Stefanie Strackbein
AZ Canine Connection
I am a single mother of two fabulous children, and have worked with animals my whole life. I hold several certifications in companion animal evaluation and behavior, emergency animal management along with a degree in Psychology. I have concentrated my efforts in the last 5 years to working with shelter animals to try to help those that need it the most.
The Canine Connection is a social enterprise I began with a colleague in the beginning of 2008. We are dog behaviorists with over 20 years experience in animal welfare, whose goal is to promote healthier and safer relationships between dogs and their people. We want to see more animals adopted and fewer purchased from pet stores and/or breeders. Animals that stay in their homes where they are loved, instead of being surrendered or given away. Fewer dog bites, especially to children. And a better understanding and appreciation of dog behavior which will make all the other things naturally fall into place.
To do this, we offer highly personalized adoption services, working with clients to find the best dog for their family at one of the valley's animal shelters. Once we obtain a "profile" of the family and what they are looking for in a dog and what their expectations are for a dog, then we can find a dog that will be most compatible with them. What makes us different than a typical "adoption counselor" is that we perform temperament tests on adoptable dogs currently residing in shelters. Some of the things we look for when testing is: how social a dog is, if there are any aggressive tendencies, any tendencies to "guard" items of value (food, toys, treats), how tolerant a dog is of different types of handling, etc. We do not consider any dogs "bad" based on their evaluation, but obviously some dogs will do better with children than others and some dogs would not be happy sharing their home with another dog. We want to set both the family AND the dog up for success!
We offer follow-up, lifetime behavior counseling to all clients. Providing even basic information about dog behavior creates a mutually respectful relationship, keeps family members safe (almost 400,000 children are bitten severely by dogs every year and most of these could have been prevented by just teaching kids how to act around dogs and/or having the "right" dog in the home...), and keeps dogs from being turned back into shelters when they start displaying behavior "problems".
We have a unique relationship with Maricopa County Animal Care & Control which allows us to bring the shelter to clients who may find it too difficult to visit a shelter themselves. We also provide a "search & rescue" service for those who want to adopt but are not in a hurry to do so. We will scout the shelters and notify clients when we think we have found their "perfect" dog. Arrangements can then be made for both clients (human and dog) to meet! We want to eliminate ANY reason that people may have to NOT find their next canine companion animal at a shelter.
Phone: 602-349-6782
Email: info@azcannineconnection.com