From what I have read it's conditions are horrible and they should be shut down. The cages they use are not safe.

We got our little Shiba puppy here and we couldn't have asked for a more amazing, well tempered, and healthy dog. I am so proud of whenever I am taking her around. She is now 6 months old and is a social butterfly and loves kids, people, and other dogs. She is the sweetest, smartest and most funniest dog. She makes me smile and laugh every time I see her and she has just been a constant joy since we got her. We have Deborah and Gary to thank. They are wonderful people and what I love is how sweet and responsive Deborah is every time I contact her whether it is via email, text or call even months after I've gotten my pup. She genuinely cares about all her dogs and I enjoy my conversations with her. She has a vast history with dogs and you'll find yourself so immersed in conversation with her when you find out some of the incredibly cool things she's done. Her husband, Gary is really nice and even met me at the airport since my layover was short when I flew in to pick her up. Overall, I have nothing but great things to say about my experience with Showboat Kennels and I couldn't be happier with my little loyal and sweet Shiba. read more

Showboat Kennels - Pet Breeders Near Me - Thomaston, Georgia

Deborah was great throughout the adoption process and kept me very well informed. A month ago she delivered to me the most wonderful (I'm biased), healthy and well socialized Shiba Inu puppy! I couldn't be happier with the breeder. THANKS read more

Showboat Kennels - Nekokaburi! - Pet Breeders Near Me - Thomaston, Georgia

We got our little Shiba Inu here in September and we are so amazed at how well tempered and beautiful she is. She has the best personality and always makes us laugh. When we arrived to pick her up, Deborah was extremely helpful and walked us through all of her paperwork and the vaccines she has had so far. We can't thank this breeder enough for giving us the best pup. read more

Showboat Kennels - Pet Breeders Near Me - Thomaston, Georgia

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BE AWARE! This breeder might sound very sincere and nice but trust me she will scam you out of your pocket! Please be the judge and learn from my mistake. This breeder will give you a sick puppy and will blame you for all the things that are wrong! Then she will take the dog back and will not follow her contract to give you a replacement. All the Money spent as well as the materials purchased will be down her pocket. Especially the Nuvet products! Its a scam! if you don't believe me! Read her contract and look up Nuvet reviews for your self. See what people have to say about that. The short story! I did meet this breeder at the airport and the first issue I noticed is that the pup would not go potty, even after a 5 hr wait time, her stomach was pretty big at the time. The breeder mentioned that the pup had eaten lot and it was going to be a okay later on. The pup didn't potty for well over 2 days. Two days after getting her, I took her to the vet and they mention the pup has had Giardia and would need medications right away. After a $200 vet visit, she comes home and she still has issues potting. if and when she does, she stands and screams while potting. Also the pup bite me, my wife and almost every dog in the street until the last day I had her in my position. Let me be clear she was not play biting. she bit hard enough to bleed. The breeder also recommends Nuvet pills for the puppies, interestingly enough you cant buy those with out her personal code! She gets a commission out of the sale every time you spend $50 for a bottle. Come to find out that the pills doesn't actually help the dogs at all and are in some cases even worst for their health. Look up online reviews from real people to see for your self. I was in contact with the breeder for the 2 weeks I had the puppy and she would only responded with very vague comments. I contacted her 2 times about the puppies aggression and potty issues and on both occasion she did not care at all! said comments like dont play with tug with her or its normal for her to stand up and poop. Something I have never seen before. One of breeders employees said the pup was with a bunch of big poodles and had to show aggression when in the breeders house!!! something that should have not been done! I took her to the vet again! and two very experienced vets mentioned that the pup has behavioral issues and needs to be seen by a behavioralist. something that costed $700. The second time to the vet costed me another $300 again for the check up and test for Giardia! Once the puppy bite another dog and almost got her self and me in a lot of trouble, I called Deborah and told her that either take the puppy back and give me a replacement! or I will have to take the dog to a shelter. the reason for that case was that because I did not want her to bite me or hurt someone outside of the house. Deborah mentioned sure I will take her back and we will talk about it after I get the puppy in my possession. After she got the pup back, she didn't reposed to my massages, after I send her a serious message she tells me that It was my fault that she wasn't trained! In the two weeks that I had her, I personally trained the puppy to sit, stand, and do many more things but her biting and potty was a behavioral issue long before I got her and it was going to cost me a lot to get her behaviors fixed. By then I had already spend over 10k with her initial cost of 3k. I was not going to spend more money on a sick, aggressive puppy. This is what I have to say to you my fellow future pet owners! Be very careful with this breeder! She will be super nice to you and tell you many stories over the phone! but once she gets your money! She will go bye bye and never answer your calls again. and if she does respond, it will be your fault. read more

This breeder is awesome! We got our little Amber (Shiba Inu) in early November, and Mrs. Howington stays in touch with me, and is readily available if I have questions or concerns regarding health, diet and behavior. Our Amber is so well behaved. Yes, she's a feisty little shiba, but we love the breed for that, and Amber is so intelligent and easy to train. She loves opera - female soprano to be exact :) She sits straight up and tilts her head back and forth while she watches the singer on TV. Tell me that's not cute! She's absolutely gorgeous and has no health issues. Mrs. Howington knows her stuff, and breeds the best behaved and most beautiful, intelligent and healthy Shibas. I do hope she is still in the business when we retire and move back to the country in VA, because I will definitely want more Shibas. Amber is a delight and a wonderful addition to our family. I STRONGLY recommend this breeder. read more

Showboat Kennels - Our little Amber about to take a snooze - Pet Breeders Near Me - Thomaston, Georgia

I just purchased a Bolonka puppy from this kennel. I am in NY and they are in GA. I was worried because of all the puppy scams I was reading about , so I did my research on this Breeder. I bought a Bolonka puppy, who arrived healthy and happy to me in NY, by way of puppy Nanny ( our Nanny,Albony) was wonderful. Deborah Howington the Breeder , uses her company and referred me to her. I totally trust this Breeder. Her specialty is Sheba Innus, but she also breeds Poodles, Cotons de Tulear and Bolonka. I am so happy with my puppy in every way . I recommend Showboat Kennels. read more

On Labor Day last year, my boyfriend at the time decided we should get a puppy. I had been begging him since we moved in together for one but he always cited some reason or another why he wouldn't allow it so I had pretty much given up on the idea. Even when he woke me up in the middle of the night talking about breeders I just went back to bed because I thought he was pulling my leg one more time. The next day he made me call the breeder myself saying that if I really wanted a puppy I had to do some of the work too. So I did, and I briefly spoke to Miss Howington explaining that my bf and I were interested in a female Coton, she said there was one left, and so we went up to Thomaston with my cousin. The reason why I am writing this review now, almost a year later, is in defense of her because I've since googled Showboat Kennels and not all the reviews are favorable. Ok, Thomaston is in the country. We drove almost two hours away from Midtown and it was VERY country. When we drove up, we saw one of her pet shiba inus just wandering around and he was really worried about it, but she seemed very carefree and in control at the same time. As a free spirited pet owner myself, I get it, I'm sure he just liked to wander but didn't go far. She interviewed us for a bit and then brought Ella out. Business paperwork everything in good order. Now there were A LOT of dogs there. Poodles, cotons, shibas, etc. but they were generally clean and happy pups. I didn't tour the house or facilities or anything, but I trust this woman and let me tell you why. SHE interviewed US. I was wondering what was taking so long, like years ago, my father bought me a purebred Brittany spaniel for my 18th birthday and that visit was much quicker as they weren't professional breeders. She took her time getting to know us, having us fill out the paperwork, and just making sure we were going to give her puppy a happy home and that we werent like crackheads or something. And I have met a backyard breeder before. Her house was filthy and she took my deposit and I didn't get a dog. This was years ago, the last time I tried to get a dog. It was a very unpleasant experience, but Deborah is a real breeder. Of course she was happy we paid in cash, but my intuition tells me that she knows what shes doing, even if its not perfectly by the books, I trust that she has that dog sense and caring for them! And my dog Ella. WOW. She is the best dog I have ever had. Ok, I've spoiled her a bit but shes so cute, how can you not... She is extremely well behaved, beautiful, had a bit of training when we received her, and generally very intelligent and just superior to other dogs in every way. She knew her commands before I started trying to train her (in the beginning) she knew the meaning of "sit" "down" and "heel" and was pretty easy to potty train (though I've bought her a pee turf pad while I work). She is VERY healthy. No problems. BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL PUPPY. Thank you Miss Deborah for my beautiful Baby. read more

Called interested in a female. Was told they don't sell for breeding purposes. That is fine but then she had the audacity to ask if I got my male from a pet store while laughing based off of nothing but a simple question. My male is an AKC from Indiana. She has no idea the level of experience we have with AKC and Shibas and was rude off the bat. I wouldn't purchase puppies from someone so rude and entitled. read more

I would recommend looking for another breeder over Showboat Kennels/Deborah Howington. I'm in the military stationed in South Carolina and we drove all the way to Georgia to purchase a Shiba Inu from Showboat Kennels back in April 2013 that came down with Parvovirus two days after we brought her home. We picked up our Shiba on a Sunday and she was already showing signs of being sick on the following Tuesday and was diagnosed with the parvovirus that night/early Wednesday morning by the emergency vet we took her to. Our vet informed us that, based on the incubation period for the virus, she contracted the virus while still in Showboat Kennels/Mrs. Howington's care. After informing her of the situation, the only thing she offered was to contact the vaccine manufacturer whose vaccines she were giving to her dogs to see if it was defective and if they could do something for us. No talk of honoring the parvovirus clause in the contract (which we qualified for) Mrs. Howington had us sign, though we wouldn't have wanted that anyways because it involved treating our dog, who is a member of the family, as defective merchandise to be returned. Mrs. Howington also never got back to me about what the vaccine company said and I have my doubts if she ever even followed up herself. I had to call her back (and email), once a month after the first call and again a full five months after that. Each time I got a "I haven't heard anything yet, I'll let you know" and then no return call or email. I take that back, I believe I received one email back from Mrs. Howington, requesting a picture of our Shiba at around the time that she was 8 to 10 months old but nothing about our situation. I'd have to look up the exact date, I believe I still have all the email traffic. Regardless, the entire ordeal was heartbreaking and stressful for my wife and I enough that I cut my losses and decided that I didn't want to pursue the matter any further. I should have researched her as a breeder first before I went with Showboat Kennels so that is my fault. The only reason I write this review almost two years after the fact is because my wife gave Showboat Kennels a one star review on Facebook and Mrs. Howington (who gives her own kennel a 5 star review on Facebook, imagine that) replied that she didn't know who my wife was and acted as if she did nothing wrong so I felt that our situation needed to be heard so people could have a heads up to her business practices. While our Shiba is a beautiful dog and I wouldn't trade her for the world, Mrs. Howington dropped the ball when it came to taking care of her customers and our situation. Hence the one star review is warranted. Honestly, the first sign to stay away was when she couldn't produce her our dog's shot records when we arrived to pick her up. When she did find them, she was due for another shot and she did give her that vaccination in front of us while we were still there. Against my better judgement I still went though with the transaction. Overall all of our dealings with Mrs. Howington have been very unresponsive on her part and after she received payment she seemed not to care much about us anymore. But at least I got another furry family member to keep us and my older Shiba company. read more

I purchased two Russian Bolonkas from Deborah over a period of two years. Both are healthy beautiful dogs, both came with their full shot records. I would buy a dog from Deborah any time. Candace M read more

I bought a Toy Poodle puppy from Deborah Howington and now my toy poodle puppy is 7 months old. The female toy poodle puppy is in perfect health. I drove from Tennessee to Deborah's home in Georgia to purchase this toy poodle. My puppy is smart, full of energy, and so adorable. Deborah's home was clean and all of the pets were very well taken care of, and nicely groomed. I would buy other puppies from Deborah if our family ever wanted another dog for any reason. These are premium puppies. I went to a pet store in my hometown, and none of the puppies at the pet store were even close to as beautiful as the puppies Deborah had at the time that I visited her. My puppy sleeps in my bed at night, and she is treated like a queen. read more

I purchased a Shiba Inu pup from Showboats nearly a few weeks ago and honestly it has been the best decision of my life. For years and years I have been longing to own a shiba and i just could never get one and finally the opportunity came up for me to get one and Showboat really took care of us. When arriving to their home they treated us like family and made us feel at home. Deborah at Showboats is an extremely responsible breeder and pet owner and you could really tell by the conditions her animals stayed in. They were all pristine and lovable and just so darn cute! I would recomend this kennel to anyone interested in purchasing a life long friend!! read more

I just have to say showboat kennels/ Mrs. Deborah is amazing! My husband and i had been looking for a pup for our family and we chose one of her Coton pups, or better yet he chose us. I have family in Thomaston and she came highly recommended so we drove down from NC where my husband was stationed. Granted it was a little bit of a drive even though we had family in the area but i would not change that decision for anything. Mrs. Deborah truly love and cares for all of her babies and you can tell with the time she sat, talked with us, got to know us better. She made sure we had alot of knowledge on the pups as she wanted to make sure her babies were going to a loving home. I have to say will go back to her anytime when i decide to add another fur baby to our family. When we got our Bonnie we knew she was well mannered and had some training. She has been one of the best dogs i have ever had. I do spoil her alot as well but she also knows what her manners are Mrs. Deborah took the time to care for my baby and she is so beautiful and sweet i could not ask for a better dog. I still have the occasional conversation with Mrs. Deborah and let her know how she is doing and sends pictures, and you can tell how happy it makes her. I just want to thank you, Deborah for the best fur baby i could ever ask for! read more