Vinnie's Bow Wow Shoppe — Local services in Jackson Township

DO NOT BUY A PUPPY HERE!!!!! I worked at this shop in 2019. All of the puppies are from puppy mills. I had access to the breeder information and after looking them all up, their kennel reports said they all had 50-100s of dogs at their “kennel” which were all owned by amish people. These kennels would constantly fail their inspections but never be shut down (this is public info you can find online). During my time working there, I had to unload puppies regularly from the owner’s car after she picked them up from the “breeders”. The puppies would be crammed in cages, covered in poop and pee, and smelling awful like a barn. They were also so scared and sick. I would have to immediately bathe the dogs so they could go up for sale. Every time I bathed the dogs, they were literally paralyzed with fear, covered in fleas and dirt, nails growing into their paw pads, sometimes had cuts and scabs, and had clearly never interacted with people. ALL of the dogs had fleas. Some had health problems like missing eyes, parvo, kennel cough, etc. I got a dog from there for free because he is missing a paw. The owner says she personally chooses each puppy for the shop, but didn’t notice that my puppy’s paw was missing? The vet that they used when I worked there made everyone very uncomfortable to the point that some employees refused to be in the room with him when he was there. Most of the dogs there would have at least 1 health issue such as hernias and heart murmurs. During my time working there a puppy died from parvo. In the back, they had an isolation room which was disgusting. There would constantly be poop on the floor, and it was really hot in the room. Also, every dog there was some type of unethical breed such as merle dogs that don’t even come in merle, or “designer breeds” like pomsky and things like that. There were also random mixes that were obviously accidentally bred. Although the dogs were sick mixed breeds, they were sold for thousands of dollars. I saw a receipt that said the owner purchased a dog from the breeder for $50 and sold it for $3,000. One of the breeders that they worked with in 2019, address 84 Williams Run Rd in Christiana, PA supplied most of the dogs to the shop and had many different breeds and mixed breeds of puppies. These people will swear up and down that the puppies are not from puppy mills but from first hand experience they 100% are. A girl I worked with here bought a puppy and it died at like 2 years old from genetic issues. If you buy a dog from here, know you’re supporting the continued neglect of dogs in puppy mills. I have reported this business and the breeders and nothing has happened. Just because it is still open doesn’t mean it’s okay. Although I worked here years ago, I STILL hear and see people getting sick...

The staff I met on 3 occasions during the last 7 months were nice and friendly. The young woman with the tattoos (sorry I don't remember the name) is very knowledgeable and good with customers. That's the only reason for the 2 stars.

Most of the dogs here are mutts. Nothing wrong with that, some of the best dogs are mutts or mixed breeds. The issue is the prices being charged. Some of the mixed names are just made up, and this store is charging prices like the pups are some kind of valuable designer dogs. They are not.

My neighbor wanted a yellow lab, this store wants 2 thousand and up. Local breeders are now in 2021 charging half that for pure yellow labs with both parent dogs onsite. They purchased 2 beautiful labs for $1100 each.

I wanted a Border Collie after losing my Collie last summer. Vinnies had some mixed borders last September 2020, they wanted $1100. I offered $800. They countered with $900. Before the pandemic a pure border sold for $550. Vinnies is taking advantage of the current health crisis. I went back 2 weeks later and they still had 3 of 4 of those border mixed pups, they were 14 weeks old and all available for $900. I figured I'd wait until the price gouging declined. Many sellers were/are gouging, not just Vinnies.

I went back to Vinnies at the end of February 2021. No Border Collie pups available. They said to check back soon. Sure enough they got some in. . . $1699.00 each! I had no intention of going back there.

Now quality breeders are offering Border Collies for much more reasonable prices. I found plenty for under $800. I purchased my new Border from a farmer, he had both parent dogs there for me to see, touch and play with. The farmer raises these and trains them to work and compete at herding. I paid $600.

All the dogs at Vinnies, listed on their website tonight, are way overpriced. That's what prompted me to write my experience here. I don't do reviews on Google and I take no pleasure in writing a bad review about a local small business, but the prices here are crazy. You can do better......

BUYER BEWARE! This shop is purchasing pets from puppy mills with underlying medical conditions that may not be apparent upon purchase due to inbreeding and unhealthy conditions the dogs are kept in. We purchased our Chihuahua there 13 years ago and I would not return after researching the "breeder" he came from which was an Amish farm out in Adams County. While we got lucky with our guy and he lived until old age and we recently had him put down when he developed metastatic lung cancer. My parents were not so lucky here recently. They purchased a King Charles Cavalier in August and had to make the heart wrenching decision to euthanize her at 19 weeks old just days ago after she started to have severe neurological issues. The dog started walking in circles to the right and twitching constantly with her tail between her legs and whining. She couldn't eat or drink well and after anticonvulsant medication, antibiotics, and anti inflammatory drugs, there was no improvement for her at all. This shop should be ashamed of themselves. I am happy for those of you who "lucked out" with your pet but I'm sorry to say you're just feeding a business who is not treating dogs well or being upfront with owners on the dogs' origin.

Since I purchased a pet here and became more educated over the years, I have since adopted another Chihuahua from a rescue in Texas and I can say I am so happy we did so and learned from our mistake. I am still disappointed though and regret that I gave this God forsaken place any more money furthering their poor treatment of animals by supporting inhumane puppy mills....