Marble Mountain Kennels

Over 10 years ago I saw your lack of character. I use to train a few of your Labs. I saw first hand back then in how filthy your facilities were. Perhaps improved? I stayed there one Easter week 10 years ago. I cleaned out the 2 turn out areas my dogs were in, 5 dogs per large dirt area (large enough for a horse). I cleaned out 18 extra large trash bags full of dog poop. My dogs had only been there for 5 days...it was gross how much old poop. I loaded the bags onto the back end of his dog box trailer. He was upset I did the clean up and told me to get rid of the bags somehow but he was not taking to the dump. I stopped doing business with him. A month later, he had a potential buyer of one of his Labs call me for a reference in opinion on how his dog, Lake was in hunting. I shared my opinion which was all positive. I then called Pete to inquire about my industry standard spiff in selling the dog, I was told to pound sand. Again, another sign of lack of character. I sent him invoices for the commission in helping selling the dog, still no response which I was not surprised. One night 10 years ago when I stayed there on a visit, he had a female due to whelp puppies and he went to bed. I inquired if he was going to watch the Mom or did he want me to watch her overnight. His response, 'If they live they live, if they die they die'. I would pass a lie detector test. I would still appreciate my spiff Pete, where is it?

Pete was incredibly difficult to work with and insensitive for the entire 3 months I was in communication with him. 1) On all of the emails with pick-up information, Pete included all of my personal and private billing information. When I responded and asked him not to share this information, he agreed, yet it was still in the next group email sent to at least 7 strangers. 2) I picked up my puppy in early May, and the night I got her home she was throwing up, had bloody diarrhea, and wouldn't eat or drink. I called Pete (per his instructions when I picked the puppy up to call if anything was wrong) that night (on Saturday) and he didn't call me back until Monday morning. I found this disappointing, as he had explicitly said to notify him immediately if there were any concerns and yet he was impossible to contact. When he finally did call me Monday morning, he said he wasn't worried and tried to convince me not to go to the vet appointment I had made for the afternoon. I took her to the vet anyways, where she tested positive for parvo (which is life-threatening in puppies). According to the vet and the timeline of when she first had symptoms, she had been exposed to the virus while still in Pete's care. I had these results confirmed with a second vet as well. I then notified Pete that evening about the parvo diagnosis so that he could screen the other dogs that had been with my puppy and let her littermate's family know, as parvo is very contagious. Pete expressed no concern for my puppy when I told him and he literally said "I'm honestly not concerned about your puppy, I'm more concerned about mine who were around her, but there's no way she could have gotten parvo so I don't believe your vet." WHATTTT? From a supposed experienced breeder? I emailed my puppy's littermate's family a couple days later because I was worried Pete would not tell them about the probable parvo exposure, and sure enough, the family had not heard anything before I told them. 3) Two weeks after my puppy recovered from parvo, I rushed her to the emergency vet in the middle of the night because she was having trouble breathing, and she was diagnosed with heart failure due to multiple severe birth defects in her heart. I was given a prognosis of 3-6 more months with my puppy. She died one month later (she was only 4 months old). The fact that Pete clearly does not get his puppies checked by a vet prior to selling them is extremely irresponsible for a breeder. Once I had told him about the vet problems, he was very difficult to communicate with. I am a young woman in my 20s, and Pete clearly did not take me seriously- so much so that my dad had to work with him to try to get even a partial refund for the over $7,000 I spent on my puppy during the 2 months and 2 days that I had her. Pete did not fully cover the emergency vet costs. This has been an extremely emotional and difficult time when getting a puppy should have been a joy, and Pete made no effort to make the difficult prognoses any easier. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND AVOIDING PETE AND MMK AT ALL COSTS!

In June of last year, I decided to purchase another hunting dog. As I was then sixty-three, I assumed it would be my last and I didn’t want to make any mistakes. A friend referred me to Pete Morrill and Marble Mountain Kennels (“MMK”). He regrets that referral almost as much as I do.

I spoke with Pete several times, identified what I thought would be the best available litter, and paid a premium for a preferential selection. Upon purchasing the puppy (“Zoey”), I enrolled her in MMK’s Super Citizen program, which is supposed to include six weeks of training. Pete assured me that I would receive weekly videos demonstrating Zoey’s progress.

During the initial few weeks, I received no communication at all. When I inquired, Pete directed me to the “trainer”, who turned out to be Pete’s son. At the conclusion of the training program, I took possession of Zoey. She was emaciated and had suffered a severe injury to her paw. My veterinarian, upon initially seeing Zoey, identified her as a “rescue”.

Pete initially avoided my communications, but ultimately acknowledged the problems. He explained that Zoey was fed with several other dogs, resulting in her malnourished condition. He claimed he didn’t know anything about the paw. Given the lengthy period with no videos, I suspect Zoey was injured early in the training, which Pete chose not to disclose. Pete ultimately offered a refund or another dog. My family wouldn’t allow Zoey to be returned to MMK, so we accepted the refund. She has subsequently undergone surgery to remove one toe and repair another, which will hopefully mitigate, to some extent, the problems with her paw.

Zoey is a sweet dog, but she will never be the hunter I thought I was purchasing. In the end, our veterinarian was right – Zoey was a rescue. We rescued her from Pete Morrill and Marble Mountain Kennels.

If you need additional information regarding Marble Mountain Kennels, I would suggest you contact Siskiyou County Animal Control.

I just got a puppy from Marble Mountain, and I paid an extra $900.00 for the Super Citizen training, which we were told by the owner Peter Merrill, that it consisted of, basic training, sit, stay, no jumping, kennel, and basic house training, he said this to me & my children when we picked out our puppy, so now I pick her up after the training time, & she is sick with diahreah( which he did say that might happen) but she is obviously not trained in anything, well only sit, but any dog will sit if you have a treat in your hand, she jumps, doesn't stay, when I complained to him he now says he never told us housebreaking would be included. I have asked for a refund just for the training ,and he said no I can give my puppy back & choose another breeder! I love my puppy & do not want to give her back but I expected her to be trained. We paid a lot for this puppy and an extra $900.00 for absolutely nothing! He is not being reasonable or cooperating at all , & is now just ignoring my emails & calls. DO NOT GET A PUPPY FROM THIS BREEDER, HE DOESN"T BEHIND WHAT HE SAYS!