The Right K9

The story of 'The Right K9' begins with sadness and love. My family and I settled on getting a border collie, and after ample searching, I found one online that was 'the one' (experienced dog owners know what that means) and I drove hundreds of miles to Pennsylvania to pick him up. He was a beautiful, sweet puppy, softer than silk, and instantly loved and lovable, we kept his name (Duke), and drove home with him, but it was soon apparent that something wasn't right.

There were times he could not walk, and he would crawl along the ground and be unable to relieve himself properly, requiring extensive cleaning and care, and he did not behave with a puppy's curiosity and enthusiasm. He had his good days, but there were more bad ones than good. Considerable sums were spent at the vet trying to care for him, but despite our best efforts...one day Duke walked over to my wife, licked her face, laid himself down, went to sleep, and did not wake up.

We came to learn that the source (an Amish community) was notorious for their puppy mills, as well as for bad breeding practices and cruelty towards dogs that they sold to families.

After that sadness, we mourned our beloved Duke (who lived for little over 2 months with us) and considered a new dog. One day my wife of 17 years heard about an accident at the Humane Society (a burst pipe) and they were eliminating all adoption fees on dogs over a certain weight, spotting an opportunity, we browsed their site and found a labrador retriever puppy that was only 17 weeks old, it had the most beautiful eyes that looked sadly into the camera, I was sold. I drove immediately and picked him up, he didn't weigh enough yet to qualify for the fee elimination, but I didn't care.

I learned that he had been dropped off at the kill shelter that day after the family which had gotten him, found he was to large and energetic for them to handle. He had been an outside dog, and when brought indoors during a cold spell, did what untrained puppies do when indoors. Rather than train him, they gave him up to die.

I knew then that both of these practices had to end. So I began working on 'TheRightK9.com' and building a questionnaire to help match people to the right breed, and talking to people connected with ETHICAL breeders to ensure that not only do families get tied to the right breed for them, but that they get it from people that love animals, and not just the profit made from trading in them.

No one should suffer what my dogs or my family did, and that is why I do this.