Why so long to adopt a dog ?

[terri01p]

Last time we bought a pet was 10 years ago and we went into petsmart paid 65.00 and brought home our furbaby, case closed, fastforward 10 years our baby has passed and we miss having a doggie so go to adopt a cute pup we seen advertisted though the animal sheltor, we filled out papers, faxed, emailed, called...nothing, finally get an email two weeks later that they are going over applications, my goodness with all the dogs out there you would think they would try to be more speedy about things, 150.00 for a pet speaks for itself, I can't even seem to get an appointment to see the pup, here we are lonely as heck for a pet, big backyard, doggie door, puppy food going to waste while GOD only knows what going on, now this 6 week old pup is 8 weeks old, times a tickin, when I could have already been training and loving it, what"s the hold up, can't talk to a live person for nothing. Does anyone know what they do to take so long about placing an animal, our track record with our other furbaby should have spoken for itself , we have had two dogs in our lifetime first one lived 14 years and our last baby 10 and we have had the same vet for both, what more can I say.

 

[tjderf]

I am sorry to hear about your loss. I am not sure why you are not getting a response on this dog. You can try to look on petfinders.com or petfinder.com (not sure which it is) for a similiar dog. You can search by location, breed of dog, age. You may get a quicker response at another rescue. Usually, it is not a matter of just picking up a dog. Takes a few days, but not usually a few weeks. If the rescue takes its time doing a home visit, vet checks, etc. it helps to ensure that the dog becomes your "forever dog" and doesn't have to be relocated to another "forever home".

 

[jonestavern]

I am sorry to hear of your furbaby's passing
I'll bet you gave him 10 years of wonderful & devoted love!

I am looking for an older dog.
We adopted the lovely Sydney when he was 3, from a shelter in RI & paid 35 dollars for him. He died, at age 15, 2 years ago.
the prices around here seem to be--for a pup or older dog-- from $250 to $350.
I don't mind being checked out, I expect it. I can see paying maybe $100 bucks, but with the cost of vets here abouts (NH seems more expensive than in RI)$350 seems steep. This price is even for senior citizen canines!

Yes, I know the rescues have expenses, but the moment I walk out of there w/ a dog & trot off down to my vet for a check up & a get acquainted, I am adding another $100 to $140 dollars on. Then there is heartworm meds, dog liscence & off to buy food, which I make according to the vet's specifications.

Now I know with a senior dog we are going to have more expenses, but I just can't see an oldie but goodie left & abandoned when I am home most of the day & we have lots of love to give.

Jean
.

 

[tjderf]

You are right, that is a lot of money for a senior dog. Have you checked the paper for "Free to a good home"? The always have them in the classifieds here. You won't know if the dog has any manners and you may have to get it re-shot if they don't have shot records, but it sounds like you are willing to do that. Good luck to both of you. It is so sad when people willing to offer a dog a good home aren't able to find a dog, but kill shelters put them down every day.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I don't understand why the long wait, either. I am sorry on your loss and I hope they hurry up and let you have your dog. Maybe they are underfunded for processing and are just weeks behind? Maybe too many people have tried to get a dog who are evil dog-harmers so they have to have a long process? It ust seems silly to me.

I am trying to convince the husband that we need a doggie. We both work long hours, but we don't/can't have kids. He thinks it is cruel to leave a doggie home for 12 hours while I insist it is cruel to have dogs put to sleep when we can spoil one rotten for the 12 hours a day we don't work plus weekends plus I can sometimes take a dog to work with me.

 

[sunlver]

I think all rescue groups work differently. Its a shame you have to wait so long though.
I volunteer with an all breeds doggie rescue group in my area. We charge $185 adoption fee(It has been raised over the years). This fee is for puppies or an older dog, its all the same. The dogs in our group all our up to date on shots, all fixed, all on heartworm prevenative etc...Its not a quick process to adopt from us either. Well normally within one week is normal. You fill out an application, then they do a homecheck etc...if all is good, the dog is yours.

We show the dogs on Sunday at Petsmart, people are disappointed they cant bring home the dog that day. All our dogs are in foster homes so they are not going anywhere. Our group just wants to make sure the dogs are going to the best possible home.

 

[robinb]

I'm sorry about your wait ... but I think that 6-weeks is way too young to go home with you anyway! I assume that the puppy's mom is also at the shelter and that someone didn't dump off 6-week old babies although I know it happens . 8-9 weeks is really a preferred age for bonding anyway. As for the price, does that include spaying or neutering? They may be waiting until the pup is a bit older for that too. They can do it pretty early these days and many shelters don't trust people to pay for neutering or even come back for it when it's free. As an example, I just paid $175 to have my standard poodle spayed.

What is the shelter's hours? Can you just show up when they are open to see the puppy? I would never adopt a dog I never met, even a little puppy.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

We just adopted our older dog from a rescue group. Remember, they're run by volunteers, so you may not always get a quick response. They can be overwhelmed with work.

Also, 6 weeks is too young to adopt out a puppy-I know Florida law requires a minimum of 8 weeks.

AND many pet rescues get MULTIPLE applications for puppies. The olders dogs have much less interest. I know my beloved dog was in rescue for about a year and a half before I adopted her--nobody wanted her because she is so shy!

We paid $95.00 for our dog, but purebreds and puppies go for a lot more from rescue groups.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

is this a shelter or a rescue group?

I totally agree with you. It is starting to be a problem around here with certain rescue groups going into Shelters - taking all the "desirable" dogs off premises, and then downright hoarding them while they take weeks to decide who they deem worthy of owning the dogs. I am all for responsible pet ownership, but if you don't have the manpower or resources to put a family and a dog together within a week or so, then you have no business inserting yourself into the adoption process.


Meanwhile, back at the shelter, the floor is packed with dogs that are unsuitable for the average family that comes in looking for the next family pet.

 

[Nana Annie]

Last time we bought a pet was 10 years ago and we went into petsmart paid 65.00 and brought home our furbaby, case closed, fastforward 10 years our baby has passed and we miss having a doggie so go to adopt a cute pup we seen advertisted though the animal sheltor, we filled out papers, faxed, emailed, called...nothing, finally get an email two weeks later that they are going over applications, my goodness with all the dogs out there you would think they would try to be more speedy about things, 150.00 for a pet speaks for itself, I can't even seem to get an appointment to see the pup, here we are lonely as heck for a pet, big backyard, doggie door, puppy food going to waste while GOD only knows what going on, now this 6 week old pup is 8 weeks old, times a tickin, when I could have already been training and loving it, what"s the hold up, can't talk to a live person for nothing. Does anyone know what they do to take so long about placing an animal, our track record with our other furbaby should have spoken for itself , we have had two dogs in our lifetime first one lived 14 years and our last baby 10 and we have had the same vet for both, what more can I say.

My guess would be that with this particular pup the age is the hold up.

6 weeks old is far too young to be adopted out. 8 weeks is even a bit early. These days, around 10 weeks is considered the ideal time to place puppies with new owners.

However, you should be kept informed of why things are taking so long. That is one of my pet peeves about some rescues and even some of my fellow breeders. They rant and rave about how people are snapping up puppy mill dogs and then how they have to spend so much time and money doing rescue, yet they then turn around and make it so incredibly difficult to get a puppy with their 75 interviews, 12 home visits, 100 page contracts etc, that they are basically driving people to the petshops and the newspapers

Good luck on getting your puppy.

 

[JR6ooo4]

We used adopt-a-pet for both our dogs. Our interview took half an hour. actualy it was choosing which pup from the remainder of a litter of eight. One page of questions to fill out and the foster mom dropped off the pup the next day. She said they always deliver to check out the house th epup will be at.

We paid $200 but that covered the first six months of vet meds and "the" surgery.

Mikeeee

 

[CarolA]

My experience has been that some of these "shelters" are run by the "morality police" WHAT? You aren't a stay at home Mom NO DOG FOR YOU!! No fenced back yard NO DOG FOR YOU (not that you would be allowed by these "police" to leave the dog in the back yard LOL!) For that reason I am not dealing with the "rescue" places. If they want to do all of that then they can just keep the dogs. (One of them one of my friends tried to use pretty much told her that "we only give to people we KNOW" hope all thier friends want LOTS of dogs)

My boyfriend adopted from the Humane Society. Go to Humane Society, pay fee for "fixing" and take dog home a few days later LOL!

 

[va32h]

My experience has been that some of these "shelters" are run by the "morality police" WHAT? You aren't a stay at home Mom NO DOG FOR YOU!! No fenced back yard NO DOG FOR YOU (not that you would be allowed by these "police" to leave the dog in the back yard LOL!) For that reason I am not dealing with the "rescue" places. If they want to do all of that then they can just keep the dogs. (One of them one of my friends tried to use pretty much told her that "we only give to people we KNOW" hope all thier friends want LOTS of dogs)

My boyfriend adopted from the Humane Society. Go to Humane Society, pay fee for "fixing" and take dog home a few days later LOL!

I agree. I've seen applications that ask such personal questions you'd think you were trying to adopt a baby, not a puppy.

We found our dog by accident. In the grocery store parking lot a woman had a box of puppies she was giving away.