Mittelwest German Shepherds
Reviews and Complaints

We purchased a very expensive male German Shepard from Mittlewest, which the owner, Julie, brought over from Germany. The dog was transported with a trainer to the Las Vegas airport and was delivered to us. We did not get his papers at that time. We called and asked where his papers were. Julie said with Covid, everything was slow but they were on the way. The next excuse when we called, was that Julie had lost our address and would send the papers to us. When we called yet again, and threaten to get our lawyer involved, she has blocked our calls. We are unable to breed our dog without papers. Mittlewest is an immoral, dishonest and unethical kennel. They should loose whatever certificates that they have and be shut down.

I have struggled with whether or not I should write this, but on January 28, 2015, I had to have my beloved German Shepherd put down he was only 7 years old. When we purchased him from Julie Martinez, he was 4 1/2 months old. My husband thought he was diligent in making sure that the puppy was coming from a reputable breeder and that he was healthy. From the moment we picked him up from the airport and brought him home he spun around and chased his tail to the point he actually bit the end off, he also sucked on his hips, we took him to the vets and was told it was anxiety. Over the next few years he became worse, he developed hip dysplasia, lost almost all of his hair due to what the vet said was a hereditary skin disease, developed bone spurs on his hips and spine, had prostate problems, still chased his tail and sucked his hips, was aggressive towards anyone who came anywhere near me, including my husband and kids as well as anyone who came into my home, and as the vet would say "not right in the head". I never contacted Julie because to be quite honest I didn't see the purpose, I knew I would not even consider returning him, and wouldn't want another defective dog from them any way, he had become "MY DOG", he never left my side, no matter what I was doing he followed me everywhere. Mittelwest offers a "lifetime guarantee" on their dogs and I honestly don't get it, we did not purchase an appliance or TV, you don't just return a dog that has become a part of your family! We did everything we could to help him, tried different meds, skin treatments, etc... He was a good dog that unfortunately was born in a terrible body. It just breaks my heart to know that they sell these dogs knowing they are not healthy and don't have them checked by a vet before selling them. On the Certificate of Veterinary Inspection it stated that he was "to young" for his vaccines and or treatments, he was 41/2 months old, seriously? Do they just think we are all idiots? My dogs suffering became more then he deserved and I was faced with the decision to have to put him down. I will never buy another German Shepherd from Mittlewest, but will instead spread the word that no one else should either. I have read so many complaints from other owners and don't understand why these breeders are still in business. They are greedy and don't really care what happens to these dogs once they leave the puppy mill. I am sure that out of the hundreds and hundreds of puppies that they sell there are a handful that are great, beautiful, healthy dogs, ours was not the case and I'm sure it wont be the last either. For those who will say "why didn't you contact the breeder" I will just say this, WHY? When we purchased our puppy we committed ourselves to him just as he did us, to love him, provide for him and take care of him, no matter what! A refund or another dog would never be able to replace him or the love that we had for this poor sweet dog! He was my baby and deserved so much more then what he was faced with, we did our best to care for him and make his life as good as we could! Shame on you mittelwest for selling dogs you know are not healthy and have major issues and not giving two [censored]s about the effect it has on them and the new owners!

On March 11th, 2012, we purchased two 15 week-old (brothers) German Shepherd puppies from
Mittelwest Kennels in Wonder Lake, Illinois, owned and operated by Julie Carroll Martinez. We were met by Grant, her kennel manager and boyfriend, who showed us the pups.

He never asked us one single question about our experience with German Shepherds, our home or the environment the dogs would be living in.

There was no:

· Application process

· Bill of sale

· Receipt

· Contract

· Health history provided

The only question he asked is if we would be paying by cash or check. We asked Grant if the pups were vet checked, and he said no because it wouldn’t be possible for them to bring every single pup to the vet, making it sound like there are too many pups and it would be too expensive.

Prior to going to Mittelwest Kennels, we searched the internet, and we found customer complaints, on the rip-off boards as well as other German Shepherd boards, filed against Julie Carroll Martinez and Mittelwest Kennels. We asked Grant about the complaints, but by this time, we knew the pups were coming home with us.

We took the pups to the vet the very next day, and both pups had parasites and worms. One of the pups, Rocco, was biting and scratching in the car on the way home from the kennel after purchase. He was diagnosed with a yeast infection, as well as a bacterial infection that he’s been fighting to this day. He scratches and bites his fur continuously, and when we informed Julie Carroll Martinez of Rocco’s issue, she didn’t want to be bothered and made the comment to us that it (Rocco’s problem) could be anything. Milo, his brother, had been healthy except for a yeast infection in his ear, which was successfully treated.

On June 11, 2012, Milo suddenly died after our daily evening walk. Needless to say, we were devastated by the loss of our 6 month-old puppy. We had a necropsy performed ($600) to determine Milo’s cause of death. Although the test came back inconclusive, it ruled out intestinal twisting, bloat and anything we could have been responsible for. Three DVM’s (our vet, the vet performing the necropsy, and the vet who examined the tissue) all stated the findings were
consistent with ventricular arrhythmia (sudden death heart attack).

We immediately sent the report to Julie Martinez as soon as we received it, expecting her to proactively replace the puppy. She said she would give us a $500 credit towards the purchase of a new puppy. Knowing that we were distressed and angry, she then countered with a $1000 credit towards a new puppy.

We had already spent thousands of dollars on the purchase of the puppies, $750 on the necropsy and cremation for Milo, and over $1000 in vet bills on Rocco, who is still suffering from an autoimmune issue.

At one point, after trading several e-mails with Julie Carroll Martinez, she knew we were very upset and concerned with Rocco’s well-being. She extended an offer for us to bring our family out to the kennel stating that we have all been through a loss like this and we all know how tragic it is. Even though we were very angry at Julie for being so insensitive, we thought it might be her way of offering some empathy, and we decided to ride out to the kennel (this was the night after Milo died). As we drove past their electric gate into the property and kennel, Julie was outside, and when she saw our car driving through the gate, she immediately went in the house, never to be seen again that evening, sending her boyfriend, Grant, to meet us over at the kennel.

Grant never once mentioned Milo’s name or uttered any words that he was sorry for our loss, nothing about Milo at all. He did, however, go into the kennel and bring out three different puppies, telling us to take each one for a walk with Rocco. We were completely blown away at the lack of sensitivity and professionalism on both their parts, as it was Julie who invited us out to the kennel in the first place, and she never left the house to come out to talk with us or even offer us any condolences.

After this incident, we told Julie we would like a refund based on the fact that she sold us two unhealthy puppies, one of which is now dead. Julie’s response was “We cannot replace every dog who has died that we have sold.” Well, our puppy, Milo, was only 6-1/2 months old, and our other puppy, Rocco, has had health issues since the night we brought him home.

Unfortunately, after the fact, we have talked with other people that have had similar experiences with Julie Carroll Martinez and Mittelwest Kennels. This has been a tragic experience for our family and the surviving pup, Rocco.

Please do your research and Google Mittelwest Kennels and Julie Carroll Martinez complaints. Check out postings on germanshepherd.com/forum AND pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/forum.html before you consider purchasing a dog from Julie Carroll Martinez and Mittelwest Kennels.

If we can prevent one person from experiencing the heartache, upset and sadness we
experienced with Milo’s death, it will be well worth our time of writing this. We are happy to talk with anyone considering purchasing a puppy from Julie Carroll Martinez and Mittelwest Kennels, or we would happily talk with any owner of one of her unhealthy dogs that is afraid to come forward.

We strongly believe in ethical breeding and showing these beautiful animals for the love of the breed, the animal and the sport, but not solely for the love of money.