Griffin Shepherd Kennels Breeding Partner - Page 1

It has come to my attention that a GSD breeder in Amherst, Massachusetts, Anne Maxson [doing business as The Universal Dog] has established some form of partnership with Augusto Deoliviero, who does business as Griffin Shepherd Kennels, GSK, and The Good Shepherd, and has formerly operated as Guy's Labradors. This connection came to light recently when Deoliviero advertised and sold a GSD male pup whose parentage was initially represented to be one set of dogs Deoliviero has previously represented himself as owning, but when the AKC paperwork was provided to the puppy buyer, the breeder's and litter owner's names are shown as Anne Maxson, and the parents named on the document are two different dogs which Deoliviera has previously represented as being owned by him. 

When I first learned that Maxson was listed as the breeder and litter owner, I thought perhaps this was a case where Deoliviero had purchased a pup from Maxson and was 'flipping' the animal, but upon seeing the actual litter registration paperwork, and seeing the parents of this pup are listed as Griffin De Oliviera and Sadie Vom Fleischerheim, that clearly isn't the case, as Deoliviera has repeatedly represented himself as the owner of both dogs. One has to wonder why any  breeder would want to get in bed with a con artist such as Deoliviera, who counts among his vocal supporters Eva Berg, using her kennel name of Von Friedental, but it seems like an especially poor association for a breeder who is in the business of training and selling dogs to law enforcement agencies. 

The supporting documentation for the above can be found here, on the facebook page "The Truth About Griffin Shepherd Kennels".  Augusto Deoliviero has no business breeding dogs, producing multiple instances of SAS, selling puppies that are found unfit for sale upon examination by the buyer's vets within days of purchase, lying about parentage of pups, withholding AKC papers when a the buyer refuses to sign a contract that includes a 'gag' clause and which states that should the buyer breed their dog without Deoliviera's express permission, not only is the laughable warranty he offers voided, but Deoliviera gains ownership of the entire litter AND the dog itself, along with various monetary penalties.  While he's certainly not the only pox upon the US community of GSD breeders, he's one who has exhaustively self-promoted himself and his dogs to a degree where the video of him walking several GSDs off-lead through town has shown up on the TV 'soft news' program "Inside Edition", as well as internationally, in spite of the complaints from the buyers of his puppies stacking up like cordwood. He has a rabid, though ill-informed and irrational, group of acolytes who believe Deoliviera hung the moon, yet among that legion there are less than a handful who have actually purchased a dog from him. He also represents himself as a 'master dog trainer', which everyone here has heard before from far worse than this individual--to my knowledge, he hasn't irreparably harmed anyone's dog, nor has he yet permitted a dog he has in-house for boarding and training to die on his watch--and while some of his fans have had training sessions with him, those with any familiarity with humane and effective training techniques quickly changed their viewpoint on him and cease to be among his supporters.

In less than two years, he has put no less than 17 litters on the ground--and that's just based on the litters he's publicized on his facebook pages. Once buyers started to complain about the condition of, and problems affecting, the pups purchased from him, Deoliviera stopped making litter announcements, so it's now difficult to pinpoint just how many more pups have been born since he moved from the townhouse in Hyannis to the 100 acre farm in Barnstable into which he conned a widow into allowing him to decamp. He has recently been making comments about wanting to move to FL, and at one point had even considered starting a fund-raising page to achieve that end--he did start one to try and raise money to buy a farm in MA, but that wasn't sucessful--so he may well be readying to pull up stakes and head south. He's also recently acquired an adult female Pomeranian, which causes one to wonder if he's going to shift breeds if he does relocate to FL, since finding a rental that will permit him to keep and breed a number of GSDs down there is going to be difficult at best.

Forewarned is forearmed. If Maxson has not entered into any form of cooperative arrangement with Deoliviera, and can provide proof of that, I will happily withdraw that contention, but for the present, based on what appears on the AKC registration paperwork for this puppy that was sold on January 18, 2015 [the buyers did not receive the paperwork until February 20, 2015] it certainly appears that Anne Maxson has assumed ownership of two of Deoliviera's dogs, and provided him with a puppy he initially marketed as being the offspring of two completely different parents.

Even more bizarre is the connection between DeOlivero and one Jon C Sabin, of NY. He runs a blog and FB page called "The Service Dog Free Press". At first, he was vocal, even overly vicious toward him, gay slurs, rants on training collars and raw feeding, etc. Over the top stuff. Then, literally overnight, Sabin made a 180 on DeOliveiro. He started attacking the admins of the "Truth" page, and even many users and began suppporting DeOliverio. I myself was targeted on his blog after simply making a few comments here and there.

The Service Dog Free Press is supposed to expose service dog fraud, but oddly enough, Sabin has been banned by the NY state Supreme Court from training or selling service dogs after the NY AG office was flooded with complaints. He has also been charged with grand larceny, in an unrelated case. He was making wild claims, such as admins were being brought up on criminal stalking charges, cyber harassment charges, etc. To date no charges have ever been filed against anyone. He has posted (wrong) photos and personal contact information. The blog itself reads like paranoid schizophrenic's diary.

Add into the mix a self-styled "reporter" (really just a blogger) from Hyannis, Robert Bastille. The two of them paired up for a few weeks (or at least linked each others' content constantly) with many bizarre attempts to discredit any member of the page, including posting photos of their personal animals, even making lewd photo edits paired with some truly disgusting comments by Bastille. There was even an attempt to discredit a fundraiser for one owner whose puppy has been ill from the day she got him, and she is swimming in vet bills.

Shortly after the outcry over the fundraiser attack, they both fell silent, and have been for a week or two.

And yes, "Vom Friedental" is a very vocal supporter of his.

The whole thing is a twisted soap opera, with suffering dogs at the heart of it. I was simply a disgusted bystander until my name, along with many others, was pulled into it by Sabin. Now the hornet's nest has been stirred.

Thanks for posting this, Hexe. People need to be warned. There are far too many excellent breeders and trainers on the East Coast for anyone to fall prey to this kid.

 

While I never wish to see any dog suffer at the hands of this dingbat, hopefully DeOliveira will be moving to florida to breed lania pets.  Leave the GSDs behind.  If one can call his dogs GSDs, more like the shutdown shells of German Shepherd Dogs.

I've been following this bizarrely twisted young man's story for years now.  The further the train rolls on, the more the wreck gets twisted.  Hopefully Maxon doesn't wreck herself in allowing DeOliveira to use her kennel name.  I can only hope she's taken the girls so maybe they can have a chance at a normal life, instead of the brood mare circus act their young lives have been.

Tons of information and verifiable facts on the FB page https://www.facebook.com/TheTruthAboutGrffinShepherds . 

Jenn, Please don't wish that on me. I live in Florida. Lol I'm very disgusted, my wish is that he gets shut down completely. He won't last here, I've shut 3 scam artists down here in the German Shepherd world, I'll go after him too! My advice to the kid is stop breeding and move somewhere other than Florida! I'm so grossed out by all the reading and evidence on this kid! His videos make me sick! He's no trainer!! He's a joke & is all about money, he cares nothing at all about his German Shepherds or his unsuspecting victims! As far as his side kicks, I'll keep my ears and eyes open for them too! Thanks for posting this Hexe!  

Well, I said I would withdraw my contention that Anne Maxson, a GSD breeder in Amherst, MA, doing business as The Universal Dog, was partnered in some fashion with Augusto Deoliveira, doing business under his own name, as Griffin Shepherd Kennels, The Good Shepherd and formerly as Guy's Labradors, as he recently sold a puppy to someone with registration papers that listed Anne Maxson as the breeder and owner of the litter the pup is purportedly from. Well, I've learned that someone contacted Anne Maxson, and her daughter Laura Maxson, who is in Windsor, CT, and advised them of this situation, and Anne Maxson contacted The Truth About Griffin Shepherd Kennels page today, providing that page with a copy of a letter she faxed to the AKC which states that Augusto Deoliveira has forged her name and signature on two litters out of a female GSD, Miss Sadie vom Fleischerheim, a breeding bitch who had been sold to Deoliveira by Maxson on March 1, 2013.  Anne Maxson has requested the AKC register this female to Augusto Deoliveira, and that they correct the registration paperwork for two litters from this female to reflect Deoliveira as being both the breeder and litter owner when each were whelped and the puppies then sold by Deoliveira. 

Sounds good, right?  So I should be retracting my statement that Anne Maxson and The Universal Dog are in a partnership of some form or another with Griffin Shepherd Kennels and Augusto Deoliveira, I guess...

Except for a few things...on the Facebook page belonging to The Universal Dog, on June 15, 2013, the page owners posted an announcement on their page's timeline that reads: "Tank and Sadie are expecting! Red and Black West German show puppies!", to which Anne Maxson, from her personal FB page, replied, "How about a picture of Tank and Sadie?" on June 16, 2013, and the page owner of The Universal Dog responded, "We have some up! I'll put some more up, tho!" on June 19, 2013.

On July 7, 2013, the page owners of The Universal Dog's FB page posted a photo of Sadie in a pond, with the caption, "Sadie trying to keep cool. This girl is wondering "what is up heat! Too hot and humid for this German girl!"

Sure sounds like Sadie was still with The Universal Dog, operated by Anne Maxson and her daughter, Laura, AFTER March 1, 2013, does it not?

For the time being, I'll stay with what I've seen with my own eyes, before it can be edited out to make things appear different than they are. Just like The Universal Dog's webpage has been edited sometime between March 1, 2015 and today, so that it no longer makes any mention of them having West German Show Lines, and it no longer shows "Tank" and "Sadie"--yes, THAT Sadie--underneath the heading "Meet our Breeding Pairs" on the Puppies For Sale page of their website.

Again, if that information can be proven to be incorrect, I'll gladly retract the perception regarding a partnership between these parties.

Doing business with Augusto Deoliveira, or with anyone associated with him and his deplorable breeding and 'training' practices, presents a known risk if what you are seeking is a well-bred, healthy puppy or dog. Forewarned is forearmed.

Oh foo, double-post.

So I'll use this one to re-post the link for The Truth About Griffin Shepherd Kennels page, and urge anyone who has been a victim of this guy's shady dealings to contact that page privately and get their story out as well. The more this gets talked about, the fewer people he can still scam in the future.