How to Buy a Dog from New Skete

The monks of New Skete are a monastic community in upstate New York affiliated with the Orthodox Church. As part of their monastic vocation, they offer dog training classes and kenneling services. They are renowned for their dog training skills and have published several respected books on the subject. They also breed, raise, train, and sell German Shepherd dogs. Each monk in the community has the responsibility of raising a male or female German Shepherd puppy from their litters and the distinctive way these dogs are raised has made them highly sought after. The following steps explain the process of purchasing one of these dogs.

Things You'll Need

  • New Skete Shepherds Puppy Application (available as a pdf online)
  • Copy of the book ̶0;How to Be Your Dog̵7;s Best Friend̶1; (optional)
  • Copy of the book ̶0;The Art of Raising a Puppy̶1; (optional)
  • Transportation to monastery
  • $2,500-$3,200
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Instructions

    • 1

      Visit the Monks of New Skete website and learn about their community. You will find the puppy application available there as a PDF download. Download the application and print several copies. You will use one as your final application to mail to the monastery. The other copies are to use for drafts.

    • 2

      Purchase the books ̶0;How to Be Your Dog̵7;s Best Friend̶1; and ̶0;The Art of Raising a Puppy̶1; and review both books before filling out the puppy application. Reading the books is not mandatory for approval of your adoption application, but reading the books will give you important background on the monks' philosophies regarding German Shepherds, pet adoption, and dog care and training. This background information will help you answer the questions on the application.

    • 3

      Complete a draft copy of the puppy adoption application. The monks take pet adoption very seriously and they review the applications with the same thoroughness that one might review the application of potential parents for a human adoption. Continue filling out the draft copies until you are satisfied with your answers.

    • 4

      Complete your final copy of the Monks of New Skete puppy adoption application. Use care when completing this final version, making sure to check your spelling and punctuation. Mail the completed application to the address listed.

    • 5

      The monks will review your application and determine if you are a suitable candidate for adopting one of their German Shepherds. Once your application is approved, they will contact you to arrange a time for you to travel to the monastery to pick up your new pet. They will also notify you at that time of the final cost of your pet̵2;between $2,500 to $3,000 plus New York State sales tax--so that you can bring a form of payment with you.