A Companion Prepared for Life Across Borders

Stokeshire Private Client is a commissioning relationship for families placing a companion outside the United States. Every dog is bred at Stokeshire, matched to a specific household, and developed for roughly five to seven months against a written Individual Development Plan before placement. During that same period, Stokeshire coordinates the veterinary, documentation, and transportation preparation the destination requires. The organizing idea is that international preparation takes months regardless, so those months become development time rather than waiting time. A commission includes documented development in the Stokeshire Companion app, arrival planning, and twelve months of private support afterward. It is not puppy shipping, and it is not a training package with travel attached.

For many international destinations, no. A number of countries set a minimum import age above eight weeks and require a sequence of veterinary steps that cannot be compressed, which commonly includes identification, vaccination at a qualifying age, laboratory work performed after a required interval, and a waiting period before travel is permitted. The exact sequence and the earliest realistic travel age differ by destination and can change, so Stokeshire confirms the current pathway with the destination authority for each commission rather than working from memory or from what applied to a previous family. This is the practical reason a commission runs five to seven months rather than eight weeks. The waiting period is real, so the program is built to make it productive.

Generally yes. Dogs form and deepen attachments to new people throughout life, which is why adult rescue dogs settle into new homes every day. What supports the bond is structure rather than the calendar: being matched to the dog before development begins, seeing the work rather than receiving a summary at the end, arriving with a written transition plan, and keeping routines consistent in the first weeks at home. Stokeshire builds each of those into a commission, including documentation in the Stokeshire Companion app, a household transition plan written for everyone who will handle the dog, and twelve months of private support while the relationship takes root. Bonding pace varies with the individual dog, the household's consistency, and time.

Stokeshire Bespoke commissions currently begin at $40,000, covering development, documentation, and twelve months of private support. International placement is quoted separately, because freight, customs, government permits, laboratory testing, veterinary certification, destination agents, and any duties or taxes vary substantially by destination and by the adult size of the dog. Stokeshire quotes those figures once real carrier and destination numbers are in hand rather than publishing an estimate that could mislead a family planning around it. Payment follows a milestone schedule set during consultation, and each payment is identified in writing as refundable, non-refundable, earned, or transferable before anything is paid.

Stokeshire has placed dogs across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and evaluates other destinations individually. Whether a commission into a given country is workable depends on the requirements currently published by that country's authorities, the expected adult size and type of the dog, the family's residence and any restrictions that apply to it, and the availability of a suitable transport pathway. Rather than publish a list that could become inaccurate between the day it is written and the day a family reads it, Stokeshire confirms the current pathway for a specific destination during consultation before any commission is accepted. If a placement is not workable, that answer comes at the start of the conversation rather than after money has moved.

Yes. Stokeshire works directly with authorized personal assistants, family offices, household managers, and relocation advisers coordinating a companion for a family, and the consultation request includes a place to identify who is acting on whose behalf. Communication runs through whatever structure the family prefers. Certain decisions still require the family directly, including the selection of the individual dog, execution of the agreement, and any decision affecting the dog's welfare or travel, because those are not administrative matters. Where a household includes staff who will handle the dog day to day, the transition plan is written for them as well as for the family.

Travel timing is an estimate and remains subject to the dog's health and welfare, veterinary clearance, laboratory results, regulatory readiness, document validity, carrier acceptance, weather, and destination requirements. If Stokeshire, the attending veterinarian, the carrier, or a competent authority determines that travel should be delayed, the dog does not travel in order to preserve a promised date. Government requirements can also change between commission and departure, which is why the pathway is reverified rather than assumed as travel approaches. Families are told what is confirmed, what is pending, and what the next decision point is, without speculation. Welfare takes priority over schedule, and that principle is written into the agreement rather than left to goodwill.