "finished" bird dog no matter how much you pay. The only way a dog turns into a bird dog is by lots of practice and training. my one "self taught" bird dog is a white/yellow lab and he is afraid of water (previous owner threw the pups into a lake to teach them to swim at around 5 weeks old), but he is the best field/retreiver I have ever owned. This dog points on his own (never taught him to do it) and he instinctively knows the best way to "work" a field. He is also calm under fire (except for one time when my idiot neighbor took a shot directly over my dog, which almost got shot and I proceded to beat the stupid out of him (the neighbor that is) with a vest full of pheasants). Go out and get a few good books and videos on training the dog for the types of hunts you want to do (water and ducks, fields and geese, upland birds in a field etc...) . __________________ Lifetime member VFW and NRA "Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" (when all else fails play dead) -Red Green

February 6, 2008, 11:06 PM	#11
UniversalFrost Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 2,300	well, if he has an AKC registered kennel then you can threaten to report him to the AKC. Most reputable (and registered) Kennels offer a buyback guarantee for certain conditions (like health, defects, etc...). Also, all the breeders that I have dealt with always made sure to get the point across that if I for some reason did not want the dog they wanted me to bring the dog back to them. This shows a caring and considerate breeder who is not out to make a buck, instead they are into breading quality dogs. My guess is that you need to keep training the dog and make sure to stay away from this breeder if he refuses to take the dog back. LIke I said earlier, If he is registered as a breeder with the AKC report him (just report him anyway). JOE __________________ Lifetime member VFW and NRA "Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" (when all else fails play dead) -Red Green

February 2, 2008, 07:23 AM	#3
hogan Member Join Date: January 16, 2008 Posts: 39	Sounds like a lot of information is not being provided here. Did you buy this dog as started or finished? What is your experience with dog handling? Sounds like a lot of breeder bashing without much to back it up. I checked out their site and the Ehlews are a very good bloodline. I'm not an EP guy but if I was, they look like very fine dogs.

February 3, 2008, 11:05 PM	#5
piercfh Senior Member Join Date: July 27, 2006 Location: Central Alabama Posts: 183	Sounds like the dog put on a good show and you jumped the gun. It takes time to get dogs used to different surroundings, and it may still turn out. I wouldn't be so quick to blame the kennels either. They showed her and based on what you saw you bought her. I can understand if they sold her with bad papers and lied about that, or if they said she could be bred but she never came into heat. Other than that If you watched the dog hunt I'd say its on you.

February 5, 2008, 08:29 AM	#7
hogdogs Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 31, 2007 Location: Western Florida panhandle Posts: 11,069	As my name implies I am INTO dogs. I am not the best "dogman" and certainly very much less a trainer than most of my huntin' buddies. Most of what I was going to say has been already... Was it started or finished? I can't tell you how many folks have been duped into buying "the bestest hog findin' machine I ever had!" for 5,000+ truth be told NO ONE SELLS THEIR BEST DOG! At least not in hog hunting circles. I seen some dern fine ones passed around with deals to recieve offspring of a certain breeding etc. Since getting hammered by a 60 pound sledge aka hog head attached to 150 pounds of muscle and heart is not part of the training of a bird dog it seems it may be a bit easier to find a keeper. Work the dog or maybe you have a natural dog trainer buddy who will get the dog acclimated to ya'lls terrain and style for a few months. Some good workin' dogs are straight out of the pound! Brent

February 6, 2008, 06:30 PM	#10
privatepilot Junior Member Join Date: March 8, 2006 Posts: 3	I did not expect a finished dog at all! She was sold to us as just needing polished out to be completed. I have no problem working a dog as I actually enjoy that better. I will try to answer all questions posted. I am looking into possible options now on the kennel!!

February 7, 2008, 12:18 PM	#12
privatepilot Junior Member Join Date: March 8, 2006 Posts: 3	I am looking into possible training options now as well. I am not against taking her somewhere to see if she will come around. I would love to keep her and everything work out!

February 7, 2008, 02:10 PM	#13
kingudaroad Senior Member Join Date: March 11, 2005 Location: austin Posts: 735	Best of luck to you sir.