Since my Breeder Michelle McGaha (A'Carrig Dobermans) felt it necessary to post lies and half truth on her facebook

about me 2-22-2015 and I cannot directly defend myself on her timeline as I'm blocked, I wanted to compile a rebuttal
that includes a condensed summary of my dealings with her with screenshots of communication from and to her. It will
show that not only are her assertions ludicrous but that she is the one that continually lied to me from the very
beginning. My timeline of events and communication is rather lengthy so I will do my best to shorten it without leaving
out anything important. But if you would like clarification on anything I invite you to email me at uta6@aol.com. If you
like to share it with someone via email, please contact me and I will email you these pages combines in a PDF.
My husband and I made the decision to buy a puppy from Michelle McGaha (A'Carrig Dobemans) in October of 2012. He
was to be our first puppy from what he hoped to be a reputable breeder. While I understand that no matter how
careful a breeding decision is made, there is no guarantee of health, I wanted to give my future puppy the best possible
chance to avoid health issues by buying a puppy from health tested parents.
Up until that point we had owned only rescue dogs including 2 Dobermans we adopted from a pure-breed rescue as
adults and I had never dealt with a breeder up until then. I was taken in by a bunch of half truth and outright lies
Michelle told me and part of that is on me for being gullible.
The following includes screenshots of our communications. I blurred out any reference to her address and phone
number as I do not want to give out personal information that is not readily available on public domains. I will show in
detail that:
1) she lied about some of the health testing performed on the parents, parts of which was never done, other parts
of them had a different result then advertised. (Page 1-2, A1-A4)
2) the multitude and severity of the health issues Khaos faced and continues to face. They range from chronic soft
poop 6-8 times a day, numerous infections that require medical intervention, hip issues at 3 months of age,
strange lumps forming, to a variety of skin issues including severe hives with massive hair loss that was
ultimately dx by a Veterinary Dermatologist as one of the worst cases of food allergies she has seen in her
practice. (Page 3-8, A5-A8)
When we finally were able to dx why no standard treatment seemed to work he looked like this.

Summary Page 1 of 2

as of 2-24-2105 I have spend about $8000 in non routine vet care. Despite this I have never asked Michelle
for a refund or help paying his medical bills. All I asked for was for the breeder support she promised, so I
can do my best to make my puppy healthy.
3) I also will include evidence that Khaos is not in fact the only one of her dogs that has health issues as she claims
on the FB post with links to a other owner posting on a public forum describing his own struggles with his
puppies health. (Page 8)
4) it will also show that she broke the placement contract, not me as she claims on her FB page. (Page 8, A9)
5) additionally, despite selling Khaos to me originally as pet puppy on a sole ownership, she later attempted to get
me to sign off on a co-ownership without my knowledge, by offering to change his registration to full and
sending me AKC papers listing herself as a co-owner without telling me or having a contract in place stipulating
what conditions would have to be met for her to sign off on the co-ownership later on. (Page 8-10, A10-A16)
Finally I will include screenshots of my final exchange with her on May 19th, 2014. At which point our relationship had
deteriorated completely and I had written off ever hearing from her again and I will leave it to you to decide which one
of use is the unreasonable one. (Page 10-12)

Summary Page 2 of 2

1) HEALTH TESTING ON SIRE AND DAM:

Oct 15th, 2012
When we debated on purchasing a puppy Michelle had available, I asked what health testing was done on the
parents. She send the following email.

Oct 27th, 2012

We put down the deposit of $500, after coming to her house to look at the puppy. At this point I asked to get copies
of the certificates of this health testing and was told she would get it all together for me and would send it to me
prior to him being ready to go home with me. 2 days later she send me the following text messages.

Oct 30th, 2012

She contacted me a week after his ears were cropped letting me know I could pick him up early since he was healing
very quickly if I promised her that I would bring him back as soon as he was ready for his first ear posting

Nov 4th, 2012

We picked him up November 4th 2012 and paid the remaining balance of $1500, I once again asked to get copies of
the parents health testing and was told that she didn't have a chance yet to get it all together but she would send it
to me with his AKC papers in the next few days.

Page 1 of 12

1) HEALTH TESTING ON SIRE AND DAM cont'd:

I did inquire about the vWD status of the dam since she had indicated to me that this was a clear to carrier breeding
in her email, but when I later checked Dobequest, it showed the mother was actually also a carrier. She assured me
that vWD wasn't a big deal, but insisted that Cherry was clear anyhow and when I asked her specifically about the
DQ entry saying otherwise she said, "Oh I don't know who keeps going in and changing that, she is clear".
I later learned, that I can actually check the Change History in DQ and I found that she was the only one that made
changes to Cherrie's entry on the vWD status.

My puppy package consisted of a three page contract including a Spay/Neuter agreement along with 3 pages of
handwritten notes and Khaos's "health record" (Page A1-A2) and I received his AKC Ownership Registration Form
the beginning of December 2012. (Page A2)
December 12, 2012
I asked again about the health testing via email since the promised copies of the certificats did not arrive with the
AKC. And was given more excuses was told that nobody ever asked to see the certificates before. (Page A4)
December 13, 2012
I received an emailed copy of Cherry's Thyroid Report showing that she was on 0.8mg of Thyrozine twice a day at
the time of the report and therefore not thryoid normal as originally claimed. (Page A3)
March 24, 2014
I received a text out of the blue after not having heard from Michelle since September of 2013 with certificates of
Storm's vWD, OFA Hips, CERF dated 11/15/2011 along with a copy of his AKC Pedigree and AKC Registration. I
replied via email thanking her for the info and asking if she could send the missing certificates for Storms Thyroid
and Liver along with Cherries vWD, OFA Prelim Hips, Liver and CERF. (Page A4)
I received no further certificates as of today (2015-02-24)

see Attachment 1 PUPPY PACKAGE AND AKC OWNERSHIP REGISTRATION FORM (A1-A2) and
Attachment 1b HEALTH TESTING (A3-A4)

Page 2 of 12

2) HEALTH ISSUES
2a) HIPS
11-5-2012
During Khaos's initial exam, my vet at Eastgate Animal Hospital (EAH) Dr. Todd Phillips, mentioned hearing a "click"
in his right hip, saying it felt lose on rotation, but said it is most likely nothing to worry about and part of him still
growing however we should keep an eye on it. I called Michelle after that appointment and left her a VM to inform
her of the result of this initial vet checkup. (Page A5)
11-26-2012
During a routine exams that is part of my vets Puppy Health Series, Dr. Phillips noticed a marked pain response in
the left hip. He recommended doing an X-ray to see what could be the cause. I asked what he suspects and he said,
we need to do an X-ray first to dx, but if this is an early sign of trouble with the hips that could later lead to Hip
Dysplasia, there is a procedures that could be performed before the dog reaches 4 months of age called Juvenile
Pubic Symphysiodesis (JPS) which is a preventative procedure for hip dysplasia. (Page A5)
I contacted Michelle immediately to ask her advice. She told me not to trust my vet and not to have this procedure
done, however she wasn't familiar with what exactly JPS was. I asked if she would speak to my vet to ask him
questions regarding this directly, but she declined. I asked if I could go to her vet for a second opinion since she lives
only 30 min away from me but was only given a vague answer that she uses several different ones but didn't give me
a name to contact. (Page A7)
She called me back later that night telling me to see a Dr. Lonnie Davis in Troy Ohio, located roughly 2 hours north of
me and I made the appt the next morning for the first available appointment, December 1st 2012. According to her
he took Storm's OFA X-rays.
11-27-2012
I asked Michelle, if Dr Davis has access to Cherry's Xray and OFA rating. Michelle then informed me that Darcy took
her to a different vet and that no xrays were taken and only a verbal rating was given by that vet. (Page A6)
11-29-2012
I had the surgeon at EAH Dr. Stacey Frick do an X-ray, which was taken under light sedation and consulted with him.
He said there are signs that the hips might develop into a problem later on but could not give a definite answer if it
would happen for sure. (A5) He mentioned that if this was a German Shepherd, he would definitely recommend the
JPS but with a Doberman it's a 50/50 decision, he then referred me to Dr Maritato, a Board Certified Ortho Surgeon
at MedVet to get a phone consult after he had a chance to review the X-ray since Michelle strongly suggested I get a
second opinion from a different vet unaffiliated with EAH. Dr Maritato concurred with Dr. Frick and added that he
would do the procedure since there was little to no chance of side effects.
12-01-2012
Dr. Davis took X-rays without sedation. He saw no issues warranting intervention on his X-rays and recommended
adding Glucosamine and suggested to see a Certified Ortho Surgeon if Khaos did develop issues in the. (A5)
I ultimately decided to go with Michelle's advice and did not have the procedure done.
Michelle did offer during that time to replace Khaos with a puppy from her subsequent litter which I declined. (A6)
Page 3 of 12

2b) MASS BETWEEN SHOULDER BLADES

6-21-2013
I noticed a large round lump between Khaos's shoulder blades. It did not go down over the weekend so I took him
to the vet the following Monday

6-24-2013
My vet was somewhat concerned about the mass since it felt attached and suggested that if I was concerned we
could remove it and biopsy it. Due to the location, an injection side reaction was discussed but since his last
injection was an antibiotic injection about 4 weeks earlier and his rabies injection 4 month earlier was deemed
unlikely.
I send a message to Michelle with pictures and asked for her advice. She called me and asked me to send pictures
and a description to Penny Husky.
Michelle send me a message later that night, telling me that Penny advised to not remove it, but to either X-ray or
ultrasound it, along with doing a CBC and treat with hot/cold packs and antihistamines. She also recommended
getting a second opinion. She informed me that she just learned from Penny that Storm was highly allergic to bees
and once again stressed getting a second opinion. (Page 5)
I did get a second opinion from a Dr. Gliesen, a vet recommended to me by my dog trainer. Dr. Gliesen
recommended observing for a few days to see if it reduces in size before doing additional testing.
6-27-2013
The size was unchanged so my vet performed a needle biopsy and sent it off for Histopathology.
The report came back as moderate reactive fibroplasia with minimal lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate and necrosis. (A8)
My vet recommended observing and if it didn't resolve itself in the next 1-2 months to revisit removal. He did
suggest that it possibly was a delayed reaction to the microchip that was injected 11-12-2012 since it scanned as
right in the middle of the mass.
Over the next week the bump split into 2 and after about 4-5 weeks disappeared completely

Page 4 of 12

The lump reappeared in smaller form in October and the dermatologist performed an ultrasound. Because of the
honeycomb like formation surrounding the microchip, she believed that this was indeed an allergic reaction to the
microchip.
To ensure that this was not some odd delayed injection side reaction, my vet alternated his injection sides and the
lumps reappeared at the new site again approximately 4 weeks after an antibiotic injection, so the microchip was
ultimately not removed.

Page 5 of 12

2c) FREQUENT DIGESTIVE/SKIN ISSUES AND VARIOUS OTHER INFECTIONS)

Khaos had soft poop with frequent diarrhea and about 6 to 8 bowel movements a day from the day I brought him home,
along with a host of infection that required medical intervention. He was treated with various antibiotics and steroid,
pills as well as Injections and/or combinations thereof. Tests performed to dx any of this included numerous Fecal
Floats, ruling out Giardia, CBC Superchems, Thyroid testing and a Canine Maldigestion Profile to name a few, all negative
/normal or inconclusive. We tried varying his food and adding various probiotics without any significant improvment.
(A8)
He was seen by vets at Eastgate Animal Hospital for Diarrhea, Nail bed Infections, Bladder Infection, Hives and Skin
Infections, including but not limited on the following dates:
November 29, 2012,
December 28th, 2012,
January 4th, 2013,
February 12 2013,
March 2nd, 2013,
April 11th, 2013,
June 3rd, 2013,

July 19th, 2013,

August 20th, 2013,
August 27th, 2013,
September 16th 2013,
October 22nd, 2013,
March 20th 2014,

April 7th, 2014,

April 30th, 2014,
June 13th, 2014,
June 20th, 2014,
July 14th, 2014,
July 31st, 2014
August 18th, 2014

He was referral to a Dermatologist, Dr. Stephanie Brunner, on 10-24-2013. By that time Khaos's hair loss, hives and
acne like sores had spread considerably despite treatment.

Page 6 of 12

Dr. Brunner suspected a food allergy due to the frequency of his stool elimination and persistent soft consistency
with intermittent bouts of diarrhea. She concluded that this is most likely is a severe food allergy presenting with a
secondary generalized staph infection. He would have to go through a strict food trial with a limited ingredient Rx
food for a minimum of 3 to 4 months (which we started immediately) and additionally would need to be treated
with Antibiotics for approximately the same amount of time. I opted to have a culture and sensitivity study done on
the staph infection to ensure we can treat this with the correct antibiotic and eliminate further stressing his system.
The study came back as Meth-Resistant Pseudintermmedius( MRSP) only responsive to a few antibiotics. (A8)
Dr. Brunner ordered to start him on 800mg of Doxycycline a day since it was the least likely antibiotic on the list to
cause severe side effects.
Additionally she advised to bath him twice a week with Duoxo Chlorhexadine PS Shampoo and spray him with
TrizChlor 4 daily between baths.
Use Hydroxyzine and/or OTC Zyrtec as needed to reduce itching.
She advised to delay neuter until at least 1 to 2months after this skin infection was completely cleared up and he
was neutered once the MRSP was no longer present a few months later.
We had to switch the antibiotic to Zeniquin after several months when he had a relapse.
After the conclusion of the food trial and initial treatment, Dr. Brunner recommended to test for additional proteins
he might be able to safely eat. He reacted to Chicken, Lamb, Turkey and especially beef, but could handle Fish in the
form of Orijen Six Fish so we eventually switched to Orijen Six Fish as his main food source with using the Duck and
Potato Rx food as treats, along with single ingredient treats of Fish and Duck only.

Page 2 of 12

After being mostly stable with the food allergy, as long as he did not get anything even including minute trace
amounts of proteins he is allergic to (like heartworm pills, flavored toothpaste and supplements contained in gel
cap) he developed additional environmental allergies.
He currently is treated with moderate success with Apoquel but continues to have occasional outburst that need to
be controlled with medication even when following the strict food restrictions.
see Attachment 2 (HEALTH ISSUES) (A5-A8)

3) OTHER A'CARRIG DOGS WITH SIMILAR HEALTH ISSUES

Additionally Michelle is claiming on her Facebook page, that Khaos is the only puppy she ever produced with health
issues, there is in fact at least one other she bred the following year to the same dam with a different sire. Her health
struggles are documented in part on Doberman Talk.
http://www.dobermantalk.com/doberman-health/228770-latest-hair-loss.html
http://www.dobermantalk.com/doberman-health/216690-time-blood-work.html

4) PLACEMENT CONTRACT
Michelle is also claiming that I broke her placement contract, but refuses to say in what way. I can however show that
while I never pressed the issue before, she is the one that actually broke that contract.
Prior to signing we added a stipulation to it, that the breeder would assist the buyer in all ear tapings either at the
buyers of the breeders house as I had never had to post ears, since my rescues ears were long past that point at the time
I adopted them. (A1)
I contacted her on Nov 9th, 2012, when Khaos's cup fell off as I was instructed by her. She asked me to meet her at her
place of work at lunch time and send me a list of supplies to bring with me. Since I was concerned that any advice she
supplied via text or email from pictures I send her, without actually seeing the ears and feeling the ear leather might
result in pockets forming or other such issues I attempted to schedule some time with her on numerous occasions. I left
the time and place up to her choosing and even went so far as to ask if I could just meet her in parking lot down the
street from her work during her lunch hour if she had no other free time available. I was unable to get her to commit to
another meeting until Khaos was 6 months old at which point she pronounced his ears finished. (A9)
see Attachment 4 (EAR POSTING) (A9)

5) CHANGING REGISTRATION AND CO-OWNERSHIP

After Michelle did the final evaluation of Khaos's ears the beginning of March 2013, she said, since Khaos grew up so
nicely, she would change his registration if I was interested in showing him in Conformation. I told her that I'm
curious and would like to give it a try. She stacked Khaos on her stacking box and mentioned she would get the
papers together to change his registration.

Page 3 of 12

I was intrigued. I have never considered conformation. All my dogs before were either mutts from the shelter or
adult Doberman Rescues. Over the next couple of months I was given many promises that the papers would arrive
soon and she is working on them. (A10)
In May she contacted me again, asking me if I could meet her at the Hamilton show. She would have the papers
ready by then and get the final signature from Penny there and could she please buy a Doberman Necklace from me
like the one I made her as a gift for her dear friend Gracie Moore. (A10)
At the show, however, she did not have the papers after all, saying she still needed the third signature as she hasn't
been able to meet up with Darcy. She did contact me again the following week when she was leaving with Darcy to
go to Biloxi, saying she is mailing the papers out. I got another message 10 days later apologizing that there was a
mix up and she accidentally mailed the papers to Penny instead but Penny would send them to me. (A11)
When they arrived, I immediately noticed that this wasn't a likely the case since the envelope was not only address
to me in her hand writing, but was has been folded as if it was inside another envelope before. (A11)
Then as I started to fill out the papers so I could send them to AKC I was in for yet another surprise. I appeared as if
Penny had written Michelle in as a co-owner and signed her name to it, as that signature was clearly different from
Michelle's signature on Page 1 and was in the same pen color as Penny's writing. (A12-A13)
Michelle had not even once mentioned to me, that her changing the registration was hinged on a co-ownership, nor
was there any contract in place to stipulate what I had to do to get her to sign back off a co-ownership. When I
called her about it, I got a lot of excuses from trying to convince me we discussed this, to saying she had no problem
with it, but Penny insisted on it. When I point blank asked her if Penny signed her name, she said yes. I told her that
I'm not willing to co-own and if she insisted on it, I would neuter him and pursue different venues with him like
Obedience. I offered to sign anything she liked, that I will not breed this dog and then asked what else was she was
concerned about. Her answer was that he is her baby and she is just so worried I run off with him. When I asked
her why she isn't concerned about this now, while he is still on a limited registration, she had no answer. In the end
she agreed to talk to Penny and see if she could change her mind. (A15)
We continued with his training, and she even showed up for one of his handling classes to work with him herself. At
this point I had mostly given up on showing him in AKC. I approached her and suggested we show him in UKC first to
see how he does before we revisit AKC. After I called UKC and was told her could be shown there even on a limited
AKC registration and gave her that information she was all on board. We made plans for her to show him in his first
UKC show, August 25th and Khaos ended up going BOW in both shows that day being handled first by Darcy and
then by Michelle in Show 2. (A16)
She mentioned that the next shows she might be able to attend were in November, however Khaos finished before
then being handled by someone else. I send her an email mid October telling her that she no longer needed to
handle him since he finished so quickly and that she could just send me a check for remaining $27 she owed on the
necklaces since we didn't need to meet up again. I received no reply. (A16)
I was going to have Khaos neutered at that point but as his skin condition had completely deteriorated at that point
and we ended up seeing a dermatologist my regular vet referred us to, since none of the standard treatments
seemed to help. Since the C&S she ordered showed that among other things his generalized Staph Infection was in
fact Meth-Resistant Pseudintermedius (MRSP) she advised me to delay his neuter for several months until it could
be cleared up since any surgery at this point could lead this to migrate from the skin to internal organs. And he was
eventually neutered a few months later.
(see Attachment 5 (CHANGING REGISTRATION) (A10-A16)
Page 4 of 12

FINAL COMMUNICATION:
5-19-2014
Michelle contacted me via FB Chat a day after I was approached by the sire's owner questioning my vets credentials
along with asking why I had him neutered. Michelle was unhappy that I told Penny about his health issues and what
steps were taken to treat him, along with me mentioning the false info I was given by Michelle regarding the dams
health testing. Penny assured me several times during that discussion that she had performed all the health testing on
the sire. Since I had found a lot of the info on Storm in online registries eventually, I told her that my main concern has
been the testing supposedly performed on the dam.
I did mention to Penny that Michelle told me once Khaos started having issues with allergic reactions, that Storm is the
one that has allergies, which Penny denied, claiming it was in fact Cherry that has allergies. I have no idea what the
truth is, since I have no documentation on either of them regarding this.
Michelle got quite hostile and no matter how well I tried to explain it to her along with showing her proof of her claiming
exactly what I said with screenshots of her own written communications to me, she continued to deny, misdirect and
blame the co-owner. In the end I told her unless she would supply me with the certificates on the testing she had
originally claimed were done, this discussion was pointless.
Here is the final exchange:

Page 5 of 12

Page 6 of 12

Page 7 of 12

Attachment 1 (PUPPY PACKAGE AND AKC OWNERSHIP REGISTRATION FORM):

Attachment Page A1 of 16

Attachment 1 (PUPPY PACKAGE AND AKC OWNERSHIP REGISTRATION FORM) cont'd:

Attachment Page A2 of 16

ATTACHEMENT 1b (HEALTH TESTING):

Attachment Page A3 of 16

ATTACHEMENT 1b (HEALTH TESTING) cont'd:

Attachment Page A4 of 16

Attachment 2 (HEALTH ISSUES):

Attachment Page A5 of 16

Attachment 2 (HEALTH ISSUES) cont'd:

Attachment Page A6 of 16

Attachment 2 (HEALTH ISSUES) cont'd:

Attachment Page A7 of 16

Attachment 2 (HEALTH ISSUES) cont'd:

Attachment Page A8 of 16

Attachment 4 (EAR POSTING):

Attachment Page A9 of 16

Attachment 5 (CHANGING REGISTRATION AND CO-OWNERSHIP):

Attachment Page A10 of 16

Attachment 5 (CHANGING REGISTRATION AND CO-OWNERSHIP)cont'd:

Attachment Page A11 of 16

Attachment 5 (CHANGING REGISTRATION AND CO-OWNERSHIP)cont'd:

Attachment Page A12 of 16

Attachment 5 (CHANGING REGISTRATION AND CO-OWNERSHIP)cont'd:

Attachment Page A13 of 16

Attachment 5 (CHANGING REGISTRATION AND CO-OWNERSHIP)cont'd:

Attachment Page A14 of 16

Attachment 5 (CHANGING REGISTRATION AND CO-OWNERSHIP)cont'd:

Attachment Page A15 of 16

Attachment 5 (CHANGING REGISTRATION AND CO-OWNERSHIP)cont'd:

Attachment Page A16 of 16