# SOS Quebec Ontario Dog rescue (Toronto, ON)



## jaimemuffin

Has anyone ever heard of or (better yet!) had any contact with this rescue? They don't seem to have their own website or facebook... But have a lot of "happy tails" on petfinder. and you know, currently have my petfinder crush that will be ready to come at the perfect time for me to bring a dog home! Any one know anything about them?


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## Shell

I have no personal or direct information on them, but one thing to consider is that they appear to transport dogs into Toronto from a high-kill rural northern Quebec shelter which is great for saving dogs but can be a problem for adopters. You don't have any way to meet the dog ahead of time and there can be long delays and other problems with pulling the dogs and getting them on transport. If you don't have any other pets and are willing to deal with any behavior and/or health issues, then that may not be much of an issue to you. If you do have other pets or aren't up for handling _possible_ health/training problems, it may be better to go with a local rescue where the dogs are in foster or at minimum can handle meet-and-greets with your family and pets before agreeing to adopt. 
There are dogs from our shelter here that get pulled and go north on a rescue wagon, but they are temperament tested and then short term fostered (2 weeks) before their transport to reduce the chance of an ill dog being shipped or one with significant behavior problems.


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## jaimemuffin

Thanks for your response. Im currently dogless, and the dog in question is a very young puppy, that wouldnt be coming home with me for another 6 weeks anyway. I did notice their transport, and have talked to them about if they adopt out of state/province (which they do!). They said they run transports every few weeks, which works fine for me. I think this pup should also be young enough that any temperament issues can be "fixed", but i don't really think they can do much testing on a 2 week old. But they do know both parents so she isnt a complete mystery dog (which wouldnt be that much of a problem) and they dont seem to have any medical problems. I just applied, and i really hope this works out. I saw her pic and i just swooned. Like more than normal "look at how cute that puppy is" swooning... Ugh i hope my hopes aren't up for nothing!


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## Lauriec

I have not heard good things, I heard they are really "dog brokers". How in depth was your application ? Did you have to provide references? I did a reference check recently with them a had a few warning bells? Do they provide on going support? Will they take the dog back if you have any issues?


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## brnrmum

Hi there,

Today I am celebrating my 'gotcha' day with my 6 year old Bernese, Bentley. Bentley was 3 (ish) when I adopted him three years ago from SOS Quebec Ontario Dog Rescue.

I fell in love with him on Petfinder, and submitted an application right away. I had a 1.5 year old Bernese at the time, and wanted a companion for him, and another companion for myself.

The application process itself was dealt with in a timely fashion, and I was SO excited to find out that I was approved to welcome him into my family!

Now, I live in Nova Scotia, so I knew that I'd be making a big drive to go pick up my boy. The slightly frustrating part was waiting for transport out of the pound in Alma. I was only given 3 days notice of when he would be in Quebec City (which is where I was to pick him up). I was lucky and worked in a flexible job and it was no problem to get there.

I picked Bentley (previously Porto) up on March 16, 2010. I was told that he was around 100lbs and was good with other dogs. He was also still intact. I paid an extra $150 on top of his adoption fee which I promptly got back once I proved that I had him neutered.

When I picked him up, he weighed close to 80 lbs and was a skinny boy. He was perfectly behaved on the drive home, and got along perfectly with my other Berner, Wylie.

Bentley had behavioural issues start about 6 weeks after he came home. He has severe separation anxiety (he has broken windows trying to get out of the house, he has destroyed the steering wheel in my Jeep etc.). He is dog aggressive towards large dogs and dislikes most other Bernese. He can't be kennelled, so he literally has to come everywhere with me. Obviously these are things that SOS had no control over! 

My overall experience with Josee and SOS dog rescue was a positive one. I wished that there had been more support when Bentley started having issues, but I understand and respect how busy these folks are.

Bentley is now about 6 years old and is a lean 105lbs. He is still a work in progress, but is a completely different dog (for the better) than he was. He and my other Berner, Wylie are best friends, and I would have no hesitation adopting from SOS again. If I am ever in the position where I'm thinking about adopting another dog, I will check with SOS to see if they have any that would suit my family. Although, to be honest, I'm not sure if I'll do the adult rescue route again any time soon. Bentley has been a LOT to handle/manage/train and he still keeps me on my toes! I basically adopted an 80lb puppy, who needed to be housetrained and who had NO manners!

Hope this helps a bit! 

Brnrmum in Dartmouth, NS

Mum to:

Wylie - 5 year old Berner
Bentley - 6 year old Berner
Mojo - 1 year old Papillon
Sacha - 9 year old Siamese
Harley - 5 year old DLH
Simon - 1.5 year old DMH


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## jaimemuffin

The beginning of your story reminds me of mine  I honestly fell Inlove with this little girl the moment I saw her. After I wrote this post I couldn't take it and emailed them, got approved, and have officially adopted her! The transport isn't an issue because she's only 3 weeks old at the moment, so she won't be ready to go (and I'm not ready for her yet anyway) until the end of April. I'm also going to be doing quite a drive to get her, and will make a weekend of it with my best friends haha as to the training, I'll have to do it anyway since she's a baby. Thanks for your story! I was honestly a little worried, but I don't think anything would make me go back on my adoption contract, but at least I feel reassured now


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## Lauriec

That's just it. A reputable rescue would/should know of the dogs shortcomings, i.e. behavioral quirks and would have worked you through them. Good rescues do assessments on dogs and often place them in foster homes to help work through any issues. Good rescues always take the time to help you through these things. This is just a high volume dog broker. And the dog should come fully vetted including spay/neuter


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## Must love dogs

This thread maybe closed but we would like to offer our experiences with SOS Quebec Ontario rescue. We rescued our first dog Jake (16 week golden lab Mix) through SOS over 7 years ago. It was our first experience with Petfinder (which can be addictive) and Rescue organizations; I was surprized at time there was an application process and screening of potential forever home families (having kids didn't require an application) We meet a or the rescue coordinator in their home with Jake and his siblings and after the visit it was deemed that we would be a good home for Jake. (we could talk at length about how great a dog he is, however for another time)

We have always been impressed by the incredible dedication of this rescue organization or coordinator (she had just returned from Quebec with 15 ish dogs in her station wagon) When we decided on a 2nd dog we did run into a small hic up with SOS as they did not receive our emailed application for a specific dog - yet offered this dog if the already approved family did not work out sadly for us they did and we rescued a 2nd and then added a 3rd a few years later - hence the handle - Must love dogs. About a year ago we started to foster dogs for SOS and have learned a lot about the process. 

There are a lot of dogs that come out of this small region in Quebec - anywhere from 50 -100 per year, we don't know why, you can speculate that most of the male dogs are not neutered when we met them, puppy mills, strays etc?

SOS usually has 3-5 transports with 20+ dogs through the year of all ages unwanted litters to unwanted pets (we have fostered dogs from 8 weeks to 3 years old so far)

SOS and the dog pound in Quebec ensures that the dogs coming on the transport are cleaned up (nails trimmed), had their shots and medication for worms (depending on their age) etc. and are adoptable dogs as pets.

A group of volunteer foster parents pick up the incoming dogs and bring them to their home - the foster family will incorporate the dogs in their home and update the petfinder bio's with some specific information - i.e. dog has basic commands, good/bad on the leash, good bad with, behavior concerns observed etc. 

Prospective families apply online/email to be a forever home to one of these dogs; suitable applications are screened through the rescue coordinator and sent to the foster family for a meeting with the most of the family and their possible new pet.

Foster Families have the final say on the family as we all are looking for the best forever home for our foster dog. We have said no several times and have had 9 foster dogs go their forever home.

The fees from what we understand basically supports the dogs stay in the pound until they can be transported, their vet visit in Quebec, the transport, vet and food costs while in foster care. There is an additional deposit if the dog is not neutered simply because SOS can not afford the cost- pretty much everything goes into the care of these dogs.

SOS is a small rescue lead by a dedicated group of dog and animal lovers and yes as a volunteer organization things could always be better run and it would be great to look into post adoption visits however SOS does not have enough foster families for the amount of dogs that come in- with additional volunteers and support maybe more can be done.

We are just a small part of this amazing process and we wish there were more folks like ones that have dedicated to lives (literally)to help bring dogs to their forever homes. 

Chris and Monika

PS the avatar picture (hopefully it loaded) is our current foster dog - Sierra a 10 week old Husky Lab mix - check her out SOS Quebec Ontario rescue on petfinder.com


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## voodookitten

hehe you gotta love threads like this sometimes. Nothing like new members that give testimonials to themselves in the hope it might work. Geez, do we come across as that dumb? Really? Maybe we all start throwing around letters at the end of our names..................................................................................... :laugh:


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## zhaor

The average person is either dumb or ignorant, so yea, fake testimonials probably work just fine. I especially like the TV commercials that even say 'paid actor' in the fine print.

I've worked for restaurants that asked the employees to post positive reviews and I've worked for tutoring agencies that paid clients to write positive testimonials.

I'm not going to accuse any new member of posting fake testimonials but I certainly wouldn't put any weight in them. Still, you know someone's going to find this thread from google and be swayed by the positive 'reviews'


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## Branta Canadensis

Hi There,
I'm not sure if this thread is closed either, but just wanted to mention our mixed experience with SOS Quebec as well. We adopted Sammy 3 years ago and she has become a wonderful pet, but she was not at all what we expected.

To start with, we were told she was a 2 year old lab/golden cross (in the pic, she had her ears down) and were told that she had been an owner surrender. When we got her, she was severely underweight (you could see her ribs through her coat and her coat was extremely rough) but we were told to check her for parasites and that this was probably why she was so lean. It turns out that she did not have any parasites, but when we started feeding her she put on 15 pounds and grew 4 inches in height (at the shoulder) in the first 4 months that we had her. This suggests that she was probably actually still a puppy (we're guessing around 8 months?) which the vet agreed with, since her teeth were also too clean to be those of a 2 year old. IN addition to this, her dew-claws on her hind legs were atrociously over-grown (the nail had curled around and was rubbing the back of the toe pad).

So did we have a good experience? Yes - she is a wonderful dog - BUT just be careful, because they can give totally incorrect information. Luckily I was alright getting a younger dog because I happened to have enough time to spend 2+ hours at the dog park each day exercising her (in addition to 20 minute morning and evening walks), but it would have been a real issue had I not had this time, since she was still a younger dog with high exercise needs.

Hope this helps any googlers out there wanting more info on SOS Quebec.!


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## jaimemuffin

I ended up adopting the pup, after posting this. I have no other experiences of adopting a dog to compare with but it went pretty smoothly. My dog is now 10 months old and the light of my life, even when she is being a BRAT. I drove 10 hours to get her, and so did the rescue volunteer. My dog had a very long couple of road trips in her 9th week of life. We were sent off with the paper work and food for both pups i picked up (i transported another into MA with me for a family) after i got her spayed i got the deposit back with no issues once i sent a copy of the receipt to them. I knew she was a pup (i saw her pic from when she was 2 or 3 weeks old and fell in love, even though i originally wanted an adult male dog hahahaha). She has no health issues, no major behavioral issues that arent related to not enough exercise (which is near impossible, shes like the energizer bunny) and she is freaking adorable. Shes pretty much perfect, to me anyway, and i thank SOS for putting her into my life.


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## Popeyesmom

Hey-- I'm new to this forum, but I saw this post a few years ago when I googled SOS. I adopted a six month old puppy from them about 3 years ago. Communication wasn't fantastic, but they're all volunteers with other jobs, so I can't fault them. 

Just last week I was on Petfinder looking at other rescues and decided to foster a Bullmastif from SOS, they were great with getting back to me. 

They didn't have a background on the gal, but she was taken in as a stray, so there's not much they could have known. She's a super friendly dog, and I understand why people are hesitant to go with a rescue based out of somewhere like Rural, Northern Quebec, however, they are trying to get dogs homes who are sitting in a pound, the dogs are either surrendered, abandoned, or neglected and the local pound is taking them in. I'm not sure if it's a high kill location, but they are trying to get good home to as many dogs as they can.

I hope this helps, the woman I was in contact with recently as well as three years ago lives in the Toronto area, and is in contact with the pound almost daily, she's very helpful and super nice. 

Please don't hesitate to ask the rescue about their operations, I'm sure they'd rather be asked and have a pup adopted then not


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