Butte Ranch Enterprises

I contemplated buying a puppy from this breeder and after having read these reviews I am very happy to adopt elsewhere. The little correspondence (written only as they never answered my phone calls) that I had from the breeder was not very constructive and they ended up refusing me saying only «I do not think these pups will be able to satisfy your goals». Because I *only* want a border collie as a companion, walking, hiking and running partner?

In Nov. 2014 I contacted Butte Ranch Enterprises as I was interested in a Border Collie puppy. I am a vet assistant, my daughter is a vet assistant and sister is a Veterinarian. I know the breed and wanted to add a puppy to my family. I emailed back and forth with Robin and agreed that I would purchase a red tri female puppy to pick up on Dec 19^th. This was to be a birthday/​Christmas present from my husband and I was very excited. I sent them my deposit which they received and cashed. About the time they cashed my check, they stopped answering any emails. I had asked for an updated photo of my puppy– the only pictures I had seen were of her at 8 days and 11 days old. When I asked for a picture she would have been 5 weeks old. They replied that she was due for a bath, their computer was in the shop and asked if I would give them my cell number so they could send me a picture. I emailed my phone number and never received a picture. A few days went by and as per their website (they say to email or call again if no response in 36 hours) I emailed again asking for a picture. Their reply was they received my deposit? (Which they had already confirmed) Still no picture. A couple days passed so I sent another email asking questions that anyone who is purchasing a puppy should ask, about vaccines, the mothers vaccine status, if the puppies would see a vet prior to purchase, etc. Again no response. I figured they were really busy, but I was starting to get concerned and knowing several breeders and being in the veterinary field, I had several people tell me that was a huge red flag. So five days prior to our scheduled meeting to pick up my puppy, (3 days since I sent the last email) I emailed once again confirming pick up of the pup. No response until the next night at 11:30pm from Dan stating that after much thought and discussion, I should find another puppy and my deposit would be returned when he returned from California!!! So for 3 weeks they kept my deposit, and had me believing I would get a puppy from them. Then with no explanation as to why, told me I would not be getting a puppy. It then took 2 weeks for me to receive my deposit back. I can only assume they did not want anyone asking questions regarding the health of their puppies or just don’t want to communicate with clients who are excited to be purchasing a pup. Butte Ranch is not a breeder I would recommend getting a puppy from.

Within one week, the puppy we purchased at Butte Ranch had Parvo and the owners seem not to care and will not respond to our requests for help with vet bills. Read further for the details of our situation. We don’t want others to end up in this position.
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«Canine parvovirus is a highly contagious viral disease that can produce a life-​threatening illness. (
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«The incubation from exposure to seeing the clinical signs varies from 3 to 10 days. (
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«Dogs infected with parvovirus need intensive treatment in a veterinary hospital, where they receive antibiotics, drugs to control the vomiting, intravenous fluids and other supportive therapies. Should your dog undergo this treatment, be prepared for considerable expense – the average hospital stay is about 5 – 7 days. (
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«Many times when we hear of this disease it’s in relation to young puppies and, unfortunately, in these cases puppies generally cannot survive. When puppies are too young to be vaccinated against the parvo virus and they have not been protected by maternal antibodies as a result of vaccination of a breeding female, they lack the defenses to fight against this aggressive virus. (
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«Ideally, puppies and kittens should receive their initial vaccines at 8 weeks of age, with boosters at 12 and 16 weeks of age. (
).»
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Dec. 15, 2013, we added a new member to our family by purchasing a Border Collie puppy from the owners (Dan & Robin) of Butte Ranch Ent. The puppy would be my 9 y/​o daughter’s 1^st puppy. Her 1^st experience researching, choosing, and caring for at pet of any kind.
Upon arriving at the owners’ home, we were a bit confused as the name and pictures on their website reference «ranch». The address lead us to a simple home with no farm animals of any type within sight. We called to confirm we had the right address, which we did, and Dan soon appeared to open the gate to their lot/​yard.
Dan was a friendly as well as Robin who we would soon meet when we entered their house. We found «our» puppy placed in the middle of the living room floor. Robin sat in her chair off to the side. We picked up our puppy, took care of business, exchanged pleasantries and drove home. In hindsight, we thought it was odd we didn’t get to see our puppies parents, nor the facilities where our puppy was kept…
Our puppy was barely 6 weeks old and recently weaned from its mother, as we were told. Our puppy appeared to be «normal» at the time we got her. She slept a lot, didn’t have much of an appetite, but did have bursts of energy which would last about 20 minutes or so. After 3 days had past, our puppy stopped eating and rarely had any bursts of energy. We didn’t know if she was still adjusting to her new surroundings or what was going on. We even questioned our abilities as new puppy owners. The next day we decided to contact our Vet.
We were advised to take our new puppy to a 24 hr Emergency Veterinarian for testing. After a very quick test for the Parvovirus, the Vet informed us our puppy’s test results came back with a very strong positive. She would require 24 hr professional care if she were to have any chance of surviving.
The first night’s medical expenses were provided to us — $ 950 to $ 1,050. At the time, I thought that cost was for the entire treatment. The next morning, I found out that was only the medical costs for the first night. For the next few days, we needed to pick our puppy up first thing in the morning, take her to our regular Vet as soon as they opened, pick her back up when our Vet closed, take her back to the 24 hour Vet hospital, the repeat the process until she [hopefully] recovered/​survived.
During the treatment, two separate Vets both informed us that our puppy must have had the Parvovirus at the time we first got her. Being concerned for the other puppies in the liter, I emailed Dan & Robin, at 10:25pm, to have them contact any of the other new owner and to get treatment for any remaining puppies. At 11:27pm, I received a reply stating, «None of the other pups showed signs of parvo.» Very impressive they were able to contact the other new owners so quickly — at least that is what I assumed… at the time.
Several Veterinary staff and friends suggested we contact Butte Ranch to ask for assistance in defraying the cost of the medical expenses. The owners replied, «Fecal samples on our dogs turned up negative. Their were no other reports of sick pups. None of our dogs got sick.» When I asked again if they would be willing to help defray costs, I never received a response. since they never asked about the condition of our puppy, I can only assume they don’t care.