An internet famous dog trainer and breeder with hundreds of thousands of social media followers is nothing more than a thieving dog, a client has told The Post.
Augusto Deoliveira, who calls himself ‘The Dog Daddy’, allegedly took a $1,000 deposit on a German Shepherd from Staten Islander Michael To – but never grabbed the pooch.
Deoliveira, who was previously based in Massachusetts and South Carolina, complaints having garnered 2 billion TikTok views. A video of him walking a pack of German Shepherds off leash went viral several years ago and he became famous as a kind of dog whisperer who could calm restless puppies.
“If you’re a pet owner, you tend to gravitate towards this type of content. That was perhaps our biggest mistake,” To told The Post.
To and his wife, Elaine, contacted Deoliveira in February to purchase a second German Shepherd as a companion to the family’s 6-month-old puppy.
Deoliveira replied that he had a 5-year-old dog named Skylar that he was willing to “let go” for $3,000, according to a text exchange seen by The Post.
He said he had a driver who could get Skylar to Staten Island as long as he got another $500 deposit on top of the $500 they had already put up.
The family paid and bought supplies for Skylar. To put it bluntly, his two daughters were eagerly awaiting the new member of the family.
But on the appointed day, the driver and the dog never showed up. And the dog didn’t arrive another two promised drop-off times.
The refund that Deoliveira announced he would send did not materialize, To said.
He said he started looking into the dog trainer’s background and found numerous complaints online, including in a Facebook group called The Truth About the Ultimate German Shepherds which includes allegations that the “dog dad” abused the dogs or failed to provide paid training.
Massachusetts dog owners complained years ago that he was selling them sick dogs, according to a 2015 report.
To say he even found a posted photo of Skylar — the same one the breeder sent him — on Deoliveira’s Facebook page in 2017, when he later claimed the dog was several years old, throwing the doubt the claim that she was now 5 years old.
To say that he didn’t think he would get his money back, but wanted to bring the situation to light.
“It’s just a combination of deception, forgery, potential animal abuse. There’s no way to justify it,” he said.
Deoliveira told the Post that a partner who had Skylar and was dealing with a family medical emergency was to blame.
When asked why he hadn’t issued a refund, he said it was “in progress”. He said no allegation of abuse or neglect had ever been made against him and that “people go out there and say what they want to say to get attention”.
“My clients are very happy. People hire me and pay top dollar because they know they get good results,” he said.
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