Baxter Family Pugs

The owner has been nothing but upfront with us and their concern of the pugs and their babies is genuine. Refreshing to find someone with her honesty and concern. We are so thankful to have found them.

On 10/29/19 I contacted Vickie D. Baxter (formerly Pait and Canales) of Baxter Family Pugs on her website which I found on the AKC site as an advertised breeder as well as finding her Facebook website. She informed me she had a litter due in December 2019 and through our conversation via email, she produced a contact for me to sign with $100.00 deposit to be paid via PayPal. The contact states cash only is accepted for the remaining $1,100.00 due at pickup. Carrying that much cash around a stranger is dangerous no matter how many times you talk, text or if you meet in public. If the issue is transaction fees, she should raise the price to cover those costs. Using a bank encourages transparency and safety for both the consumer and business.

We exchanged messages back and forth from 12/26 to 1/30 on a near daily basis, including while I was out of the country for a few weeks. I shared these pictures with my family, friends, and continued a dialogue with her about preparations for the puppy to join our family. On 1/31, she sent a long and usual message indicating she had fears of me dumping the puppy, leaving it in a crate all day, and if I was aware puppies pottied and needed time, love, and attention. It was full of grammatical errors and seemed to be written with emotion and haste. She stated we never visited via phone unlike other buyers. This was not a condition in her contract. Since we communicated almost daily since the puppy was born, she gained my trust. I said I would be glad to visit with her and we spoke for 30 minutes. It was my opinion she seemed comfortable with me and my questions about food, protection from parvo, vaccinations, and a general conversation of getting familiar with one another. I informed her my partner works from home, so our pup would not be crated often and would have freedom and companionship daily including traveling with us instead of being boarded at a vet. I had a witness to the full conversation present. I told her if it was developmentally appropriate, he could stay with the mother another week. She repeatedly apologized for offending me. I was not offended but refused to provide her with the validation she was seeking. I knew what she was doing.

Within 12 hours of our phone conversation, she indicated she had "prayed about it" and that I was the wrong owner and that I needed to do more breed research, something she never cared to ask me in our phone conversation. Baxter Family Pugs Facebook page posted the dog as resold with the sibling at 2:35pm the day after she broke contract. If she would have expressed interest in having the puppy join its sibling, I would have respected that. I suspect the deal to sell the puppies as a package had already been made when she sent the long text, but of course do not have a way to fully confirm. I'm basing my suspicion on the timeline. She has every right to break her word; however, here are my recommendations to you as a potential consumer.

The state of Oklahoma operates oscn.net so consumers can search public court records. Look for the last names Pait and Baxter, review the records, and formulate your own opinion. Then ask yourself why the only traceable source of income going to a PayPal account is not in her name. I believe the operation is not in Checotah since a process server served her with legal documents in early 2019 at a different address. Apple tags her puppy pictures to Council Hill, Oklahoma. It is not too far away, but the emerging theme is a lack of transparency. She became hostile when I informed her I would be in contact with my attorney. She told me to use the attorney of my abusive ex-spouse who is incarcerated for corruption and mocked me as a victim of domestic violence. Think about the character of a person who mocks domestic violence. My attorney encouraged me to inform the public about my experience differentiating fact and my opinion as well as the American Kennel Association, among others. John and Vicky Baxter recently emailed asking me to â??cease and desistâ? from slandering them (they meant libel, slander is verbal) and that â??the law is on our sideâ? to silence me. I had to have my attorney contact them directly to address the fact they are seeking to silence public knowledge of her actions outside of her controlled platforms and attempting to place a chilling effect on public discourse.

According to the AKC, they are not affiliated with and do not license or endorse any breeders. The state of Oklahoma only regulates breeders with 12 or more females. It appears Ms. Baxter only owns 11 females. 2/13/20 was the first time I saw a review outside of a controlled platform praising them as breeders. That satisfied customer also tagged my name to my place of employment attempting to undermine my professional competence the same day on the same platform. I do not think those two things are a coincidence. I think they are retaliation. Ask yourself why there is no Google review page. Ask her for customer references and veterinarian contact information to confirm care visits. Contact the Oklahoma Secretary of Stateâ??s office to try and find Baxter Family Pugs as a registered business. I could not find it or any other active LLC she is operating under. On its face, the operation was heavily insulated from any form of unrestrained public discourse until this month.

I believe she intentionally tried to hurt me as much as possible to sell the dog as a package to another customer and sent emails this week to silence me from engaging in my constitutional right to free speech to inform the public of my experience. I believe she thought bringing up my ex-husbandâ??s public corruption case would embarrass and silence me. She was wrong. The retaliation I have experienced for speaking out this week is chilling to say the least. Thankfully, there are many options when looking for a quality breeder. Next time, I will look for a breeder who has been in business for at least 15 years participating in AKC events, clubs, and competitions. This provides a level of scrutiny this breeder simply cannot withstand. It is not necessary to have champion bloodlines or compete in AKC events, but it does shed sunlight on people. Most pugs are more expensive than Vickie Baxterâ??s. I realize now it is well worth it to save a bit more for a different experience. I would not wish for anyone to have the experience I have had with Vicky and John Baxter/Baxter Family Pugs. At a minimum, ask for references, complete a background check on your breeder, and pause for thought if you see something unusual such as demands for large sums of cash in lieu of traditional banking practices.