ComplaintsforK9's In Line

• Initial Complaint

  10/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We used ******** with K9's in line to provide our autistic son with a service dog. ******** chose a Chesapeake Bay retriever, from her chosen breeder. She tested the dog herself based on our task needs & claimed a female won by a landslide. Training started in 9/2022. After a year of no communication of major issues in the dogs training, she claimed our dog was run over by a shopping cart when I tried to confirm our dogs come home date. She could not provide evidence the incident happened, such as *************** so I could get video evidence. She also did not have the dog seen by a vet after. She then failed our dog due the this "incident" claiming it caused fear & behavioral issues. Failure was never discussed as a possibility nor was there anything in her contract about it. She did waive our remaining balance after "failing" the dog. She then forced us to make a choice of signing the dog over or taking it as a pet while also offering us a credit toward a new dog chosen by her, for more money than our remaining balance and less tasks than originally agreed upon. If we didn't choose in 2 days she said we would have to start paying boarding fees. We were forced to make a quick decision & made the difficult choice to sign the dog over because I could not have a dog around my autistic son without evidence of training. We then received an email claiming we canceled the contract. Contract was null and void when she did not uphold it, by delivering us a service dog trained in 6 tasks, for the agreed upon price, in the agreed upon time frame of 6 months. She also claimed she never agreed to our task work, which I have evidence she never disputed it and it was discussed multiple times through texts. She will not return any of our money and claimed what she had been paid was fair. We only had about $1,000 left in training, and we never saw any completed tasks other than the dog in a down/stay and the dog in its "place" but nothing that could support my son's needs.

  Business response

  11/13/2023

  This issue was given many reasonable attempts to reach a reasonable outcome. I waived their current remaining balance which they would have been responsible for, and offered to cover 80% of a new dog. Which they refused the current dog and the new dog. These are all false allegations. They had ample time to decide on what they wanted to do with their dog, and were given 2 weeks to pick a weekend to pick up their dog, they had a choice on what they wanted to with the dog. There is never a 6 month timeline on a dog being trained as again they are dogs and that is a very short timeline for any animal to learn a multiple commands in order to be a service dog. Service dogs are held to a different standards than pets. Not all dogs are able to become service dogs. The dog also received vet care at my expense to rule out anything going on with the dog up to but not limited to genetic testing and blood work. This family was also given the opportunity to meet the dog which they declined prior to giving them the options of taking her or turning her over.

  Customer response

  11/13/2023

  Complaint: 20739340
  
  I am rejecting this response because: This issue, aka ******** not providing a service dog to my autistic son, was not given many reasonable attempts to reach a reasonable outcome. ******** laid out options that she deemed reasonable and they were not. She did not uphold what was agreed upon which was a service dog, trained in 6 tasks, within 6 months for $20,700. As I stated in my initial complaint,she did waive the remaining balance and offered money towards a new dog. But again,was requesting more money than original agreed upon and she then started claiming she only agreed to 3 tasks. I have evidence of tasks emailed twice with acknowledgment of receipt and discussions about every task via text. So,if we moved forward with a new dog that meant more money in her pocket, more time and less tasks.
  None of my allegations are false. They are truthful and each one I wrote can be backed by evidence. We were not given ample time to decide what we wanted to do with the dog nor were we given two weeks. ******** sent us an email on September 6, 2023 and demanded a response by September 8,2023. If we didnt make a choice in two days, she stated she would start charging us boarding fees. Claiming we had a choice on what we wanted to do with our dog is untrue. She laid out options TELLING me what I could do with our dog, I was never asked what I WANTED to do. I was TOLD to choose to sign the dog over or take it as a pet and move forward with another dog or not. That does not equate to MY CHOICE.
  ******** did quote us 6 months which I also have evidence of. On August 19, 2022, after she had chosen the dog, we asked when we would get the dog and she said January which is only 5 months.
  The only reason we were given an opportunity to meet the dog because we text ******** on Sunday, August 27, 2023 and asked to meet the dog since we hadnt in the year plus it had been in her care/training, she agreed. Tuesday the 29th, I received a text from ******** claiming she was going to test the dogs blood because of its fearful nature. This was not done when we had ownership of the dog, nor would it change the fact that she should uphold what was agreed upon. She then starts hinting the dog isnt going to work out and might fail. She then offers us another familys dog in place of ours. Thursday morning, the 31st, she text us and said someone died in her family and that she has stopped all training on the other familys dog and she would not have time to do a refresher. She also then said other the dog was not a good fit, even though 2 days prior it was. Thursday evening,I asked if the only option is failing our dog and stated that I was asking because I was worried my children would get attached if they met her. She did not respond. I said I did not think it was a good idea to meet that weekend. She later wrote back saying she will get back to me when she could and that was not until Tuesday, September 5th, after the weekend had past, and said our dog was not cut out to be a service dog. The next day she gave us the 2 day deadline as stated above. Also, now claiming not all dogs are cut out to be service dogs but I have in a text from ******** that our dog was the perfect balance of what a service dog needs. Finally, nowhere in her contract was failure discussed as a possibility nor was it ever discussed with us until the very end when she failed our dog. In my eyes, our money should be returned since she broke the contract by not providing us with a service dog, trained in 6 tasks, in six months for $20,7000.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************

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