| Description | Stolen dog!
Good evening, my name is Carolina, I live in Palo Alto and I am writing to ask for help and alert about a dog trainer who has stolen Scott, my dog.
Scott is a 7-year-old German Shepherd who had been experiencing anxiety for the past few months after a trip from Brazil to the United States.
As he was anxious and had leash problems when going out for a walk, we looked for a trainer on Thumbtack (a platform that we have already used for different services). This platform had this trainer as their first Pro option, her name is Josephine Ragland, “Josie”, who according to 139 reviews was an excellent trainer with a score of 4.9 from the company “Everything Animals”
We interviewed Josie with my husband and she seemed very capable to train our dog. She told us that she would need two weeks to solve her behavior problem.
She picked him up on December 18 and after two weeks of sending us emails with photos and positioning of Scott's progress, she would have to return him on January 2. That day she called us saying that she had a family problem and that she would have to return Scott two days later. On January 4th Josie came to my house with another dog, which was not ours. My two sons, ages 17 and 20, were in my house, and they called me and discussed the situation. I spoke to Josie on the phone, I told her that wasn’t our dog because of the photo my son had sent me and their story that it was not our dog, I wanted to know what was happening. Josie told me it was my dog and that she would come back with him when I got home. Josie left right away with this unknown dog and we were never able to contact her again.
We have called her on the phone and sent emails and sms but we never heard from her again.
We reported it to the police and Thumbtack but we still don't know what happened, or where our beloved dog is. We are desperate. Here I leave a photo of Josie, the trainer, so please no one hires her, and a photo of our dog in case anyone sees it.”
From a later post, Josie said she brought the dog to a friend in Humboldt and that friend lost Scott:
Over the holidays, friends of ours boarded their dog with a trainer/boarder who was listed on the website, Thumbtack.
Towards the tail-end of the dog’s stay, the boarder texted the family saying she had a family emergency out of town, and that she would return the dog a few days later than originally planned. The trainer then came to their home on the later date and brought a dog. However, THIS WASN’T THEIR DOG! The trainer tried to trick the family into thinking this was their dog; insisting adamantly but then quickly left their home with the dog. The trainer had placed the dog’s Apple tracking tag on the new dog, and then discarded it in the family’s yard as she exited their property.
The trainer then became unavailable via phone and ghosted the family for many days. The trainer eventually angrily replied to the family’s anxious pleas after the police got into contact with her. The trainer/boarder now claims she gave the dog to a friend up in Humboldt County, and that friend now claims the dog fled the home in the middle of the night.
The story about this trainer giving the dog to someone who lives 5 or 6 hours away from this area (rather than call the family so that they can make alternative arrangements for their dog) is quite unbelievable and suspicious. The entire story is quite incredulous – especially how this trainer brought another dog back to the family in the hope they would believe it was their dog.
This trainer allegedly lives in Alameda so if the dog is lost (assuming he is still alive) we think he could be in the East Bay – or possibly Humboldt County if the story the trainer told is true. If you have connections to anyone in the East Bay or Humboldt and can post photos of their dog to your electronic networks, the family would be very grateful. If you hear about a German Sheppard for sale, or in a shelter, please also email this email address: Scottpaloalto@gmail.com
The dog’s name is Scott. The family is heartbroken and just wants their beloved dog home with them ASAP. Please feel free to forward this post to your friends and family in the East Bay and beyond.
Thank you for any assistance!
WK”
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