Find the perfect pup to fit your lifestyle by consulting with the experts on everything from breed/breeder selection to adoption opportunities.
Deciding to adopt a puppy is exciting, but choosing the right one from the right place is essential to the future happiness of everyone involved.
Canine Foundations’ Experts will:
- Assess family profiles and complementary breed (or breed-mix) selection
- Advise how to find a breeder and what questions to ask
- Locate reputable breeders
- Perform kennel investigations for out-of-town clients who can’t visit breeders in person
- Teach basic temperament testing to assist with personality compatibility
Family Profiling
Not every dog is a good fit for every family environment. Learn which type of dog is best suited to your personality, home and lifestyle. Avoid taking on too much dog for your family, and bring the right puppy home – the first time.
Choosing A Breeder
Locating and screening a breeder is second only to breed selection in importance. It is all too easy to find puppies for sale online, in the paper, or at the pet store with a more attractive price tag than you’ll get from a reputable breeder. But – it’s a matter of getting what you pay for.
Canadian Kennel Club-registered breeders are held to a higher standard, as they strive to achieve the most mentally and physically sound pups in a given breed. This close attention to genetics and temperament is worth investing in, and could potentially save a fortune, in money and heart-ache, in the long run. Mass-produced puppies are bred primarily for profit and often suffer from behavioural issues ranging from resource guarding and irrational phobias, to more complex problems like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder.
Visiting A Breeder
It is always recommended that adoptive dog-owners visit a breeder’s location, prior to choosing a pup, to examine the living environment. This helps identify health, early-years socialization and handling concerns that can be factors in your decision about a pup and a breeder. If you live out-of-town or province, Canine Foundations can arrange to screen breeders for you – on site.
Temperament Testing
Puppies develop physically and mentally at an incredible speed which makes detailed personality profiling difficult and unreliable. However, a basic temperament test is incredibly useful to weed out animals in the extreme behavioural groups that would benefit from an experienced handler. This type of testing can determine fearfulness, shyness, flight and fight responses, and tendencies towards aggression, high dominance, low submissive, confidence level, ability to forgive, as well as the level of a dog’s natural sociability.
Many problematic behaviours such as hyper-energy, aggression, anxiety responses, hyper-sensitivity, etc., are thought to have a genetic component, in addition, to nurture and environmental, so personality profiling of the breeding pair is recommended. This way, puppies can be screened more rigorously for any possible issues that you and your family may not be equipped to handle.
The right puppy is a lifetime of love!