Castle Creek Cavaliers Temecula, California

It was 6 years ago that I bought my cavalier from this breeder. He was a healthy puppy until he wasn’t. At 2 years old, Miles lost his hearing progressively. He is now completely deaf. He also suffers from mild stroke which occurs in the morning. I am upset because the reason I decided to go to a breeder is to ensure of getting a healthy dog. I was willing to pay the high cost ($2600) for a healthy dog and that is not what I got. I love Miles to death and will ensure he is cared for for the rest of his life. However, this breeder should know that the breeding gene pool needs more variation. I would be cautious when dealing with this breeder.

I have been researching breeders for this particular breed. Her website is under construction so I called. Merle is very informative, knowledgeable and an expert regarding this breed. She took a lot of time with me. I cannot wait till be adopt our future member of our family!

We purchased a puppy from Castle Creek Cavaliers and we have had an excellent experience. From the initial meeting I was able to tell that Merle's top concern was placing the puppy in a good home. She has a very specific program and gives very specific rules about how to raise the puppy. We haven't had a puppy in a long time so it was nice to have those parameters and even though we didn't fully understand it all at the time she has turned out to be easily house trained and she is an amazing dog because of the set up Merle helped us institute. We met with Merle at her home and met some of her other dogs and puppies before we purchased. They are well groomed (a groomer truck was in the driveway for hours at one visit), well cared for, and it's clear to me that their health is Merle's primary concern. She spent hours with us discussion all of the breed and things we needed to do to be preventative for health concerns, things to watch for. To be honest I'm not even sure how they make a profit based on how much love, attention and time they lavish on these dogs. Merle even had a very specific diet organized with lists of acceptable foods. We did not have that for our first puppy and he ended up always getting belly issues. We followed Merle's food perfectly and our puppy has not been sick once. We have now had our puppy for seven months and I have called Merle no less than 20 times since we picked her up for help, questions, and assistance. She spends a lot of time answering the questions and checking on our baby. I'm positive that she cares about her dogs and her puppies and treats them well. We had a 5 star experience.

We added to our family via a little Cav boy in March. Merle is clearly a passionate and experienced breeder with exceptional dogs to show for it. In reading the reviews here it seems they are from people who did not buy a dog and one who had a business dispute. For anyone looking for an outstanding puppy in health, appearance, and disposition- look no further. Merle knows her stuff and hands off a puppy that has been carefully cared for and hand raised. Everything she said has come to pass from how he prefers to eat, sleep etc. Merle hasn’t been intrusively whatsoever after purchase. She does vet potential buyers as well she should. I have passed on Castle Creeks information several times to passers by and friends alike, our Malcolm is such a great ambassador and know that they are in good hands with Merle.

Don’t ever do business with this person. They are extreme, rude, and have no clue what they are doing. A total scam.

I would not buy a puppy from this breeder ever. I met with her and got a tour and was shocked by the unprofessionalism and the crazy stories Merle told me about what she does to people that get puppies from her. Another review said run don't walk better yet skip the trip. Nice dogs bad puppy mill owner.

Put hours of operation and wouldn’t honor the hours and turned away after a 45 minute drive

Our beautiful Cavalier “Daisy” turned two years old today and we are absolutely delighted with her!! We are forever grateful to Castle Creek Cavaliers and the great service and support we have received from Merle. Daisy is a wonderful companion for me and my father. She is a puppy at heart full of playful energy and loving compassion for my father. Merle has been exceedingly helpful in getting us all squared away to begin our new life with Daisy and assisted every step of the way in a very successful adoption process with this amazing animal companion. I highly recommend this breeder to anyone who treasures Cavaliers. This our first experience with a puppy, and we couldn’t be happier!

I purchased Tito (originally named manny) from Merle back in March of 2014. I have no complaints of my experience when I purchased him, or now, 4 years later. A clean bill of health -so far- well behaved with the cutest face. Thank you again.

I have heard many negative things about Castle Creek and the scam "therapy dog" program designed to add $500 more to the price paid for a puppy from Merel's victims and near victims. Please be careful and don't be taken in by those for whom breeding is a business.

We are long-time owners of Cavaliers and our latest was purchased from Merle. We had a great experience throughout the process. We were very impressed by her dedication to providing the best quality of everything pertaining to her dogs. Merle responded promptly to our calls and was very helpful in answering all of our many questions. Our cavalier is not only way too cute, but she is smart, and has a wonderful disposition . After seeing several of Merle’s dogs, I saw that they all had similar dispositions and received plenty of love. We are thrilled with Jessie and believe this is the best Cavalier we have had. And lastly, I appreciate Merle’s professionalism and honesty.

Harley is the joy of my life, so much personality love and spunkiness. He goes with me everywhere. We are so happy and satisfied with our experience purchasing Harley and all of the events since then. He's in good health, he's got an incredibly good disposition and personality and he is extremely handsome. Merle has been informative about care and grooming and has kept in touch with us. We would certainly purchase another puppy through Castle Creek Cavaliers in the future.

I'm truly shocked by my experience with this breeder. Merle seems more interested in pulling in deposits than helping you find your new companion. I never received updates on what was happening with her dams and puppies. Not to mention, I had to triple check a few pieces of information on her website. A couple of the dams that were supposedly producing my puppy were listed under incorrect colors, and inaccurate health certification dates. If you do decide to go with this breeder, make sure you know the breed standard. From my conversations with Merle, she doesn't care what dog you get and, your money is only keeping her real motive afloat.

Hi Merle, I can’t say enough how I appreciate your knowledge and insight about Cavaliers. I respect your opinion more than the Vet and the obedience trainer.

My lovely cavalier is now three years and seven months. I am considering purchasing another dog from this breeder.

I would rate this business as a MINUS five stars if possible. Run - don't walk - away from doing business with this "backyard breeder". This customer, a 25 year educator with two master degrees in education fifth-grade elementary school teacher, decided to adopt an AKC Cavalier King Charles Spaniel because she wanted to own and train a classroom "reading therapy dog" to help her under-resourced students with their English reading skills. So a Foster Family Agreement was signed with this breeder to help offset the high price on a teacher's salary. After three years of raising, training, feeding and caring for the "foster" dog, the ownership was contractually stipulated to be transferred to us upon successful completion of at least two litters for the breeder. Ultimately, the breeder kept two healthy litters of pups ($15,000 value), took the dog back ($2200 value), kept our refundable deposit ($1400), refused to respond to our requests for our animal and our money, threatened us with legal action if we sued her. Did I mention a distraught, broken-hearted 14 year old daughter who loved the dog and who slept every night with her? Ultimately, Ms. Tucker - only when threatened in writing with our lawsuit - verbally claimed (without any documentation or verifiable evidence whatsoever) we were not taking proper care of the dog (it only had a very minor ear infection which we were already treating under the supervision of a vet) so she arbitrarily decided to keep physical possession of the dog(!) Unfortunately for Ms. Tucker's legal defense, a May 2015 comprehensive physical examination by a licensed Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Surfside Animal Hospital (highly recommended) fully and completely documented the dog was, in fact, perfectly healthy and well cared for. My family is out THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS and have had to file a claim with the San Diego Better Business Bureau. A complaint has also been filed with the American Kennel Club (AKC). If the matter is not resolved to our complete satisfaction, we will have no choice but to sue this breeder in San Diego court - as have other past customers. Additionally, we are contemplating filing formal complaints with other consumer protection organizations including the CA Department of Consumer Affairs, CA Attorney General's Office and others. My advice, based upon my personal witnessing of the interactions with this breeder is simple. 1. Read ALL the negative reviews on Yelp below (including those below labeled as "not currently recommended") as they are accurate customer reviews consistent with our experiences. 2. Do a Google search for "be aware castle creek cavaliers" for more consumer review sites and public court links. 3. DO NOT SIGN ANY FOSTER FAMILY AGREEMENT as it is filled with vague requirements, loopholes and caveats that only benefits the breeder. In retrospect, I wish I had done just thirty minutes of public domain research before choosing this breeder. It is important for anyone considering a breeder to remember that this profession (unlike a veterinarian) requires NO specialized education, NO trade school, No professional experience, NO college degrees, NO professional certification, NO state or federal licensing and NO on-site inspections. Any high-school drop-out can become a full-time dog breeder. Did I mention that we just discovered she listed our dog back up for sale on her web site to resell it to someone else? I truly believe this is additional evidence that the breeder is knowingly and intentionally operating a type of SCAM and CONSUMER FRAUD which needs to be exposed.

We are the proud owner of our second baby girl! Both we adopted from Castle Creek Cavaliers. Our first is now 4 years old, my husband and I had never had a dog before and Merle walked us through the whole thing, even after the maybe 40 - 50 calls with questions she is still there for us. Her place is clean and beautilful, its all about her dogs, they have a wonderful life there well cared for and loved. She is the founder of "Sharing Puppy Love" a non profit........very dedicated in helping people and their Cavalier trained to be a team to help others. We got our first through the program and see for ourselves how wonderful this is for the people we are seeing and for us.