I came to Von Dreifke looking for a service dog. I have severe blood sugar lows that cause heart issues, and needed a dog to alert me before my blood sugar drops to dangerous levels. I talked with Gayle on the phone, and she seemed very kind and helpful. After chatting with many breeders and doing months of research (not to mention over a year of saving my money for this dog and getting help from family), I decided that Gayle was perfect and was someone who was compassionate and caring about both her animals and her clients.
Fast forward to the day I was supposed to pick up my puppy. I walked by several runs of litters on either side of me, some of which weren't german shepherds. When I walked into her office I was excited to meet the new puppy. I expected an energetic, happy, curious pup to be waiting for me. Instead I found this dog shaking in fear on the carpet and unable to move. I tried to interact with her but it made her even more fearful. I asked Gayle about it, and she said it was because the dog was nervous about being in a new room. This is the point where many people, including true, professional breeders and folks in the service dog industry, said I should have up and left. It was a major red flag. But I trusted Gayle, and went against my instincts.
Because a service dog needs a solid temperament, I met with another puppy that seemed friendly, happy and outgoing. I signed the dotted line and drove off with my new puppy. The nervousness and fear very quickly became apparent once we were on the road. Every time we stopped to let her out, she was fearful and wanted to pull back to the car. These were quiet rest stops with hardly anyone around! She was so afraid that even after several stops she was afraid to use the bathroom outside and went in the car.
After I got home I took it slow with her and let her wander around the front yard for a while. She was immediately fearful of anyone who approached her (I made sure they approached in a calm manner). She was so fearful in fact that over the next day she became afraid to go outside. And when I did take her outside to use the bathroom she would panic if any people (this is a pretty quiet area) appeared even a half a block away. I had to cajole her off the front steps with treats just to get her to use the bathroom.
So picture being in my shoes. You call the breeder, the one who previously seemed kind and helpful. Someone who seemed to care about service dogs and those who need them. That person had disappeared! Gayle became agitated AT ME and implied that I did something to the dog. Did I? And what of the dog that was practically catatonic at her house? Did I do something to that one too? The writing is on the wall here that 'something' happened before I picked my puppy up. Either they weren't socialized properly, or there was some kind of trauma. I'll never know. But there is no way such a fearful, apprehensive, and nervous dog could be a service dog.
Gayle stuck tightly to the contract and offered another dog, but I didn't want to turn my puppy back in to her, nor exchange her for yet another fearful dog. After being blamed for what is obviously her issue and not mine (somehow creating fearful puppies), I hung up on her and realized I didn't want to waste even a second more of my time talking to someone like this. I don't deserve to be blamed, talked down to or snapped at.
So, it's up to you to decide whether you want to take a chance with this breeder. She had a good reputation at one point, but something has changed. I think she's taking on too many litters now and is unable to give them the proper attention anymore. They are fed well, and physically taken well care of. But the socialization is lacking now. Go visit and count the dogs, and tell me how on earth anyone could raise a solid dog with a solid temperament when there are SO many to care for at once. Designer chiweenies, german shepherds, and I think pit bulls (not sure what they were). This seems to be a glorified puppy mill (in my opinion) with champions to pull in the higher bucks, and lots of flash and excellent advertising.
Dogs who aren't properly socialized suffer. That is the bottom line.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Allthefishesinthesea
United StatesVom Dreifke sells Fear Aggressive dogs
#6Consumer Comment
Sun, February 24, 2019
First and foremost, I want to make clear that I am not a breeder hater. I think proper breeders with pedigrees for every dog they sell, who do NOT make a living on selling puppies, are needed and valuable in the world. These breeders vet potential buyers and make sure temperaments and energy match up with the lifestyle of the new owners.
These breeders are valuable, important and only help better the breed they choose as a whole. This is NOT what Vom Dreifke German Shepherds does. And below is my story in as much detail as I can without throwing other people who are part of this story under the bus. I AM SORRY FOR THE WALL OF TEXT. But this is a 2 year saga that has left me emotionally exhausted and kicking myself for not being better at choosing a breeder. I wish I knew more about breeder research so I could have avoided this.
In April 2017 I purchased a Dutch Shepherd puppy from Gayle Dale (Barnes, Dreifke, Tate and many other previous names precede her) of Vom Dreifke German Shepherds. The puppy was 7 weeks old. (My mistake #2, after my #1 mistake of thinking I had found a caring and reputable breeder). Mistake #3? Was that this was her first time breeding pure Dutch Shepherd Puppies.
She asked me no questions about my intentions. Point blank, I asked Gayle what a Dutch Shepherd is like, because I had never owned one before. She DID tell me they were very high energy and would require a lot of training and adequate exercise. She DID say that if I intended to just sit around the house, then this would not be a good dog for me.
Having every intention of spending all my waking hours for the next two years training the puppy, I told her that I intended to use the puppy as a future hiking/adventure/travel companion. When I asked if this would be a suitable "job" for a Dutch puppy, she said yes that should be good. I enjoy a challenge and wanted a highly trainable animal.
All in all, this sounded like a good breed choice for me from what I was told and what I had researched about the breed specifically. I also have several training classes near me at my disposal, which I intended to use for help and guidance to attain the goals I had for the puppy. I picked the puppy out myself. (Should have been Red flag #4) The puppy was, well, a puppy for three weeks.
Being only 7 weeks old when I brought her home, she didn't have much of a personality and the only things I could work on were bringing her out around people for socializing and potty training/creating a housebreaking schedule. At week 10, a switch flicked in my puppy's brain. This tiny 10 week old puppy, with her deceptively cute face and huge ears, started snapping and lunging at every single human being and animal that passed by.
Some people were kind enough to stop and let me try to socialize her with them. She wasn't yet big and scary, so it was easy to explain that we were in training. I would hand people hot dogs and chicken, her favorite treats, and have her take them from strangers who would do nothing but stand there with the treats in their hand. The puppy would still lunge and snap at their hands, take the treats, and then scream bark and try to bite.
It was scary and mortifying. After two weeks of trying to do normal socialization exercises, I finally called a local trainer who deals with reactive animals. She does weekly socialization and obedience classes. When I explained the problem my now 12 week old puppy was exhibiting, she was shocked. She told me to continue having people over, not to let them interact with the dog or react to her nonsense.
Unfortunately she also told me that a puppy exhibiting those behaviors would not be able to be in her group classes, putting a huge damper on my puppy socializing plans. After two more weeks of the same lunging, barking, snarling and snapping, I felt emotionally drained and incapable of doing anything for this Dutch Shepherd puppy. I was told the puppy would be high energy and need a ton of exercise.
Not that they would be aggressive. I decided to call the breeder to ask more questions about this litter. I was told this litter "can be aggressive". And that a couple people had returned their puppies from this litter back to Gayle for this same behavior. She did not offer to take the puppy. Ignoring the fact that I should have cut my losses and asked to return the puppy at that time, I asked if there was anything else I could do instead. Were there any training suggestions that could help me succeed in training this Dutch Shepherd baby?
I loved the puppy very much already. Gayle got on her computer, I could hear her nails typing on the keyboard. She searched for IPO clubs in my area, telling my that this would be the best solution for a puppy like this. She gave me the number to the nearest club I called this club, which was still an hour away from where I lived. The owner told me to bring the puppy in. So I did.
She told me that the reactions the dog was having was fear aggression. The club owner also said the breeder of this puppy had no business breeding Dutch or Malinois if this is what she is producing and selling. But she said she would help me. For 7 whole months, every week, I or my husband brought this puppy to IPO club for what we thought would be socialization. We would report to the head trainer what was happening with her at home every week and she would tell us how to handle the dog.
On top of this, the trainer had my puppy participating in tracking, obedience, and, unfortunately, bitework. I was told doing this foundation work would help calm the puppy down in the future and show her when it was OK to bite. I was told she would at least be able to be around people so long as people left her alone. During this time, I had a lot of fun learning a new type of sport/training. The dog was much bigger, eager to learn and seemed to enjoy working alongside me and my husband. She ignored the club members as they would just sit in chairs and not approach me or her.
However. At home and in public, she was still that 10 week old puppy. If people got too close, even if they were not trying to touch her or run at her, the dog would lose her mind. She would lunge and bark her head off. No amount of positive reinforcement or desensitization training or obedience made that go away. I could not have people over unless the dog was on a leash. And even then it was extremely chaotic and consisted of a lot of scream barking and lunging, making visits nerve wracking and completely about the dog.
I brought to the head trainer of the club my continued concerns in November 2017. She told me not to have people near her. The dog would be fine. And continued training the dog in bitework. This started to make me feel uneasy. I was worried the dog would hurt someone with how she acted. And it seemed the trainer was more concerned with training this dog in IPO instead of telling me that the sport was not suitable for a reactive dog. When I would bring up a socialization concern, She didn't seem concerned about the dog's reactions at home anymore.
But I also didn't know what else to do. There were not a lot of options for me because the training classes around me were group classes and wouldn't take a fear reactive dog. In December 2017, I wrote a 2 star Yelp review of the breeder. explaining the dog's fear reactivity that started at an early age and how I was advised to take her to an IPO club. The breeder first contacted me through facebook, apologizing for my experience and saying she would not be repeating that Dutch Shepherd breeding as she has had many problems with that litter.
She did not offer to take the dog. She then called the training club and complained about the review. When I came to the club the next (and last) time, the head trainer screamed at me and berated me for saying my dog was dangerous and that people can't pet her. She "threatened" me by saying she would not train the dog in bitework anymore. I deleted my review, but I never came back to the club after that.
That threat made it very clear to me that this dog was NOT suited to bitework, and that the trainer was not helping her in a socialization aspect. I started 2018 in a desperate search for a new trainer to help me learn to manage this now 1 year old extremely fear reactive dog. Finally, I resorted to contacting the first training class I had called in the beginning, I begged her for help finding a trainer who could handle reactive dogs and teach me how to modify her behavior.
She pointed me to a one on one trainer who worked with me through all of 2018. I thank God for this man every single day. During this time, I also stumbled into contact with two people who owned dutch shepherds from Gayle. We met on a Dutch Shepherd owner help board on facebook. . The first person owned a puppy from a repeat breeding of my girl's litter. Which was concerning. Since Gayle had told me she would NOT be repeating that breeding due to all the issues.
This girl had a 10 week old Dutch puppy who was reacting the exact same way my dog was. She had not been told about my dog. She had not been told about the litter that had puppies returned for this reason. There was no transparency or honesty from the breeder. This woman with small children was sold a reactive dutch shepherd with no warning about the previous litter. That puppy was rehomed to someone who would use the dog for scent-detection instead of as a family pet.
The second person I came into contact with was someone who had a dog from the exact same litter as mine. She paid for numerous training courses and tried to work with the dog for over a year. The dog, however, was aggressive to the person's son and sent him to the hospital. This person wanted nothing to do with Gayle because they didn't trust her or her business/dog placement practices. After speaking to these people, I felt more vindicated in my choices.
I promptly left the breeder a 1 star review (lower than last time, because it was clear she didn't care AT ALL about what she was producing) on her facebook, detailing all the struggles I was enduring and urging people to look more into who they were buying from. Her daughter and two of her friends started a facebook tirade against me, which was full of bullying and wild, ridiculous lies and accusations. The breeder herself responded to the review saying she was going to be "contacting my trainer" (the ipo trainer) to talk about this because "the dog was fine" and "not aggressive".
This breeder has NEVER met my dog. Not since she was 7 weeks old. And she still didn't offer to take her back. She responded more to the review publicly, saying I was just a bad owner and didn't know what I was getting myself in to. She said I should have done more research and that i just didn't understand the breed and how to work with them. Here I am, two years later. I worked with the new trainer I found all of 2018.
He told me this dog never should have trained in bitework, and shame on the trainer who let her do that. The dog was still unpredictable and incapable of being around my friends. She ended up biting someone who was helping me train her in an exercise given to me by my trainer. It was a fail moment, but a moment that was triggered by nothing. My friend didn't move. Didn't talk. Didn't look at the dog. The dog just lunged at her and bit her thigh. I had to make the decision to rehome my dog. But I couldn't do this in a normal fashion.
I refused to send her to a shelter, where I knew she would be euthanized due to her temperament. This dog is so goofy and loving and energetic and FUN to be with when no one else is around. After 2 years, I was insanely attached to her. And I certainly didn't trust this breeder to take her. I didn't trust her abilities to home any of her dogs after 3 people have had the exact same situation with her dutch shepherds. My trainer helped my find a rescue who was more than happy to take her.
They asked if I had a contract with the breeder to return the dog. No. I do not. There is nothing in the paperwork given to me stating that I must return a dog to this breeder. I gave them my copy of the paperwork. And that's that. The dog is living with someone whose heart rests with difficult animals. They post pictures of her all the time and the dog is very happy and healthy. I have no doubt that this was the best decision for her and that she is with the people who will help her and work with her in the right way.
That hasn't stopped the breeder from trolling this rescue's facebook page (my old IPO trainer saw the posting for this dog and told the breeder... I haven't had contact with either for a year). The breeder got her friends to brigade the page and leave negative reviews, posting lies that I was breaching a contract and that I just didn't know what I was doing. They continue harassing the rescue to give the dog back. The rescue is keeping me posted but is adamant that they will not be returning the dog to Vom Dreifke German Shepherds.
They have asked the breeder to produce proof that the dog is to be returned to Gayle. Gayle has provided nothing. Only harasses them. The dog is micro chipped in the Rescue's name and we have paperwork proving the breeder has no claim on her. This whole experience has been an incredible nightmare. Puppy mills and BYB are no joke and Vom Dreifke German shepherds is one of the worst.
SUMMARY: If you do not want a painful saga of drama and heartache, do some research on Vom Dreifke German Shepherds. They are a puppy mill that moved from Illinois to Tennessee, then to Virginia (previously under the name of Ravenwolf shepherds). Gayle changes her last name constantly as she moves. The ripoff reports for Ravenwolf detail exactly the type of person this breeder is. I cannot speak for her German Shepherds. But please do research on Dutch Shepherd Breeders. There are maybe 3 reputable Dutch breeders in all the United States. And Vom Dreifke German Shepherds is NOT one of them.
Amy
Not Posting,Pennsylvania,
United States
Anxiety Ridden OH YES
#6Consumer Comment
Tue, October 30, 2018
When I saw the word, "Anxiety," I was compelled to comment. As a trainer and handler I, and colleague trainers and handlers have had quite a few experiences with Vom Dreifke lines, specifically out of WVA. Every single Experience involved a level of Anxiety. Some I have seen cannot become Service Dogs because they don't do well around lots of people at all. Something like this cannot always be controlled by the trainer. Hip Dysplasia is very prevailant in MANY Vom Dreifke Canines from all over. In my opinion these dogs are being over bred. I have seen literally thousands all over the US that have been returned, slipped through cracks, and ended up in shelters or on death row. I believe there should be tighter restrictions and Kennel Checks with the problem bloodlines. Hookworms?? That is JUST UNACCEPTABLE, coming from someone who calls themselves a, "Breeder."
As for the parasite subject, Don't you KNOW that hookworms can KILL larger Breed pups and where they have been they are never really extinguished unless the ground freezes? One puppy I am familiar with was sold on Facebook to a woman for her 7 year old son. They bought the pup with the bloated belly, made an appointment for a vet check which was 2 1/2 weeks away, had no idea of the hookworm infestation. The puppy died at 12 weeks old. Over a week from his passing the Little boy STILL cried himself to sleep every night. I dealt with rescues where I siezed dogs with belly bloat and out of 2 litters, the ones I could not get my hands on ALL died. This is a horrible way to go, as the pup is deprived of crutial nutrients for healthy development, hence the Anemia, Bone, Heart, and Lung Diseases and Disorders and more.
And let me tell you...When you breed and allow your pups to grow with a belly full of horrible life-sucking parasites they don't get the level of nutrients they need in order to grow healthy. Leaving a dog go out of your kennel with hookworms exposes ALL OTHER PETS in the vicinity to the deadly parasite. Again in my opinion, THIS IS ANIMAL ABUSE. If you are going to charge this kind of money for pups you produce then you need to take care of YOUR responsibilities to the animal AND to your customers. They come to YOU because they WANT a reputable way of securing a new pet. This means they must place their confidence, trust and a lot of money into that pet, trusting THE BREEDER sells them a Quality Pet, devoid of disease, birth defects, and ALL PARASITES. What about Heartworm?? Whipworm? Tapeworm fleas? Lord help the poor dogs. BE RESPONSIBLE and take care of your breeding Males and females so that more pain and agony is not spread amongst the innocent who provide families and handlers with so much love and loyalty. Many of these tainted Canines are being put off and donated as a last resort to trainers for US Veterans. Some can be worked with by professional trainers but end up only living 7 or 8 years and when a US Veteran with PTSD loses his/her best friend so soon, It is NOT good. It is so sad to watch them deteriorate at such a young age. Some people have NO Empathy or understanding of the suffering they are causing.
Kelley
Fairfax,Virginia,
United States
Fantastic breder with excellent pups and dogs
#6Consumer Comment
Sat, December 30, 2017
I am a very happy and satisfied customer. I bought a wonderful puppy from Gayle last year. I got you go to her home, meet her dogs, and see her facilities. Gayle has been wonderfully supportive from the start. She is honest and works in an ethical way to match you up with the right puppy. She is very willing to help you select as well as offering a comprehensive gauarntee with the puppies she sells.
Our puppy was walking at the parks with us, off leash, greeting everyone confidently within 2 weeks of taking him home. I have rarely seen such a well-adjusted puppy at such a young age. As a former breeder (of show dogs) I have a lot of experience with breeders and dogs. Each puppy has it's own unique disposition and each puppy requires a different amount of training and patience.
It seems that Gayle did everything she promised and offered you another dog. What in the world else should she have done? This is the correct and professional approach to such an issue. Not wanting to take the other puppy is the consumer's choice, but to refuse a replacement puppy and then say the breeder is unethical or lacks integrity is ridiculous. I am not a personal friend of Gayle and have had no other dealings with her other than dog-related business but I am familiar with her practices and policies and she is an ethical breeder with integrity!
Just Read The Other Complaint
#6Author of original report
Mon, October 23, 2017
There are so many lies in her rebuttal, I'm going not even going to bother responding to them. Another woman went through the same thing I did. I guess we both made all of this up.
Gayle
Dinwiddie,Virginia,
USA
Paige service dog
#6REBUTTAL Owner of company
Mon, October 23, 2017
First off page when you came to look at the puppies the first puppy looked at was not shaking in fear as you said she was laying on the carpet letting you pet her she didn't try to run away she didn't scream and cry she wasn't shaking she didn't Flinch she was relaxed and letting you pet her I have pictures yesterday October 21st of children playing with her outside and video so I don't know where you get this she was fearful from second off the second puppy looked at that you chose personally because she was so outgoing was playing with you running around was perfectly fine I don't know what happened when she got to your house because the day after you receive the puppy you sent me a text stating thank you for raising such a wonderful puppy she is truly stunning and well-behaved sit here and say bad things about my kennel it's kind of going overboard we do raise Dutch Shepherds and Belgian Malinois was as well we do show actively all over the country and our dogs are socialized daily have not had any other complaints other than one other person who had PTSD and that wasn't even getting a dog from our kennel it was a dog that came in from a rescue only other thing I can think of is you said you were getting the dog ham and she had some diarrhea maybe you got mad at her for messing in the house and that could have made the puppy scared but I have tried to work with you I have offered you another puppy you could have taken from another future litter I've tried to work with you you have hung up on me you have had other people call me I've noticed in other news chat rooms for other dog sites that you've talk down about other breeders as well those I have photocopied as well you need to stop talking so bad about so many different breeders as far as low blood sugar you cannot train a dog to detect that you can train them to alert when something is wrong you have given this dog no positive since she has arrived at your house you put a leash on her and right out the door do not let her acclimate like you have been asked to to Just Your Atmosphere for a couple weeks again you have hung up on me you have not tried to work this out you just feel the need to threaten Court and talk bad all over the internet if you would like to compromise and talk about this I am more than willing to take your call and to listen and to work this out with you.