This is in response to Lucia's comment below.
1) He did not have existing scratches. Mickey stayed here for boarding from June 24-July 8. Please look at the newly added picture of his nose just the day before drop-off. Where are the scratches? Don't lie. I also have texts of you admitting you didn't notice the scratches on his nose during his stay or how they formed when we asked about it. Those are new scratches.
2) He recently stayed at another boarding center, Club K9 in Sunol, and he was fine. Zero issues. He came back with all A's on his report card. The handlers handled him fine. Multiple people were able to leash him and take him out without a problem. I highly recommend them for boarding. They have multiple people on site watching the dogs, instead of two. They have a better handle on the dogs and any situations that may arise.
Aside from this experience that you claimed, I had zero experience of him showing any aggression to myself or others (including strangers). I'm not saying he didn't bite you or your nephew, I'm saying something or someone must've triggered it cause this has never happened before. NEVER.
Since this was my first boarding experience, I went in blindly and trusted her version of what was happening, the biting, the fighting, etc.. After my second boarding experience elsewhere, I am more skeptical than ever about why Mickey was acting the way he was at Lucia's. I find it odd that he was showing aggression. He has stayed with me a total of 5 months now, 1 and a half months when I dropped him off at Lucia's, and was unsure of how he would act there since I've never done this before. After spending 5 months with him, the dog she described does not align with what I've been seeing on a daily basis.
He has been in several foster homes and has never had any experience with aggression. Some homes included other dogs and cats.
In regards to Lucia's comment "Which part of this are you taking responsibility for?" I should have researched your boarding center more and taken the 1-star reviews on yelp and google reviews more seriously. This was my first ever boarding experience and I wasn't sure what to look for or ask. During the meet and greet, there were no other dogs present but she assured me it was fine and that he would fit right in. Red flag #1 -- Since Lucia was the "expert" I trusted her judgment, although my partner questioned why there weren't any dogs around to be sure Mickey got along with them. Red flag #2 -- One person looking after 6+ dogs? I should've known better. Red flag #3 -- When feeding him the first night, he got into the other dogs' food. He has food allergies, I specifically asked for him to be isolated. She assured me MULTIPLE times that wasn't a problem. The instructions weren't followed and I have the texts to prove it. Red flag #4 -- He is kennel trained. He sleeps and eats in his crate since he went to the rescue and prior with his previous owners. One of the nights you let him out of the crate to feed him a snack in the middle of the night with your senior dog present when you could've just slip it into the crate. I'm not sure why he attacked your dog and I truly apologize if he did, but several of these situations could've been prevented had my instructions been followed.
I should have pulled him out, but I had no one there to take care of him. If I could go back, I would've found somewhere else. I take responsibility for not doing more research and asking the proper questions during the meet and greet process. There are reviews of dogs getting loose during their stay and Lucia running down the block and yelling within the boarding facility and she acknowledges it in her replies there. I should've looked at all of this prior to our stay. That was my mistake. I let a lot of the red flags slide and put my dog's health and safety in jeopardy.
If you have time, take a look at the reviews on google and dig further in yelp. I stand by my statement that if you have a rescue dog, please take them elsewhere. And based on the tone and replies to negative reviews, you should reconsider letting your dog stay here even if your dog is well-socialized and easy to care for. read more