Puppy Application Package – APPLY HERE!!

Red Shadow Kennels – Puppy Application Package

Ready to apply? We are excited to now be offering our Package directly on our Website in order for families to start the process faster.

 

Step 1 – Check List  

(Steps 1 of 5 – Each Topic below is Marked with 3 Stars)

          1. The Steps of our Application Package (5 Steps)
          2. Current/ Upcoming Litters
          3. Summary of the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
          4. Breed History/ Health Conditions
          5. Trupanion Pet Insurance
          6. Canine Nutrition/ Alternative Human Grade Diets – Two Documentary Links Below to Watch
          7. Red Shadow Kennels – Red Shadow Kennels Information Outline (<—- CLICK HERE)  
            • Very important – This Covers our Stipulations needed to go through the process: Fenced yard, Dog age gaps, Children in the home, Flying with puppies, The US Border, our costs, What makes our Kennel Different & much more!
          8. Red Shadow Kennels – Red Shadow Kennels Questionnaire (<—- CLICK HERE)
            • This is the foundation of us getting to know you. We have you and your family fill out the Questionnaire, Complete a Puppy Care Cost page & include our required Videos/ Photos we need to get to know you! We want you to have fun with this!
          9. Website: We ask that all families go over our website carefully before submitting their application. 

Please read over everything very carefully, with all members of your family. We ask that you visit ALL the links provided. We will not consider families who we feel have rushed through this process or who have not submitted all the required material.

 

Step 2 – Submitting your Application :

To prevent us from missing your application – Please email it directly to info@redshadowkennels.com with the following subject line:

“Red Shadow Kennels – Completed Questionnaire – Your Full Name – Date you are submitting it”

IMPORTANT:  We encourage families to take their time, make themselves standout and send a personalized video with their application! Most of all Have Fun with it!!! 🙂

Our commitment to Transparency & Privacy with our apply families: Once of the biggest things out kennel lives by is “Educate, not Dictate” . We work very hard from the moment you visit our website and go through our entire process to be a very transparent kennel through education, sharing our dogs, their care, our home, or process & the lifetime commitment/ relationship we are looking for. With this being said, it’s VERY important families understand we are looking for the same transparency from you. We want families who are completely transparent with us in their videos/ photos of their family, their home, the areas the dog will be living, their safe fenced area & much more. Red Shadow Kennels holds a very strict confidentiality when it comes to our applications & all the required material in them. Nothing under any circumstances is shared with anyone else & all applications are simply kept on file for each family. With this being said, it does mean we will NOT continue with families who are not willing to complete our application, or send us the required Videos/ Photos. We will always be fully open with you about who we are & we want the same over the lifetime of our dogs. This is why our Red Shadow Kennels Shadow Community is as strong as it is.  

 

Step 3 – Phone Interview/ Education Package :

For those applications we offer an interview too, we will be sending a series of videos & articles to review before the phone interview. This step is meant to prepare families for a Toller, by providing the most important details about the breed. It will help to set up families for both our process & how we use education to connect.

What topics are covered in our interview process?
        • The history of the breed & how it relates to their health, the gene pool & their future
        • their main health concerns and how we prevent them
        • Auto Immune Diseases
        • Limited Vaccines Protocols
        • Canine body Conditioning
        • Sterilization – Ovarian Sparing Spay or Vasectomy health benefits compared to Spay/ Neuter
        • Crate Training Proticols
        • Raw Food/ Biologically Appropriate Alternative Diets Intro
        • Long term & Immediate Costs of owning a dog & what to expect
        • How we manage Parasites while understanding the risks of current day Parasite medications for our breed
        • Why Pet Insurance is so important in the modern Veterinary World (Trupanion Insurance)
        • & Much More

 

Step 4 – In-Person Interview vs Virtual Video Interview :

🙂

This is the Final Step of our Interview Process & is offered ONLY to Families who have gone through the previous steps first.

VISIT #1:  This first visit is based on where families live as we MAY decide to do a Video Chat instead but have a strong preference for families to come in person to meet us, our Pack & see our home to make sure we are also the kennel families want to work with after meeting is. It’s a great way for us to really connect with families.

 

Step 5 (Approved Families) – Seminar Classes Day & Puppy Pick Up Day :

Families approved after the final Interview step are asked for a Total of 2 More Visits. This applies to all our Families and is not something we offer Virtually or all in one day.

VISIT #2:  Our Full Class/ Seminar Day with Families. It starts at about 8:30am & runs till 5-7pm. This day we cover our courses on “Canine Nutrition”, Limited Vaccines/ Auto Immune Diseases” & “The Benefits of Sterilization, instead of Spay/ Neuter”. We usually do 1-3 family per day for this but are flexible as we work with each families schedules.

      • We provide Lunch, Snacks & Puppy Visit Breaks for the
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        Day.

      • We usually book this as early as when our litter is 4 weeks of age, but our goal is for families to do our classes & than have sometime to prepare & process the information before their puppy goes home.
  • VISIT #3:  Puppy Pick Up Day, Final Seminar, Registration, Puppy Package & More! This visits is a 1/2 day (about 4-5 hours). We complete our “Toller Grooming” Seminar, CKC Puppy Registration, Go through our Puppy Package, final Paperwork & More.
      • This is done individually with each Families.
      • We provide Snack/ Drinks for this Visit
      • This is booked with each family around 10 weeks of age, when puppies are old enough to go home. 

Current/ Upcoming Litters : 

**The month listed below is the month the Litter is expected to be born. Our Puppies go home No Earlier than 10 weeks of age. Parents of our litters are disclosed with families when they start the application process**

UPDATES: We are the most current in updating our Facebook & Instagram, so please make sure to follow us!

1.) The Noodle Litter – Born May 3, 2026: – OPEN – We just welcomes out newest litter of 4 puppies, that will be going to their forever homes around mid- July (10 weeks of age). Families are welcome to apply now as we want to start actively going through applications with families.

2.) Late Summer/ Fall 2026: – OPEN – We have an exciting year with some of our younger dogs able to enter our program, having completed their titles & health clearances later this year. We have plans for 1-2 litters in the second half of the year. We will have a better idea once our girls come into heat in the summer, but for now we are accepting applications but will be putting priority on families who are open to our Spring litter first.

3.) Future Litters (A year or more out): CLOSED When we are this far out from litter plans we can’t accept or start application with families due to uncertainty & how much life can change over time for both us & family applying. Families are encouraged to start the process no earlier than 6 months before they hope to bring a puppy home. 

The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever :

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers or “Tollers” are the smallest of all the retriever breeds. Averaging 35-42 lbs – female and 44-50 lbs – males. Their trade marks are the white chest and feet with a beautiful full red coat. Some have white markings on face and on the tips of the tail. The word “Tolling” in the name means “To lure” The breed is famous for being the only type of dog that can lure in the ducks on the shore line with the movement of their tail and are made for hunting. They breed originated in Nova Scotia and is 1 of 4 Pure Breed Canadian breeds. They were bred to look like foxes and sleep on their back with their feet in the air just like them.

The breed has the colour of an Irish setter and the drive of a border collie. They are a great family pet but are high energy therefore need a higher amount of Physical and Mental exercise each day.  They are the highest energy retriever breed & are known to be one of the smartest breeds in performance. Tollers most of all need “a Job” and ongoing mental stimulation. Classes and on-going training over their life is not optional for the breed given their intelligence & requirements. 

We strongly recommend when looking for a Toller, considering Performance sports such as Showing, Rally, Agility, Fly ball, Obedience, Hunting etc… As a breeder, it is something we look for in our applicants. We look for owners who have an interest in this for either competition or just for fun.

Breed History/ Health Concerns – How we Educate & Prevent them :

** All dogs are predisposed to certain health issues, No matter if Purebred or a mix, the strongest way we can prevent them is through education! We believe as experts in this breed, we are responsible for educating out owners about the health risks, the best ways to prevent them & how we manage them if they come up. As with any dog, its the lack of education & transparency that can lead to increased health problems**

    1. Auto Immune Diseases/ Vaccines:  We cover this in great detail through our process, documents & classes. We highly recommend doing research into Auto immune diseases with this breed, it’s the top health issue and is directly linked with the over-vaccination & the conventional vaccine protocols used today. The breed needs a strict limited vaccine protocol and we recommend doing titer testing in place of vaccines. We recommend researching Dr. Jean Dodds & her work on a limited vaccine protocol: https://www.animalhealthfoundation.net/blog/2017/12/dr-jean-dodds-dog-vaccine-protocol/

Some of the basics we cover:

      • Breed history from earliest history till now
      • Why they have the risks they do
      • When we DO or DO NOT Recommend Vaccines
      • What Vaccines we Do or DO NOT ever do
      • How we Titer test & when
      • The 24 identified Auto Immune Diseases Dogs can get
      • The different types of Veterinarians & find the best one for our breed & the risks.
      • The benefits of taking a Holistic or Homeopathic approach to all Veterinary Care. Why “More” is NOT Better.
      • Understanding the costs:
        • Vaccine appointment – $150-$250
        • Titre testing: $200 – $800
        • An Auto- immune disease caused by things like vaccines, High carb diets, Parasite Prevention, early Spay/ Neuter – $10,000-$30,000 in the first 1-2 years based on how its managed long term

Red Shadow Kennels does have a lower % rate of Auto-immune disease in our dogs compared to what we see in the general population. However this is based off of our education program & our owners knowing how to advocate for their dogs with our support when they go to the vet.

2.) Intervertebral Disk Disease (IVDD/ CDDY Gene): 

Just like above, we have a full video & support system when it comes to this condition & how we prevent it. about 66% of Tollers Carry the Gene for this Disease, however all of them need good exercise, Body conditioning & proper body weight to prevent concerns with a ruptured disc. A Toller Carrying 2-3 extra lbs of weight for 6 months is the same as a human carrying 15-20lbs of extra weight for 4 years.

      • The average cost of the Surgery (Hemilaminectomy), MRI, Physical Therapy and Treatment needed if a dog ruptures its disk is $12,000-$15,000. 

Trupanion Pet Insurance :

RedShadow Kennels is a Strong supporter & Advocate of Trupanion Pet Insurance! Not only for peace of mind, but for countless things that could happen. As an Emergency Veterinary Technician, the Average Costs in 2026 we see around $8000 to $15000, but this is often not for cases that need days of hospitalization, referral to a Specialist Clinic or conditions that require life long support. We ONLY Recommend Trupanion insurance, as they are the only North American Company with no Yearly limit on claims unlike all the others (We have seen pets that with Insurance has upwards of $120k in claims through Trupanion over their lifetime, numbers that no other company would have honored). Trupanion is also the only company with direct billing to the vet.

We Strongly encourage all families have Trupanion Set up BEFORE their puppy comes home & over their entire life. Red Shadow Kennels Is part of their Breeder Program & provides all our families with the first month free & the set up.

Canine Nutrition/ Alternative Human Grade Diets :

Diet is very important to us, it is one of the main topics we teach our families about. For this reason we require families to watch the following two documentaries Before they can apply, as they are the foundation of the material we cover on the phone interview & in our seminars that we want you to know:

      1. “Pet Fooled” (2016): (On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XC1rUWWnxI&t=29s
      2. “A Dog’s Breakfast” (2007) (On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrBOOhDCC6g&list=LL&index=1&t=37s

Red Shadow Kennels – Puppy Application Documents (Click BOTH Below to Download)

Red Shadow Kennels - Information Outline (<---- CLICK HERE)   
Red Shadow Kennels - Questionnaire (<---- CLICK HERE)

Your opinion Matters: Red Shadow Kennels knows we are not the right breeder for everyone, but we are always looking to improve our process, the support of our owners/ the community & the Standards we have for ourselves.  If at any point you decide you’re not wanting to apply, we would be so so grateful if you could let us know why. (Ex. Timing, Costs, What we require, anything specific). It can help us so much: info@redshadowkennels.com

For serious inquires we recommend sending back the Questionnaire ASAP, once reviewed, we will contact families to continue the Interview process.  

We also recommend to please “LIKE” and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube & our website regularly for updates. 🙂

**For all Kennel Related Inquiries, Please allow 3-5 days for a reply. Thank you for your patience! We will be in touch!**