Getting an Adult or Rescue Dog
There are some amazing adult dogs available in Canada for adoption. Many municipal shelters can be found easily in their phone book. Dogs coming from these shelters will likely already be neutered or spayed, been groomed and have had any needed urgent medical attention. They MAY have had any behaviour issues identified and addressed and MAY come with a trial period to determine whether the dog is a good fit for your family (depending on the quality of the shelter). Most of the dogs in shelters have come from Canadian homes or have been found as stray. The best way to find shelters in your area is to Google search for "Humane Society" (SPCA in Quebec). We would encourage you NOT to buy a dog on Kijiji:
- purchasing a puppy or dog on Kijiji can mean that you are supporting puppy mills or will unknowingly get a street dog or puppy bred in another country - sometimes with foreign diseases.
- you could also be getting a dog from a large-scale commercial breeder who has had a return
- remember that if you are getting an older dog there is probably an unknown reason that the family is getting rid of the dog. At times, this reason could be because it BIT a member of their family and they are afraid a shelter might euthanize the dog that they really do love. So they think they are finding the dog a good home. Unfortunately, many times the family will not take the dog back and refund your money if there is a problem after the purchase.
Going through a shelter or a GOOD quality rescuecan help weed these dogs out.
Dogs from rescues vary in quality and some may be imported from foreign countries. We would encourage you to read this detailed article when you are looking at purchasing a rescue dog. The author is a longtime CAPDT member and her advice is excellent!