10/30/2026
🇨🇦 🇮🇪 An ocean apart, but some remarkably familiar challenges.
One of the highlights of my recent trade mission to Ireland was a thought-provoking conversation with Jim Stephens about the future of dogs in our societies.
We talked about everything from responsible breeding and inherited health concerns to training methods, welfare standards and the expectations we place on dogs as members of our families and communities.
And I came away with two impressions.
First, Canada and Ireland are dealing with many of the same challenges.
How do we help people make informed decisions when choosing a puppy? How do we ensure dogs are bred for health and function, rather than appearance alone? How do we make humane, evidence-informed training accessible and expected? And how do we better recognize dogs’ behavioural and emotional needs?
Second, there are some encouraging developments happening across Ireland and Europe that deserve our attention.
New EU legislation is establishing stronger standards around breeding, welfare and traceability. Meanwhile, the Irish Kennel Club has publicly supported prohibiting hand-controlled electronic shock collars.
Neither country has all the answers, and legislation alone doesn’t guarantee better welfare. But these are meaningful examples of the conversation moving beyond individual dog owners and trainers toward broader institutional responsibility.
The biggest conviction from this conversation was that improving dogs’ lives requires us to look at the entire picture.
How they’re bred. How they’re raised. How they’re trained. How they’re cared for. And how we make room for them in the world we’ve created.
Because being a society that loves dogs isn’t quite the same as being a society designed to help dogs thrive.
Thank you to Jim Stephens for such a generous exchange of ideas and for sharing additional resources following our meeting.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. What’s one thing you’d like to see Canada do differently when it comes to dog welfare?
