The Paws Inn

During a trial week with a cute puppy my mom had adopted, we took him to the vet to check up on him. This first check up showed that the puppy was at least six months, most likely eight months (all his adult teeth were in) and that he had an ear infection. The puppy is a mix maltese/​poodle. Since this was the first sign of being lied to by the owner of Haven at the Paws Inn, I decided to then check reviews and came across these outdated, but still fairly accurate reviews.
After my mom’s experience and me accompanying her, I had to share this information to hopefully help others and also make this a better place for dogs (by having agencies check up on their health code and other codes.) When the week trial was over, my mom and dad decided to return the dog mainly because he needed special attention and they thought another family would be better suited to take care of him (I really hope he’s already found a new family.)
Following are some of the problems we encountered:
— Microchip: the puppy was not microchipped and we were told it would be sent to our home and any vet could put it in at no cost. If that wasn’t the case, the owner would stop by our home to do the procedure. Through a vet visit, we found out that it is not as simple a procedure as she made it sound and that it costs
— Neutering: we were told by the owner/​vet that he could not be neutered since they believed/​stated that the dog was 12 weeks to 14 weeks. In addition, we got a «reduced» price ($ 450) since he was not neutered. During the separate vet visit, we found out that he was at least six months, probably eight months
— Ear infection: during the vet visit, we found out the dog had an ear infection. The owner did not disclose this information and we believe she should have known based on her insisting that they take care of the dogs well and that he recently had a vet visit
— Location: unlike other shelters, they bring the dogs out to you, which gives a sense of «hiding» something. The place, although outdoors, smelled unclean and the dogs were barking constantly. Since I do not know about codes and shelters, I do not know if what we saw would be over-​crowded or not, but it doesn’t give anyone peace of mind that the dogs are treated well, which is my main concern
— Owner (Terri) and staff: the day we decided to return the puppy, our first encounter was with the woman who seems to be Terri’s assistant. When explaining to her the reasons why we were returning the puppy (that due to him being a puppy mill dog, he needs more attention, etc.), she kept simply saying «well, yah, it takes time» or «he’s a puppy mill dog» as if everyone has to know all the details about their behavior and such, which I believe they should have disclosed and been more forthcoming, transparent and clear about. Regarding the age issue, «well, we only get an estimate and go off of that.» Once the owner arrived and we mentioned the age issue (two months or more is a huge difference at that age) she said «I always give the correct age!» and any issues we were telling her about the vet visit she just seemed to brush off. There was no interest at all from her about the dog, his health, how he had adjusted to a home, etc. Simply said, it gives the sense that they are in it for the money.
I have filed complaints with the appropriate government agencies so that the place gets check up on to make sure the dogs are treated well. Hoping it makes it a better place and shelter.

First let me say that I went to Paws Inn to adopt a pet not to criticize whether the office was clean or not. My goal was to give a pet his furever home. We adopted a white malti/​poo that was rescued by Terry and her staff. When I first saw him he was dirty and scared. They had just rescued him from a puppy mill. Thanks to them he was given a chance to have a fresh start. When we picked him up he was clean and ready to go. The ladies were very helpful in ways to help us help him. He never had a name and we named him Linus. He is doing great and opening up more and more everyday. We are so happy to have Linus in our family. He now has his furever home. Thank you Terry and your staff. I’m glad there are people out there that does a great job. People don’t understand how hard it us to do your job and I congratulate all of you. Keep up Gods work of helping these poor helpless animals.
Remember people your not there to pass judgement on the staff and kennel, your there to save an animals life.

This place is a SCAM!!! Don’t believe ANYTHING that Terri Sween or Jennifer tell you!!! And BEWARE adopting a dog from them!
We found a puppy on
that we wanted to adopt. Unfortunately, for us, it was being sheltered at the Paws Inn in Antioch. Our first debacle came when they told us that the dog we wanted to adopt was already adopted and proceeded to convince us to adopt another puppy instead. Seemed fair, at the time, but we noticed after the fact that our dog’s picture was earmarked «adopted» on the website, immediately after we adopted and the original dog that we wanted remained on the website for weeks after, with no such ear mark. We were immediately curious if we got duped. But never mind, because we LOVE the puppy we got.
However, the Paws Inn is cluttered, filthy and completely disorganized. When I went there to see our potential pup the first thing I noticed was that all the dogs in the back were barking and howling. Since we weren’t able to get the pup that we wanted — I mistakenly assumed we’d be able to walk through the kennel and look at all the available dogs. WRONG. We were denied access to all dogs except the one they wanted me to adopt — and they brought him out front to me (instead of allowing me to go to him.) I thought this was odd. And judging from the unclean state of the «customer waiting area» assumed they did not want me to see the filthy conditions that the dogs were living in. We did not let this deter us — but instead told ourselves we were rescuing the dog from otherwise unfit living conditions.
Our dog also has a damaged tail. Jennifer and Terri told me that the dog’s tail was bent in the womb. However, my vet has confirmed that this injury happened post birth, most likely from being slammed in a door. Imagine my surprise/​horror — when I log on to write this review (not sure why I didn’t check it first) and learn the other two reviewers are complaining about damaged tails on dogs. What is going on at this place?!?
Lastly, and probably most offensive in my book — I was told by Jennifer that the adoption fee of $ 350 included the cost of having my dog neutered (a requirement by Paws Inn if you want to adopt one of their dogs.) However, because my pup was only 3 months old — I was advised, by Jennifer, to wait until he was 6 months. He is now 8 months old and for the past 2 months I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to have my dog neutered by their vets. They refuse to return emails, phone calls or even notification from our lawyer.
It has become obvious that we were completely SCAMMED out of $ 350.
These people are a disgrace. There are plenty of honest people running dog shelters and I highly encourage you to avoid the drama we’ve been through and adopt from one of them.

These people do not return messages. They are rude on the telephone. We adopted a dog and took it to the vet. They said the dog was micro-​chipped. It wasn’t. They said the dog was healthy, it wasn’t. She tested positive for heart worms. They are supposed to only adopt out dogs that are spayed or neutered. Ours wasn’t, and they didn’t reduce the fee properly. The place is shoddy, poorly run and if the way they treat people is an example of how they treat dogs, I would say stay as far away as possible.

DON’T believe this statement from the website of The Paws Inn Kennel in Antioch, Il! «We pride ourselves on providing individual care, attention & love to every one of our guests during every stay with us…» During a recent trip, we entrusted our healthy, happy dog in their care but were appalled by their lack of care, attention and love. Our dog sustained an injury at Paws Inn. This injury resulted in the amputation of his beautiful tail, changing his appearance that is characteristic to his breed. The surgery & recovery were painful & devastating to our dog, & watching him suffer was heartbreaking to our family.
This injury was traumatic but the manner in which it was handled by Paws Inn was inexcusable. To this day, Paws Inn has NOT been forth-​coming with any details of his injury. They have chosen to ignore any correspondence we have attempted for details & reimbursement of medical bills.
In the past, we have recommended this kennel, but since it’s NEW ownership and this unfortunate incident, we feel strongly enough to write a negative review of The Paws Inn (formerly Twyneff Kennel) to make public their incompetency & dishonesty as well as lack of empathy, integrity and compassion. Sincerely, Tom & Ann Howe/​Glenview, Il.