Complaint Review: About Time Cane Corso Italiano - Los Lunas New Mexico

Laura NEVER offered to provide full refund of any amount!!! As I described in another post that rebutted her lies point by point PayPal judged that we deserved a refund based on fraud. They could not provide a full refund because she had us send the deposit via friends and family not to a business. We sent the balance to Pacifica—- her business partner. The catch was that Laura would have receive the dog AND acknowledge receipt of dog within a week. It would have cost between 500 and 1500 to ship without any guarantee of receiving any refund. We do NOT trust Laura because she has never told the truth and has the reputation of being a puppy mill. As Laura pointed out AKC is a registry. When we registered the pup we filed a formal complaint about the fact that the microchip did not match fully expecting them to reject the paperwork and take action against Laura. AKC did nothing. As Laura pointed out the are a registry -a for profit business- who rely on breeders. They support customers like Laura who register dozens of puppies every year not the dogs or the people these unethical breeders cheat. Laura keeps claiming that we are in violation of a contract. THiS contract is NOT valid because the microchip in the dog is NOT the microchip number in the contract!!! All of the whining and bashing in the world will not change that fact.

Interestingly enough she never mentions one provision of the nullified contract that I supposedly keep violating: the no bashing on social media provision. She puts a clause in her contract giving her the authority to repossess the dog if her clients speak the truth about her on social media. She is angry because I am successfully warning potential victims and there is NOTHING she can do because I am speaking the truth and the contract is NOT valid. As for the epilepsy-we suspect that the dog is developing "absent” seizures not convulsions which are more difficult to diagnose. Also I have had a conversation with someone who received an epileptic pup from Laura within the past year. She is not upset because it has other defects ( a visible cleft palate). and Laura gave it away instead trying to sell it. Interestingly, when this individual subsequently bought a puppy, she got it from a different breeder. I’m not going to waste my time responding to Laura’s rant point by point—-I didn’t even waste my time reading all of her lies. However I will continue to warn Everyone I can about her dishonesty and unhealthy pups —even after she goes out of business. "Breeders” like her who care more about money than the dogs are why epilepsy is so prevalent in the breed. It is a shame that despicable humans like her have any control over these magnificent animals.

Again: This client was offered (AND REFUSED) a full refund in exchange for returning the puppy – simply on the grounds that she was not satisfied. This individual never wanted resolution, she wanted to fraudulently scam us out of a puppy – and she is launching a smear campaign of lies and defamation since our documentation of all interactions with her resulted in her failing repeatedly in that attempt.

This individual does NOT have a puppy or dog from us affected with seizures - the only reason she brings up the subject of epilepsy is to further fuel her defamation attempts. Our "reputation" regarding epileptic puppies is for being open and honest when they have been produced, is for standing behind any pup that was affected with seizures with our health guarantee, for removing any dogs we had imported into our program that were related to consistently producing pups with seizures, and for going above and beyond to make things right by our clients with affected and related dogs.

A breeder is not god. A breeder can never guarantee something will not go wrong when producing live animals. But a good breeder can and will stand behind their pups, support their clients, remove related dogs that have produced a serious health issue from their program, and be honest and up front about it. We have done that, and more.

This individual filed a fraudulent complaint with the AKC in an attempt to threaten us (this fraudulent complaint was promptly DECLINED/CLOSED by the AKC as soon as we provided documentation proving her lies). The AKC is a registry, AKC employees are not judges and do not become involved in evaluating conformation and type in dogs – they resolve registration complaints, they do not become involved in disputes to evaluate dogs as this individual falsely claims. If there was any concern by the AKC that the dog was falsely registered or not purebred, they would have required DNA testing to verify. They did not.

This individual purchased a purebred Cane Corso, registered with the AKC, and we have voluntarily offered (SHE HAS REFUSED) proof of parentage via DNA testing of both sire and dam in response to her fabricated claims that it is a mixed breed dog. She is obviously unwilling to participate in any testing that would prove her LIES and false claims regarding her dog’s parentage … so that she can continue slinging her fictious slanderous claims and made up stories (which are documented in her writing to be changed every couple weeks too).

This individual is in breach of contract regarding the puppy she purchased from us for early spay before the dog structurally maured. Early spay removes the hormones that cue the body to stop growing up and start filling out. Early spay removes these hormones and causes the dog to grow and mature in a structurally incorrect manner. This individual CAUSED her dog's irregular growth structurally by breaching her contract terms and choosing to spay the dog at a young age far before her growth plates were closed. Below are details regarding the con tract terms regarding spay age that she agreed to when purchasing the puppy:

This Cane Corso must be altered (spayed/neutered) between the ages of 20-24 months:

Purchaser agrees to have above said dog spayed/neutered and to provide breeder with proof of sterilization. Purchaser understands

for the health of the dog’s developing joints and bones, this dog will NOT be altered prior to reaching 20 months of age (before the

growth plates close), but must be spayed/neutered prior to reaching 24 months of age.

Purchaser: Initial Here: __________ Indicating you have read the above paragraph and understand this dog must be altered

(spayed/neutered) between the ages of 20-24 months (and deviation from these terms will invalidate all provided guarantees).

This individual is in breach of contract regarding the puppy she purchased from us for dumping the dog to be rehomed through rescue, below are details regarding her lack of socialization and training, and her dumping the dog to be placed through rescue:

Documented written correspondence received July 25, 2018:

“Hi. My name is ----. We obtained Pacifica’s Ayra yesterday from a local rescue. She was born 5-27-17. According to the previous owner, when Ayra was 8 months old she was in a fight with the other dogs in the house. The owner became scared of the dog and did nothing with her fir the next 6 months except feed and water her. The previous owner says Ayra was very aggressive when she went into heat the first time so she had her fixed. 2 weeks ago she took her to a local trainer who rehomes dogs. I am reaching out to you for guidance. When we approach Ayra she cowers and shakes. I want her to reach her full potential, but I don’t want to rush her as she has not had a very pleasant past 6 months."

This is a copy of the contract terms that this client agreed to when she purchased the puppy, before she dumped the dog to be rehomed through rescue without ever making an effort to contact her breeder or abide by her contract terms. Whether she felt like it or not, she was legally obligated to abide by the terms she contractually agreed to when she purchased the puppy:

II. TERMS OF OWNERSHIP

It is the mutual understanding of both Purchaser and Breeder that this Cane Corso shall live out it's natural life as the companion of Purchaser. This Puppy cannot be sold or given away without written permission from Breeder (which will not be unreasonably withheld). Breeder reserves the "right of first refusal" if for whatever reason the Purchaser can not or does not wish to maintain custody of this Cane Corso at any time during it's lifetime then Purchaser must notify Breeder immediately. If Cane Corso should ever be unable to be kept by Purchaser, and there is no person Purchaser wishes to transfer ownership to, Cane Corso must be returned to Breeder at no cost. About Time Cane Corsos are guaranteed a lifetime home with us if they ever become unwanted.

If the Purchaser wishes to transfer ownership of the Puppy to another person, the Purchaser must provide the proposed new owner’s contact information to the Breeder so that an interview may be conducted (to ensure the Breeder that the Puppy is going to a suitable home), and obtain prior approval IN WRITING from the Breeder before the transfer of ownership takes place. New owner must agree to and sign this same contract before approval for transfer will be given.

If Purchaser is unable to notify the Breeder verbally by telephone, or by e-mail, and Breeder does not answer or return Purchaser's phone call/e-mail, then Purchaser agrees to notify Breeder in writing by mailing a certified letter, with return receipt requested, to the address at the bottom of this contract. If Breeder does not answer after 7 days then Purchaser is free to place the dog in a new home but must give the Breeder the new owner's information.

This Puppy is never, under any circumstances, to be given to a pound, shelter, rescue, or any “unwanted animal” organization. In the event the owner must release custody of the Puppy, after making sincere attempts to contact the Breeder (as detailed above), If after (7) days the Breeder cannot be contacted, and should the owner need to immediately release custody of the dog, the owner shall contact: {Mike Druker, 858-200-5302} to take possession of the dog. They shall make known to the contact the name of the Breeder and provide them with all records and papers in relation to the dog, and must give Breeder the transfer/contact information.

Purchaser will continue to care for the Puppy until shipping arrangements can be made. Transportation to return the dog to Breeder, or Breeders alternative contact, shall be the responsibility of the dog's owner. The Purchaser shall pay all expenses incurred in return of the dog.

This individual directly stated that she “chooses not to socialize the puppy with other people because she wants it to love only her”. This individual has been documented indicating she refused to care for her own dog beyond basic food/water for over six months. This individual then dumped and abandoned her dog after she ruined it, DESPITE her contract obligation to return the dog to breeder if she chose not to keep it.

This individual is now documented in writing LYING yet again, after refusing to meet her contract terms and return the dog to breeder, and after choosing to breach contract terms and spay the dog early and then blame breeder for the dog maturing structurally incorrectly due to her early spay. Those choices and actions leave nothing to respect, and no credibility remaining, to her empty trash talking and attempts to smear and discredit us after her attempts to scam us failed.

The dog lived in an apartment complex and frequently interacted with other dogs while she was with us. It took lots of time and TLC to help her recover from the complete lack of socialization she received at Laura’s. After my initial post, I learned that Laura is actually a puppy mill and has the reputation for producing dogs with epilepsy. One of her references owns several dogs with epilepsy that he acquired from her. However, he will not tell you that 3/4 dogs he got from her are defective. He just sings her praises because she kept replacing diseased animals. When we reported Laura’s misconduct to the AKC (and our belief that the dog is actually a Corso/Chongqing mix,) they condoned her bad behavior but did say that the dog is "a poor representative of the breed” Wherever Laura had her (or got her from) she was not socialized at all when we received her. The dog currently lives indoors with a family that owns several acres and has other dogs where she is much loved. She wasn’t dumped anywhere. The bottom line is that if you buy a dog from Laura at About Time kennels you are paying an exorbitant price for and inferior and probably diseased animal that may or may not be a purebred no matter what the papers she produce say.

This individual is in breach of contract regarding the puppy she purchased from us, and is a fraud, a liar, and a scammer. She has tried to defraud us, has tried to scam her money from us and steal a puppy, and when that failed she breached her contract agreement and abandoned/dumped the pup, and both she and her mother have resorted to attempting to publicly trash us with lies and defamation for months. This client was offered (AND REFUSED) a full refund simply on the grounds that she was not satisfied – if she returned the puppy she claimed she was not satisfied with.

To address the claims above:

1) Our website provides over 100 pages of detailed information, our Sales Policies page provides a summary of our contract/guarantee terms and very clearly indicates "Please contact us to request a full copy of our contract/guarantee for review if desired."  This buyer chose not to request a copy of contract/guarantee paperwork which was offered and would have been available, that was the buyer's choice.

2) We guarantee health and hips with the pup maintained on a proven immune and joint supplement for a period of 24 months while it is developing and covered by our guarantee. We require only that the dog be fed a quality corn free kibble (buyer’s choice) while we are responsible for replacing due to health issues under the guarantee. This is to assure it is given proper nutrition to develop to the best of it's potential while we are liable for developmental issues that may be caused by poor diet or nutrition. This is completely reasonable considering we are standing behind the full purchase price of the puppy with a guarantee that can be affected by buyer's poor dietary choices.

3) We go above and beyond and provide a written temperament guarantee on every puppy (despite the fact that we have no control over how owners may treat or train or socialize their pups and shape or ruin temperament after taking pup home). We do require a training video covering the basics of pack structure training and understanding so that we know our owners have a proper understanding when it comes to correctly raising a well mannered and respectful large breed dominant dog. This is completely reasonable considering we are going out on a limb to guarantee something such as temperament that is so dependent on the new owner to shape and support correctly as the pup matures.

4) We have never applied for membership, have never been a member, and have never been in any way associated with the ICCF – their public listing of our names on their suspension page is political trashing by unethical individuals with personal vendettas who run the club. If this individual wishes to make these continued false claims, I would ask that they provide and show ANY documented proof provided from the ICCF for About Time Cane Corso's request for membership ... which has never happened.

5) Puppy was sent to the address that client requested delivery estimate for transport company to deliver to. When client changed address as the transport reached her area, transport still went out of her way by several hours to deliver the puppy to the new address, at no extra charge.

6) Signed copy of contract paperwork was mailed to client, despite the fact that client refused to provide signed paperwork in a timely manner so it could be returned with her puppy. A scanned copy of same paperwork was also sent via e-mail per client's request. Client has still to date refused to sign and return new paperwork with corrected microship number that was provided as pup was sent home.

7) Puppy was sent home current on all age appropriate vaccinations and on an active worming program. Roundworms (which do look like spaghetti) are easily spread, difficult to control, can be picked up almost anywhere the pup is taken for socialization. Roundworms will be found in almost all puppies even from adults under a routine worming regimen due to the fact that the worms will lie dormant in the cyst phase within the dam’s mammary glands, unaffected by worming medications, hatching with the changing hormone levels that accompany whelping to pass to the pups when they first nurse. The pup was actively treated with a regular deworming program that should have covered roundworms. If there were worms present when the pup went home, we would have addressed the concern and consulted with our vet to change medications due to an apparent resistance that had developed to the current worming medication being used. Yet again, the client never brought this to our attention as a concern at the time. It is only being posted now as yet another part of a negative, bashing, mostly untrue, obviously vindictive review.

8) This puppy was my pup from a litter sired by a male we co-own, and the pup is out of a dam owned by another breeder. Per AKC regulations the dam’s owner is listed as breeder on the paperwork. My name and my kennel name are on all contract paperwork and purchase agreements. This has been explained in detail, repeatedly, to the new owner.

9) The puppy purchased can be verified as the puppy delivered to this buyer by unique documented white markings, by the transport company (Tessa Miller, Paws Transport) who picked up the pup from breeder and delivered directly to buyer, and by permanent identification by microchip.

After contract paperwork was signed for purchase of puppy, an error in microchip number was caught the night BEFORE the puppy was picked up for transport and delivery to her new owners. The buyers were notified via e-mail PRIOR TO THE PUPPY LEAVING that the microchip number on original contract signed was mis-typed. A corrected copy of the paperwork with corrected microchip number was sent via e-mail the following day, with request for buyer to sign and return the corrected copy of contract reflecting the accurate microchip number. BUYER HAS REFUSED TO SIGN AND RETURN CORRECTED COPY OF PAPERWORK WITH ACCURATE MICROCHIP NUMBER. I suspect this has been because they have been planning through the entire process to try to scam the money back from us once they had possession of the dog and registration paperwork.

Moving on, below is additional detailed information about the reality of this situation and client:

• This individual purchased a purebred Cane Corso, registered with the AKC, and has been offered (AND REFUSED) proof of parentage via DNA testing of both sire and dam in response to her fabricated claims that it is a mixed breed dog.
  
  
• This individual was informed in writing (documented proof available to be provided on request) of an incorrect microchip number typed on her original contract paperwork. Despite being made aware of this and the information being provided PRIOR to the puppy being sent to new owner, this individual has tried to falsely use the incorrect microchip number originally on paperwork by mistake to fraudulently try to scam her payment back and steal the puppy.
  
  
• This individual REFUSED to publicly socialize her puppy, despite repeatedly being informed and educated on the importance of doing so - because she stated she "wanted the puppy to love only her". By her own actions, her own choices, her refusal to her breeder's recommendations and advice, and her refusal to socialize her puppy, this individual created an unstable temperament in her unsocialized dog. We have documented proof of puppy's outgoing nature and social interaction skills prior to being sent to new owner.
  
  
• This individual is in breach of a legally binding contract for abandoning and dumping her dog without making any notice or effort to meet contract obligations to return the dog to her breeder.
  
  
• She has been documented making multiple false accusations over the past months as part of a smear campaign targeting us - though we went above and beyond to work with her - despite initial misgivings due to her failure to send payment and paperwork and attempts to get her puppy sent to her without doing so. Despite the fact that while she claims she was not satisfied with the dog, she refused to return the dog for a full refund due to her claimed dis-satisfaction.
  
  
• This client was offered (AND REFUSED) a full refund in exchange for returning the puppy – simply on the grounds that she was not satisfied. This individual never wanted resolution, she wanted to fraudulently scam us out of a puppy – and she is launching a smear campaign of lies and defamation since our documentation of all interactions with her resulted in her failing repeatedly in that attempt.
  
  
• This individual and her mother did the same thing to the previous breeder who had the misfortune of being duped into selling them a puppy.
  
  
• Despite being informed for weeks in advance that her payment and signed paperwork required to complete the purchase of the puppy she chose to purchase must be received PRIOR to the puppy being picked up for transport home to her, this individual waited until it was too late to send payment and paperwork to have them received by puppy pickup time to try to scam us into sending the puppy without receiving it since transporter had already made the drive to pick the pup up for her.
  
  
• This individual then claimed the only way she could make payment in time was to send it via paypal – through we had already told her we did not accept paypal payments for puppy purchases – this was a premeditated part of her scam to later try to defraud us out of the payment while stealing the pup after she had possession of it.
  
  
• This individual repeatedly indicated she was unable to sign/notarize contract agreement in time … until we put our foot down and informed her the pup would not be sent home and she would be liable for the transporter’s wasted trip expenses – then miraculously she was able to provide a copy of the signed/notarized contract agreement when it because obvious that her attempt to scam the pup from us without signing paperwork was not going to work.
  
  
• When the puppy was delivered/received, she indicated her satisfaction in several instances.
  
  
• This individual has since fraudulently attempted to scam us by trying to file a claim to have her payment returned through paypal (this fraudulent claim was DECLINED by paypal after we provided documentation in response to her lies).
  
  
• This individual has since filed a fraudulent complaint with the AKC in an attempt to threaten us (this fraudulent complaint was also DECLINED/CLOSED by the AKC after we provided documentation in response to her lies).
  
  
• This individual and her mother have then launched into an online smear campaign, directly contacting our clients to spread lies about us, publicly posting an ever changing saga of made up lies and fiction in a pathetic attempt to discredit us, filing repeated reports about us … ALL DESPITE HAVING BEEN OFFERED A FULL REFUND (ABOVE AND BEYOND OUR GUARANTEE) SIMPLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT THEY WAS NOT SATISFIED.
  
  
• This individual directly stated that she “chooses not to socialize the puppy with other people because she wants it to love only her”, and then dumped and abandoned her dog after she ruined it, DESPITE her contract obligation to return the dog to breeder if she chose not to keep it. Those choices and actions leave nothing to respect, and no credibility remaining, to her empty trash talking and attempts to smear and discredit us after her attempts to scam us failed.

There will always be trash talking little people who would rather become keyboard warriors and resort to false accusations and mud slinging instead of putting forth the effort to maintain a working relationship and resolve concerns. For this one (mostly untrue) review, I can easily provide over 100 references from satisfied clients who have wonderful dogs from About Time Cane Corso. Beyond that, I can easily provide at least 10 references from satisfied clients who purchased an About Time Cane Corso and had something go wrong health wise … that was resolved, they were treated right and fairly, and they are repeat clients with multiple dogs from us. Be an educated buyer, do your own research, contact us for references, and make your own decision.