If you love animals, chances are you love dogs! When you adopt a Mira dog, besides doing a good deed, you’ll learn about all the responsibilities that come with having a canine companion—for 18 months at the most. But–and this is important to realize–looking after a Mira puppy brings another set of responsibilities: preparing the animal to be trained as a guide or service dog.
A few eligibility criteria
Before seriously considering adopting a Mira puppy, you must make sure you’re eligible for one of the available programs. Becoming a Mira foster family requires that you:
- have patience and time;
- be aged 18 or over;
- attend seven mandatory meetings;
- not leave the dog alone for more than four hours a day.
Anyone who fails to comply with these criteria may be refused a dog for adoption. And if the family does not comply with the rules, Mira can decide to take the dog back at any time.
Steps to becoming a foster family
After filling out a form and meeting a member of the Mira team, you may be accepted as a new foster family. Once that happens, it’s important to keep the objective of the exercise in mind: help your new arrival develop certain habits. For example, the puppy must learn to be close to people, not lie down on sofas or beds, not eat food from the table, not chew on things they’re not supposed to, and behave properly in public places. Puppies join their foster families at nine weeks, and can stay with them for up to 18 months. During that time, there are mandatory training sessions at Mira, especially when the dog is between 4 and 10 months old. Throughout the process, Mira pays for food, veterinary care, and accessories, and provides an identification letter authorizing you to take the dog to public places to become familiar with them.
It’s most important to keep in mind that the adopted puppy must pass tests to become a guide or service dog. So your job to teach him or her the basic rules of behaviour and make sure they “stickâ€.
Interested? You’ll find all the relevant information on the Mira website!
Photo : fondationmira