Our Adoption Experience with Zoey the Havanese
Concerning the Pawrade people, Emma, the first contact, & deal-closer, was a very nice person. Lois, my puppy liaison, was amazing. She was always available and helpful, replying the same day, if my questions were posed Monday through Friday. Reagean, the travel coordinator got Zoey connected with an air flight nanny within a day of her final veterinary exam. The flight nanny service was the weak link to getting our puppy smoothly home only because they fly standby. The nanny started from Atlanta the morning of the transfer, flying into Springfield, MO, arriving to pick up Zoey who was delivered at 11 am to the airport, allegedly be on an 11:38 am flight out of Springfield airport, an impossible task. The rest of the day was one delay after another because of the standby rule and when it was clear that the nanny was going to have to give this 11-week-old, 2-pound puppy back to the breeder to be transported on another day, I paid for a flight from Springfield to Seattle out of pocket for confirmed seating on top of the flight nanny fee. Only because of that, did we get our puppy on time. Don’t use the flight nannies unless there is a nonstop flight from the breeder’s city to yours and even then because of standby seating, the puppy’s arrival home may be bumped to a different day. However, the flight nanny, himself, was awesome. One change I suggest: Pawrade needs to give itemized invoices showing exactly what you paid for, not just a total. My puppy had a sunny personality at 6 weeks, with a furiously wagging tail, based on the video I was sent. The same people-oriented, happy puppy arrived home to us, healthy as promised. Ray, the breeder, and Kim, his assistant, were great to work with. My puppy was raised in a kennel which is not the same as being raised in a home, so be aware of that. Some breeders have dozens of adults they are breeding, and many puppies listed on Pawrade are from such kennels. Ask questions about all of the details of the puppy you want, health of the parents, how is the puppy being raised, exact weight, date when they might be first able to be home, and talk to the breeder before you pay for a puppy. Get photos of the parents and if AKC registered, get the lineage of the parent dogs, and videos of your puppy.