# Crosshill Kennels



## mmann11

hi guys, i was wondering if anyone has purchased their puppy from Crosshill Kennels it is in Ontario, Canada, where i live and i was wondering if it is the right place to buy a puppy? they are CKC registered and state that they breed for intelligence, loyalty and a good companion. here is the website for you guys to check out 
http://www.germanshepherddog.tv/gsd/home

Thanks


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## maggs30

Wow umm where to start.....run away. The only "Hip Certification" they have listed is a letter from a vet stating the hips looked good to him. No OFA no Penn Hip no real certification. And that was only listed for 1 of the numerous dogs they have. Also they say the pups are home raised but yet they have pictures of lines of kennels with dogs in them and a picture of a female with a very young litter in a barn and straw. This is not a good breeder if you are looking for what I call a good breeder. IMHO the dogs should be raised inside the actual home not lined up in kennels and barns with too many to handle.


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## Jax08

While the parents do not seem to have been OFA checked their contract looks very good and they have a 36 month health guarantee on the puppy hips. What else raised red flags for you?


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## mmann11

this would be the first time i would be purchasing a puppy, and i just wanted some input on how this breeder appeared to more experienced people
thanks for the input, deciding on the right breeder is hard


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## mjbgsd

For one thing, out of all the dogs they have, not one dog has a title of anything. Not even a brief sentence about each dog, how old, hip/elbow cert, titles, some have pedigrees listed but not many, etc. I would turn away from this person and look else where. 

What are you looking to do with your dog?


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## Emoore

My mind is always blown when breeders say they breed for "loyalty and good companions." How the heck do you even select for that? What's the standard? Have they ever excluded a dog from their breeding program for disloyalty? Sounds to me like I have some nice pets I'm breeding and trying to make some $$$ off of them. 

The vast majority of dogs are loyal by their very nature. Wish we could selectively breed people for the same trait. 


Also, I love how their website proudly features "the Amish connection." Think they know or care that the Amish are some of the biggest puppymillers around?


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## maggs30

> Originally Posted By: EmooreMy mind is always blown when breeders say they breed for "loyalty and good companions." How the heck do you even select for that? What's the standard? Have they ever excluded a dog from their breeding program for disloyalty? Sounds to me like I have some nice pets I'm breeding and trying to make some $$$ off of them.
> 
> The vast majority of dogs are loyal by their very nature. Wish we could selectively breed people for the same trait.
> 
> 
> Also, I love how their website proudly features "the Amish connection." Think they know or care that the Amish are some of the biggest puppymillers around?


Yes that was going to be my next comment but I didn't want to go against a whole religion and lifestyle, but since it is out there.....many many Amish "breeders" are nothing more than huge puppy mills and it is disgusting. Although the animals conditions don't look as bad here as many Amish mills it looks close with the barn stalls and hay aspect.


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## elisabeth_00117

I have friends who have their dogs = RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!

1 male 7 month old needed to be PTS because of health issues.

They are always advertising different aged puppies and dogs for sale in the paper, online and by word of mouth.

RUN RUN RUN!


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## Liesje

To me the site doesn't really give enough information. I'll admit I was put off by the "Amish Connection". There's no registered names/numbers for any of the dogs listed so no way to look up titles, hip certs, etc. The dogs listed on the homepage mean nothing to me, there are probably tens of thousands of dogs that go back on those dogs and lines.


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## elisabeth_00117

I know 5 people with dogs from this kennel, if you want more information please PM me and I will either tell you myself or give you my friends contact information so you can hear the information first hand.


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## Cassidy's Mom

Don't know a thing about them, but I noticed that when you're on the site it says German *Shepard* dogs.


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## Samba

I don't know them, but there is nothing on their site or about their dogs that would make me pause to give them a look.


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## MaggieRoseLee

*Re: Crosshill Kennels - Amish Connection*

ACK!!! AMISH CONNECTION!!!

I would run!!!

Pennsylvania is full of Amish too, and it's no coincidence that PA has one of the highest amounts of puppy mills in the USA. 

If you go to youtube and put in puppymills, there is alot of info on them including information on the Amish.

Because the Amish think of dogs as a 'crop' just like chickens, ducks, rabbits, (I think they value cows more...) they never pay money for hips x-ray (vetting at all?) or do temperment stuff (heck, parents dogs live in a cage their entire lives until they can no longer be bred........what kind of temperment does a dog need in a cage?). And any other health issues aren't dealt with as far as genetic. All they want are PUPPIES cause puppies mean money. 

They just did an Animal Planet - Animal Cops Philadelphia on an Amish Puppy Mill http://animal.discovery.com/tv/animal-cops/philadelphia/puppy-mills-exposed/ is the show info....

This is what you need to look for when finding a breeder:

http://www.dogplay.com/Breeding/ethics.html

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/responbr.html


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## onyx'girl

*Re: Crosshill Kennels - Amish Connection*

homegrown and homemade=Amish. Musty pies...
sorry, I bought a pie once from an Amish farmers market and it was nasty.


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## Kayos and Havoc

How about checking out the breeder that Stark came from?


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## elisabeth_00117

I would be more than happy to PM you the contact information to my breeder, but you will have to wait for puppies, none at this time.

I know she has a litter due in February but all puppies are spoken for at this time.

But she is definitely worth the wait!


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## deor

*Crosshill Kennels-Peter Cadman*

I bought one of his dogs, has a glitzy website, great guarantee, great sales pitch* *****...... comments removed by ADMIN..***If anyone wants more details I'll be happy to provide them. I wish I would have asked question on this site before buying.


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## triordan

i have to admit i love the picture of all the dogs on the hay bales from the website..


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## deor

*How does one protect himself from bad breeders??*

The administrator removed a lot of my post. I can see why the board shouldn't be used to slam people irresponsible and how can an administrator make that judgment. On the other hand how does one get reliable information and warn others of breeders that lie. Seems to me that the honest breeders would want to protect themselves from those that aren't. Maybe breeders could set up members only pages on this or another site and a give a passwords to those that that they sell dogs to where the buyers could post and others could only view the comments. Buying a dog is hard enough, the shepherd community knows who the poor breeders are, must be a way for the typical consumer to get that info. I would think they would demand it. I can find out if my personal trainer, doctor, acupuncturist,marriage councilor, light switch, tax accountant organic food,Realtor, accountant etc. are certified but an animal that I'm going to spend years with has no self regulating certifying process by German Shepherd breeders.


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## Emoore

deor said:


> The administrator removed a lot of my post. I can see why the board shouldn't be used to slam people irresponsible and how can an administrator make that judgment. On the other hand how does one get reliable information and warn others of breeders that lie.


Through private message. The admins on this board have to be very careful about what's written to avoid defamation, but we're free to say whatever we want in private messages. We're allowed to say enough to get the point across that a breeder may not be the best.


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## Cassidy's Mom

deor said:


> The administrator removed a lot of my post. I can see why the board shouldn't be used to slam people irresponsible and how can an administrator make that judgment. On the other hand how does one get reliable information and warn others of breeders that lie.


The fact is we CAN'T make judgments about breeders - it's not the board's responsibility to regulate breeders or to get involved in buyer/breeder disputes and determine who is at fault. But since negative comments must be shared privately, simply replying to a thread like this one that you have comments about the breeder that you can't post publicly and are going to send the OP a PM, does get the point across that things may not be so rosy.


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## Jessiewessie99

There was a puppy named Barack Obama.lol.

sorry random.lol


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## ozzymama

Not to bash any breeder but my former husband (most recently former LOL) his shepherd Beau was from Crosshill. He had severe HD and was put down long before his time. Temperment *L* well he put the hydro meter reader through a storm door for coming into the basement. Beautiful looking dog, bit too sloped for my liking, very intelligent, but health and temperment........


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## Jessiewessie99

If they are Amish why are they using the internet?


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## Quinnsmom

Just looked at the website and I'm not sure they themselves are Amish/Mennonite. Their surname doesn't seem to be Mennonite and they just said they were located in the heart of Ontario's Amish/Mennonite country. The only mention of Mennonites specifically is that many of their dogs find homes on working Mennonite farms. Looking at the gallery photos, no one is dressed in "plain" Amish style. I'm thinking they are playing up the connection as a marketing gimmick, although anyone with knowledge of Amish puppy mills would not find that a positive recommendation!


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## ozzymama

Unless they are a newer order of menonnite I do think they are just playing up the connection. They are in the heart of mennonite country, which technically so am I as I sit here and type, it is a marketing ploy, a way to get the tourist folks to spend three times the value of an item thinking they are getting "old-fashioned" workmanship etc. There are over 100 different sects of mennonite in this area, right from very old order to people who just attend the mennonite church LOL!


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## elisabeth_00117

I know several people who either HAD dogs from them or HAVE dogs from them.

All I have to say is, find a new breeder.

Temperament and health are too important to play around with.

PM me if you want contact information for the owners of these dogs or just want to know what I am refering too.


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## crackem

oh man, there's a history between this kennel and a few others that used to infect message boards a few years back. I even remember a girl giving her dog up to him, and he became their next great stud dog magically overnight. Funny how those things happen


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## deor

We should also be better consumers and not get sucked in by slick marketing, branding and packaging. That and the fact I respected the integrity of the Amish hooked me. Look beyond the pictures of beautiful dog on bales of hay and ask question about temperament testing, working titles and OFA certification. I didn't do any of that, the images of those beautiful dogs was what made me drive all night to buy one._Caveat Emptor,_Let the buyer beware was a lesson I learned the hard way


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## Chris Wild

Time to close this thread as it is getting close to violating the rules. Please take any further conversation on the breeder private.

-Admin


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