Zimmers Pets

Reviews 3

A

A Private User

My husband and I have also had a very painful experience with a puppy that we bought from Zimmers Pets. We have had him to the vet approximately every three weeks for the duration of his life so far and he almost 10 months old. He is a very sweet and loving dog who suffers with a genetic muscle and skin condition. It is unclear at this time whether it will be something that we can treat on a permanent basis and it will mean a shortened life for him at best. He has been on antibiotics, antihystamines, pain killers, vitamin supplements and a special diet on and off for majority of his life. We need to bathe him twice a week with medicated shampoo just to soothe his painful lesions which are opening up and bleeding on a daily basis. He wears a cone around his neck because of his compulsion to lick his lesions and struggles to get up at times because of the muscle atrophy associated with his condition. Many people think that he is a greyhound mix because of his poor muscle growth. Zimmers tells us that both parents are collies. We are currently working with a specialist to control his condition. We are told that it could take two more months to get his symptoms under control and there is only one known treatment. I believe the workers at Zimmers knew that there was some issue with him and pointed out "a little crust on his ear" and told us that "its nothing to worry about". This could not have been further from the truth - this was the first sign of his dermatomyositis. The workers told us that they picked his litter up from a breeder that they work with regularly. I do not believe this to be true. He is a collie and he was not growing the typical rough collie coat the first six months of his life. When I brought him back to ask if he was a smooth (short-haired) or rough (long-haired) collie, the man who sold him to us recognized both my dog and me (as did the other workers there) would not even look at me, said "smooth", turned his back to me and said nothing more to me so I left. Our dog is now growing his rough collie coat which communicates to me that they most likely know very little about the puppies which they are selling. We are committed to giving our dog the best life possible but are discouraged to think about the current condition his parents and litter mates (if they are still alive) and the possibility of him coming from a puppy mill. We have been through so much heartache and I thought it would be important for others to know about our experience so they can do the research that I wish we would have before purchasing a puppy from Zimmers Pets.

LO

Loren Varney

Dont buy into this "family breeder" BS. Zimmers is absolutely a PUPPY MILL. They could not care less about any of their animals and do not value the health or well being of these poor dogs. I bought a dog there 6 years ago. Against my better judgement, but I fell in love with her. When we picked her up they said she might have worms and if she did to not take her to a vet, to bring her back to them. Of course I took her to a vet and she had worms. She vomited every single day until she completed her treatment. While that was disappointing, it wasnt so bad. Puppies get worms, right? At age two, my dog injured both of her knees. Long story short, she needed double knee surgery. Both her vet and her orthopedic surgeon made it clear to me, unsolicited, that this specific injury was the direct result of a genetic defectt that was a hallmark sign of overbreeding, aka, she came from a puppy mill. Thousands of dollars and 6 months later, she was cleared to return to normal activity. Shes now 6. Last week I was petting her and found a huge, hard lump on her stomach. After taking her to several vets to be examined and having the mass aspirated twice, we now believe she has a hernia. Again, I ask the vet --- a different vet than the one that treated her knees --- how does a dog get a hernia? The answer? Genetic defect. This will most likely lead to another painful and expensive surgery. I dont begrudge my dog the money. Im thankful I am able to give her the care she needs. But I fear what would have happened if she was adopted by someone that didnt have the means or inclination to spend the way we have to keep her healthy. I fear what we will find next and if it will shorten her already too-short life. Its not her fault that her parents were bread to the point of creating genetic defects in their puppies. I love her so much. We will continue to do anything she needs. But the fact remains that everything she has gone through and will continue to go through, all the money weve had to spend, is the direct result of irresponsible breeding by a family that looks at these animals and only cares about the money they will bring in. It makes me sad and disgusted that their store continues to operate after proving repeatedly to our community that they are not fit to do so responsibly.

A

A Private User

An update, our golden now has a full fledged systemic yeast infection and the skin on his back is falling off in chunks. Thousands in vet bills later, no solution. Were giving him up. Zimmers should be ashamed of the breeders they are choosing to buy from, and these breeders should be ashamed for breeding dogs that grow up to be busted broken and miserable with. These dogs clearly have problems in their lines. Please learn from my lesson and buy from a reputable breeder. Hypo allergenic food for a big dog is $300 a month! ... So what can I say. Its not like the place or even the buying experience was bad... The dogs looked well cared for and everything was clean. I got a golden retriever from them. I really wanted a golden so I was pretty familiar with all the warnings about these dogs. I reasoned that the $1100 less I was paying there then the breeders would give me plenty of money to deal with any potential issues. LOL I was wrong. I picked the one I picked, a male from a brother/sister pair, because he was the least nippy. Hes grown since then to be ENORMOUS at 1.5 years old, 85 pounds lean, and the problems in the breeding are hugely apparent. He already has apparent joint pain and stiffness, He has a constant pervasive odor which the vets describe as "normal doggy odor"... yet its at least 10 times stronger and will stink up the entire floor of my house. When I first got him we figured out he has worms and grain allergies but we sorted that out with some nice expensive limited ingredient food. He is timid and mistrusting but only in situations where he feels like it. not in any logical way. Hes decided he doesnt like garbage cans. His coat is a bit on the short side and he loses hair too easily. Well come home to a crate full of fur because his undercoat just falls out. Probably part of the stank. Weve had a full thyroid workup and everything else. Basically this dog is nothing but problems and this has been the worst experience. So learn from my mistake... dont buy a puppy mill dog. Adopt a nice 1-2 year old dog whose issues you can see. Or buy from a breeder who will take such a defective animal back. I havent even tried to engage zimmers about this because I know how it is...