Adoption Process
Step 3 – Wait to hear from us!
Once we receive your application we will contact you to make arrangements for an appointment. Remember to include any and all animals you're interested in meeting in the application because some of our animals are not onsite and in foster homes and we have to make those considerations when scheduling the appointment.
We highly recommend children under 10 years-old to meet the dog, and may require it for some dogs
For some dogs, such as dogs with special medical or behavior needs, we may require all members of the household to be present
If you have other dogs in your home, you must show proof that your current dog is up-to-date on their Rabies vaccine before they can meet our dog.
All other dogs in the household 6 months of age or older must already be spayed/neutered if the one you're interested in is not yet altered*.
We will not release unaltered pets to adopters. You can choose to foster the pet you're interested in until it's spayed/neutered, but we will retain legal ownership of the animal until this is done and have it returned to us if not altered by 10 months of age, unless we've agreed to something different in writing. Or you can choose to pay a reserve fee (a portion of the adoption fee) and we'll hold the pet for you until the alteration is complete.
*Altered = spayed or neutered
Step 4 – Adopt! (remember all adoption/reserve fees are tax deductible as a donation)
Once the adoption has been approved, you sign the Adoption Contract, pay the adoption fee and take your new friend home for a lifetime of love! Many of our animals are ready to go home same-day, but some may not be for a variety of different reasons. If you choose to adopt an animal that is not yet ready to go home, you may pay a reserve fee to hold that pet for you, the animal will remain in our care until ready to go into your home. The reservation fee is deducted from the total adoption cost due upon adoption, the pre-adoption fee may vary per animal.
In the event the adoption is not working out, we do require that you allow the dog two full weeks. at a minimum, before you can return to them to us, unless there is an extreme or dangerous situation, because a pet needs this minimum adjustment period to become comfortable in their new environment. In some cases you may be asked to keep the dog with you while we search for a new home or secure a transfer spot for him/her.
If you have a household with children of any age, we require you to acknowledge you've read the below article for teaching your child appropriate interaction methods for their new lifelong friend prior to bringing your new family member home, at a minimum. We require this for everyone's well being and protection because in most cases of dogs needing to be rehomed for children and bites, the situation could have been avoided if the supervising adult recognized the dog's body language and distress signs. Children do not automatically know how to interact with animals, it's up to us as responsible adults to teach them these things, just like anything else they learn. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/teaching-young-children-respect-dogs/.
Please Note:
Filling out an adoption questionnaire does not guarantee adoption. We reserve the right to deny any adoption if we believe it is in the best interest of the animal.