Complain about a product or service

Shake A Paw Puppies

Maegan of Levittown, NY June 14, 2008

I just wanted to say that my friend purchased a beautiful Malamute about two years ago from Shake A Paw in Lynbrook from the owner himself. At the time of purchase the Malamute had already been there for over 6 months and was getting bigger and had to be moved to a bigger cage. The owner and staff at Shake A Paw care so much for their dogs that they make every effort no matter how old a dog gets or its size to find each dog a happy home.

When my friend came in to look at this beautiful dog the owner enthusiastically offered my friend a discount so that she could bring him into a loving home. Every time that I have been into Shake A Paw I have seen the owner and all of the staff members treat each dog and puppy there with the utmost kindness and concern for their well being. The store is immaculate and each cage is in pristine condition.

Yes, sometime dogs do get sick or get kennel cough but Shake A Paw gives a warranty on each dog they give a home to. You most certainly are taking a chance that a dog could get very ill if not cared for properly and that is why they have health insurance..I purchase it the second I picked up my dog and have used it several times in the past 3 years. Of course some Vets are going to tell you that the dog should not have been for sale but think about it....they are about to give you their bill...they don't want you anger directed towards them...hmmm...makes sense right...Stop trying to pass blame on something that the store has no control over...they oversee and make sure that EVERY PUPPY that they recieve is in the best possible care. Remember the owner of this business is first and foremost an animal lover. Please just know what you are getting into and fully understand the instructions before you purchase a puppy....

James of Ronkonkom, NY May 12, 2008

I purchased an 8 week-old Goldendoodle from Shake A Paw in Hicksville last week and so far they have been professional and very forthcoming about what is necessary for owning a new puppy. The documentation they provided to us prior to the purchase described, in detail, that 50% of their dogs get Kennel Cough (no surprise) and that it can turn to pneumonia very quickly, which it did.

The puppy was sneezing after a few days at home and she's in the Animal Hospital right now [Kennel Cough is normal for dogs kept in a kennel, people] getting her treatments for early onset of pneumonia. It's sad to be without her but she's getting the proper treatment and Shake A Paw is covering all health care costs directly with the hospital. The Vet also told me that in over a year, they have never had one sick puppy that Shake A Paw didn't completely pay for [aside of stool sample (30) and compounding the medication (20) if she can't swallow pills. Those amounts were explicitly explained to me numerous times at the time of purchase]. I do recommend the West Hills Animal Hospital in Huntington if you can choose a Vet. They have been great so far, much better than the Vet we saw in Hauppauge Animal Hospital.

Nothing. They've done a good job overall.

Karen of Valley Stream, NY January 22, 2008

I purchased a teacup Yorkie there in 12/0 for 1100. When I got her home, all she did was sleep. The vet they recommended said she was fine. By the weekend I knew something was wrong and brought her to our regular vet. She was diagnosed with severe kennel cough; she she infected my other dogs. I had to hospitalize my 13 year old Yorkie, and she almost died. The fee for her was 1000. My vet said the puppy was unfit for sale, but Shake a Paw would do nothing. The dog subsequently needed both rear legs operated on for a total of 6000 and now can hardly walk (crippled), and she is only 3. She weighs over 10 pounds and is large. She is not a teacup Yorkie.

Jakky of Plainfield, NJ January 21, 2008

I just want to say that I work at Shake A Paw and that we do get the best puppies available to us. We are very picky in choosing the puppies that enter our store. Everyone who wrote on here writes about bad experiences when in fact there are many more people who have had good experiences. I would just like to start by stating the facts that you are taking a chance by getting a puppy anywhere, any puppy from any place can get sick. There are many things you can do to prevent it but sometimes it is unpreventable. Puppies that come from breeders get sick too, only most of the time they will not reimburse you for any medical bills. If your child gets a cold do you blame the hospital? No, of course not because living things can get sick. I am an animal lover and I love my job. We love our puppies and we make sure that they are as healthy and happy as possible. We also make sure that your new family member fits your lifestyle unlike other places or breeders. I have personally bought two dogs from Shake A Paw and have not had any problems.

Natalie of Deer Park, NY December 28, 2007

I purchased a puppy from the Hicksville Shake A Paw on a whim.... He is an adorable black Maltese/Yorkie mix. After deciding on taking him home for 1400, the women took me around the store and grabbed everything I HAD TO buy that the dog NEEDED. My bill ended up being 2100. I walked out the door with an adorable dog and ton of anxiety. I later found out I didn't need (or use) 80% of what she gave me. She actually gave me (4) different vitamins that my dog NEEDED, whereas I was instructed by the vet that he needed one vitamin and the rest was unnecessary. Within 2 days my dog had Kennel Cough. I was given antibiotic (which was supposed to be covered by Shake a Paw), but because of his small size, they needed to compound the medicine which cost about 30. I then found out after testing his stool that he had a parasite. Within 2 days I was taking home antibiotics and dishing out 57.00 for them. He hasn't gotten better.

To top it off, he now has fleas. I have a 3 year old son, and this is the last thing I expected when bringing home an adorable puppy. I will never go back to Shake a Paw, and after reading all of these comments, I probably never should have in the first place.

Ellen of Old Bridge, NJ September 4, 2006

I purchased a beagle from this pet store on 9/20/2006 and he has been sick since day one. He was diagnosed as unfit for sale on 9/30/2006 by the vet recommended by the pet store, Central Monmouth Animal Hospital. I contacted Shake A Paw and they would not take the puppy back. They sent me a credit to reimburse me for some of the vet bills. I told them at that time I was not interested in a store credit I wanted to be reimbursed for the puppy. Since this time the beagle has been diagnosed with involuntary head bobbing caused by an infection at birth. On going skin problems dermatits and ear infections since birth. His head has never fully devoloped and his mouth is deformed causing his tongue to hang out of his mouth all the time.

Vet bills and medications so far have cost me over 1057.10. My vet Route 516 Animal Hospital can no longer treat the skin condition and has recommended a specialist. The first visit to the specialist will be over 300.

Nancy of Howell, NJ August 13, 2006

I have told my story regarding Sophie, a sweet little Cocker Spaniel purchased at Shake a Paw of Tom's River. She endured several months of treatment for pneumonia which she acquired at the pet store. We spent about 8,000 for her treatment and thankfully, she survived. The pet store was notified,by certified mail, before they went out of business. We also sent certified mail to the Household Pet Protection insurance company that was on our contract to guarantee Vet bills up to the purchase price of the puppy or 1,000 which ever is less. We never heard back from either one of them, and when I called Shake a Paw, the store was closed.

I called the insurance company which advised me that they had no record our the contract, and they had numerous people calling regarding reimbursement. The woman told me that Shake a Paw never had money in their account to reimburse their customers as stated in the contract. She essentially said we were out of luck and would have to sue. I know that I will never recoup all of the money we spent to save Sophie's life, but shouldn't the company be held to the contract?

The economic damage was huge, as stated. We spent 8,000 to save the life of a 900 puppy. But our only alternative was to let her die. We couldn't do that and felt she deserved the chance to live. We also feel we are at least owed what the contract states.

Brookelin of South Bound Brook, NJ June 15, 2006

I’d like to say I’m a complete dog lover to its fullest. I enjoy going at least twice a month to Shake-A-Paw just to give 2 or 3 puppies 15 minutes of play time after spending all that time in their cages. Yesterday, I went to Shake-A-Paw (in Green Brook) to do just that. When I walked in, I was almost knocked off my feet. The smell was horrendous. The couple with their children seemed to feel the same way by the expression on their faces after they walked in also. I proceeded to take out a dog and have play time with them. It was around 8:45 p.m. and it seemed as if each employee you had there had a friend hanging out with them in the store. They weren’t paying attention to their customers at all.

I must have held one puppy for a good 5 minutes outside the room until someone came to my attention to put the dog back into the cage. After that, some lady came in with a rather large dog that she let free to walk around the store. That made the puppies get a little riled up and caused them ALL to bark, like any other normal dog would do. But, your employees seemed to get a little frustrated and started pounding on their glass windows telling them to, “Shut up” in front of me, the people I was with, and another family who had their children with them. The other family quickly grabbed their children and exited the store.

There was fecal matter all over the floor so you had to watch where you stepped. The cages were full of feces and every dog seemed to be laying in it with it matted in its fur. I was fed up enough, I had to leave the store. When I walked outside, I said a few choice words about the way those dogs were being cared for, when I heard one of your employees (who seemed to be on a cigarette break) have a few choice of curse words to say to me behind my back.

Today, I told my mother about the situation and she decided to go see for herself what I was talking about. She also said the smell was horrendous and that all the employees seemed to be teenagers. She noticed one dog laying in a puddle of it’s own feces that had blood and mucus in it. When that usually happens, it most likely means the dog has Parvo, a disease in which normally leads to the dog dying. Which would also mean every other dog in your store has it too. She addressed one of the employees of the situation and the girl seemed to brush it off and say there was nothing wrong with the dog, that the vet was there this morning.

My mother proceeded to look around at the dogs when one of your employees started cleaning a cage (with the dog in it) with a mop. I’m guessing the dog, being a puppy, started biting at the mop when he deliberately hit the dog with the mop which caused it to yelp.  I, myself, do work for People-4-Animals and I also rescue dogs. I have 4 rescued dogs of my own, one of them happen to be from your store. A few years back, we purchased a Lab from your store that had Kennel Cough. Whoever sold us the dog, sold it to us at the cheapest price because it was sick and was most likely to die. Every vet we went to told us the best thing to do would be to put the dog to sleep. We didn’t. We nursed her back to health and she’s going on 6 years now. 

I called the ASPCA and they assured me they'd send an officer over to investigate.

Jamie of Waretown, NJ May 15, 2006

I purchased a female boxer puppy on 12-14-05.I then took my puppy for her first vet visit on 12-17-05.On that visit she got her first round of shots and i had to give a stool sample.On 12-19-05 the vet called and asked me to come in for the results.the vet had informed me that she had (coccidia) a parasite.The vet explained to me that it is not life threatening and can be treated with medication.

A day later I noticed she was hacking and coughing up clear fluid.On 12-21-05 I took her back to the vet and now he informed me that she had tracheobronchitis and marked her unfit for purchase.The vet again prescribed more medication and let her go home. The next day there was a severe change for the worst. That night I shook her and had no response. Finally after repeatedly shaking her I got her to open her eyes.I was heart-broken.I stayed up with her all night with the fear that she may die.

First thing in the morning I took her back to the vet. He then informed me that a severe case of pneumonia.He said that I could return my puppy to shake a paw and have them do the treatments or I could take her home and do them myself. I told him that I don't trust that shake a paw would take good care of her in their shop, so I decided to take her home.The vet said that she may not make it. Again marked her unfit for sale.

I have a signed waranty contract from shake a paw that guarantees my puppy for ninety days.That guarantee states that I would receive reimbursement for reasonable vet bills up to the cost of the dog or one thousand dollars which ever is less. I paid 1,299.00 for my puppy. After the sixty days I submitted all my vet bills to the warranty company as it states in the contract.The warranty papers say that it would take up to six to eight weeks for reimbursement. I waited the eight weeks with no response.

Finally I called the waranty company and they said that shake a paw never sent them a copy of my contract and that I should go to shake a paw and speak to them. I called shake a paw and the number was disconnected, so I drove down there.Upon pulling up to shake a paw I noticed that the building was empty and closed down.They also never sent my AKC registration papers.I am glad to say my puppy is fine now, but now I can't register her and I'm out all of my vet bills.

You put trust in a contract only to find out its just a piece of paper if you cant find the people.

Im out my AKC registration papers and 242.00 in vet bills.

Stephanie of Manahawkin, NJ May 10, 2006

I purchased a puppy on 01/12/2006 and within two weeks my puppy was hospitalized for 8 days 1500.00 in bills later I was told by the warranty company that yes they recived my claim and that I should give them 60 days. I did that then I call in May and was advised that They are no longer paying out claims for shake a paw due to them not sending in our paperwork. I was advised to contact them which I did and they have shut down there store and disconnected there phone. I am out a lot of money and plan to sue.

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