German Shepherd Adoption Canada - Rescue & Rehoming [2024] (2024)

Par Charles Bernard – Mis à jour le 6 May 2023

Responsible breeders are great allies when it comes to buying a German Shepherd puppy. However, some prospective dog owners are more comfortable with the idea of offering a new home to an abandoned dog.

Do you want to help rehoming a German Shepherd, but you don’t know where to start? We have prepared this short article to show you the different ways to find a German Shepherd that is available for adoption.

You might not be able to find a free German Shepherd – usually, an adoption fee must be paid. However, rehoming a pet is much cheaper than paying the full price of a puppy bought from an ethical breeder.

Table of contents hide

1. Rescue organizations

2. Visit local shelters

3. German Shepherds for adoption on classified ad websites

3.1. In Quebec: Les Pattes Jaunes

Rescue organizations

The mission of a rescue organization is similar to that of a shelter: to find a good home for an animal that has been abandoned.

However, they are often run by volunteers. It is not uncommon for dogs to be housed temporarily with someone, rather than in a central building, while waiting for adoption.

Rescues are funded by donations as well as adoption fees paid by the family.

In Canada, there are sometimes rescues that are organized around a particular breed of dog. Here are some organizations you could contact:

German Shepherd Rescue (Canada)
Groupe Facebook de chiens en adoption (France)

Visit local shelters

Have you thought about checking for available dogs at shelters in your area?

It’s unlikely that you’ll find a German Shepherd puppy there: most dogs in shelters are mixed breeds. However, you might find a dog with a similar physique and personality!

Several shelters also list dogs waiting for adoption on their website or Facebook page. If you’re not in a hurry, you can subscribe to them and check regularly for new animals.

As you’ll see below, shelters and rescues also used specialized websites to list their dogs.

German Shepherds for adoption on classified ad websites

Dealing with a shelter or rescue organization provides some supervision and a guarantee of seriousness that you won’t always find when dealing with individuals.

If your initial efforts with local shelters have not yielded any results, it may be worth continuing here.

In Quebec: Les Pattes Jaunes

Les Pattes Jaunes is a Quebec-based platform that aims to facilitate the adoption of cats and dogs from ethical shelters in Quebec.

The platform allows them to display available animals, and potential adopters can filter by size, breed, energy level, and age.

According to Les Pattes Jaunes, more than 20,000 adoptions have been facilitated since 2017. There aren’t a ton of dogs displayed on the platform at the same time, but it’s worth checking out occasionally.

Visit Les Pages Jaunes

Nationwide: Adoptapet and Petfinder

Adoptapet and Petfinder are online platforms, sponsored by large companies in the pets industry, whose goal is to help facilitate the adoption of pets.

Most pets listed come from shelters or rescue organizations, but individual owners can also use Adoptapet to rehome pets. Like Les Pattes Jaunes, various filters are available.

Even though the platforms are American, Canadian postal codes are accepted, and y0u could find the German Shepherd of your dreams on this website.

Visit Adoptapet

Visit Petfinder

Other classified ads websites

Is it possible to find a free German Shepherd on classified ad sites, like Kijiji or Craigslist? Perhaps, but it’s very rare, and you need to be careful!

Classified ad sites are unmoderated platforms, which means anyone can post ads, including fraudsters or “puppy mill” owners. Always be skeptical when contacting someone. You can read Kijiji’s suggested precautions on animal ads.

Most German Shepherds you find there will be sold by merchants, but you may not necessarily have the same protections as when dealing with a true breeder.

Adopting a retired female from a breeder

It is unlikely that you will find your German Shepherd this way, but from time to time, a breeder might be willing to give a female for adoption when she has finished breeding.

As these breeders have many dogs to take care of, they sometimes prefer to find a loving family and a good home for their female.

A breeding female who has been well treated throughout her life will have a balanced temperament and make a good companion. However, be careful not to fall in love with a German Shepherd who has been forced to breed all her life and who has been isolated in a kennel.