A dog trainer has adopted a German Shepherd puppy he says he found in the back of an Uber.
Augusto Deoliveira, who is known online as Dog daddyoriginally posted a video to TikTok in April, showing the adorable dog in the back of an immaculate car, saying he had been abandoned there.
“I never expected this,” the LA-based dog trainer captioned the video, which has been viewed more than six million times.
“It turns out a previous passenger left the puppy in the back of the Uber on purpose,” the dog trainer captioned the video, which showed the black puppy in the footwell of the car.
“After finally getting a hold of the passenger via Uber, she admitted that she left the puppy behind on purpose,” continued Deoliveria, who has five jet-black German shepherds.
Augusto Deoliveira, known online as Dog Daddy, originally posted a video on TikTok in April claiming the German Shepherd puppy had been left in an Uber.
“So I guess my plans for the next few weeks have changed and I have a new addition.”
Deoliveira, who claims to be the most subscribed dog trainer on YouTube, has documented his journey with the young pup – who he named Rolex – on his social media pages.
In a recent clip posted on May 25, the dog trainer said that since finding the puppy, the previous owner had reached out wanting their pet back and the breeders claimed they had legal rights to the puppy due to a contract with the owner.
He says they are now going to court over the dispute.
“They’re now claiming the buyer had a metal disability that they weren’t aware of,” Deoliveria said as he petted the puppy.
“I don’t know if that’s true or not or what that has to do with me rescuing the puppy since they’re the ones who sold the puppy to her,” he continued.
Deoliveria claims he offered to pay the full price for the puppy, but both the breeder and the original owner refused.
“The main reason they want to get the puppy back is because it’s so popular and they think they can make a lot of money,” he said.
In a recent clip, the dog trainer said that since finding the puppy, the previous owner had reached out wanting the dog back
DailyMail.com has contacted Deoliveria for further comment.
He has been criticized in the past for his dog training techniques.
In 2023, the American Veterinary Medical Association issued a statement about his ‘aversive’ training methods.
“The training methods we see in the videos use physical force or correction,” said Dr. Kelly Ballantyne, president of the ACVB and medical director of Insight Animal Behavior Services in Chicago.
‘We know that these methods pose a major threat to animal welfare, they have a high risk of causing or increasing fear, panic and aggression. They also put the handler and all people in the area at high risk of a bite.”
They noted some of his controversial techniques that they observed included: hanging a dog from a slip line, repeatedly performing physical corrections with a prong collar, physically forcing a dog to lie down, and provoking aggression in dogs .
Deoliveria did not specifically address the American Veterinary Medical Association’s statement, but has responded to criticism of its viral videos in the past.
In a, he defended his ‘interactive forward approach’ to dog training, saying he tailors his training specifically to the breed of dog he’s working with – with some requiring a more hands-on approach.
“Each dog is so different based on its own personality and tendencies, sometimes the breed-related tendencies and characteristics, which will help me determine which approach would be the safest and fastest way to walk a dog,” he said.
While the story about rescuing an adorable puppy from an Uber is charming; some of his followers have questioned the legitimacy of his story.
Deoliveria has expressed skepticism about several videos, including a clip of a woman turning to break into his car to steal the ‘Uber puppy’, and another showing a woman trying to take over his dogs from Santa Monica Pier.
“You’re really running around with this fake story,” one follower wrote.
“The fact that people believe all this content is real,” chimed in another questionable person.
‘OK. I’m about to unfollow,” someone else declared.
“This storyline is weak and I follow the content of your dog training. Another irrelevant post pops up on my feed.”
“A driver who actually drove around without knowing there was a puppy in the backseat?” someone else wrote.
‘Usually drivers check for items left behind after a trip. This wouldn’t even be a good movie plot.’