About Us
Fraudulence as a lifestyle
Joel Sharp, owner of Sharp Pugs in northern IL is has a very sorted past. This means he's very familiar with scamming people, he's just not very good at it. Do your research, any online background check will tell you. Is this a person you would like to get involved with? And if you are here you are smarter than me, because you are doing research BEFORE buying! All you have to do is read the information on their Facebook page to know your puppy could be taken away from you at any time for any reason! That is their right and privilege after all-to continue scamming people.
Did you know
Did you know the Sharps actually have no knowledge of breeding puppies of any kind? They decided to kick off this off this little venture because they needed the cash and got a pug puppy from Grandma as a gift! This pug was SO CUTE that they decided to become dog breeders! Why not?! You don't need to actually educate yourself when you can just buy pug puppies from a handicapped man in California and sell them here in Illinois. So God only knows where your puppy has been the first 8 weeks of his life, or where he comes from because you will never see the dam and sire if you buy from the Sharps! And if you've ever purchased from a breeder you know, that is NOT NORMAL. But don't question them on that, because they were called to have "premier pugs". Just trust them-is what Joel says. I of course trust anyone and everyone who asks me to. Especially people who have a track record like Joel.
The Experience
Putting a deposit on a puppy with a breeder should be fun for the whole family. You get to see pictures of the pups nursing with mom, opening their eyes, learning to walk-such a joyous time for all. That is one of the main differences from rescuing a dog- you know what their life was like from the very beginning. If you decide to buy a pup from Joel and Kay, you will not get to see any of these moments. There is no transparency (which premier pug breeders are usually ALL ABOUT), which makes you start to wonder, what is happening to the puppies that you're not seeing? That thought will sneak into your mind, and it never goes away.
Our Story
How it began
One thing I think I'm pretty good at is finding things online. Takes me some time, but if it's there, I can and will find it. When it came time to find a pug puppy, I thought it would be no different. We knew we wanted to get one in Spring so by the end of February, I was on the hunt. I was going to find a beautiful pug puppy to join our family! But this was different. There were none in Illinois, there were none in Wisconsin, none in Iowa, Michigan Indiana, waitlists a mile long OH MY! I scoured deeper. Then it happened, I found one little Facebook page with a Fawn male pug available! It was a dream come true. I had done it again. I found the GOLDEN NUGGET.
Iffy. And that's not my dogs name.
When I first contacted the Sharps on March 2, they were super professional. I was thrilled. I better get on this before it's too late! Waitlists for pugs are usually miles long! I paid the deposit immediately and without hesitation that very evening. At the very same time I asked if I could please see a pic of the dog. "Their eyes aren't open yet" Joel said in the email. But then he delivered with the cutest pics of pugs in a row snoozing on their backs. How cute, I thought. But which one is mine? The next day, I thought, hmm. I wonder how big this dog is going to get? Oh, and I wonder what his mom and dad look like? Let me ask Joel and Kay, after all they are so professional they probably have a file on their desktop with all kinds of pictures and stats! I'm sure they will send them right over!
I could not be more mistaken. First I got an email that told me they are getting just too many questions from everyone and are overwhelmed. Can't answer questions. Isn't that your job, I thought? Then I received a phone call. A very long drawn out phone call about how they did not actually have our dog in their possession, they were buying dogs from a man named Mark Morikawa in California. So highly esteemed out west, they told me. The story was far-fetched so I went online searching for Mark Morikawa. Best I found was a house in Torrence, California that didn't really look like a place I wanted my puppy to be. And I didn't like that my pup was so far away in unknown conditions, and mostly that I didn't know this from the start-and that Mark, the man with the puppy can't use his hands so there are no pictures. But Joels a preacher (one of the only jobs you can get with his track record), BUT I bet on myself that he was an honest guy. Hopefully this was an oversight. I bet the pups are cute and doing just fine. See, I do like to see the glass half full. Until I get scammed.
The bomb.
Over the period of 6 weeks or so, I went back and forth with Kay and Joel on email. I kept wanting them to be forthcoming with updates and pictures, but unfortunately that did not happen. and they sent a couple pictures of large puppy litters and would not answer when I asked which puppy was ours. How could they answer when they had no idea? That might make them seem less premier! Even since then they have updated their Facebook page to say you only get 2 pictures of your dog ever. This is extremely uncustomary-WHAT ARE THEY HIDING? Eventually my pug made it from California to Illinois and again, I had to plead with them to send pictures. At that time they sent one picture of the pugs head looking down and to the side. I still didn't know what the pug looked like! Are his eyes clear? Does he have a nice curly tail? I wish I knew, but we loved what we saw regardless, this was our new baby! Finally, here we are 10 days out from pick up. The kids and I made a countdown sheet. Every day we would do something special for the pug until he came home (go to the pet store, draw pictures, watch pug videos etc). Every day we crossed one more off and got that much closer to our furry friend. We loved him! IF you've ever bought a puppy before- you know this feeling! Then, one morning, about 3 days before pug pick up, I was going through old pictures on my phone and found the sweet pug puppies they had originally sent me. Why was it back in my 2017 file? I looked at the date and location stamp, Pasadena CA 8:27pm May 1, 2017. They had LIED and sent me an old photo from last year saying it was my pug! Now I knew I was in trouble. My mind was racing. Did they ever have a dog for me? Where was the dog coming from? Am I buying from a mill-disguised as a simple family from South Beloit-IL? Who ARE the Sharps? Then I remembered I could find out ANYTHING online. So I did, go do it yourself and you will find out the truth. https://www.backgroundchecks.com I finally decided to have pictures of this dog, NOW, I thought. Have I been this much of an idiot? How am I going to bring my family to this questionable persons house and expect something good to happen on Saturday morning? Guess what happened when I emailed and asked to see a picture of the dog? Joel called me up and said they refunded my deposit because we weren't a good fit. Not a good fit. A person who wants pictures is not a good fit for you, and you're supposed to be a dog breeder? They never had a dog for us to my knowledge. But I'll never know and it really doesn't matter anymore because Joel and Kay took our pup dreams away as swiftly as they took our deposit. They have no qualms about doing WHATEVER because they have no morals and no experience to know that is not how the industry works. They wouldn't even try to make things right after all the time we had waited, lovingly, for our pup. They reserve the right to do whatever they please! Underneath my sarcasm here folks- is utter and complete devastation for my family. My 3 sweethearts (5, 8, 9) that have been waiting for the pug puppy for 6 weeks and truly in their little hearts, loved that guy already. But we brush ourselves off and move on. I don't care about what happens to the Sharps, they most likely never had a dog for us, or maybe someone else offered them more money, and they strung myself and my sweet family along for weeks on end. More than anything I am sharing my story for those of you that have children, that none of yours will have to endure the heartache of the pug that never was from the Sharps.