Be careful if you buy a puppy from Shady Lane Ranch in Spooner WI - Page 1

I read some previous posts on here unfortunately after I gave my non refundable down payment of $200.00 to Cindy. I was sent a picture of a nearly white Golden Retriever saying that was the mom of my pup. She was beautiful, I mentioned numerous times to Cindy that I was only interested in the very light color she said that the pups will look like the picture she sent me. After the birth of the pups she forwarded me an email with a different mom and 5 females pups and only 2 of the females were light. I questioned Cindy about this immediately and she mentioned that the original mom she sent me had mostly red pups and that she changed the litter she was offering me. She had bread two "buff color" females with a dark red male and promised numerous people they were paying $500 for a light color female.
I decided I would live with the wrong color dog as she refused to give my deposit back so I could go elsewhere. She sent us an email that same day saying pickup was November 19, 2011 which was a Saturday. Every week she sent me these pictures and I watched the pups grow. I originally was to have 3rd pick of the litter but since she switched me to a different litter it was now 4th pick...I had two pups to choose from. The Monday before pick up, she emailed saying my appointment was set for 1pm on Sunday!! I was upset as I had made arrangements with a friend to go on Saturday and we were driving 5 hours one way. I wanted a little time to bond with the pup before going to bed and getting up for work. I contacted Cindy she allowed me to change back to the original litter which had 6 females and I was 3rd in line my appointment was now Saturday.
Upon arriving there it began to snow as if it was a blizzard, the dogs are all outside and in separate kennels, she could not even remember the dogs names she either said the wrong name of the mom for my litter or was lying whose pups I really got. She went to the kennel and said here you get the last female. I asked about the other 2 and her response was one was really dark so she let that person come early and take the pup. I reminded her there should have been 2 others besides mine and she changed the subject asking for money.
I took my puppy home, whom I love dearly, but since day 1 has been begging!!! I asked about this and was informed the kids she "sits" for were feeding the puppies their snacks and lunches, also she cooked them eggs and bacon so the smell of cooking food triggers her every time!! Needless to say I am very disappointed in the breeder whom acts and looks more like a puppy mill, however my puppy is healthy and although training a dog not to beg after getting table scraps is tough and I am hoping to accomplish. She is getting darker every day but I am sure that I will always love her. I do feel that $500 and the gas and time for our 11 hour total trip was not worth the disappointments of being lied too as I was.  

While it doesn't sound like a quality, knowledgeable breeder... what did you expect for $500?

I'm with northwoods. I don't know the average price for a Golden, but $500 is cheap. Hard to find a reputable breeder for $500, more like in it just for the money.

Not sure where you are from but the price of AKC Goldens here is $350 to $400 for females. Guess if you're not from a rich area where $1500 or more is less than a monthly wage you are destined to be lied to and screwed over and that's ok, because I and others aren't rich huh? Whatever. I see people who paid less than me and paid no deposit and didn't go through what I did and have the pup they chose who is healthy and happy. I see two other posts on here and just wanted to give another person a heads up if they were considering it. Oh and seems every year the price goes up they now are $600 for a female so maybe in a few years they'll charge what you think they should and then you can show sympathy rather than cut people down for trying to warn other innocent people.