TIME FOR ME TO PUT IT OUT THERE-- the WHOLE TRUTH
Valid concerns have been raised here and in PMs. I have been reluctant to answer with the breeder's name or her kennel's name, thinking that she HAS gone out of business forever, but I have no way to know that this is true. She has lied about many things. Her lies have changed, depending on how disordered her thinking was on any given day.
I know that there are members here who have bought and raised her puppies and love them like their children. I also own two healthy Maltese from her and love them dearly. This does NOT negate the facts that I will attempt to reiterate here concisely. She did have good breeding stock for a long time and produced pretty dogs. She bought out a maltese breeder who started breeding yorkies.. THAT lady was the person who showed most of the dogs and attained champion titles. Not Claudia. She bought champion adults.
Her name is Claudia Graham. Husband and co-owner is Steve Graham. In the DFW metroplex suburbs. Kennel name is/ was Divinity Maltese.
I have had 2 people contact me from other states because their Divinity babies were dying from liver problems, They had read my posts when I first got my boys and had posted about how great Claudia was on another forum. Both of their dogs were adult dogs, and Claudia would not help them either. AND before ANYONE tries to say that she didn't have the money, let me tell you-- she had MANY young, healthy champion Maltese dogs which belonged to her at the time. She could have sold some and helped us. She could have bred the healthy ones and given us each a puppy. She did neither.
Yes, my dogs were beautiful beyond words and were very expensive considering what Divinity Maltese was. Over $2500 per male puppy. The other would be exceedingly beautiful if he had lived to grow up.. And we own an adult dog of Claudia's, a finished AKC champion, who had extreme behavioral problems related to her years spent in a cage, only able to use the bathroom on Claudia's schedule, having circling behaviors which are usually not able to be stopped.. She is now 4 years old, and is finally well- adjusted, will lie on her back for tummy rubs, will give kisses, does not circle, is so happy she jumps straight up off the floor with joy, and her big beautiful eyes show the utter thrill of truly LIVING again. We spent $2300 just to BUY her. Unspayed and 6 weeks post partum after her 3rd C Section at age 2. That poor pitiful baby girl needed us.. I wonder how many of the hoarded adults didn't fare as well...
I do not know if Claudia stopped her breeding or merely took "a break". There was a poster named "ShannonB" who is her daughter in law. Shanon and Claudia's son raise GSDs for profit. Shannon once let it slip that Claudia's sister has one of the dogs Claudia listed as "sold" on her website. I believe this particular dog would be too old to breed now, but many others, like about 10 females and at least 7 males would not be too old. The reason given publicly on the dog board for the " break" was that Shannon and hubby were having Claudia's first grandchild about a year ago.
Claudia did NOT have her dogs shown. She bought Champions. She had 2 dogs which she invested a year into getting champion status.. Nicky and Noelle. Brother and sister. She didn't like them at all after they returned to her off the show circuit. She told me as much.
This is a very disturbed person to hoard dogs in spare rooms behind closed doors with the blinds closed and an 8 foot solid fence. Prospective buyers were allowed to come inside a beautiful house..2 rooms of a beautiful house, that is.. And loud barking and howling could be heard throughout the rest of the house. It was never addressed. At one time on her website, she had over a dozen female breeders and 8 males at stud.. Yet, she didn't sell many puppies. She KEPT them.. to breed... it truly was a bad situation. She could not let go of her dogs and puppies until something bad started happening with the health of SOME of the dogs she had sold. Then she freaked. Said the ASPCA was going to get her. Said there were helicopters flying over, taking photos of all the dogs outdoors together. Said ehe was taking them outdoors in shifts. Was going to transfer ownership to Shannon and her husband for legal reasons.
We bought from Claudia based upon solid recommendations from vets we knew and trusted who owned her dogs. Before the hoarding and liver genetic problems showed up/ were known to US.
And most of all, before Claudia stopped honoring her part of the sales contract which said she would replace a sick puppy with a like quality and priced well puppy, or issue a refund. She did neither, and our little boy had 2 surgeries at Texas A and M, and months of expensive treatments. We did EVERYTHING POSSIBLE that would not cause him more pain ,according to his specilaists, to try and save him.
Every day is difficult without him. My living Maltese boy looks for his beloved little playmate, and my Maltese girl looks for the other little boy. I believe they are grieving. They can't understand, and part of me doesnt want them to ever forget him..
This is the whole truth. For those of you who own Claudia's dogs and think she is wonderful, I am sorry to tell the other side of the story but it needs to see the light of day as badly as most of her precious babies did, day in and day out. She abused those dogs through overcrowding and not being able to take care of them adequately due to the sheer number of them.
If you do not agree with me, I understand. I could not believe what I was seeing with the hoarding. I could not believe she would stop responding to me, her confidant of many months when she became paranoid about PETA and the ASPCA being after her.. It was her OWN guilt about the hoarding bothering her mind, not any animal rights group!!! She stopped all communication with me, changed email and phone numbers etc as soon as my baby's illness was diagnosed and I was panicking. Of course I turned to her. I had trusted her.
I hope there is a lesson here for someone other than just me. I was told she was great. There are posts here which say she is great, and that her dogs are great, beautiful, cared for in a private home setting ( understatement), etc.
Please learn from my experience. If you hear many dogs barking and crying behind closed doors of what is supposed to be a normal home with a few little dogs in it, GET OUT. Just say anything and get out.
I honestly do not know who to try to trust again to buy another little boy from. Remembering all that Claudia did which was good and kind when she had our business, then the craziness after that, and then the downright mean behavior.. it is scary to me. My dogs are my babies. They are treated with care, kindness, compassion, excellent regular vet care, healthy living conditions, even luxury living.. because they are LOVED.
Thank you.
k: :yield::wine:
