East Lane Kennels

Write a Review815-539-5321

I purchased my Bella from East Lane Kennel in April of 2009. I had waiting 15 yrs to bring another Golden Retriever into my life after the passing of Brandy at the early age of 6 yrs.



Bella was the joy of my life, and being a new mom I wanted her life to perfect. Around the age of 8 months I noticed Bella limping a bit on her left side, I thought maybe she had clipped her leg on her pool during play. I took Bella to the vet who put her on some medication for inflammation to ease the discomfort and we had her rest for the next 10 days.



Initially I thought Bella was fine after the treatment was over but then one day while walking her with my neighbor and her dogs my friend noticed Bella dragging her left leg. After a round of xrays the vet called me into a small room to view the results. As I walked in without a word spoken I started a flow of tears that lasted the next 24 hrs in my life. Both of Bella’s hips were bad, with the socket on the left side barely having any bone to support the joint, it was hip dysplasia!



I called Carol immediately, sent her a copy of the xrays on disc, wrote, called again, and again. I was offered a replacement puppy, but she didn’t have any immediately available, but oddly enough her site posted some for sale.



Carol at the time stated that Bella’s father was owned by a vet she knew in her community and this was the first time she had used this male. The vet was out of town at the time so she could not speak to him directly. I asked her that after the conversation between the two of them took place with a review of the x-ray to get back to me, Carol never did. In fact looking back I was the one that initiated all the calling and emailing. Carol never called back to see how Bella was doing, how sad.



I located a doctor in Lisle, IL who performed surgery on each of Bella’s hips to the tune of $7000.00. The results were better than Doctor Scott Averill initially expected. He treated Bella with the dignity and loving care that every animal entrusted to a human is due. In my opinion he is a miracle worker.



As a side note, a couple who knew of my plight offered to pay for the whole surgery as a gift to Bella and me. This couple had never met Bella, just knew of her. Unemployed, I emptied my bank account to give Bella life just as she gave me life when I decided to bring her home. So ironic those strangers to Bella had more emotion to Bella’s plight then the person who brought her into the world.



That was all in 2009. Fast forwarding to 2012, I am grateful I had the 4 initial months of Bella’s recovery time home with her, and the following yr to guide her through exercise to strengthen her weaken muscles. Bella will never have the stamina of a healthy dog her age, but she has a life worth living distributing all kinds of love to all my neighbors up and down our street as she takes her stroll each morning.



Bella is a loving, beautiful dog with a temperament that shines from the inside out with radiance. I am not sure if that has anything to do with breeding or the love that was gifted to her as soon as she became part of my family. That is for you the reader to decide!



In my mind at the time I convinced myself that breeders have to be emotional detached from their young puppies in order to survive in the business of breeding. Puppies come and go, they get sick, they die it could be a heart breaking roller coaster ride if you let it into your heart. I have no feelings towards Carol one way or another, just personal opinions from observations I made during our brief relationship that I keep tucked away in my heart.



In closing words only carry meaning when the person’s actions support the words they speak or put down in writing. My readers you be the authors of the final chapter of this bittersweet tale and come to your own personal conclusions.