DONATING A PUPPY

When a breeder contacts 4 Paws For Ability to donate a puppy, they have questions and we have questions. We have a plan to begin the process of doing both. Along with this handout, which we hope will answer your questions, is a question and answer form we need you to complete and return to answer ours.

Health is important to us. We will want to know what has been done and what needs to be done. All of our dogs are spayed/neutered as soon as they arrive, if this hasn’t already been done. The hips and elbows on breeds with problems associated with these joints must be x-rayed before the dog can be officially accepted for training, unless the puppy is too young for this testing to be reliable.

Once the puppy arrives at 4 Paws For Ability, the puppy becomes our responsibility, from that day throughout the dog’s life. We retain ownership of our dogs even after placement.

What Happens when you donate your Puppy? A Miracle!

The terms of the contract our recipient’s sign, include yearly veterinarian visits, shots, including Bordatella, annual heartworm testing, year long heartworm prevention, mandatory flea prevention which must be purchased from a veterinarian and not over the counter, and all needed emergency care.

Recipients must demonstrate that they are financially able to provide these and must present proof of all required veterinarian care yearly.

When your puppy arrives, it will be placed with a foster home or puppy raiser depending on the age. Our homes are carefully screened and must agree with the philosophy that the dog is a member of the family and must be raised with the love, caring, and gentle guidance we give our own babies. All of our 4 Paws volunteers believe that the dog raised with love, in love, and with gentle, caring training, stressing the positive, are dogs that make loving, caring, gentle friends for their recipient after their training is complete.

The foster families take the puppies to weekly obedience classes and monthly supervision meetings with our trainers. Many times our puppy raisers are 4H children who use the puppy as their 4H project. Most of our foster homes trade their fully raised puppies for a brand new one when theirs is ready to enter our training center for it’s advanced training. As the puppy nears the time that advanced training is to begin, 4 Paws begins looking through the people on their waiting list for the perfect match for your puppy. Our dogs grow up to learn a variety of different jobs. Service Dog Puppy, Rose, donated by Andaka - Zederlands Kennels hangs out with her friend Krystal during a day of socialization at a local dog show.

Mobility Dogs help people who use wheelchairs or have ambulation difficulties. These dogs can do everything from basic retrieval to getting the laundry out of the drier. Hearing Ear Dogs help people with hearing impairments. Seizure Assistance Dogs summon help when their person is experiencing a seizure by barking and/or hitting a 911 button.

Autism Assistance Dogs learn basic tracking. The biggest fear of parents with children, who have Autism, is that these children tend to wonder, yet have no understanding of the environmental dangers around them. In most cases the child may not even respond to someone calling his/her name. We train the dog to “Find ___”, which saves precious minutes in locating the lost missing child. In addition, we also place dogs as emotional support for people with a variety of mental impairments, especially children.

We understand the importance of your donation and keep you informed every step of the way. Upon acceptance you receive a certificate showing the donation. We give you updates along the way, tell you about the recipient, once the match is made, and even send you pictures. You are always free to email and/or call to check on your puppy’s progress. In most cases you are invited to the graduation.

SpellBound O'Firethorn aka Loredo Donated by Susan Sullivan, Loredo, a Dallas son (Sel. Ch. Kismet's Sight For Sore Eyes PT, TC, ROM, AOE), has started his training as a Mobility Assistance Dog.

The most important thing we want you to know is that we take our responsibilities in providing a living being, as a service seriously. Our first priority is always to the dog. It may seem cruel to some that we have to say no sometimes but the recipient MUST be able to provide financially and physically for the dog, or a service dog isn’t an option for them, at least not through our agency!

German Shepherds were the first service dogs trained to help the disabled and continue to serve their partners in all fields of service dog training. Because 4 Paws does not used rescued German Shepherds in our programs, donations by responsible breeders dedicated to advancing the total German Shepherd Dog are always appreciated!

We do NOT just shut a case once placement is made. The recipient must re-certify the dog yearly, provide all yearly medical documentation, and meet with us in person to allow us to see the dog. Please know this, if there were the slightest reason for us to believe that the dog may not be cared for properly, the dog would be instantly reclaimed while negotiations to fix the problem have been made. If this can’t be done, the dog would be re-placed in either a working or retirement home depending on the age of the dog. If the breeder requests, the breeder would ALWAYS be given first option to have the dog returned if for some reason things didn’t work out for the dog.

Fortunately, we have not had any problem, as of this date with our placements. I am sure there will still be questions. So, email or call as often as you like.

Thank you for considering making such a valuable donation to our agency.

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