Advice on Adopting a Dog

[mjkacmom]

I see so many local dogs up for adoption on my Facebook feed. How about NYC?

http://www.timeout.com/new-york-kids/things-to-do/10-awesome-places-to-adopt-a-dog-in-nyc

When we decided to adopt, we let the dog find us (we wanted the most perfect dog, which we now have). A friend was fostering, and told me she had a keeper. Look into pet adoption days at the big pet stores.

 

[katie01]

Do you have a Petsmart nearby? You could call them and ask if they are having any upcoming adoption events, it may be easier to adopt through one of those events.

Also, maybe you could call some local vets and see if they know where their clients had luck finding rescue dogs?

I understand your frustration, we tried to adopt through the rescue route years ago and didn't have any luck. Either we didn't hear back from anyone, or they required a fenced yard, or required that all our kids be older than 10, and so forth. So we bought our dog get through a breeder and she is the perfect dog for us. She also has a wonderful life with us, so it bothers me that some rescues didn't think we could adequately care for a dog because we didn't have a fenced hard, or that our youngest wasn't 10, and so forth. I do think it all varies by state though. I hear that many of our local rescue groups get their dogs from Oklahoma. Are you planning a trip to Oklahoma anytime soon?? A PP said that some states won't let you adopt if you live out of state, do the foster groups have some sort of special license to do so?

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I understand your frustration, we tried to adopt through the rescue route years ago and didn't have any luck. Either we didn't hear back from anyone, or they required a fenced yard, or required that all our kids be older than 10, and so forth. So we bought our dog get through a breeder and she is the perfect dog for us. She also has a wonderful life with us, so it bothers me that some rescues didn't think we could adequately care for a dog because we didn't have a fenced hard, or that our youngest wasn't 10, and so forth.

Same situation here. The requirements for adopting are pretty stringent and while I understand why that has to be so, it means that adopting or going through rescue is most likely out for us. So if we get a puppy though a breeder my friend suggested making a donation to a rescue organization at the same time, so I wouldn't feel so guilty.

 

[katie01]

Same situation here. The requirements for adopting are pretty stringent and while I understand why that has to be so, it means that adopting or going through rescue is most likely out for us. So if we get a puppy though a breeder my friend suggested making a donation to a rescue organization at the same time, so I wouldn't feel so guilty.

That is a really good idea about the donations. We just went to a rescue event and did donate there. I was also looking into fostering dogs, but a friend who has done it said you really have to quarantine/separate your own dog from the foster dogs, and we don't really have a good space to separate two dogs in our house. But at any rate, there are lots of ways to help animals, and I do think it's wonderful to adopt rescue animals as well. It certainly works very well for many people and I haven't at all ruled out trying again in the future

 

[Ephany]

I do get the Petfinder alerts, but if you recall the name of where you rescued from, or the state, please let me know. I'd love to start searching down south.

I'm in Georgia and I follow a lot of local shelters or city animal control organizations on Facebook. This group http://animalaidusa.org/ seems to pull many dogs/puppies and transport them up north for adoption. Maybe they'll have a lead or two for you? I don't know anything about the organization otherwise, but they've saved a lot of little lives down here.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

That is a really good idea about the donations. We just went to a rescue event and did donate there. I was also looking into fostering dogs, but a friend who has done it said you really have to quarantine/separate your own dog from the foster dogs, and we don't really have a good space to separate two dogs in our house. But at any rate, there are lots of ways to help animals, and I do think it's wonderful to adopt rescue animals as well. It certainly works very well for many people and I haven't at all ruled out trying again in the future

I have fostered dogs for over two years..... probably had at least 30 different dogs and puppies come through my house during that time. I never separated my fosters from my own dogs and cats. My animals are all vaccinated, and I did try to make sure that the adult dogs would be ok around cats and kids. Puppies, while a lot of work, were never a concern in that regard.

 

[mommyrosa2]

Our Chewie died two years ago, and now we're ready to welcome a new dog into our hearts and family.

Being that I work during the day and the local shelters close early in the evenings, it's been hard for us to meet any of the dogs we've liked and seen online on the weekends. They're always already adopted by the time we reach out/get to the shelter, and no one will "hold" them for us. Right now we have submitted at least five applications at various shelters and have not heard back (I do realize that they are all busy/understaffed).

Therefore, I'd been resorting to applying for dogs at rescues who are being fostered. We have been turned down three times--twice because they wanted to home the dogs in homes that currently have other dogs, and once because they thought we weren't home enough (the dog would be home alone 5 hours per day...which our previous dog was home alone for a bit longer than that). Other than that they say that our applications are perfect - two parent household, two older children, own our home, fenced in yard, experience with training/housebreaking, etc.

It's been two months now I'm I'm really starting to get discouraged. You see commercials on TV and hear online how easy it is to adopt, and I'm not finding that to be the case.

Any advice?

Don't give up!!

Once we decided we were ready for a furbaby, I knew that with our busy schedules there was no way I wanted to go thru a breeder and do the whole puppy training so we decided to adopt. We settled on a couple of different small breeds and started out with our local shelters but of course, none of ours had small dogs at the time. We then turned to Petfinder and started searching all over the country but like you, once we started the process we became quickly discouraged as either the baby we were interested in was already adopted or what we found was that many rescue groups out of state wouldn't even consider us because we were out of their state.

Thankfully a dear friend of mine encouraged me not to give up hope. She kept saying the right baby would find us when the time came and boy she was so right. About 4 months into our search, I decided one morning to go back on Petfinder to look (mind you I had been on the website the night prior and saw nothing), well, that morning, it was like my little baby just popped up out of nowhere. As soon as I saw Kobe, I just had this overwhelming feeling - can't explain it. He was a Shih Tzu and estimated to be about 15-18 months old. He was with a rescue group out of TN, Shih Tzu and Precious Paws Rescue, I immediately called and was shocked when I got a live voice so quickly - something I wasn't used to with many other groups. The woman on the phone named Donna was the actual person who ran the rescue group and also happened to be his foster mommy. While she did have some reservations at first about considering us because we were so far away (we live in Massachusetts), the conversation flowed very easily and before I knew it, I was filling out adoption papers with all my references and sending her all kinds of pics of us and our home. Everything fell into place and literally within 2 days, she approved us and before I knew it I was making arrangements with a transportation company to bring Kobe home to us.

I'll admit it was a huge gamble on our part to not meet him beforehand, but after lengthy conversations with her about his temperament and about our family in general, we just knew he'd fit right in and boy did he ever! I wish you the very best of luck and while I will agree the adoption process is not an easy one at all, when the right baby comes along, it will be well worth it!!

 

[prprincess]

Thankfully a dear friend of mine encouraged me not to give up hope. She kept saying the right baby would find us when the time came and boy she was so right. About 4 months into our search, I decided one morning to go back on Petfinder to look (mind you I had been on the website the night prior and saw nothing), well, that morning, it was like my little baby just popped up out of nowhere.

This brings up a question--did you have a search set up to send you new pet emails or did you just search everyday? I set up a search, but haven't gotten emails the past few days. So I'm wondering if it's just better to manually search daily. I'll also look into that rescue! Thanks!

 

[katie01]

I have fostered dogs for over two years..... probably had at least 30 different dogs and puppies come through my house during that time. I never separated my fosters from my own dogs and cats. My animals are all vaccinated, and I did try to make sure that the adult dogs would be ok around cats and kids. Puppies, while a lot of work, were never a concern in that regard.

That is good to know, thank you. I should check around with different rescues and see what they say about fostering

 

[mommyrosa2]

This brings up a question--did you have a search set up to send you new pet emails or did you just search everyday? I set up a search, but haven't gotten emails the past few days. So I'm wondering if it's just better to manually search daily. I'll also look into that rescue! Thanks!

I literally searched every single day, sometimes twice per day.

 

[whitney250]

You could always try Animal Control/the pound... those dogs are on borrowed time, you could save a life Many of those dogs are very adoptable, and seem to be easier to get, at least where I live they are.

 

[simba9287]

What are you looking for and where are you located? I work in rescue in Florida and would be happy to give you some guidance or leads if you message me. I'm shocked you are getting turned down. Based on what you have said here I loved doing adoptions to families like yours.

 

[prprincess]

What are you looking for and where are you located? I work in rescue in Florida and would be happy to give you some guidance or leads if you message me. I'm shocked you are getting turned down. Based on what you have said here I loved doing adoptions to families like yours.

PM'd you. It didn't allow me to type as much as I wanted, so if you have any questions, please let me know!

 

[tzolkin]

Same situation here. The requirements for adopting are pretty stringent and while I understand why that has to be so, it means that adopting or going through rescue is most likely out for us. So if we get a puppy though a breeder my friend suggested making a donation to a rescue organization at the same time, so I wouldn't feel so guilty.

Obviously you don't need to answer, but I'm just curious why you think you would not be eligible to adopt a dog.

The only two reasons I know of where you would definitely be turned away would be: 1. if you planned to tie the dog out in your back yard or 2. you have surrendered dogs in the past for no reason. I'm assuming neither of those two are the case with you.

You can certainly buy a puppy from a breeder if that's the best option for your family, (I'm not trying to sway you one way or the other) but I just wondered why you think it's your only option.

 

[cords]

Same situation here. The requirements for adopting are pretty stringent and while I understand why that has to be so, it means that adopting or going through rescue is most likely out for us. So if we get a puppy though a breeder my friend suggested making a donation to a rescue organization at the same time, so I wouldn't feel so guilty.

The other thing you can do if you go through a breeder is to make sure you go through a responsible breeder. Not all breeders are the ones that fill the shelters, it is the backyard and unethical breeders. Make sure that your breeder takes back any puppy that they breed, anytime during their life no matter the reason. These are the responsible breeders and you will never see their puppies in a shelter.

For instance, we have show dogs (Koms.) Our breeder recently drove across country to retrieve one of her puppies she bred several years ago because his owner suddenly died. She brought him home and found a great new home for him. I have another one of her dogs where the owner was unable to keep her after 2 years due to a major medical crisis.

The breeder should have a contract that says that if you need to rehome the dog, you need to return the dog to the breeder or inform the breeder who the dog is going to (ie: a relative) so the breeder can keep track of the dog and make sure that the dog does not end up in a shelter ever.

It is the people that breed for profit and breed litters and litters every year (mixed breed dog breeders are the biggest group of unethical breeders) that are the ones that contribute to the shelter problems, it is not only puppy mills.

So as long as you are picky about your breeder you should have no guilt what so ever picking out a purebred puppy.

 

[2Kds2K9]

I volunteer at our local animal shelter. While there are not many restrictions in adopting from us, our counsellors work hard to make sure it's a good match. Restrictions being over 18, no previous abuse convictions, permission from landlord if you rent, and proof of vaccine on current animals. We encourage people to bring existing dogs for a meet at the shelter.

Purebreds and puppies go fast. When we recently announced we had 16 plus puppies for adoption, people were lined up at 6am for a noon opening.

We hear from many adopters that the rescue organizations are very strict in their adoption process with many requirements and home visits. Our shelter tries really hard to make sure owners understand dog ownership and provide a lot of information for local resources.

We also have a large Foster program. All the dogs that are up for adoption are eligible to go to foster homes during the time the shelter is closed to the public. This is great for many reasons, one being that it gives us a better read of the dog in a home environment and therefore, better info for the adopter. Of course we also hope for that "Foster fail" and the dog gets adopted either by the foster, a neighbor, or by being seen out and about with the foster.

Good luck and keep looking. Your fur baby is out there!

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Obviously you don't need to answer, but I'm just curious why you think you would not be eligible to adopt a dog.

The only two reasons I know of where you would definitely be turned away would be: 1. if you planned to tie the dog out in your back yard or 2. you have surrendered dogs in the past for no reason. I'm assuming neither of those two are the case with you.

You can certainly buy a puppy from a breeder if that's the best option for your family, (I'm not trying to sway you one way or the other) but I just wondered why you think it's your only option.

Oh, I don't mind answering! OK, the first thing is we need a specific type of dog. We just recently lost our 16 year old Yorkie and we have a Maltese that is about to turn 16. I am actually allergic to dogs, but small dogs with hair like the Maltese don't affect me at all. I would just like another small dog like a Maltese or a Yorkie because they fit in really well with our family. So going at it from that angle, if you look in the rescues for these specific breeds, they don't want children under 10. Or in some cases, age 13. My son will be 10 in December. Daughter is 7. So that's potentially an issue. The second issue is while we have a large house and a nice yard, it's only partially fenced in. That wouldn't be an issue with a small breed like a Maltese but there is still the problem of the kids and their ages.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

The other thing you can do if you go through a breeder is to make sure you go through a responsible breeder. Not all breeders are the ones that fill the shelters, it is the backyard and unethical breeders. Make sure that your breeder takes back any puppy that they breed, anytime during their life no matter the reason. These are the responsible breeders and you will never see their puppies in a shelter.

For instance, we have show dogs (Koms.) Our breeder recently drove across country to retrieve one of her puppies she bred several years ago because his owner suddenly died. She brought him home and found a great new home for him. I have another one of her dogs where the owner was unable to keep her after 2 years due to a major medical crisis.

The breeder should have a contract that says that if you need to rehome the dog, you need to return the dog to the breeder or inform the breeder who the dog is going to (ie: a relative) so the breeder can keep track of the dog and make sure that the dog does not end up in a shelter ever.

It is the people that breed for profit and breed litters and litters every year (mixed breed dog breeders are the biggest group of unethical breeders) that are the ones that contribute to the shelter problems, it is not only puppy mills.

So as long as you are picky about your breeder you should have no guilt what so ever picking out a purebred puppy.

This is a great reminder. I have been researching breeders and I have found a Maltese breeder that is excellent. She only breeds occasionally but she is also involved in rescue and obedience training and therapy dogs. I have been emailing with her and when she next has a litter (don't know when that would be), I would like to g through her screening process. I hope the kids' ages isn't too big a strike against them.....they've been around our small dogs their whole lives and they know how to behave. A puppy is different though.....the dogs were full grown and pretty chill when the kids were born.

 

[prprincess]

This is a great reminder. I have been researching breeders and I have found a Maltese breeder that is excellent. She only breeds occasionally but she is also involved in rescue and obedience training and therapy dogs. I have been emailing with her and when she next has a litter (don't know when that would be), I would like to g through her screening process. I hope the kids' ages isn't too big a strike against them.....they've been around our small dogs their whole lives and they know how to behave. A puppy is different though.....the dogs were full grown and pretty chill when the kids were born.

Can you recommended any breeder research resources? Just out of curiosity...

 

[7165red]

I live in Syracuse NY and there is new shelter called Second Chance. If you google Second Chance, you will see the have shelters in many states. I know the North Shore animal shelter and they have a good reputation. They are located on Long Island NY. You could call and ask for help. There is a sweet dog waiting for you.