Big Dog Ranch Rescue — Local services in Loxahatchee Groves

Myself and my family are extremely hurt by the unprofessional way the girls on the front desk treated us today.I have 4 children, 2 with special needs and we have been making the 90 minute trip 1 way to BDRR almost everyday for 2 weeks with the hopes of finding the right dog. Some staff members are extremely cold and hostile in the front desk area.Don't ever put a dog on hold because apparently if you do then they mark that against you as abandoning the dog, not allowing others to adopt and so they treat you badly and tell you that you can't adopt because of it only to find out after weeks of being encouraged to hold a dog we liked.We put a dog on a hold while we were told she was being spayed so to come back in 24/48 hours to meet her. We did the 90min1 way trip to meet her giving her 48 hrs to recover. After being sent to the cabin she had only just been spayed and was in a comatose state. The front desk said come back in another 24/48hrs to meet her. We made the 90min trip home again and the 90 min trip back 48 hrs later.We met the dog we had on hold and a other puppies and with the help of shelter staff it was decided we go with a different dog. Multiple times had we asked for professional help in choosing the right dog due to the special needs of our children and I thought we were getting it. We again left for another 90 min trip and waited to for the dog to be neutured. We called multiple times to check on him and if he was ready etc but when we arrived he had a full blown cocxidia infection and had just tested positive that morning (noone called to tell us that he had a very infectious disease) We had also made the trip back and forth to do a meet and greet with our dog another 90min both ways. We believed in BDRR and wanted to support them by adopting from them. We left our dog in treatment for a few days and drove 90 mins home again.Then we made the 90 min 1 way trip back to pick up our dog to be told he is still in treatment and he would do better at our home than the shelter so he was left knowing he had Cocxidia and not treated for 2 days at BDRR. We just decided to take him then as we had been back and forth so much. Well after a week he became aggressive to anything outside of the house and then was aggressive towards my kids. We took him back to BDRR, met with Evan head of training and Jesse the trainer.He conducted a few tests on the dog and he showed aggression when Jesse tested him. Evan told us he would work with us to find the right dog and that BDRR have a wonderful training program. We left and did the 90 min journey home with hope that we were getting help to find our dog. Well we returned a half week later to look at a litter of puppies as Evan had suggested a young puppy will do best for us and in there training program. I approached the blonde lady on the front desk who looked up my details and she sternly said your not allowed to adopt here. I asked her why, because Evan was helping us and she said a note had been left in the system for us not to be allowed to adopt. It was heartbreaking as we held BDRR highly and was planning on spending thousands for training. From that moment on the 2 blonde staff ladies were obviously speaking to us with disgust for some reason. My special needs daughter who is intellectualy disabled and has trouble processing information, who was also in the room when Evan said he can help us, was so confused at what was going on. It truly broke my heart. The day after meeting Evan and the trainer we drove the 90 minutes home explaining to the kids that we had met a really nice person who understands we need help finding the right dog and he was going to help us. Our kids were excited and hopeful only for us to arrive and be treated like criminals by the staff at the front. If you live farther than 20 minutes they don't want to train your dog apparentlyWe were taken to see some puppies after Evan said ok to adopt but were told we had to be escorted everywhere after 3 weeks of being able to roam the shelter looking.My family left in tears today. It's...

This has been by far the worst “rescue” I have ever experienced. From pre adoption, not getting clear answers about our puppy's medical history to being denied the “free” 30 day medical follow up visits post adoption due to the lack of competency of employees across all departments.

Issues started after paying our adoption fee and being told we could not bring our dog home until she was spayed. We were told she would be spayed and ready to go home that upcoming Wednesday. I called to follow up on Monday, left voicemails for both adoption and medical and never received a call back. We called again on Tuesday, no answer or call back. Wednesday I called and decided to choose the financial donation line in hopes someone would finally answer. Of course someone from finance answered and put me in touch with someone from medical. The medical receptionist told us there was no way they would ever spay a 3 month old puppy and that was inhumane. I finally received a call back from the adoption manager who stated the receptionist was new and that was untrue. She then stated mixed breeds are able to be spayed at 3 months, a pure bred is spayed at 6 months. (This was told to our current vet who said that was unheard of. ) Our dog was finally spayed that Thursday and we brought her home Friday.

Issues continued when we were told Friday by the adoption manager our puppy had Coccidia (a common puppy parasite) and were sent home with antibiotics. Her symptoms never improved with the antibiotics and we brought her to our local vet only to find out she was actually suffering from E. coli. Wrongly diagnosed by big dog.

When our puppy finished her antibiotics her symptoms started to return. At this point we spent almost $2,000.00 out of pocket at our own vet so we figured we should take big dog ranch up on their free follow up medical policy and make the hour drive. I sent an email to big dog ranch explaining our dogs medical issues post adoption and received a call from the adoption department the next day stating that someone would call me to book an appt. I then received a call by Chelsea who stated the vet could see our dog today at 4:30. When arrived I was told our appt was not in their system and because they were closing at 5 they were not able to fully assess her. I explained i had an appt and that my dog was sick and needed a full evaluation. The vet was dismissive and rude and reiterated that they close at 5. Behind the scenes of all of this happening, the owner who observed me extremely irate and explaining the situation to the adoption manager was parading around the facility filming her latest marketing stunt.

Finally , we were promised a partial refund of adoption fees as a first responder a month ago and still have not received this refund. Shocking, I know. They said it would take at most 7 days and have not completed this task after several inquires.

Do not adopt from this facility! The incompetence of the 10 + staff members including the VETERINARIAN who visibly saw a sick puppy WITH AN APPT and were more concerned about leaving at 5 pm instead of caring for her is sickening. They do not take care of their animals, their staff is not passionate about their line of work, and the owner is more interested in profit margins than making the adoption process safe and simple for each...

This message is for Lauree Simmons founder. The experience I received as I rescued a puppy was horrible I will never recommend to anyone. My husband and I drove 1hour and 30 minutes after my application was approved. I called 2 times before to make sure dog was available they said yes. They opened at 10 am we arrived at 11:15 to find out the dog we were there for was gone. Anna just said not here. why didn’t anyone call us ? I asked if there were anymore small dogs? I don’t think so I was told maybe in A bldg. so we went and found one went back to front desk that dog was gone taken since Friday and now it was Tuesday w no signage to show. Sorry than Anna said I may have a small dog let me see if she is ready. She came outside vet office w a puppy dog that wasn’t in very good shape. I asked her if we could put her down she said let’s go into vet office. As I walked into vet office I was welcomed with” if you don’t have an appointment you can’t come in” I was like hi Anna quickly said they are w me. What kind of welcoming is that and it went on I asked Anna about the dog and she told me she was from China and cost 700.00 I said that’s expensive and she snapped that the dog had a passport and papers and cost 1700. I also asked her what was the return policy was she said I had 30/60 to return for full refund. We went to the front desk and it was another confused situation they gave me a contract I signed and when I returned it I ask again about the return and that’s when Anna and another employee argued with the result in no money back and told me to read my contract rudely and I wanted to tell her you need to inform and train your employee. I reluctantly purchased the dog! when I got home we noticed we were missing the paper work that showed she was spayed and no passport so I called to be accused that I didn’t check my paper work and they didn’t know where the passport maybe the previous owner?? Yet they said she had never been adopted?? They finally found passport and the paper work was emailed which funny that showed she was spayed just a few days before yet they told me she was 2 years old?? What’s the truth ?? Do you care who and what you give for adoption or are you just interested in the $$$. I am taking the dog to my brother who is a vet and see what he tells me. I would like to have the opportunity to return and get full refund. I did ask if I could foster and than see if things work out and they said they don’t do that w dogs from China. Why I asked it’s just the rule!! I am so disappointed in your establishment! I hope to hear from you soon! And please take some time to train and coach your staff I am sure the way I was treated would not be the way you would like to be treated any where. Oh and btw the price changed to 600.00 w no rhyme or reason and I still don’t have any papers that show she is...