Assistance Dogs International (ADI) is taking collaboration to the next level. They are building upon the incredible success of the ADI North America Breeding Cooperative (ABC) over the past 8 years and they are launching two new breeding cooperatives – Europe (EBC) and Oceania (OBC). These 3 breeding cooperatives will operate under the ADI International Breeding Cooperative (IBC) umbrella.

IBC’s vision is to “provide a reliable and relevant puppy supply while exponentially improving service dog type.” In other words, IBC ensures that all member organizations have access to sufficient puppies of Guide and Assistance Dog quality to meet their needs. As part of ABC’s commitment to collaboration, ABC will earmark select litters of puppies for potential international collaboration. Under this new initiative, ABC members will care for and train selected puppies to adulthood in their puppy-raising programs, and these puppies may then be selected as young adults to permanently join breeding programs in Europe or Oceania.

“Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there.” Virginia Burden

What does collaboration look like?

We’d like to introduce you to a very special girl, PADS Jazz! Jazz is one example of the collaborative nature of ADI programs. Jazz represents a shift in status quo – from a model where it is common to share puppies between organizations, to sharing adult dogs. Jazz was born at Guide Dogs for the Blind in Santa Rosa, California and was donated to ABC who placed her with their member organization Tender Loving Canines Assistance Dogs. As a young adult, Jazz was selected by ABC as a breeder. To spread genetic diversity around geographically, she was sent to Pacific Assistance Dog Society (PADS) in Calgary, Alberta for her breeding career. This means that Jazz is spending her career in a colony where she is unrelated to any of the studs – and the puppies she produces will be shared by all.

We have all heard of the perils of a high level of inbreeding. Moving breeding quality dogs around the world represents a tremendous opportunity to improve the health and temperament of our working dogs, but also keep the gene pools of all involved healthy and thriving. 

Why send adults instead of puppies?

Within North America, it is common practice for us to exchange puppies, but to exchange adult dogs, aside from short-term breeding rotations, is less common. However, both Europe and Oceania have strict import requirements that make it difficult or impossible, depending on the country, to import puppies, with the process of preparing a dog for export to one of these countries often taking up to 12 months.

The most impact is achieved if the adult dog who is exchanged enters the breeding population in the region where it is imported. Rather than sending a large quantity of younger dogs hoping that one or two may mature into breeders, waiting to export until a dog is mature and health and temperament tested ensures that the dogs who do travel will make the most impact on the cooperatives they are joining. Sending puppies may benefit individual organizations in Europe or Oceania, even if they are not approved for breeding, as they still may be suitable for placement with clients, however sending breeders benefits the regional breeding cooperative as a whole.

What does ABC get in return?

One of the operating values of ABC is cooperation between cooperatives, and the belief that in helping one another, we all become stronger. There are also tangible benefits to ABC (and their member programs) by participating in IBC exchanges.

• ABC member Susquehanna Service Dogs (SSD) enrolled one of their personally owned stud dogs in ABC. This dog traveled to the Netherlands on a stud dog rotation 18 months ago, but was trapped in Europe due to COVID travel restrictions. Over his time in Europe, he sired several litters, and the European organizations have been identifying potential breeding candidates to send back to ABC in North America. Now that some of these puppies have reached maturity, ABC will decide which candidates they would like to import back for ABC. This will benefit all ABC members with infusions of new bloodlines from the European organizations.
• As EBC and OBC become established with their own puppy supplies, additional puppies will be earmarked for potential export to North America.
• With male dogs selected for export, both the organization who raised the dog and ABC will have a chance to use him as a stud, if desired, before he is exported, and to freeze semen, if desired.

Things have already begun rolling!

• ABC has received four puppies from EBC partners: two to Susquehanna Service Dogs (SSD) and two to NEADS World Class Service Dogs.
• In addition to the litter from Jazz at PADS, seven more litters at PADS are currently earmarked for potential collaborative export.
• ABC is also on the cusp of sending 2 young pups, Eclair and Evie, over to our EBC colleagues in Ireland.

Stay tuned for more updates as this amazing initiative unfolds! 

Have questions? Reach out to Bob Phillips at [email protected]

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This month’s blog post was written by Jackie Clark, Breeding & Puppy-Raising Manager and Tara Doherty, Communications Manager, both from Pacific Assistance Dogs Society in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.  They (and the team at PADS) are excited to currently be preparing dogs for export to the Oceania Breeding Cooperative (OBC).

Jackie has been working in the industry for over two decades and served two terms on the ADINA Breeding Cooperative (ABC) steering committee and now sits as an advisor. She brings a wealth of experience in breeding from her role managing the colony at PADS – as well as thanks to the incredible generosity of knowledge partnerships with ADI schools across North America and beyond. 

Tara has been crafting communications for Pacific Assistance Dogs since 2009 and sits on both the ADI Marketing Committee and the Blog subcommittee.

Interested in writing a blog post for ADI? Please see our submission form.