Alana Snook Shade Mountain Kennel SELLS PUPPIES WITH HIP DYSPLASIA Beaver Springs, Pennsylvania

"The same vet that scammed her out of her money probably told her it was
genetic.  There is no possible way to prove that it was genetic.  In
fact, I would think that having documentation that both parents do NOT
have hip dysplasia points more to the fact that it probably ISN'T
genetic.  I explained to her that these things can just come from
seemingly nowhere and for no reason"

Wrong.  Hip Dysplasia is a poly-genetic disease meaning that more than one gene is involved.  If this puppy has hip dysplasia, his parents are carrying the genes for hip dysplasia in their genetic makeup.  Environmental factors can increase the chances that a pup will develop hip dysplasia but there HAS to be a genetic predisposition to it.  To deny that hip dysplasia "probably isn't genetic" is false and misleading.

This puppy was born in 2010.  His sire, Amadeus, recieved his OFA hip certification in February of 2011.  There is no OFA record of an Elbow certification. No verifiable heart or eye clearances in the OFA or CERF databases either.

Ice Princess Sophia, dam of your latest litter, no verifiable hip, elbow, heart, or eye clearances in OFA or CERF.

White Sandee Sure, a Gold Standard Kennel b***h - no verifiable hip, elbow, heart, or eye clearances in OFA or CERF.

Ellie's White Gold, a Gold Standard Kennel b***h - no verifiable hip, elbow, heart, or eye clearances in OFA or CERF.  A Penn-hip of 50th percentile which is lower than the suggested 60th percentile set by Pennhip for Golden Retrievers.

Ghia Of Sandoune (birthdate 1/18/2010),  another Gold Standard Kennel b***h - no verifiable hip, elbow, heart, or eye clearances in OFA or CERF.  1st litter at just 17 months of age.

You are breeding dogs and b**ches on either OFA prelims (which are not FINAL clearances) and/or on very low Penn-Hip values.  There are no verifiable eye, elbow, or heart certifications on file with the Canine Eye Registration Foundation or with the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals for ANY of your breeding dogs.

It's a bit ironic that you would claim that AKC is not for breeding healthy dogs, from the article Frankendog vs. Purebred: Can Designer Dog Devotees Get Respect?:  Alana Snook bred only purebreds at her central Pennsylvania estate until she went rogue five years ago. "Youd think that the AKC is all for dogs being healthy, but theyre not, says Snook, who now breeds puggles and cavachons. All they care about is their registration fees. AKC makes a lot of money off breeders." when you don't even do all of the health testing suggested by the Golden Retriever Club of America on your breeding dogs!

From the GRCA Code Of Ethics:
"a. Hips for U.S. dogs, a report from Orthopedic Foundation for Animals; or PennHIP at 24 months of age or older. For dogs outside the U.S., report from a health registry approved by the Golden Retriever club of that country (e.g. Canada - Ontario Veterinary College; Great Britain - BVA/KC Hip Score) A report from the accepted health registry of another country may be used for U.S. dogs that are 24 months of age or older when x-rayed.

b.Eyes appropriate report from a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmology (ACVO) or from a BVA/KC approved ophthalmologist (Great Britain), or a report from the Canine Eye Registry Foundation. For dogs outside the U.S., a report from an ophthalmologist as recommended by the Golden Retriever club of that country after 1 year of age. Examinations must be done within 12 months of a breeding.

c. Hearts appropriate report from a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Medicine, Cardiology Specialty or a certification by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals by a cardiologist (the number will be followed by a C) at 12 months of age or older.

d. Elbows for U.S. dogs, a report from Orthopedic Foundation for Animals at 24 months of age or older. For dogs outside the U.S., report from a health registry approved by the Golden Retriever club of that country at 24 months of age or older. A report from the accepted health registry of another country may be used for U.S. dogs that are 24 months of age or older when x-rayed."

First of all, I would like whoever is interested in reading this to consider the accuracy and credibility of a website that allows anyone to post anything about anyone with the promise of never removing it from their site no matter if the statements are true or false.  Even though many of Marina's statements are false, I feel that Marina was mis-informed about the condition of her puppy and the real 'scammers' in this situation is the vet that suggested her to have a $4500 surgery done on a puppy that had severe hip dysplasia.  It seems to me they just wanted that money in their pockets at Marina's expense.

Marina's puppy did have hip dysplasia and it was no one's fault.  Both parents have their hips certified (father good, mother excellent) and I have documentation for both.  I tried to nicely explain to Marina that even though we did everything in our power to prevent hip dysplasia from occuring, these things can sometimes just occur, especially in Golden Retrievers, a breed that commonly has hip dysplasia.  The same vet that scammed her out of her money probably told her it was genetic.  There is no possible way to prove that it was genetic.  In fact, I would think that having documentation that both parents do NOT have hip dysplasia points more to the fact that it probably ISN'T genetic.  I explained to her that these things can just come from seemingly nowhere and for no reason.  We took the puppy to the vet with all his littermates and he was fine at his vet appointment.  We had no idea he had any issues when we sold him.  Marina contacted me about the situation and I agreed to honor our contract which states that if there is a genetic issue, we would offer a free replacement puppy but that no money would be refunded for any reason.  However, after hearing her story, I agreed to give her a full refund but only after I sold the puppy that would have been her replacement puppy.  I don't know how much money she has, but I know I can't just fork out $1800 to someone when they call and I needed to wait until our other Golden Retriever had puppies and we sold the puppy that would have been her replacement puppy so I could give her the money.  We did send her over $400 to help with the original vet costs and x-rays.  I stressed to her over and over that it is her choice to do the surgery, because at that point she knew how much it was going to cost, and that we would never be responsible for more than the original purchase price, even though our guarantee clearly states in all caps that no money will be refunded for any reason.  I feel we went above and beyond in a situation that was beyond any human control and this is how she treats us.  I never called her a liar but I wanted to see documentation of everything simply because I didn't trust her.  She had so many different stories and prices and she would call me and just scream and swear at me for 30 minutes at a time.  I never retaliated and always tried to conduct myself professionally but there was no pleasing her.  I told her we would refund the rest of the money when we sold a puppy that would have been her replacement puppy but only if she would quit blaming us for what happened and if she would quit trying to make us look bad to other potential customers (when she posted this 'rip-off' report, she voided our verbal agreement). As far as breeding the Golden Retrievers, I'm not too concerned about this situation since it is our ONLY case of hip dysplasia and we will not be breeding Cammie again, even though she has never produced another puppy with a problem and her hips are excellent.  We are ethical breeders and are not willing to take the chance that another family and puppy will have the same situation. I'm sure that anyone that knows anything about dogs and breeding understands that you can do everything in your power to prevent something from happening but it is not a 100% guarantee that you won't have an issue, especially one that is common for the breed.  Marina has our contract and knew that it stated her only option was a replacement puppy.  I don't know why she would expect more than that from us and then when we did try to please her with a 100% refund, she still wasn't happy.  She is right now trying to sue us for $8000 and she has no grounds to stand on.  She is just a very unhappy, unfortunate customer.  She makes the statement that we just breed for money.  That's a joke if you know how much time, money, and energy goes into producing one of these litters and how much it costs to run a facility to raise them in a good environment.  Just for example, we are right now in the process of putting a $100,000 H-VAC system (controls air quality, temperature, humidity, etc.) in for our dogs.  It's going to take many years to sell enough puppies to pay that back to the bank.  People don't realize the cost that goes into running a good, quality kennel.  We really don't have much left over to work with and it all goes right back into the kennel anyway.  We do this because we feel we are bettering the breed and producing quality puppies for our customers.  Feel free to go to the Shade Mountain Kennel website for more information and feel free to contact us.  I can give you many, many references of happy customers from all over the United States.  This is our first unhappy customer and I feel terrible but there is nothing I can do to make her happy.  I am not God and I can't form puppies in the womb and I can't control all the intricate design the goes into creating a puppy.  It's just impossible for us to do all that so I guess we officially have our first unhappy customer...