• First Basenji's

    I have heard of that Rock Creek Kennel. They used to be Thunder Ridge in Wyoming, Iowa until they were basically shut down by the USDA (dcmclcm4 first brought them to my attention here). Since then, they've also come under scrutiny of Shiba people, since that is one of the many breeds they sell. You can see pictures of their facilities on their Facebook page, which makes it pretty evident that they are a volume breeder.

    Your breeder is not going to be of help. I agree with Fran – work with your vet to nurse your pup back to health, because that is the most important thing now. When you get a chance, I would also recommend ordering a DNA test kit for your pup to test for Fanconi, since this breeder has been known to be less than truthful about his health testing practices.


  • What is the name of the breeder of your dog? Do you have the name of the sire and dam and a pedigree? I have been researching who this Rock Creek Kennel belongs to and where the kennel obtained the breeding dogs from.

    Curyltails, I saw a posting online that these were the same kennel and it was not from me so I am not sure if this is the same person or not. The owner of the Thunder Ridge Kennel is Howard "Buzz" Powell and at one time had Basenji rescue listings on Petfinder. That is how I found out about him! I have been trying to track down what happened to some Bs that were sold at an auction from Richard and Rheda Kreger of Happy Paws Kennel in Jetmore, KS. This auction was held on October 11, 2008. Does anyone have a B from this breeder/kennel and have a pedigree or the name of the sire and dam? I believe those dogs were APRI registered. Does anyone have a B from Thunder Ridge Kennel and have a pedigree or the name of the sire and dam?

    Jennifer

  • First Basenji's

    Jennifer, sorry if I did not phrase what I meant to say clearly, in my frustration – I just meant that you were the one from whom I first learned of Thunder Ridge in Iowa, via a link you had posted here on the forum about an investigation following the March 2010 bust. But I did not mean to say that you claimed that they were the same owner. I got this information through Rock Creek's FB page, where you will find photographic evidence.


  • Her sire and dam are listed on the papers as Amanda and Chase. I don't have her actual akc papers because he said he doesn't give them till after the dog is spayed. Whomever I spoke to from there was going by the name David.


  • I hope things are getting better with your little girl. I went back through the posts and can't find her name - would love to know it! If you haven't named her yet, I am thinking 'Hope', because you are giving her a lot of that. 🙂


  • There is a dog named Chase in the Basenji Pedigree Database with a DOB of 2/13/06 but with no registration information. I do not know if this is the same dog though. There is a littermate listed. His parents are APRI registered. There is no pedigree information after this! When you receive the pedigree information, please let us know.

    If anyone has a dog whose information, is not in the Basenji Pedigree Database, please send the information to Sally Wallis at sally.wallis@btopenworld.com and it is especially important for dogs who are not AKC registered! There is no way to obtain this information through any database as APRI, ACA, UABR, etc. do not have an open pedigree database where one can search. Only the registered owner can order a pedigree from these companies.

    Jennifer


  • 1st off we are NOT or NEVER have been Thunder Ridge Kennel from Iowa. If you don't know what you are talking about then you should keep Quiet. I have been in Meriden, KS for almost 16 years. Do NOT group me with that Kennel. Also We have never gotten anything from this customer saying her puppy had worms. This is the first we are hearing about it. Its funny her health check that was gotten3 days after she got her puppy the Vet stated thet puppy was heath and in good shape. No where on the Vet paperwork did it say the puppy had worms. Yes, we give shots at 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 8 weeks. The 4 and 6 weeks are a booster shot and for parvo. We worm every 2 weeks with pyratel. Its funny this customer can come on here and say stuff but NOT contact us. My phone is on 24/7. We have never gotten a call or an e-mail. Hmmmmm something sounds funny here. Thats ok. Come on here and bad mouth us. That is fine. It just shows what kind of person you are. Yes, we raise Shibas, Basenjis and a couple other breeds so what. We love the breeds. There is nothing wrong with raising several breeds. We take great care of our dogs and our puppies. All of our Puppies come with a Lifetime Health Guarantee and its been that way since 2004. We take pride in our Kennel. You can bad mouth us all you want. Get your facts straight is all I care about.


  • Rockcreekk do you do the proper health testing for your B's before you breed them? DNA testing for Fanconi and eye certification, along with thyroid and the numerous other tests that should be ran before you decide to breed two dogs? This was one of the questions that was asked in this forum. I don't believe a Lifetime Health Guarantee only should be applied to this breed, or any for that matter. I just hope you are a responsible breeder and test appropriately.


  • Why do you think a Lifetime Health Guarantee Should NOT be given to this breed or any Breed?? I do. I feel ANY Breeder should stand behind there dog for at least 10 Years. If you bred the dog and it has a Genetic Defect that doesn't show up till age 5 or when ever why should the Customer Have to pay for that. It should fall back on the Breeder. We Strip test but are going to DNA Test This Year. In 16 Years we have NEVER Had a puppy show up with Fanconi. We keep back 1 to 2 puppies every year so We would know if there is a problem. Plus we stay incontact with our Customers. Yes, to the Naked eye and to the Dumb people out there that judge a book by it cover it looks like we have alot of dogs. But in fact we only have 10 Basenjis, 20 Shiba Inus, 5 English Bull Dogs, 9 Boston Terriers, 15 Westies and 4 Bull Terriers. And 8 of those dogs are our House Dogs. Plus its not just me and my partner taking care of the dogs. We have 3 Full Time Employees and 4 Parttime Employees. We take our Kennel Very Serious and NONE of our Dogs are raised in Cages and If our Vet says our dogs needs something its done. He is the one who set up the Worming and the Shots. Not us.


  • So you are saying that you have 63 dogs and all of them never have lived in a kennel? I did not state that a Lifetime Guarantee does not need to apply to any breed. But in conjuction with that there should also be proper health testing done on ANY breed. And I can't really believe that you are doing the proper health tests with all 63 dogs. Fanconi testing is just the tip of the iceberg on Basenjis. I also asked about Certification for Eyes, because if you do breed responsibly then you know that Basenji's are prone to PPM, PRA and other genetic eye diseases that can be bred awaay from. How can you honestly say that you keep in contact with every owner who picks up a puppy? If 1/3 of your dogs have a litter every year and each say, has around an average of 5 puppies that puts you at having 105 puppies a year. Not including 'accidental' litters. Now lets multiply that by the average vet visit at 80 dollars a dog (and that is on the low end) puts it at around $8400 dollars a year for puppy vet bills only. Plus the $5040 for a year check up for all 63 other dogs. Tell me….how is it NOT possible that you are running a puppy mill??


  • Sounds like a mill to me, clearly the fact that you only strip test when the linkage test has been around and now the direct test Is as stupid as it sounds in writing- and that's just the basic test, not to mention eye, hip, thyroid. That many dogs is ridiculous/ how do properly socialize all these dogs? I doubt you participate in any events or shows with your dogs because they're probably not AKC registered nor would they stand up to the quality of other "quality breeders". Don't even begin to tell me your dgs aren't kenneled because I bet most if not all are unneutered, And with that many dogs and breeds you must always have a dog in heat and have to have a way to keep them away from the populous! If I was the owner I'd have reported you and never contacted you again, what for? For you to tell them more bull****… You're in it for profit.... You produce less than adequate dogs for less than educated people about operations you run. Luckily there are people on this forum to help this person get their puppy on track and pick up the slack for you on your lack of testing. Good for this person to just move on from you and not stay in it... Your posts make you like a fool as do your defenses of the operation you CLEARLY run


  • While a Lifetime Health Guarantee sounds really great, what exactly is it? It is that you will buy the puppy back? Replace that puppy with another that also in 5 to 7 yrs have a health problem? What about the heart break to those that own those pups/dogs? They have an investment of the heart, not just money.

    Is it not easier to do health testing first and then have some assurances that the pups you are placing will not have health issues later in life?

    Strip testing is great when that was all we had, but it only means that on the day that the strip test was done, they were not spilling sugar. Doesn't mean they are not carriers or affected with Fanconi.


  • Thank you to those who have already responded to RockCreekk. When I read his posts last night I was simply so appalled that I couldn't think of what to say that wouldn't cause me to be banned from the Forums….

    RockCreekk, 63 dogs is not what I would say "only" about, even if 8 are neutered and are your "house dogs." That is an incredible number of lives in your hands. And many of the breeds you mentioned have very specific health issues, not only the Basenjis. I also think you need a new vet if he/she is giving "booster" shots at 4 weeks. Boosters for what??? You can't have a booster shot if they haven't gotten the vaccines yet... And at 4 weeks, the pups haven't even been weaned. Obviously, your vet is seriously behind the times if he thinks that baby pups should have 3 combination shots before they are even 8 weeks old.
    And I agree totally with Pat, a Lifetime Health Guarantee sounds wonderful, but in practice isn't. You cannot measure the cost of losing a beloved member of your family, especially if it is something eminently possible to detect before a puppy goes to a home. (Which brings me to another comment - puppies go to homes not "Customers." Customers buy cars, clothing, or groceries, not living, loving animals)

    Okay, will stop, because I seriously doubt that you will hear what we are saying, but I needed to get some of this out.

    Terry


  • For $700 a puppy, I expect a Fanconi DNA test and eye exam for the puppy and the parents and thyroid testing on the parents. If I noticed anything strange about the movement of the parents I would also want a hip x-ray done. If your dogs go back to a certain kennel in TX, I would also like them to be checked for luxating patellas. If I can do this for my rescues, you can do it for your breeding dogs and pups.

    If anyone owns a B from Rock Creek Kennel, please let me know if the pedigree is in the Basenji Pedigree Database.

    Jennifer


  • Hi, Rock Creek Kennel.
    I don't mean to be adversarial, but I'm trying to gather some facts that would help me understand your position. You came on here with "guns blazing" because someone said that one of your puppies was sick? I would hope that you would have identified the owner from their state (Texas), so that you could have contacted them to inquire about the puppy?

    I was curious about your business, so I went to your website and I Googled your name. Several websites state that you are USDA licensed, such as this website:
    http://www.hotfrog.com/Products/Puppies/KS/2

    "Rock Creek Kennel has been in Business for over 15 years. We breed for Quality not Quanity. We are a USDA and State Licensed Kennel. We take pride in what we do and it shows in our puppies"

    Therefore, I went to the USDA website to look for your license, but I cannot find your name, or any kennel registered in Jefferson County, Kansas. This is a link to the website I searched. Can you please clarify where your license is found?

    http://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/LPASearch.jspx

    I found the following information on a private blog. I do not know who "Tina" is, but she has posted on a blog that "you" are Harold Buzz Powell, who is a registered sex offender from Iowa. If this information is NOT true, you may want to go to that website to protect your name!
    I found this website when I Googled, "Rock Creek Kennels Kansas". Here is the link, and her exact quote.

    http://cravendesires.blogspot.com/2010/03/accused-iowa-puppy-miller-is-convicted.html

    "HE HAS A KENNEL IN MERRRIAM KS. THE KENNEL IS UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME. ROCK CREEK KENNEL. USDA WAS THERE 3-4 TIMES AND HE CAN'T PASS THEIR INSPECTIONS. NO USDA LICENSE AND STATE WROTE HIM UP ON THE FACT THEIR WAS FECES IN THE PENS AND OTHER SITATIONS AGAIN ! WE NEED THE LAW AND THE PROPER AUTHORITIES TO SEIZE THE DOGS. I SAW A ENGLISH BULLDOG THAT WAS DUE TO WHELP AND YOU COULD SEE HER RIBS, AND BACK BONE, PELVIS SHOWING. STATE HAS BEEN NOTIFIED AND ONLY HAS 3 INSPECTORS TO TAKE CARE OF THE INSPECTIONS ON THE KENNELS. NOT ENOUGH HELP TO SHUT DOWN THE POOR CONDITIONS IN HIS KENNEL. I'D REPORT HIM BUT DON'T KNOW THE PHONE NUMBERS OR E-MAIL ADDRESSES. HE SELLS ON PUPPY FIND HIS NAME ON THE ADS IS DAVID. I HAVE HIS PHONE NUMBER AND ADDRESS TO THE KENNEL.

    MARCH 18, 2011 9:38 PM"

    Lastly, I Googled Harold Buzz Palmer and found the following information, so whether you are Harold Buzz Powell, or he happened to move to your hometown, you may want to know that this person also lives in Meriden, KS.

    http://www.homefacts.com/offender-detail/KSSOP15025/Harold-Buzz-Powell.html

    As you stated, we should get our facts straight, so I'm trying to understand how your name and reputation is intertwined with this other kennel. It is a free country, and anyone can move anywhere, but when you have public information stating that you are USDA licensed, it would be great to validate the information on their website.

    In the meantime, I hope this young puppy is getting healthy. I found that carrots is a good food to naturally de-worm a dog for some types of worms (discovered this accidentally when my Lola and I shared a 5 lb bag of carrots over one weekend!).

  • First Basenji's

    I would add that I am unable to find any information via the Kansas state government's business entity search:
    https://www.kansas.gov/bess/flow/main?execution=e2s1

    Maybe that's just not the right place to look, since that database "does not register sole proprietorships, d/b/a, assumed name, trade name or fictitious name entities."

    I do notice that this photo, which used to be in Rock Creek kennel's publicly viewable Facebook wall photos, is no longer available:

    I doubt Mr. Guns-a-blazin' cares. Already been through the motions with Shiba people… you can't argue with someone who doesn't see that he has a problem in the first place. Maybe Boston Terrier people are onto him too, that's why he's "selling out" his entire "stock" of that breed.

    I'm sorry he feels that he has no other way to earn a living than by squeezing dry a few dozen dogs.


  • Curly tails, thanks for the link.
    There are 151 listings on that website that contain the word "kennel", but not Rock Creek-the closest name is Rocky Ridge.

    How in the world did you find that picture? It sure looks like the same person as Harold Buzz Palmer.

    I went on the www.ksda.gov website and found the following information:

    The Animal Facilities Inspection Program:
    The Animal Facilities Inspection Program regulates companion animal facilities required to be licensed under the provisions of the Kansas Pet Animal Act. The Act requires licensing and inspection of all dog and cat breeders who produce, offer or sell three or more litters during the state fiscal year, pounds and shelters, pet shops, research facilities, distributors, out-of-state distributors, boarding facilities, animal rescues and foster homes. Office staff maintains licenses, health papers and correspondence pertaining to the program. Field inspectors inspect licensed facilities and investigate complaints.

    Here is the form that a kennel is supposed to complete. It clearly states you need to have a USDA license to be granted a KS license. They cannot sell more than 2 litters of dogs before getting their license, and any offense is punishable up to $1000 per violation….

    " I understand that I may not sell any animals until I have been granted a license."

    http://www.ksda.gov/includes/document_center/records_center/Animal%20Health/Retail_Breeder_Application.pdf

    If the original poster would like to file a complaint with the state of KS, here is the website link:
    http://www.ksda.gov/open_records/id/13


  • @Rockcreekk:

    We take our Kennel Very Serious and NONE of our Dogs are raised in Cages

    Ummm those most definately look like cages to me…... Basenjis, Shibas and Westies.....three of the breeds I have been VERY involved with.....I am really disliking this guy right now....


  • It does not look like those dogs live in the house! If anyone is buying a puppy, please try to go in person to visit the breeder and see the adults and pups or have someone who lives in the state or nearby do it for you. If you buy from someone who is USDA licensed, it is my understanding that the dogs cannot live in the house. The dogs are usually kept in a barn or kennel building and there is usually a whelping building also. Please research the breeder!

    Jennifer


  • You can say whatever you want. All you want to do is start a fight. What you say about me doesn't bother me because you don't know me or care to know me so I could careless about you. We do care about our dogs and its not all about the money. We offer a Lifetime Health Genetic Guarantee for all of our puppies. If a puppies has a genetic issue that falls back on us. Guess I could be like most breeders and offer a 1 year. But then you would complain about that too. Also we are not USDA. I have seen that online too and don't know where to go to fix that. We are strictly state. I will NEVER sell to pet stores. Also regarding "Harold Buzz Powell". That is NOT ME. Just because he lives in this town doesn't mean he has ANYTHING to do with this kennel. I'd like to see all you rescues do half the testing you expect breeders to do. If funny you can come on here and complain about people any think you are perfect. You are far from perfect. I never said I was perfect and never will. Yes, we may strip test our Basenjis and that will change this year. We have already order the test and will get all that done. We have always stood behind our puppies. If there is a problem all our customers have to do is call. There is no way to fix a problem if we don't know about it. So you call all bad mouth me all you want. It doesn't bother be. Just get your facts straight. If you want to be civil and talk then I'll talk. Until then I won't. I do not lose any sleep over you.

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