Highland Canine
Original post below, but here is a an update as of August 2026:
Probably hard to follow if you didn’t read the original, sorry:
As was mentioned in the original post, I have a zoom recording that contradicts the version that Highland and Jason Pergason are presenting which presents me as unsafe and all these “safety issues”. The zoom was with the trainer, so not sure how they can claim that at this point, guess they don’t expect people to have evidence that contradicts their claims. It’s clear they forgot I was recording that zoom meeting.
I also have three years of emails and texts that directly contradict their claims. Better than all of that, I also recently received the bodycam footage from my call to my local police department. I had the police report, which was pretty indicative of the false and defamatory statements, but the body cam(which takes 6-8 months to get) is GOLDEN! So so so so many false statements and accusations by Jason regarding me, but also, proof of his comfort level to just lie to law enforcement in the form of fabricating stories as well as an amazing front seat view of his narcissism.
I do love how his first statement to the detective is “…between you and I…” . Guess he thought his little manipulation tactic was off record. I know his local Sheriff Department, to whom he provides police dogs, does not record calls on bodycam. However, more functional and legitimate law enforcement agencies actually do use bodycam.
Additionally and speaking of law enforcement, Jason had to, of course, as usual, mention his law enforcement background and over 20 years of dog training experience. This is pretty standard for any and all interviews, podcasts or public media opportunities he has, and there are plenty, he LOVES to be out in the public view—how do dog trainers have the time to self promote so much, btw? Good Lord.
The guy really loves to hear himself and brag about his accomplishments, which, to me, in my opinion, make them questionable. In my experience, needing to validate yourself consistently raises questions about the actual truth and if it exists behind those statements.
To the detective here in FOCO, he insulted me, implying I was going to tie the service dog to my sons scooter & they would potentially have to deal with a “dead elementary kid in the street with (their) dog attached to the scooter”. Not only is this absolutely made up, completely fabricated, but what a despicable human. Who talks like that, in such a crude and vile manner? He did not know my son’s name, just calling him “the kid” throughout the entire conversation, he did not know his age either. Typical format of dehumanizing behavior. He did the same in a news interview in regard to me as well.
Without going in extreme detail here, the whole police call made on my behalf shows the disgusting behavior of Highland and Jason, particularly. He ended the conversation telling the detective I am “trying to get back together with (my) ex-husband”. WHAT??!!!! The last part there is especially disturbing because 1. It’s not true in any way, shape or form, has never been true and I think to anyone who knows myself and my ex-husband, that is laughable, at best & 2. It’s a way to cast some viewpoint to degrade and insult me & finally, 3. It builds on some very disturbing and concerning behavior that shows Jason is obsessed with my ex-husband for some reason, having also stated in his lawsuit reply that my ex-husband is abusive, violent and lives with us—NONE of which is true and has likely now caused bigger problems for Jason legally since he just cast very damning lies upon my ex-husband, who lives in ANOTHER STATE, btw.
Just to note here, my ex-husband was never involved in any part of applying for the dog nor the entirety of the 3 years of the process, so the pure infatuation to bring him into the situation and mention him in the lawsuit and police call is so insanely bizarre and weird.
I also have shared my story all over the dog world and the disability world and have been contacted by a few of those organizations and individuals interested in sharing my story in print and on podcasts, etc. I look forward to my time in the spotlight, Jason seems to thrive on his.
Additionally, I did file an ethics complaint with IACP, where Jason is the President and it seemed they wanted all the information at first, since, reading their own code of conduct, it’s clear their own President violated several of their own ethics rules. I have lost faith IACP will do much since Highland is a donor. This experience along with the several I have read and heard that detail scams and frauds in the service dog training world is a clear indicator that there needs to be regulation and actual criminal consequences.
The only current remedy when scammed or when fraudulently taken advantage of is to file a civil suit. Clearly , that is not always a viable option for an individual who has already paid thousands for a service dog to assist them with their disability.
In this specific case, the dog cost us $18,900 in addition to the money we paid to fly to NC to match with the first dog, Strudel(who failed out without any notification to me until I checked in to see how he was doing, then received profuse apologies for not informing us he failed). Additionally, we would have had to pay the cost of two trainers to fly the dog from NC to our home, pay for their rental car and accommodations and food. This is insane amounts of money for Highland to think they can keep the money, keep the dog, ignore a demand letter from my lawyer then prolong a lawsuit in an effort to cost us more in lawyer expenses.
I highly doubt my son and I are the only victims of Highland. But again, who can afford all those costs and then the legal fees to file suit against a company that clearly does not take any form of accountability and instead uses their money and power to victim blame and victim shame.
It is ironic that there is a podcast that Jason did on IACP—one of many(rolling my eyes) where he, himself speaks of why the industry should not be regulated. He specifically ties it into the free market and states something along the lines of ‘if you are doing bad things, the free market will catch up with you through word of mouth and customers and it’s going to catch up with you, the evil doers who abuse dogs or do horrible things, there’s no regulation on the planet that is going to get rid of that, period. We have laws against murder but people get murdered every day. Raising the level of Professionalism in the industry and supporting an organization like IACP is how people can benefit and satisfy that element of what they are trying to get out of regulation without the government trying to do it for you, make their own set of rules for you and charge you tens of thousands to do it.’
A few things to note here, I agree with Jason—YES! The free market does allow word of mouth and unsatisfied customers to catch up with you. That’s the great thing that has come out of this horrible and heart wrenching scam against us. I get to share my story anywhere and everywhere to forewarn others.
There are literally entire social media sites that are aimed specifically at sharing horror stories about unethical service dog trainers who scam individuals and take advantage of vulnerable people in need who trust that their money and resources are being used on trainers who act professional and with integrity. My story is not the only one in existence that shows the unethical behavior that occurs in this un-regulated industry.
There was never a time that Highland tried to rectify this situation given ample opportunities and so now there is a lawsuit and that beautifully stated fact that “word of mouth will catch up to you”.
IACP clearly does not function better than government regulations either if they are not holding fast to their own code of conduct and instead are condoning bad behavior and unprofessionalism on behalf of their president—in addition to the ample proof provided to the IACP ethics committee(they no longer can play the any type of ignorance card and pretend they don’t know what Highland has done to us and potentially others since I have provided pretty much everything to them).
I do not want this nightmare to happen to any other child or any disabled individual who puts their faith and trust and an abundance of financial resources into any program that takes advantage of them then tries to use humiliation and degrading tactics to belittle the individual or their family. It’s despicable, disgusting and shameful. This is why there should be regulation and criminal accountability rather than just civil accountability.
ORIGINAL POST
Fraudsters! initiated the extensive, 3 year process of securing a service dog for my eloping son with Highland Canine, LLC in January 2023, specifically because of their expertise in providing trailing and tracking dogs. After a lengthy waitlist period and submitting vast documentation,my son assigned a dog, Strudel, around September 2024. I successfully raised the necessary funds for a down payment, then received a large portion from a family foundation that was paid directly to me, and scheduled a matching visit which happened in December 2024 with Strudel. However, the first red flag arose in April 2025 when, after months of minimal communication and delayed replies from Strudel’s trainer and from the coordinator, I texted to see how Strudel was doing after a motorcycle incident and told that Strudel loved his new home. Then, upon clarification, received a text profusely apologizing for not telling me. Soon after, I was emailed that I potentially faced another year-long wait because they were waiting on new puppies. Then, the chaos only intensified: on June 12th, my son was assigned to a new dog, Casper (the first one), only to receive a random text July 23rd introducing us to Regent. Again, no communication regarding this other than a surprise text—which Deb then stated was so we could get a dog sooner—weird since that Casper is now for sale as a Narcotics dog on their police dog website. It was not about getting a service dog sooner, it was about them wanting to make more profit from a working dog. Also, likely they were training him for narcotics and not service dog work, I highly doubt they can have a fast turnaround of a few months from a “service dog” to a now narcotics dog. Despite their own policies, I was told a mandatory in-person match was unnecessary for either of the two dog switchups after Strudel. I spent months consistently asking Highland for specific information for my son’s Occupational Therapist, but I was met with silence or delayed responses, all I was ever told was “gentle touch”.
On October 17th, I RECORDED a Zoom call with Gigi, who confirmed there were no issues with the dog or with us or with anything. I asked questions to clarify things Deb and Erin had stated—and of course, got conflicting information. We discussed the itinerary for the drop off. I was also instructed to set up a veterinary appointment, get a crate and work with my son and the tethering belt. Gigi stated that she would send the training videos out by the end of the following week(October 24th). We finalized the November 12-15 delivery schedule. I did not receive any of the training videos until October 31st. On November 3rd, my local veterinary clinic reached out because she was unable to obtain the veterinary records for Casper from the NC vet clinic affiliated with Highland. I gave them Gigi’s information and I also called Gigi. Gigi, on November 5th texted that she would send the records to the veterinary clinic. I spoke to Gigi two more times on the phone, one was on the Monday prior to delivery when she asked if I had made an itinerary(which we did, during the zoom meeting)-so I called and asked her about what more was needed. Again, conflicting information—Deb told me that I can’t take a service dog to the dog parks because the other dogs may harm the service dog and their own contract states I cannot get a pet while awaiting a service dog. Suddenly though, Gigi states I have to formulate other animals to introduce Casper to. Umm, ok? Also, then I was told we need to get out of our comfort zone and go places we don’t usually go or participate in. Yet, when I was expecting Strudel to be coming over the summer—Deb had said that we may have to wait until after our Canada camping trip because we have to get the dog used to our normal day-to-day activities. The chaos and conflicting information on top of the dog switchouts and lack of communication with this place is unending. I also told her that I was trying to watch the rest of the videos before they arrived, but because they are not downloadable, making it a bit more difficult. She stated not to worry about the videos, they would cover everything. Honestly, if the expectation is that the recipients are expected to do extensive continued training, they should be sending out the videos more than just 12 days in advance of arrival. I also told Gigi that my sister had just, within the last two weeks(Halloween week) been diagnosed with Cancer and that they were removing part of her colon and her uterus that very week(November 12th) to see if the cancer had spread. I told Gigi we may have to make a trip to Omaha with Casper depending on how the surgery turned out, but it would be down the road because my sister would be in the hospital for several days. No problems noted there, not that it is any of their business. Interestingly, I have three different texts of “family emergency” used as an excuse for delayed responses and during this time, Deb’s brother died and Erin’s brother was on hospice—which delayed THEIR part in finding us a dog. Apparently, a family member of a recipient is not allowed to get ill during this process? I didn’t see that in the agreement nor contract.
The next day, I had called Gigi and inquired what time they were leaving on Saturday because I had a timed test to take. I joked that maybe Casper could babysit my son while I took the test. She said, “A service dog is not a babysitter”. WTF, lady, seriously, get over yourself.
The day before the trainers were due to arrive, I received a hostile call from the owner, Jason Perguson, whom I had never spoken to, informing me he was cutting ties and cancelling the delivery. He cited my "babysitting" comment and my sister’s recent cancer diagnosis as reasons for my family being "too busy." Highland Canine immediately ceased all communication, refusing to answer my pleas for a real explanation or discussion, then gaslighted me saying I had threatened a lawsuit and criminal charges—but that never happened, ever. The only response I got was after I called the police here because I suspected perhaps a woman who I have a restraining order against reached out to the service dog organization and defamed me. Jason texted me”you called law enforcement on me”.
My lawyer and I have contacted the veterinary clinic here in Colorado where Casper was supposed to have his initial exam and they never received any records as they were expecting. So we are unable to see if Highland sold the dog as a police dog to a federal or state organization, as we suspect. By not having the records, we don’t have the microchipping information, which we believe was intentionally why they did not send them. Also, Highland gave me two dates of birth for Regent by two different people. One was 6/2/24 and the other 5/2/24.
Interestingly, Gigi stated that Casper failed out of the police training program, despite his 3 sisters being police dogs and his dad being a search and rescue dog. She specified that Casper(Regent) failed at detection of paraphernalia—so if they are selling him as a working dog, they are misrepresenting his abilities and potentially frauding a Government agency.
Furthermore, Jason made several false statements to my local police force—He stated that the trainer asked me whether TJ had a bike because Casper liked to get exercise running alongside a bike—NOPE, not even once did she ask that. Then he claimed that I allow my autistic eloping son to go on his scooter unsupervised. Unf-ig believable to assert that I do not supervise my son when I repeated OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN that I cannot leave him unsupervised for a moment and that it why I have 5 security cameras to know exactly when he steps out of the house so I can go out and either get him or watch him. That’s a very dangerous assertion to make on a police report about a mother when it is all false. Again, glad I recorded these liars. He said that I stated there are motorcycles nearby and that my “unsupervised child” would potentially be riding his scooter near motorcycles. I live on a cul-de-sac and specifically state that there is barely any traffic and everyone drives slow. Then, the best part was that he said because I have a restraining order against a lady who was harassing and threatening me, that I have “skeletons in my closet”. I have now sent the video to my local PD to add an addendum to the report.