hickory hills kennel {mearle craine}

[271rockridge]

I have been wanting to post on here for a while about Merle Crain but didnt want to start no trouble but since some body else started it here goes .I bought my first dog from him in 1998 and she was a good one then went to buy another one JUNK! no money back policy trade out for another JUNK! after more than a few trips to Illinois got another good one.Time went by thought I would try again I guess I am slow learner bought another JUNK! back to Illinois swap out a few more and with some extra money got another good one.Some of the ones I took back had heart worms one had Erlichia(may be spelled wrong) and its no wonder his kennels look like they were cleaned maybe once a week dog crap every where.In his add he used to say we feed Black Gold well one time when I was there they were eating glazed doughnuts out of a cardboard barrel with the bottom cut out.another time all the water buckets were froze over the dogs was licking ice he gets a hatchet and busts the water for pigeons and geese and lets the dogs lick ice.I seen some things that were so bad I wont even post them as of right now I have been waiting over 5 years for the right dog to replace the last ones I took back.I am going to quit now my blood pressure is climbing and making me want to head for Illinois Terry Gray

[blackdirt beagles]

im in the northern 1/3 of illinois and no one around here buys from him... bad reputation the last few years.

[les guynn]

YES I SAID PUPPY MILL. I said this because in the begining i did see some very impresive dogs from the crain kenel in this area of westernmaryland running in litle pack trials, rick hartman, tom kitzmeler,brian haywood, thes 3 gentleman had some dogs that could run a rabbit back in 1992 and years after all crains. I have had beagles since i was 7 years old the first one was a male out of pearson creek line,i am now 62 years old so i no a little bit about dogs but i still learn some things at every hunt i go to. just sit and listen to the talk of other houndsman. If MR. CRAIN, would have kept what he had he would still be a top breeder, but he did not do this he started breeding to sell puppies and that was when he got in trouble with AKC the only real dog register out their and some times they make mistakes but not that often. SORRY but Mr Crain is not alone, just watch this board. I am not a whiner, but i will say what i think, until proven wrong. GOD BLESS

[kenjames]

Mr. Davis, I agree with your post completely. That has happened to alot of people. It is a sad time when it is more about the MONEY than quality dogs and not every pup of any kind of bloodline is going to turn out to make good dogs. I give away dogs that do not fit my expectations and some of them are good dogs to some people ,but not me. As a matter of fact I have one I am going to give away now. He doesn't handle well and is ill around other dogs. He is a pretty dog 11mos old .

[PREACHERS,KENNEL]

ole merle got me about 6 yrs ago. once hes got you and he knows he has become hard to get ahold of and you aint getting no money back. KEEP THIS WORD OUT ON HIM AS HE IS A CROOK!

[catfish hunter]

another thing that happened ,I forgot .I used a dog hauler last time ,she wanted a clean health bill ,he gave her one and it wasnt till later that she found out it was fake .

[Duke]

Oh about 6 or 7 years ago I went out to Hickory Hills Kennels. It was quite a drive for me, but his add was compelling. I went out after talking to Merle as he said he had just what I wanted. When I got there we talked a bit in front of his rusty World Hunt Trophy and then went to look at his hounds. I should have left then, every hound was standing is 2 to 4 inches of feces. He let me pick several hounds to run and I did, I watched them all and finally after about 2 hours picked a little red gyp. To be honest I felt it was almost a rescue. She was not in great condition but she ran much better than the others. He didnt want to get rid of her, but thats the one I wanted. I got back to his trophy room and he looked through a stack of about 50 papers and you could tell he was just trying to find something that was close.

When I went back to get the gyp out of the kennel there was one hound crapping out a bunch of worms. I pointed it out to Merle who said he would be on his normal worming routine in a few days. I almost left her, but she was a decent hound and I just didnt want to leave her. I took her home, she was sick for a week but I nursed her back to good health. She was a good jump dog and had decent hunt, but she was not quite up to the caliber of hounds I run. I gave her to a friend who gun hunts and he has had her ever since........she is a house dog and pet now. It made him and his family very happy. So as with every dark cloud you can find a silver lining.

That was quite some time ago, I never thought Merle would still be selling hounds.....his kennel was a disgrace and yes if you had to label something as a puppy mill this was it. He has no idea of what is breeding what and the hounds are very poorly cared for. This is not conjecture, this is from first hand observation. I was my choice to still purchase a hound from him. While it ended up great for that hound and my friend, I am as guilty as Merle for buying a hound from him and allowing him to profit from his "kennel". I never looked at it like that then, but I see now that a guy like that stays in buisness because guys like me didnt have the sense to tell him to pound salt. But I have learned a lot from that day...........doesnt seem Merle has, but he has to have buyers to stay in buisness.

[R.W.Hawk]

Just curious about something , Catfish states he's been buying dogs from this guy since 1998 , thats eleven years where I went to school, and 1rockridge says his family has been buying dogs from Craine for 20 years. My question is, has Mr Craine just now become a crook, or are these fellas slow learners?

[Alabama John]

Good Customers!

[catfish hunter]

Just curious about something , Catfish states he's been buying dogs from this guy since 1998 , thats eleven years where I went to school, and 1rockridge says his family has been buying dogs from Craine for 20 years. My question is, has Mr Craine just now become a crook, or are these fellas slow learners?

we been buyin dogs since the late 80's from him ,his dogs used to be good .I guess some people get to involved w/ the money part of things and forget about how they are screwing others,or they just dont care.I come home from work everyday wondering if my 3 year old dog is dead . I am now faced w/ the decion of what to do w/ this hound that I have grown fond of .

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Dog dealer,dog trader,dog jockey,dog swapper,puppy factory,etc.,etc.
Caveat emptor [let the buyer beware ]!

[golden acres]

If you want to see the oposite of Merle Craine is Dale larsen. His kennels is clean and as organized as a Business office. Records are unbelievable. Large pens. I have seen 100 dogs at his home with no odor what so ever. Water facet at each pen. Brood houses and a nice running pen to boot. I have no dogs from Dales but his set up is A1 shape. For Merle I went down there in about 1997 while on the way back from The Ill State hunt and got back in the truck before something attached itself to my boots was discusting.

[Craig]

This is all a shame to hear, he has had a ton of great dogs and is one of the godfathers of the ARHA. Maybe it's time to retire?