Other Information
These are some links and information that myself and/or others have posted online about Ruth and her breeding program.
I will also be showing a closer look at her "Guarantees" page and other statements she makes on her website.
Your first red flag should be her home page. She states "... we are a home breeder and not a puppy mill". In my opinion, Ruth Drollinger is nothing more than a glorified puppy mill that hides her inappropriate practices extremely well.
The ASPCA defines a puppy mill as: "a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs."
Since Ruth is not considered "large-scale" she has avoided this definition. It is my opinion however, that Ruth's priority is profit especially in the case of breeding her dog Sugar.
Ruth's "Guarantees"
First of all, ALL reputable breeders offer a full health guarantee on their puppies. Maybe Ruth was referring to puppy mills, as in, she is one of the few backyard breeders that offers a health guarantee?
Second, this page was recently edited. It used to read, "guaranteed... within 18 months of the time of sale" now she changed it to be only 12 months. Most breeders offer their guarantees to last at least until the dog is at least 1 1/2 years old if not 2 years or more.
Also, if you notice, no where on this description does it say a licensed veterinarian has ever seen these puppies unless they are traveling by air.
In this section Ruth states that "none of our... Shepherds have any serious genetic abnormalities in our pedigrees that we are aware of". This makes me have 2 thoughts: 1. Does this mean they have abnormalities that aren't serious? 2. Just because a backyard breeder isn't aware of any abnormalities doesn't mean they even actually looked!
This section also says that you can research their blood lines in the links at the bottom of the page. If you go to the bottom of the page however, there are no links. Check it out yourself: http://www.polarbearpuppies.com/Guarantees.html
My final problem with her guarantees page is what "MAY OR MAY NOT" be included in her puppy packets. By stating that the following things "may not" be in your packet from her, this is essentially saying that you have no knowledge that you will get ANYTHING with your puppy. It also doesn't suggest that you will recieve the vaccination record for your puppy either, which any ethical breeder will include. Make sure you get everything you want in writing.
Another red flag is at the bottom of her guarantees page titled "One final note". It reads "For those of you who chose not to purchase a dog from us, we take it seriously any threats or retaliation by any means..." I have never seen a reputable breeder post a disclaimer on their website. Why would a reputable breeder get threats? The fact that Ruth feels the need to put something like this on her website seems to suggest that she has had people who were very unhappy with their interactions with her.
My other confusion is that Ruth states directly on her website that these are dogs that need a job and don't like just being locked in the back yard. What jobs do her dogs have? She doesn't show any evidence on her website of doing anything other than simply locking her dogs in the yard or letting them lay around the living room and using them for breeding.
Price
Something else I would like to shine some light on is the price of White Shepherds. Price will of course vary from breeder to breeder. However, there is a general price range that is reasonable to be seen for these dogs. In general pups that are sold with a spay/neuter no breeding contract, or pet contract, are much cheaper than those sold as breeding/show dogs. From what I have seen pet quality White Shepherds sell for between $700 and $1,200 and breeding quality sell from $1,200 to $3,500 or more. There are always exceptions but for the most part this is what you should expect. I do know of a couple breeders who strictly import all of their breeding dogs and their price range is much higher (but that is to be expected for imported champion lines).
There are two files on the website Ripoffreport.com that talk about Ruth Drollinger and people's experiences with her. They can be seen directly by following the links below.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/dog-breeders/polarbear-white-shep/polarbear-white-shepherds-pola-fd03d.htm
Polarbear White Shepherds, polarbear puppies false information, refuses to return deposit Naches, Washington
Submitted February 13th, 2012
Polarbear White Shepherds, www.polarbearpuppies.com Ruth, owner located in Naches, Washington. She states on her web-site all her breeding dogs have a OFA number or Pinnhip certification for their hips and elbows. She finally posted all the information on the parents 3 weeks after the puppies were born. I checked the male he was fine but when I checked Sugar, her OFA number belonged to one of her deceased females. She said it was a mistake, I asked her for the correct number and she admitted she did not have Sugar X-rayed. I had put down $200 six months earlier for a puppy and now she is telling me this litter is not her Premium Quality and should not be bred or shown. Six months ago she told me I would have 1st pick of nothing less than her First Rate Premium Quality puppy that her reputation is known for. The price would be $2000 for the puppy. Now she’s telling me Sugar’s litter is not standard quality, they have gay tails which are considered below standard quality. What’s worse is the fact Sugar never had her hips and elbows X-rayed. She told me I could pick a puppy from another litter but the price would be $3500. I cannot afford $3500 so I asked for my deposit to be refunded, she refused.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/polarbear-white-shep/dog-breeders/naches-washington-66D1A.htm
Polarbear White Shepherds Falesly represents dogs, makes false promises and claims, is not in good standing with the AWSA Naches, Washington
Submitted September 23re, 2012
This is not an ethical breeder.
Her main breeding female "Sugar" has a severe "gay tail" to the point of looking more like a husky than a pure breed German Shepherd. She also photo-shopped images of this dog to hide the very obvious tail problem. Besides this, Sugar is also not OFA tested which is absolute standard for ethical White Shepherd breeders.
When attempting to buy a dog from her I was promised the "pick of the litter" for $1600. As it got closer to the time to pick up my puppy she started changing and manipulating her story. She said she never promised me the pick of the litter and she would only sell a dog for a minimum of $1800. This means I would be stuck paying more money for a sub par dog. This puppy would not come with a full AKC registration like originally promised. We also tried several times to visit her facility to no avail. She claimed that we could come see her dogs but every time we tried to arrange things she was "busy"
or it was not convenient for her. Unfortunately this is only the tip of the iceberg.
As I began to look into Ruth and her business habits more in-depth, I found a lot more red flags. In looking at the past pictures and descriptions of her previous litters, it was obvious that she was recycling the pictures of the same dogs. She also uses the same descriptions of their "temperaments". The temperament test that they use is not a legit test. It says right on her site that it is a process that they made up. She claims to be in good standing with the American White Shepherd Association (AWSA) however this is not true. After contacting representatives from this organization I was informed that there were several complaints launched against her within the last few years. She is also not following the code of ethics
provided by the AWSA.
In talking with other people that have had negative experiences with Ruth I have heard several unethical stories of what she did to them. This includes but is not limited to selling a puppy with no shot records, refusing to provide registration papers, falsifying their buying agreement, selling an extremely sick puppy.....
She also seems to have no problems breeding dogs that are full siblings. Her dogs “Prince Caspian” and “Queen Qali” have the same parents. She just recently had a second litter with this pair despite the fact that they are full siblings.
Please don’t support this breeder. Please don't waist your money!
This is a post put up on Complaintsboard.com
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/polarbear-white-shepherds-bad-dog-breeder-c650869.html
Submitted January 4th 2013
Polarbear White Shepherds, Naches, Washington Complaints & Reviews - Bad dog breeder
Review all Polarbear White Shepherds, Naches, Washington complaints
Polarbear White Shepherds
Posted: 2013-01-04 by Concerned Person123
Bad dog breeder
Complaint Rating: 100 % with 2 votes
Contact information:
Polarbear White Shepherds
291 East Gleed Road
Naches, Washington
United States
Phone: 509-307-4114
polarbearpuppies.com
This is a bad breeder. Ruth Drollinger has bred together a brother and sister to produce 2 litters (her dogs Prince Caspian and Queen Qali have the same parents). She has also bred the same female repeatedly since her first heat and she is now 4 years old. She lies about her dogs ages and pedigrees even though you can plainly see the truth from other sites. On one picture you can see that she claims "Shack Von Hammer" is listed as the grandfather and on the other picture it shows that she says he is the father. She charges far too much money for sub-par dogs. You can receive a better quality dog with top conformation for less money than she charges. She is manipulative and deceptive and good at hiding what she is actually doing. She is also violating several aspects of the American White Shepherd Association code of ethics which she claims to be in good standing with. She has also bred several litters with a dog that wasn't OFA tested at the times when the litters were born even though she claims that all her dogs were tested. Her dogs may have good temperaments but she is not doing positive things overall for this breed. She has even gone as far as to photo shop a picture of her dog to hide her poor looking tail carriage. See the reports on /link removed/ they speak the truth. If you want to spend a small fortune for a dog with a good temperament but poor breeding, this breeder is for you but if you want to spend your money wisely this in not your breeder.
Ustream Videos
http://www.ustream.tv/user/polarbearpuppy
Ruth has set up a live video site showing her dogs being born and allowing you to view her puppies as they are growing up. Normally I would think this is a great idea but in this case it just allows you to see first hand that none of her puppies are handled very often and are left on their own for very long periods at a time. Not only this, but you can also see that the poor mothers that just gave birth are forced to stay uncleaned with their fur dirty from giving birth for days beyond when the pups were born. A responsible breeder would keep both the mother and new born puppies clean and would bath the mother, or at least help her clean off her back end, after she gives birth.
I will also be showing a closer look at her "Guarantees" page and other statements she makes on her website.
Your first red flag should be her home page. She states "... we are a home breeder and not a puppy mill". In my opinion, Ruth Drollinger is nothing more than a glorified puppy mill that hides her inappropriate practices extremely well.
The ASPCA defines a puppy mill as: "a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs."
Since Ruth is not considered "large-scale" she has avoided this definition. It is my opinion however, that Ruth's priority is profit especially in the case of breeding her dog Sugar.
Ruth's "Guarantees"
First of all, ALL reputable breeders offer a full health guarantee on their puppies. Maybe Ruth was referring to puppy mills, as in, she is one of the few backyard breeders that offers a health guarantee?
Second, this page was recently edited. It used to read, "guaranteed... within 18 months of the time of sale" now she changed it to be only 12 months. Most breeders offer their guarantees to last at least until the dog is at least 1 1/2 years old if not 2 years or more.
Also, if you notice, no where on this description does it say a licensed veterinarian has ever seen these puppies unless they are traveling by air.
In this section Ruth states that "none of our... Shepherds have any serious genetic abnormalities in our pedigrees that we are aware of". This makes me have 2 thoughts: 1. Does this mean they have abnormalities that aren't serious? 2. Just because a backyard breeder isn't aware of any abnormalities doesn't mean they even actually looked!
This section also says that you can research their blood lines in the links at the bottom of the page. If you go to the bottom of the page however, there are no links. Check it out yourself: http://www.polarbearpuppies.com/Guarantees.html
My final problem with her guarantees page is what "MAY OR MAY NOT" be included in her puppy packets. By stating that the following things "may not" be in your packet from her, this is essentially saying that you have no knowledge that you will get ANYTHING with your puppy. It also doesn't suggest that you will recieve the vaccination record for your puppy either, which any ethical breeder will include. Make sure you get everything you want in writing.
Another red flag is at the bottom of her guarantees page titled "One final note". It reads "For those of you who chose not to purchase a dog from us, we take it seriously any threats or retaliation by any means..." I have never seen a reputable breeder post a disclaimer on their website. Why would a reputable breeder get threats? The fact that Ruth feels the need to put something like this on her website seems to suggest that she has had people who were very unhappy with their interactions with her.
My other confusion is that Ruth states directly on her website that these are dogs that need a job and don't like just being locked in the back yard. What jobs do her dogs have? She doesn't show any evidence on her website of doing anything other than simply locking her dogs in the yard or letting them lay around the living room and using them for breeding.
Price
Something else I would like to shine some light on is the price of White Shepherds. Price will of course vary from breeder to breeder. However, there is a general price range that is reasonable to be seen for these dogs. In general pups that are sold with a spay/neuter no breeding contract, or pet contract, are much cheaper than those sold as breeding/show dogs. From what I have seen pet quality White Shepherds sell for between $700 and $1,200 and breeding quality sell from $1,200 to $3,500 or more. There are always exceptions but for the most part this is what you should expect. I do know of a couple breeders who strictly import all of their breeding dogs and their price range is much higher (but that is to be expected for imported champion lines).
There are two files on the website Ripoffreport.com that talk about Ruth Drollinger and people's experiences with her. They can be seen directly by following the links below.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/dog-breeders/polarbear-white-shep/polarbear-white-shepherds-pola-fd03d.htm
Polarbear White Shepherds, polarbear puppies false information, refuses to return deposit Naches, Washington
Submitted February 13th, 2012
Polarbear White Shepherds, www.polarbearpuppies.com Ruth, owner located in Naches, Washington. She states on her web-site all her breeding dogs have a OFA number or Pinnhip certification for their hips and elbows. She finally posted all the information on the parents 3 weeks after the puppies were born. I checked the male he was fine but when I checked Sugar, her OFA number belonged to one of her deceased females. She said it was a mistake, I asked her for the correct number and she admitted she did not have Sugar X-rayed. I had put down $200 six months earlier for a puppy and now she is telling me this litter is not her Premium Quality and should not be bred or shown. Six months ago she told me I would have 1st pick of nothing less than her First Rate Premium Quality puppy that her reputation is known for. The price would be $2000 for the puppy. Now she’s telling me Sugar’s litter is not standard quality, they have gay tails which are considered below standard quality. What’s worse is the fact Sugar never had her hips and elbows X-rayed. She told me I could pick a puppy from another litter but the price would be $3500. I cannot afford $3500 so I asked for my deposit to be refunded, she refused.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/polarbear-white-shep/dog-breeders/naches-washington-66D1A.htm
Polarbear White Shepherds Falesly represents dogs, makes false promises and claims, is not in good standing with the AWSA Naches, Washington
Submitted September 23re, 2012
This is not an ethical breeder.
Her main breeding female "Sugar" has a severe "gay tail" to the point of looking more like a husky than a pure breed German Shepherd. She also photo-shopped images of this dog to hide the very obvious tail problem. Besides this, Sugar is also not OFA tested which is absolute standard for ethical White Shepherd breeders.
When attempting to buy a dog from her I was promised the "pick of the litter" for $1600. As it got closer to the time to pick up my puppy she started changing and manipulating her story. She said she never promised me the pick of the litter and she would only sell a dog for a minimum of $1800. This means I would be stuck paying more money for a sub par dog. This puppy would not come with a full AKC registration like originally promised. We also tried several times to visit her facility to no avail. She claimed that we could come see her dogs but every time we tried to arrange things she was "busy"
or it was not convenient for her. Unfortunately this is only the tip of the iceberg.
As I began to look into Ruth and her business habits more in-depth, I found a lot more red flags. In looking at the past pictures and descriptions of her previous litters, it was obvious that she was recycling the pictures of the same dogs. She also uses the same descriptions of their "temperaments". The temperament test that they use is not a legit test. It says right on her site that it is a process that they made up. She claims to be in good standing with the American White Shepherd Association (AWSA) however this is not true. After contacting representatives from this organization I was informed that there were several complaints launched against her within the last few years. She is also not following the code of ethics
provided by the AWSA.
In talking with other people that have had negative experiences with Ruth I have heard several unethical stories of what she did to them. This includes but is not limited to selling a puppy with no shot records, refusing to provide registration papers, falsifying their buying agreement, selling an extremely sick puppy.....
She also seems to have no problems breeding dogs that are full siblings. Her dogs “Prince Caspian” and “Queen Qali” have the same parents. She just recently had a second litter with this pair despite the fact that they are full siblings.
Please don’t support this breeder. Please don't waist your money!
This is a post put up on Complaintsboard.com
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/polarbear-white-shepherds-bad-dog-breeder-c650869.html
Submitted January 4th 2013
Polarbear White Shepherds, Naches, Washington Complaints & Reviews - Bad dog breeder
Review all Polarbear White Shepherds, Naches, Washington complaints
Polarbear White Shepherds
Posted: 2013-01-04 by Concerned Person123
Bad dog breeder
Complaint Rating: 100 % with 2 votes
Contact information:
Polarbear White Shepherds
291 East Gleed Road
Naches, Washington
United States
Phone: 509-307-4114
polarbearpuppies.com
This is a bad breeder. Ruth Drollinger has bred together a brother and sister to produce 2 litters (her dogs Prince Caspian and Queen Qali have the same parents). She has also bred the same female repeatedly since her first heat and she is now 4 years old. She lies about her dogs ages and pedigrees even though you can plainly see the truth from other sites. On one picture you can see that she claims "Shack Von Hammer" is listed as the grandfather and on the other picture it shows that she says he is the father. She charges far too much money for sub-par dogs. You can receive a better quality dog with top conformation for less money than she charges. She is manipulative and deceptive and good at hiding what she is actually doing. She is also violating several aspects of the American White Shepherd Association code of ethics which she claims to be in good standing with. She has also bred several litters with a dog that wasn't OFA tested at the times when the litters were born even though she claims that all her dogs were tested. Her dogs may have good temperaments but she is not doing positive things overall for this breed. She has even gone as far as to photo shop a picture of her dog to hide her poor looking tail carriage. See the reports on /link removed/ they speak the truth. If you want to spend a small fortune for a dog with a good temperament but poor breeding, this breeder is for you but if you want to spend your money wisely this in not your breeder.
Ustream Videos
http://www.ustream.tv/user/polarbearpuppy
Ruth has set up a live video site showing her dogs being born and allowing you to view her puppies as they are growing up. Normally I would think this is a great idea but in this case it just allows you to see first hand that none of her puppies are handled very often and are left on their own for very long periods at a time. Not only this, but you can also see that the poor mothers that just gave birth are forced to stay uncleaned with their fur dirty from giving birth for days beyond when the pups were born. A responsible breeder would keep both the mother and new born puppies clean and would bath the mother, or at least help her clean off her back end, after she gives birth.
