In March of 2014 I purchased a Briard puppy from a breeder by the name of Merry Jeanne Millner who lives in Monticello Ga. The cost of my puppy was $2000. And I paid for my puppy at the time I picked him up in Maryland at the home of of a woman by the name of Karen Fedi...who was also a co owner of the litter.
I named my puppy Ben. He was the cutest little thing ever! I had picked out his name long before I ever brought him home. About 2 or 3 months after I got him, I started a facebook page for him. I would post picture of him and video of him for people to see. The breeder, Merry Jeanne Millner joined Ben's facebook page so that she could watch his progess and see him grow.
I live at the beach, so Ben and I were constantly going on long walks at the beach and having a wonderful life together. He was my constant companion, my constant protector, and I was his constant love. It was truly an ideal life for him and for me.
When Ben was about 18 months old, the first mention of him becoming a show dog started to take shape in the form of emails that Merry Jeanne Millner would send to me. She wanted to show my dog Ben. Later on...a few months later, Merry Jeanne send Karen Fedi here to my house to see Ben...take a look at him to see if he would be a prospect for campaigning and showing at dog shows.
After Karen Fedi's visit. Merry Jeanne began asking me if I would allow Ben to go with her dog show handler, Joan Scott for a few months to see if they could show him. I agreed to let him go because I knew he was a beautiful dog and I trusted that Merry Jeanne Millner and her handler Joan Scott would take care of my baby boy. But I was wrong.
Joan Scott came here to meet me and Ben in April of 2016. She saw that Ben was a stable adaptable dog in my presence. She saw that he was beautiful and happy. She wanted to take him with her to try and get him in the show ring to campaign him as a Special...once she put a championship title on him.
Ben had a sister named Tipsy who had been living in Joan's kennel since Tipsy was a little puppy. She was shy, didn't have a good coat, and just looked sad. Merry Jeanne offered to leave Tipsy with me to keep me company, while Ben would be staying with Joan Scott. I agreed to take her and was happy to have her.
Tipsy and I bonded from day one! She loved loved loved me...I can't expain how much she loved me! She loved the beach as much as Ben did. And she became a confident happy, social out going Briard only after a few weeks of being here with me. She was truly home!
About 10 days into Ben's stay at Joan Scott's kennel in Maryland, (Foxfire Kennel)things began to unravel. Ben was not doing well at Joan's kennel and I wanted to come and pick him up. But Merry Jeanne and Joan continued to try and convince me that Ben needed more time there to work through some of the issues that were starting to happen. I reluctantly agreed. But I would check on him every day.
Within a couple of weeks things seemed to get better. But then, the situation once again took a turn for the worst when Joan Scott tired to give Ben a bath. He had never gotten into a tall tub before. And it scared him. He growled at one of the kennel helpers. But he did not bite anyone.
Once again after the bath incident, I wanted to drive and get him. But Merry Jeanne Millner and Joan Scott told me that there was progress and I needed to let him stay longer. So, I once again agreed.
This report is very traumatic to write, so I'm going to fast forward through some of it and get the the point as painlessly as I can. On June 21st 2016, I received a call from Merry Jeanne Millner that there was a problem with Ben.
I had asked Merry Jeanne Millner and Joan Scott not to take Ben to the vet unless they called me first. because Ben had just had a very traumatic experience at an emergencey vey clinic only a few weeks before he left to go to Joan Scott's kennel. He lost his front due claw playing fectch and it was a very painful injury. So, he did not like going to vet at that time period after his experience at the emergency vet clinic.
Joan Scott didn't honor my wishes, and neither Merry Jeanne nor Joan Scott alerted me to the fact that they were going to take Ben to the vet for grooming. Joan Scott gave Ben a sedative to calm his nerves. But the sedative had a counter affect on Ben and made him very disoriented.
When Joan Scott was trying to put Ben in her van in a crate Ben grabbed her sweatshirt and caught some of her skin. The grab broke the skin but Joan did not require any medical attention or stitches. By the time Joan reached the vet clinic Ben was so disoriented and traumatized that he began growling at the vet staff.
Joan Scott and Merry Jeanne Millner decided that Ben should be euthanized. When Merry Jeanne Millner called me to say that they had a problem with Ben, she wanted me to agree to allow them to euthanize Ben. There was no clear reason or explantion as to the why. No one had been attacked. No one had been seriously injured. And my dog Ben was not sick.
I told Merry Jeanne that in my gut I knew that it was the wrong decision and that I didn't think it was right. I told her I had to get off the phone...that I was too upset at that moment to talk about it. Instead of waiting to talk with me further, instead of waiting to make a decision with me...the owner. I mean...what was the hurry—right? No one was in danger, Ben was not sick and there was no need to rush to a judgment.
But what Merry Jeanne Millner and Joan Scott did next will forever haunt me...and I will be forever traumatized because if it. Merry Jeanne Millner and Joan Scott together, lied to the vet clinic and told them that they co owned Ben. That allowed the vet clinic euthanize my dog...my precious Ben without my consent.
About an hour after my conversation with Merry Jeanne Millner, Ben was killed by Merry Jeanne Millner and Joan Scott. They gave the go ahead for the vet clinic to kill my dog. I received a facebook message that Ben had been euthanized.
There are no words to articulate how this traumatic experience still affects me to this day. But it does get worse. Tipsy was still with me during all of this time. She was so so happy and doing so wonderfully. I asked if I could keep Tipsy and Merry Jeanne told me that I could if I would agree to bring Tipsy to some dog shows so that Merry Jeanne and Joan Scott could finish Tipsy's championship. I agreed to do that.
Tipsy had not been going to dog shows for quite a while prior to being with me becasue her coat had stopped growing and she was not in good enough coat to be shown until she came to live with me and I was able to nurture her in such a way that her coat just started to grow like crazy and she was then able to be shown.
For months, I traveled back and forth to dog shows with Tipsy, so that Merry Jeanne and Joan Scott could finish Tipsy's championship. I was keeping my end of the agreement. After the next to the last show I traveled to, Tipsy only lacked one point to finish her championship. So that meant, I had to travel to at least one more dog show.
At the last dog show I traveled to, I actually drove to Georgia to Merry Jeanne Millner's house and traveled with Merry Jeanne Millner in her cargo van with Tipsy and the other dogs. This road trip stressed Tipsy out. And about an hour after we arrived at the show site, Tipsy went into Bloat and had to have emergency surgery.
It was a very scary and stressful time. I lost an enormous amount of sleep. I was very worried about Tipsy, very stressed and scared of what might happen to her. She made it through the surgery and was healing as expected. So, after a two day stay at the emergency clinic, Tipsy was released. And Merry Jeanne MIllner had arranged for me and Tipsy to leave the dog show site the following morning.
But that night, after we went out to dinner, I began feeling sick. Merry Jeanne had been acting erraticlly after receiving a call from one of her other handlers...a woman by the name of Gretchen. Gretchen informed Merry Jeanne that she had forgotten to enter one of Merry Jeanne Millner's dogs named Starrina in the Briard Nationals dog shows. This news angered Merry Jeanne Millner to the point of literally erratic behavior.
Merry Jeanne Millner began crying uncontrollablly, and yelling that "no one cares about our breed." She was hitting the van passenger window so hard I thought she might break her arm. Her anger continued for hours. When we returned back at the hotel, I was continuing to feel worse as time passed that night. In the middle of the night, I got up and went downstairs to the lobby to use the bathroom because my stomach was so upset I was to embarrassed to use the hotel room bathroom. The stress of the entire situation was getting to me.
When I get really stressed and I lose alot of sleep, I suffer from panic attacks and really bad anxiety. If I get in a car or have to ride in a car when I am suffering from this conditon it makes the panic attacks worse. I knew I needed to get some rest before I made that trip back to Georgia. And I also thought it would be best for Tipsy to rest for another day before she had to make such a long ride again...given that the stress of the ride in a strange van is what caused the Bloat in the fist place.
But Merry Jeanne Millner wanted me and Tipsy to leave the dog show site becasue she wanted to concentrate on the dog shows and she didn't want to be bothered by me and Tipsy. She was still in a very very angry erratic state of mind. And when I told Merry Jeanne Millner that I was sick, that I didn't think Icould make the drive back to Georgia, and that I wanted me and Tipsy to rest another night in the hotel room before we made the trip, Merry Jeanne Millner literally lost her mind in the hotel room and began screaming and yelling at me.
Merry Jeanne screamed at me and said that if I didn't agree to leave the dog show site with Tipsy, that she was going to take Tipsy away from me. I again made my plea that I was really really sick and needed to rest and that I thought Tipsy needed to rest for another day as well. But this plea only angered Merry Jeanne Millner more.
Tipsy needed to go outside to use the bathroom. I was putting on the leash for Tipsy to take her out as Merry Jeanne Millner was standing in the floor screaming at me. When she saw that I was going to take Tipsy out to the bathroom, Merry Jeanne Millner pushed me and grabbed Tipsy's leashing,saying "I'll take her out!"
Merry Jeanne Millner pulled Tipsy to the door and left the hotel room. She didn't come back inside for what should have been a bathroom break for Tipsy. So, I called Merry Jeanne Millner's phone. Merry Jeanne Millner sent a text message that she and Tipsy were at the dog show site and If I wanted Tipsy back I had to agree to leave the dog show site on that morning as planned.
I said I would agree to leave. And the woman who was supposed to drive me and Tipsy back to Geogia was a woman by the name of Joanne. She was a friend of Merry Jeanne Millner's. Joanne was supposed to come to the hotel room to pick us up. And Merry Jeanne was supposed to drive back to the hotel to drop off Tipsy at the same time Joanne had planned to arrive at the hotel.
When Merry Jeanne Millner arrived back at the hotel, She jumped out of her van and stormed over to Joanne's car where I was sitting in the passenger's seat. She began once again screamng at me and asking me why I had sent a text message to someone else talking about her. The text message Merry Jeanne was referring to was a text message I was sending to a friend explaining the ordeal that was taking place with Merry Jeanne at the dog show, and I was explaining how sick I was and that Merry Jeanne was forcing me to leave with Tipsy regardless of my health and Tipsy's health or that she wouldn't bring Tipsy back to me if I didn't agree to leave.
I accidenly sent the text message that was meant to go to my friend, to Merry Jeanne Millner instead. And this escalated Merry Jeanne Millner's anger in such a way that she was out of her mind! She was angry because I was talking about her to my friend. Regardless of my pleas and those of her friend Joanne's to give Tipsy to us, Merry Jeanne Millner refused.
Merry Jeanne Millner got into her van, locked the doors on the van and would not let me have Tipsy. She drove off and I never saw Tipsy again. I sent emails to her for over a months but she still would not respond or agree to give Tipsy back to me. I eventually filed a police report. The detective and the DA's office both knew and agreed that Merry Jeanne Millner had stolen Tipsy from me. But because the Millner's have a lot of money, the DA's office felt that they would just lawyer up and it would not go anywere. So, the dective told me—that because this was a dog—and even though he was a dog lover and totally understood my pain, the DA's office had to look at the situation and weigh their decision on the outcome of a prosecution based on the money of the Millner's and situation itself.
The last time I saw Tipsy was on August 18th 2017. And I was told by one of Merry Jeanne Millner's friends that Tipsy died about 8 months after she was stolen from me. I have no way of knowing for sure if this is true. But the source who told me is a trusted source, and I believe them.
To this day, Merry Jeanne Millner continues to harass me, stalk me on the internet, and slander my name within the Briard community. She has done irreparable damage to my reputation and she has refused to take responsiblily for her actions against me and against both of my dogs...Ben and Tipsy.
Merry Jeanne Millner is a breeder to stay away from. If you are looking to buy a Briard please please please choose someone else besides Merry Jeanne Millner and Sendero Briards!
I never received a refund on the cost of my dog Ben. Nor have I received any compensation for the loss of Ben, the loss of Tipsy or the damage to my reputation caused by Merry Jeanne Millner.
Sendero Briards Reviews
In March of 2014 I purchased a Briard puppy from a breeder by the name of Merry Jeanne Millner who lives in Monticello Ga. The cost of my puppy was $2000. And I paid for my puppy at the time I picked him up in Maryland at the home of of a woman by the name of Karen Fedi...who was also a co owner of the litter.
I named my puppy Ben. He was the cutest little thing ever! I had picked out his name long before I ever brought him home. About 2 or 3 months after I got him, I started a facebook page for him. I would post picture of him and video of him for people to see. The breeder, Merry Jeanne Millner joined Ben's facebook page so that she could watch his progess and see him grow.
I live at the beach, so Ben and I were constantly going on long walks at the beach and having a wonderful life together. He was my constant companion, my constant protector, and I was his constant love. It was truly an ideal life for him and for me.
When Ben was about 18 months old, the first mention of him becoming a show dog started to take shape in the form of emails that Merry Jeanne Millner would send to me. She wanted to show my dog Ben. Later on...a few months later, Merry Jeanne send Karen Fedi here to my house to see Ben...take a look at him to see if he would be a prospect for campaigning and showing at dog shows.
After Karen Fedi's visit. Merry Jeanne began asking me if I would allow Ben to go with her dog show handler, Joan Scott for a few months to see if they could show him. I agreed to let him go because I knew he was a beautiful dog and I trusted that Merry Jeanne Millner and her handler Joan Scott would take care of my baby boy. But I was wrong.
Joan Scott came here to meet me and Ben in April of 2016. She saw that Ben was a stable adaptable dog in my presence. She saw that he was beautiful and happy. She wanted to take him with her to try and get him in the show ring to campaign him as a Special...once she put a championship title on him.
Ben had a sister named Tipsy who had been living in Joan's kennel since Tipsy was a little puppy. She was shy, didn't have a good coat, and just looked sad. Merry Jeanne offered to leave Tipsy with me to keep me company, while Ben would be staying with Joan Scott. I agreed to take her and was happy to have her.
Tipsy and I bonded from day one! She loved loved loved me...I can't expain how much she loved me! She loved the beach as much as Ben did. And she became a confident happy, social out going Briard only after a few weeks of being here with me. She was truly home!
About 10 days into Ben's stay at Joan Scott's kennel in Maryland, (Foxfire Kennel)things began to unravel. Ben was not doing well at Joan's kennel and I wanted to come and pick him up. But Merry Jeanne and Joan continued to try and convince me that Ben needed more time there to work through some of the issues that were starting to happen. I reluctantly agreed. But I would check on him every day.
Within a couple of weeks things seemed to get better. But then, the situation once again took a turn for the worst when Joan Scott tired to give Ben a bath. He had never gotten into a tall tub before. And it scared him. He growled at one of the kennel helpers. But he did not bite anyone.
Once again after the bath incident, I wanted to drive and get him. But Merry Jeanne Millner and Joan Scott told me that there was progress and I needed to let him stay longer. So, I once again agreed.
This report is very traumatic to write, so I'm going to fast forward through some of it and get the the point as painlessly as I can. On June 21st 2016, I received a call from Merry Jeanne Millner that there was a problem with Ben.
I had asked Merry Jeanne Millner and Joan Scott not to take Ben to the vet unless they called me first. because Ben had just had a very traumatic experience at an emergencey vey clinic only a few weeks before he left to go to Joan Scott's kennel. He lost his front due claw playing fectch and it was a very painful injury. So, he did not like going to vet at that time period after his experience at the emergency vet clinic.
Joan Scott didn't honor my wishes, and neither Merry Jeanne nor Joan Scott alerted me to the fact that they were going to take Ben to the vet for grooming. Joan Scott gave Ben a sedative to calm his nerves. But the sedative had a counter affect on Ben and made him very disoriented.
When Joan Scott was trying to put Ben in her van in a crate Ben grabbed her sweatshirt and caught some of her skin. The grab broke the skin but Joan did not require any medical attention or stitches. By the time Joan reached the vet clinic Ben was so disoriented and traumatized that he began growling at the vet staff.
Joan Scott and Merry Jeanne Millner decided that Ben should be euthanized. When Merry Jeanne Millner called me to say that they had a problem with Ben, she wanted me to agree to allow them to euthanize Ben. There was no clear reason or explantion as to the why. No one had been attacked. No one had been seriously injured. And my dog Ben was not sick.
I told Merry Jeanne that in my gut I knew that it was the wrong decision and that I didn't think it was right. I told her I had to get off the phone...that I was too upset at that moment to talk about it. Instead of waiting to talk with me further, instead of waiting to make a decision with me...the owner. I mean...what was the hurry—right? No one was in danger, Ben was not sick and there was no need to rush to a judgment.
But what Merry Jeanne Millner and Joan Scott did next will forever haunt me...and I will be forever traumatized because if it. Merry Jeanne Millner and Joan Scott together, lied to the vet clinic and told them that they co owned Ben. That allowed the vet clinic euthanize my dog...my precious Ben without my consent.
About an hour after my conversation with Merry Jeanne Millner, Ben was killed by Merry Jeanne Millner and Joan Scott. They gave the go ahead for the vet clinic to kill my dog. I received a facebook message that Ben had been euthanized.
There are no words to articulate how this traumatic experience still affects me to this day. But it does get worse. Tipsy was still with me during all of this time. She was so so happy and doing so wonderfully. I asked if I could keep Tipsy and Merry Jeanne told me that I could if I would agree to bring Tipsy to some dog shows so that Merry Jeanne and Joan Scott could finish Tipsy's championship. I agreed to do that.
Tipsy had not been going to dog shows for quite a while prior to being with me becasue her coat had stopped growing and she was not in good enough coat to be shown until she came to live with me and I was able to nurture her in such a way that her coat just started to grow like crazy and she was then able to be shown.
For months, I traveled back and forth to dog shows with Tipsy, so that Merry Jeanne and Joan Scott could finish Tipsy's championship. I was keeping my end of the agreement. After the next to the last show I traveled to, Tipsy only lacked one point to finish her championship. So that meant, I had to travel to at least one more dog show.
At the last dog show I traveled to, I actually drove to Georgia to Merry Jeanne Millner's house and traveled with Merry Jeanne Millner in her cargo van with Tipsy and the other dogs. This road trip stressed Tipsy out. And about an hour after we arrived at the show site, Tipsy went into Bloat and had to have emergency surgery.
It was a very scary and stressful time. I lost an enormous amount of sleep. I was very worried about Tipsy, very stressed and scared of what might happen to her. She made it through the surgery and was healing as expected. So, after a two day stay at the emergency clinic, Tipsy was released. And Merry Jeanne MIllner had arranged for me and Tipsy to leave the dog show site the following morning.
But that night, after we went out to dinner, I began feeling sick. Merry Jeanne had been acting erraticlly after receiving a call from one of her other handlers...a woman by the name of Gretchen. Gretchen informed Merry Jeanne that she had forgotten to enter one of Merry Jeanne Millner's dogs named Starrina in the Briard Nationals dog shows. This news angered Merry Jeanne Millner to the point of literally erratic behavior.
Merry Jeanne Millner began crying uncontrollablly, and yelling that "no one cares about our breed." She was hitting the van passenger window so hard I thought she might break her arm. Her anger continued for hours. When we returned back at the hotel, I was continuing to feel worse as time passed that night. In the middle of the night, I got up and went downstairs to the lobby to use the bathroom because my stomach was so upset I was to embarrassed to use the hotel room bathroom. The stress of the entire situation was getting to me.
When I get really stressed and I lose alot of sleep, I suffer from panic attacks and really bad anxiety. If I get in a car or have to ride in a car when I am suffering from this conditon it makes the panic attacks worse. I knew I needed to get some rest before I made that trip back to Georgia. And I also thought it would be best for Tipsy to rest for another day before she had to make such a long ride again...given that the stress of the ride in a strange van is what caused the Bloat in the fist place.
But Merry Jeanne Millner wanted me and Tipsy to leave the dog show site becasue she wanted to concentrate on the dog shows and she didn't want to be bothered by me and Tipsy. She was still in a very very angry erratic state of mind. And when I told Merry Jeanne Millner that I was sick, that I didn't think Icould make the drive back to Georgia, and that I wanted me and Tipsy to rest another night in the hotel room before we made the trip, Merry Jeanne Millner literally lost her mind in the hotel room and began screaming and yelling at me.
Merry Jeanne screamed at me and said that if I didn't agree to leave the dog show site with Tipsy, that she was going to take Tipsy away from me. I again made my plea that I was really really sick and needed to rest and that I thought Tipsy needed to rest for another day as well. But this plea only angered Merry Jeanne Millner more.
Tipsy needed to go outside to use the bathroom. I was putting on the leash for Tipsy to take her out as Merry Jeanne Millner was standing in the floor screaming at me. When she saw that I was going to take Tipsy out to the bathroom, Merry Jeanne Millner pushed me and grabbed Tipsy's leashing,saying "I'll take her out!"
Merry Jeanne Millner pulled Tipsy to the door and left the hotel room. She didn't come back inside for what should have been a bathroom break for Tipsy. So, I called Merry Jeanne Millner's phone. Merry Jeanne Millner sent a text message that she and Tipsy were at the dog show site and If I wanted Tipsy back I had to agree to leave the dog show site on that morning as planned.
I said I would agree to leave. And the woman who was supposed to drive me and Tipsy back to Geogia was a woman by the name of Joanne. She was a friend of Merry Jeanne Millner's. Joanne was supposed to come to the hotel room to pick us up. And Merry Jeanne was supposed to drive back to the hotel to drop off Tipsy at the same time Joanne had planned to arrive at the hotel.
When Merry Jeanne Millner arrived back at the hotel, She jumped out of her van and stormed over to Joanne's car where I was sitting in the passenger's seat. She began once again screamng at me and asking me why I had sent a text message to someone else talking about her. The text message Merry Jeanne was referring to was a text message I was sending to a friend explaining the ordeal that was taking place with Merry Jeanne at the dog show, and I was explaining how sick I was and that Merry Jeanne was forcing me to leave with Tipsy regardless of my health and Tipsy's health or that she wouldn't bring Tipsy back to me if I didn't agree to leave.
I accidenly sent the text message that was meant to go to my friend, to Merry Jeanne Millner instead. And this escalated Merry Jeanne Millner's anger in such a way that she was out of her mind! She was angry because I was talking about her to my friend. Regardless of my pleas and those of her friend Joanne's to give Tipsy to us, Merry Jeanne Millner refused.
Merry Jeanne Millner got into her van, locked the doors on the van and would not let me have Tipsy. She drove off and I never saw Tipsy again. I sent emails to her for over a months but she still would not respond or agree to give Tipsy back to me. I eventually filed a police report. The detective and the DA's office both knew and agreed that Merry Jeanne Millner had stolen Tipsy from me. But because the Millner's have a lot of money, the DA's office felt that they would just lawyer up and it would not go anywere. So, the dective told me—that because this was a dog—and even though he was a dog lover and totally understood my pain, the DA's office had to look at the situation and weigh their decision on the outcome of a prosecution based on the money of the Millner's and situation itself.
The last time I saw Tipsy was on August 18th 2017. And I was told by one of Merry Jeanne Millner's friends that Tipsy died about 8 months after she was stolen from me. I have no way of knowing for sure if this is true. But the source who told me is a trusted source, and I believe them.
To this day, Merry Jeanne Millner continues to harass me, stalk me on the internet, and slander my name within the Briard community. She has done irreparable damage to my reputation and she has refused to take responsiblily for her actions against me and against both of my dogs...Ben and Tipsy.
Merry Jeanne Millner is a breeder to stay away from. If you are looking to buy a Briard please please please choose someone else besides Merry Jeanne Millner and Sendero Briards!
I never received a refund on the cost of my dog Ben. Nor have I received any compensation for the loss of Ben, the loss of Tipsy or the damage to my reputation caused by Merry Jeanne Millner.