If they are members the BBB has mandatory arbitration. If someone misrepresented me out of 20 grand I would turn into their worst nightmare!!
Don't quit!!

I'm curious though, how do you prove this dog wasnt what it was sold as and not just too much/a bad match for Dea?

How can there be proof? I don't think there can be I bought and yes, he said many things, but his contract is clear enough.

The cost to engage attorneys is enormous and what would I gain in the end?

I want her to be in a home or job that fits her with a handler who knows and understands her capabilities and her weaknesses. I would be kidding ourselves if we thought we could have her darn near child safe within a year. We have a professional Police handler/trainer coming tomorrrow evening to evaluate her. We would never ever place her in a home with children when ours cannot even visit.

Yes, losing the money is horrible, but knowing hopefully that she will be happy will be worth it to us.

I'm sure that the Importer meant me no harm. I was just way beyond naive and have paid dearly for it.

I hope it all works out Dea. For the time being, crating her when you have the kids over is not anything bad. With a Sch. trained dog that crate has been a big part of her life.

I'm not a attorney. Due to my occupation I've been involved with attorneys, contract law etc my whole working career.

If I was you I would contact a law office in your area. Often the initial consultation is free. I recommend you check around to see who offers no charge.

One thing that comes to my mind is called "discovery". There is the possibility other potential purchasers were given similar representations on this same dog being good with children.

The kennel might be forced to supply names, phone numbers etc.

You might be able to see where I'm going with this. If a fraudulent pattern can be developed you might have something other than your word against his.

It's at least worth a call to a expert.

thanks Lee. We are self employed and know how hard each dollar is to make.

Many here may think we are crazy for our way of thinking - we've dealt with more attorneys than we have fingers for.

When we decided to move forward with the purchase, it was natural for us to equate cost over the future - just our nature as s/e people. We figured 13 years of companionship and exercise and family fun - that's 4,475 days and that equalled about $4.21 a day - seemed like a small cost daily over the long haul, ya know?

It's now a "sunk cost" - reality is what it is - I've no axe to grind - just want a good home for her. Call me crazy - it's ok, I do understand why some want me to fight but I just won't do it.

And a bright note - I've had zero private messages of folks wanting to take her, so maybe people reading realize that at least now with all of your help, this girl won't just be given up to some re-seller

You all have been really great and I thank you.

So be it. I understand. The sad situation is this guy gets to continue on hurting innocent people.

No offense, Dea, but it's hard to believe that someone would shell over $20,000 dollars for a dog and then just let it go for free without even a word with the BBB at least (which costs nothing to file a claim with them, as far as I know). That is a huge chunk o' change for most of us to lose that easily so I guess it's hard to understand--it is for me anyway.

If you were offering me a dog that cost that much for FREE I would question either your story or the stated quality of the dog.

I mean all of this respectfully, but any decent prospective buyer (or adopter in this case) is going to wonder, too. If the dog has issues with kids and truly only bit you accidentally while going for a ball, then keeping the dog crated when the kids are around should buy you enough time to find a decent place for the dog to go. Seriously, giving a dog like that away for free could make her end up in a very sketchy situation. You should, IMO, charge something to at least weed out the weirdos that would love to get their hands on a dog like that.

And if you honestly feel that you were duped then you should at least file a report to warn other prospective buyers. If you have something, anything (e-mail even) that says that you were sold the dog with the understanding that the dog was good with kids, then that should help, but you don't need it to file a report.

Anyway, the decision is certainly yours alone to make and I wish you the best of luck whatever you do.

I didn't say a BBB report would not be filed, but that we would not pursue with an attorney - just more money.

So because I want to find a home without children with a proper handler and don't want to charge money, that makes my story doubtful.

**sigh** - that's why I was hesitant to even come on a forum. I gave my first and last name; I was completely up front and honest in what I said and it was verified by people even googling my name.

Thanks again and sorry I've disappointed.

Dea, I dont think it was meant to say that YOUR story is doubtful (maybe I am wrong?), but a third party that doesn't understand the backstory would possibly be very skeptical, perhaps suspecting some kind of scam or a serious problem with the dog.

I personally believe what you say is true, because I have seen it enough times before. I've seen quite a few dogs that cost over $5000 each get given away for free for one reason or another. Its just the way it goes sometimes.