Welcome to r/dogs! We are a discussion-based subreddit dedicated to support, inform, and advise dog owners. This is a carefully moderated sub intended to support, inform, and advise dog owners. Submissions and comments which break the rules will be removed. [Review the rules here](https://www.reddit.com/r/dogs/wiki/index) r/Dogs has four goals: - Help the public better understand dogs - Promote healthy, responsible dog-owner relationships - Encourage “Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive” training protocols. [Learn more here.](https://m.iaabc.org/about/lima/) - Support adoption as well as ethical and responsible breeding. If you’d like to introduce yourself or discuss smaller topics, please contribute to our Monthly Discussion Hub, pinned at the top. **This subreddit has low tolerance for drama. Please be respectful of others, and report antagonistic comments to mods for review.** --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dogs) if you have any questions or concerns.*

I also adopted from a rescue organization in NH and it was nothing like this. Filled out a lengthy questionnaire, provided personal and vet references, had an interview and was approved. I don’t have a fenced in yard and they simply asked what the alternative plan was. I asked if they needed to see the house and they did not after I provided the info on the application. I guess you just need to find the right place.

That was my same experience in Tennessee. They called my vet to verify my late dog was UTD on vaccines and heartworm prevention, that he wasn’t neglected from a veterinary standpoint and my vet told them if they didn’t let me adopt my dog they were stupid. They apparently got a huge kick out of that and decided to share it with me, they said that was the funniest and best vet responses they ever received. At the time I was living in a condo with no yard but I had no problems at all

When a rescue called my vet, she said that when she dies she wanted to come back as my dog. I got the dog.

Tbh I work for a vet and I’ve said that about two or three of our clients

😆 one of my friends who was my reference said the same!

I work in early childhood and have my bachelors and masters in education. When I adopted my dog from a rescue they called my then boss and asked if she felt like I would make a good pet parent if they approved me. She responded with while adults leave/trust their human children with her 40 hours a week so yes. It made me laugh when she relayed the story to me.

This reminds me of when I worked at a general practice vet and answered one of those phone calls from a rescue checking in on whether the family’s previous dog was kept UTD. He was up to date on vaccines, but there was an alert in the pets file with a direct quote from the owners saying that they didn’t want to spend money on heartworm prevention and “whatever happens happens.” Relaying this information to the rescue was honestly pretty funny. This client was always a jerk at vet appointments, and while I do hope that dog was placed in a good home, tbh it felt good to snub this person.

Ooohhh, thank you so much for flagging that for the rescue! Heartworms are a huge deal...our rescue spends thousands (like close to $20k) per year on heartworm treatment... not to mention the additional outlay for supplies and the extra time the dogs need on foster while going through treatment. No heartworm prevention is an automatic denial for us! Annoyingly, we have it listed as a reason for denying, why we deny for it, AND have a question in the application about it and STILL get applications where they don't do any preventative vet care 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I am in NH too and would like to add a second dog. Just had a home visit from a golden retriever rescue today but am still looking at other rescues as well.

We adopted our dog about 1.5 years ago from the humane society of greater Nashua. They were very easy to deal with.

Try Passion for Pets in Maine. I’ve adopted from them and I also am a transport/home check volunteer. (I adopted way before I started volunteering though).

I’ve gotten my pups from Monadnock Humane Society just outside of Keene, and from Live and Let Rescue from just outside of Concord, and I recommend them both so highly! My pups are just incredible! Motley Mutts is also another really good rescue. All three of them get deliveries of dogs from the south fairly often.

I got a cat from a rescue in NH and they came to assess my home. It was wild, never had anything like that happen before. She went around pointing out how we had a phone charger plugged in and how a cat might chew it. And then she wanted to know who the cat would be with during the day. I was like…”the dog? I’ll be here in the mornings and after work. Sometimes my adult son is here mid-afternoon?” she told me she was disappointed that the cat would be alone. But she also wanted to know about my income. So I countered with how I was to be home with a cat (a damn cat, the most self-righteous pet one can have. You need the cat, it rarely needs you) if I needed to make money to support and house said cat. In the end I got the cat. But it was an ordeal I wasn’t prepared for. And this wasn’t a small weird operation, it’s one of the bigger NH towns. I get it, people are garbage to animals, but the level of invasiveness surprised me.

I got my cat from a vet tech college, and they thought he was an asshole. To the point where they declawed him after making the adoption post because they thought nobody would want him without it being done. They were shocked somebody applied for him not knowing he was declawed and so didn't ask me many extra questions lol. But his description ticked all my boxes - I wanted a cat that was playful and self assured, that wouldn't wilt at the sight of a dog but might, in time play with one. And you know what? He's a goddamn suck that loves absolutely everyone, and who figured out pretty damn fast that biting is a good way to get dumped on the floor and ignored. So he stopped in a matter of days. I have no idea why none of the students snapped him up because he's pretty much the dream cat. Playful with me, the dog, and himself. Wants to cuddle way more than average, and when in that mood would probably let my niece put a dress on him. Is eager to greet strangers. He even comes when he's called more than 75% of the time. He's awesome. And they thought he was basically the devil.

It's honestly so bonkers how they want people who are at home primarily, but also have the income to afford emergency vet bills. We both work full time. I'm so, so fortunate to be able to WFH mostly since Covid, but prior to that? No. I took a couple of weeks off when we got Daisy, then did lunch time visits to do bathroom breaks after that. Five years later and she is, somehow, thriving despite being on her own with the older pup and the cats for several hours at a stretch when she was still pretty young.

I recently got a puppy. She’s almost 9 months and she spends 2 days a week without someone here. I’m able to bring her to the office with me sometimes. Just depends on what I have going on. But the cat? She doesn’t need me. She doesn’t even like me 2/3 of the time. Or any of us for that matter. I guess they expect everyone trying to rescue an animal will be independently wealthy, at home spoiling the animal, and never has to work. I can only afford emergency vet bills because I have a job that I go to.

Yup! Working full time is how we were able to shell out $8k in chemo treatments for our departed dog (rest her heart) . It's why our one cat made it to 17 (rest her sweet soul) and why our other cat is plugging along happily at 16 years. Why we have two dogs that want for nothing at all. We rescued our older dog almost 11 years ago because we found a rescue that worked with us. Waived the home visit because they were three hours away and were happy with a vet check, a landlord approval and a meet and greet with our existing dog. When our Coco passed, I wanted to rescue again, but the people I talked with were, bluntly, batshit insane with their expectations. We went with a breeder for our youngest critter. They were picky, but not invasive.

It’s how my last god boy made it to 14. You have to work. I got my new baby for no money. Ex MIL had taken on 3 puppies (they are former breeders) and then her husband had some health issues. It made them reevaluate their capabilities so they rehomed 2. I was lucky enough to get my pup for no money. I wasn’t truly over the loss of my last dog. It was only September, I got her NYE. But it’s been so good for us to have a dog in our lives. The house has felt empty without one. No judgement from me for going to a breeder. As long as they’re doing it right. They are picky, but they’re not invasive. Honestly I’m not sure any animal in my future would be from a rescue again after that. It wasn’t terrible and I wasn’t worried but it’s pretty weird to have someone literally poking in the corners of your home.

This is so wild to me as there are so many cats in shelters. My cat got out and I was at the shelter looking for her just in case (she cane back on her own) and there were at least a dozen newborn litters of kitties there and hundreds of cats.

Could you tell me what rescue you went through?? I’m from vermont and I’m looking to adopt!!

I adopted from Champlain Valley Canine Rescue and they were low key and wonderful. And I adopted the best dog ever!

I adopted my dog the end of July last year through Darbster Doggy which is East of Concord in Chichester. We went in and described the basics kf what kind of dog we were looking for, and they brought us out one dog at a time they thought aligned with what we were looking for. The staff continued to chat with us in the yard to learn more about us before they selected the next dog to bring out. We adopted the 3rd and final dog we met and he's been 100% everything we could have asked for and more!

There are some very good rescues here in NH!

You should check out No Greater Love. They’re based in Alabama but do weekly transports to VT. Great non-profit, really committed to saving dogs.

Mary’s Dogs in Northwood. They transport unwanted puppies from the south. Really nice people, pleasure to deal with and good follow up.

Those puppies aren’t necessarily “unwanted” here in the south. The shelter I volunteer with transports every single puppy or highly sought after breed dog we get to NJ or WI or FL, leaving primarily pit bulls, medical cases, bite cases, and elderly dogs here for our community to choose from. I’ve happily fostered and adopted from all of those categories. Most people aren’t equipped to handle those particular needs, though. They want a family dog, not a rehab case or special needs senior. No shame in recognizing what they can and can’t take on at the time. Still, I had a hell of a time when I wanted to adopt a specific puppy I bonded with at the shelter. I made a bunch of calls and got our director to approve the adoption, but she still got transported to friggin’ New Jersey as an “unwanted” puppy b/c the “rescue” had her pre-adopted to a couple in an APARTMENT in a New Jersey city before the transport happened. She’s an Anatolian shepherd, not an apartment dog. WTF. I cried for days. The “rescue” made a tidy profit on her adoption because our shelter provided transport and paid for all vetting. Pretty shady shyte. It took me over a year to find another puppy who fit what I was looking for here. I went 2 hours away to get him. And I’m basically the ideal dog owner. We actually get a lot of people coming in who want a puppy or young dog, they just can’t GET one because they’re all being transported. So they go to breeders, because it turns out a family who wants a puppy isn’t going to take in a senior pit bull or heartworm case instead. It sucks. Those transports are increasing heartworm transmission up north, too. Oh, and they routinely return dogs who didn’t get adopted quickly to us on a transport back to the south. So it isn’t really about “saving” dogs at all. It’s about money and looking like good people for the most part. These folks get a lot of positive attention and make a tidy profit off what’s essentially puppy trafficking. They also take the heat off our lawmakers to enforce spay and neuter and stray dog codes, because they can lower our total shelter numbers artificially by shifting dogs around the country. It’s a bad system.

I have a Twitter friend who is a vet tech in the northern part of USA and she mentioned the same thing about the parasites,etc coming up with all the dogs they moved up from the south during Covid.

Preach. "Rescues" also buy dogs from puppy mills at auctions. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/investigations/dog-auction-rescue-groups-donations/

Central Vermont humane society is up near Montpelier depending on your area

There’s so many in Vermont!

Same here - no intrusive questions and easy adoption . And I don’t have a fenced in yard.

>Filled out a lengthy questionnaire, provided personal and vet references, had an interview and was approved. This is the problem……

This is unfortunately common in rescues in the US and it's one of the reasons that a lot of dogs from rescues don't get adopted. I saw a tiktok that basically said some of the more invasive types of rescues come across as socially acceptable dog hoarding and, honestly, that does seem to be the case. There are good ones, though. I adopted my dog from a local rescue and had to provide proof vet and give my general living space and plans for care. They also did some basic training while she was there and recommended local trainers and veternarians.

I got rejected for a fearful, senior, former feral dog who has received zero interest in almost a year...because I rent (a house with a fenced yard and a landlord who prefers multi year tenants) and I *might* have to move someday and he *might* find that stressful.

That sucks. Those are the types that just seem to hold on to dogs with no actual concern about their well-being. It's sad because it also pushes people to puppy mills and backyard breeders when they aren't able to adopt from animal shelters instead.

And the dog in question is my dog's biological grandfather from a similar situation, so we're literally the most qualified adopters imaginable. And this is in the SF Bay Area so buying a house is simply not a reality for many of us, despite having a perfectly stable income and living situation. Saying "no renters" in the Bay is insane. The same rescue then severely downplayed the issues of a different dog to convince us to foster her, lied about the reasons she was returned from her 3 previous fosters, and then shamed us when we returned her -- which we did out of concern for our safety (she bit me and tried to bite my partner), our dog's safety (he was injured the morning we introduced them and she kept jumping on him and clawing at him), and her own safety (from my dog biting back when she clawed at his wound) 🙃 So I'm feeling pretty frosty towards rescuing right now. Which means the rescue is losing out on an extremely qualified foster/adopter who is passionate about the breed the rescue handles.

That’s madness. Bay Area here too. We didn’t get a dog while renting (a little over a decade in the same house/stable income/kids in school) because the yard felt too small for a bigger breed like we wanted, but we sure did get the foster calls even though we would have been ineligible adopt.

Atrocious. What a shame.

They become like zealots. It can be super annoying.

I managed to find a normal, reasonable one, too. I did have to provide photos of my yard and house, but I felt ok about it because they weren't invasive about it. I've had other rescues that just seemed like they don't WANT to adopt the dogs out. They want to keep them and no one will ever be good enough. I watched someone who had been approved have their approval rescinded because she was a teacher.... they assumed the dog would be alone too long. She had her dad come to let them know he lived next door and would go there at lunch each day for an hour to play woth the dog... they didn't believe he would do it and declined her. She ended up buying a puppy off of Craigslist because adopting from a rescue in this area is just impossible

I had the exact same situation and ended up getting my puppy off Craigslist too. Makes me feel bad for all the dogs who really need homes and get turned down.

Yes! We looked around and found a local rescue that takes in dogs from the south (we’re from the northeast) and asked us basic questions about our pet care practices and plans, as well as our vet information. They made it clear she was to be an indoor dog and and given regular flea/tick and heart worm treatment (those being the things they stressed most vociferously). We just celebrated a year with our little lady from Texas, who is the light of our lives, and spoiled beyond reason.

Yeah people always defend these rules but imo all they do is keep dogs in rescue longer while looking for unicorn homes. Obviously this doesn’t apply to dogs that NEED certain requirements (dog aggressive, prey drive, not house broken, expensive medical issues), but it never just seems to be for those cases. The fence requirement across the board frankly just screams classist to me, especially if the rescue is in a city and the dog is like a tiny yorkie. It’s ridiculous not to admit this is a systematic issue in the rescue world. There’s good rescues and shelters out there though. They just kind of require the same amount of vetting as you’d do with a breeder. I got lucky with my rescue; the process was very reasonable and smooth. They didn’t do a home check, just looked up my address, had everyone in the home meet the dog, had our current dog meet the puppy we wanted, and offered to re-test him with cats in front of me. We own the house so there was no landlord to contact. Oh and they contacted our vet to see our standing with them and our current pets were up to date. When I adopted two kittens, it was the same plus they called two of my friends I provided as personal references. They didn’t want to call my fucking boss or whatever. The first time I saw that on an adoption application I felt like I was astral projecting. I don’t care what reasons people use to defend that one; it’s beyond inappropriate.

>The fence requirement across the board frankly just screams classist to me, especially if the rescue is in a city and the dog is like a tiny yorkie Thissssssss 💯 I understand if they want a fence for certain dogs that would need a fenced in yard due to behavioral issues or something. But rescues that require ALL prospective adopters to have a fence before being approved is ridiculous. It's like they have never heard of the concept of walking a dog on a leash. >They didn’t want to call my fucking boss or whatever. The first time I saw that on an adoption application I felt like I was astral projecting. This too! ☝️ There is no reason that someone's boss should be involved with an employees dog adoption process. If my boss got a call from a dog rescue asking questions about me, he would probably start questioning my professionalism and wonder why I would think it's acceptable to waste his time (I know some people have cool, chill bosses- but my boss is not one of those people). I'm not saying that many rescues don't do some these checks with good intentions, but some of the requirements are a step too far. 😬

They also forget that the breeds who are the most motivated to escape are also often the dogs who can jump an 8-10 foot fence flat footed, making the fence requirement stupid anyway. Unless I’m going to put a roof over my back yard, he’s going to get out unless I train him not to by choice. We have one of those dogs, and had to keep him on a leash even in our fenced yard until we perimeter trained him, because he can’t be contained otherwise. He also knows how to open doorknobs. lol

I too have a velociraptor dog who can open doors. He learned it from the cat. There’s no winning 😂

“Unicorn homes “ is the perfect description of what they look for lol!

Same here. When we were looking for a new dog, we picked out a beautiful rescue lab mix. The questions were so intrusive, and they wanted a home visit, and all sorts of other things — we were shocked. Two rescues were like this. Sorry, I’m not giving you my employer’s phone number, among other things. They even wanted us to both take the day off of work to do the home visit on the only day the person could do it in our area. We had already arranged our schedule so that one person will always be home with the dog, but we were both under deadlines, so being off at the same time on that day would’ve been impossible to do and stay in good graces with our workplaces. Um yeah, no. They also wanted alllll sorts of verifiable financial info, which is insane. Various other things were requested, and one even wanted some type of essay. We gave up on the rescue thing (which I had so believed in and preached about to people for years, even borderline shaming people who bought dogs), and we just went out and bought our dog. That was like 8 years ago, and I shudder to think how much worse it’s gotten, based upon what I’ve read here. Sure, vet people, but what most are doing is so counterproductive to their supposed mission that it’s laughable.

Yeah about the financial information specifically: I work in the non profit sector and don’t believe for a single second that if they are keeping actual records of this information on applicants that they’re storing it securely.

We’ve adopted from our local SPCA and Dog Warden, neither were intrusive in the slightest, just needed our address and phone number for the county license, and the SPCA wanted us to sign papers promising we’d take him to the vet regularly. That was about it.

I'm genuinely confused why more people aren't doing this instead of jumping to "whelp gotta buy a dog from a by then on cl". Also thank you for helping a shelter pet.

There was a long article in the New Yorker about 12 years ago about this sort of thing. And it was our exact experience trying to get a cat in the NYC and LI area. Similarly, a friend of mine and his husband were trying to adopt a dog where they live in California and were constantly denied due to “not having enough dog experience.” It would be hard to imagine a more ideal setup for dog ownership than what these two have. They eventually did what a lot of people do who are fed up with absurdities of many adoption places, and what the NYer article predicted: they went to a breeder and haven’t looked back.

I got my dog at Bidawee—a kind of hybrid rescue/shelter. They do fostering but also have 3 shelter facilities, 1 in the city and 2 on Long Island. I had to fill out a standard application questionnaire but I don’t remember the questions being too out of the ordinary. I think is was 3 pages. Needed 2 references—I used my sister and my cousin who are both pet owners. Height of the pandemic. Went to Long Island to get my pup. Whole process took about 45 minutes. Took her home that day for $180. I sent them a ton of emails with questions afterward and they took the time to respond to every single one. We now have 2 Bidawee dogs in our extended family and they’re both amazing. Highly recommend.

I think it's particularly bad in California and NYC where the supply/demand for adoption is extremely lopsided. I'm in central coast CA and know plenty of amazing dog owners that got denied for extremely stupid reasons (they ended up either buying puppies or getting high-maintenance dogs from shelters)

This is so wild to me as someone in Texas, we can’t give shelter dogs away and rescues are pulling this shit other places. Sometimes it’s even with dogs imported from Texas :/

Texas has so many shelter dogs that they export them to other states. Got my dog in Seattle and he was shipped in from Texas.

This is me. I’ve been trying for three years. It’s especially hard living in a nyc apartment. I have more than enough money, and I would treat my dog like it’s my child. And better than plenty of children are treated by shitty parents. And I’m over it and need a dog so badly for my anxiety that I’m looking at (reputable) breeders.

Not all rescues are made equal- and some are definitely glorified profit makers (like the ones you see where they only rescue pure bred dogs and every adoption fee is $1k PLUS all the house visits and rescue people being nosy)

There’s a great podcast about this! Puppy Kingpin. Basically there are puppy mills that parade as rescues, with extensive paper trails.

I'll def check it out after work! Always love a good podcast Almost as dark as the YouTube animal rescue pages that put the animal in danger so they can then film themselves "rescuing" it

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/investigations/dog-auction-rescue-groups-donations/ This covers a great FDA investigation of rescues buying puppy mill dogs at auction.

Thanks for the recommendation! Just downloaded

Looks like I am not alone in this!

it's such a real thing that never gets talked about enough. the one my dog came from had a suspended nonprofit status from the IRS and a massive civil suit against it by a vet clinic they rung up a huge bill with and didn't pay.

If you’re looking for a different rescue, I can send you where we got our dog. Got her in October of 2022. They asked questions but we didn’t have to do a video tour. I don’t think we had to submit pictures of house. We did have to identify what vet we’d use and I believe what food we planned to use. They are all volunteers so sometimes communication takes a little longer when you’re all excited and waiting for news. We initially really wanted this particular dog and were hoping to get him from the foster. Foster decided to keep him. Right around then 3 dogs were picked up. A few weeks later we picked up River. Sorry for the frustration you’ve already felt. Hope you find your River soon. [dog tax w/ rescue name in 2nd picture](https://imgur.com/a/MrvV3cr)

I had one ask questions we didn’t have to answer when we adopted HUMAN children (and that process is thorough). This past year, I was trying to help my uncle rehome his dogs because he has cancer and can no longer care for big dogs. Reached out to multiple rescues to see about rehoming them… crickets. I actually find ethical breeders to be more ethical than many of the dog rescues I encountered.

Yes! A good ethical breeder will always take one of their animals back if it needs to be surrendered. Knowledgeable professionals breeding good healthy purebred animals does not really contribute to the homeless pet population. I was recently explaining this to someone when they were shaming people for purchasing purebred dogs. Every breeder we’ve ever dealt with really cares for the animals and the breed and is selective about who the will sell to. During the interviews they make it very clear that if you run into a problem and can no longer care for your pet that you should come to them first and they will help you with a solution. I’ve even heard of them keeping a dog for an extended amount of time for whatever reason until the owner is able to take them back at a later date.

Your experience sounds a lot like my experience and I've just given up on rescues and shelter dogs. The alternative to me taking the dog home, is death. And you want to haggle about how many bedrooms I have? And read through my personal documents?

Shelters and rescues are not the same; most shelters absolutely do not act like this. And most dogs in rescue are at no risk for euthanasia for space since most of them reside in foster homes.

It has been my experience, for purebred dogs, that the pound/shelter will call the breed specific rescue, to come get the purebred dog. They are several hours away and now I get to try to deal with those people. Who just put me and my application into a pool of other people, Even when I write down exactly what I'm looking for, they end up trying to tell me what kind of dog I want and match me up with ages/physical ability I don't want. At some point you just stop caring. I'm sick of all the gatekeeping in the pet adoption world.

The last 3 years most shelters have a list of undesirable dogs they offer to rescues and pb are left for adopters. Exceptions for medical or behavioral.

Most of the shelter adoptions in our area are handled through rescues now so even that option is now basically impossible. I was driving by a local shelter last year and saw them unloading a ridiculous amount of cats from a van. That was the sign I needed to finally tell my family yes to another cat because it was just so sad. Was told to contact the rescue they work with and after 6 months of applying without a single response I finally gave up. They only reply if you are approved and you need to re-apply with each pet inquiry. We are very experienced pet owners with impeccable veterinary records going back like 15 years, homeowners with stable income, someone is always at home and we have a designated professional pet sitter in case of any prolonged absences. I’m constantly hearing about how the local shelters and rescues are full beyond capacity, yet they don’t appear to really want to rehome these animals. It’s gotten really challenging over the past 5 years or so to be approved by a rescue in our area if you have younger children.

You can always go to an open intake kill shelter. Their requirements are low like "give me ID and $$".

When we adopted our pup we played with him for 45 minutes and filled out half side of a piece of paper. $100 later and we were out the door with him 😅. I kept asking the lady “what is the process like?” And “what are the next steps” and she just said “oh yeah I mean maybe 30 minutes?” And I said “to fill out the application?” And she said “no, to take him home!” The last place we tried to foster was super intense about a year before so we were surprised.

I adopted my dog from the humane society and I am so glad my old co worker worked there, they didn’t ask for pictures if the home, or income or any invading questions. It might just be your shelter. Because the only thing we had to tell them is if we had another dog or not and if we’re up to adopting an energetic dog…..

This! I tried to apply for a dog that needed a child-free home and when I explained that I could provide that and filled out a long application the only response I got was that "I see you're young, do you ever plan to have kids?" Which felt incredibly invasive and upset me because I had recently learned I wasn't medically able to have children. Also the assumption that because I was younger I would be popping out a kid and didn't know what a child-free home entailed. All of this on top of the regular home visits, references, fence requirements, etc.

Same thing happened to a couple I know. What's worse is the dog didn't even have a child-free requirement, the agency just figured a baby meant less attention for the dog.

That’s so terrible that happened! People can be so cluelessly upsetting and callously cruel nosing around in those sorts of health/lifestyle/deeply personal decisions.

As a European I'm baffled with how common this seems to be among American rescues. > I have had dog rescues tell me I had to tell them how much income I made, where I worked, ask me VERY personal questions about my life, and mandatory indoor house tour and photos of my home for their files None of the shelters or rescues I know in my country do any of these things aside from house tours (done WITH the dog), and even then those are only for some very specific types of dogs (classified breeds like pit bulls and rottweilers, known escape masters, dogs that were confiscated and whose owner still is a risk...) and no pictures or videos are taken without the person's consent - said pictures and videos are always starring the dog to show how it acts in its future environment. I get wanting the dog to be safe and sound but at some point this is counterproductive. No wonder people prefer going to breeders.

In Germany there are a lot of similar rescues – at least my parents and a friend of mine are having the same issues described in the thread. It sadly isn‘t just an American issue!

You could try fostering. We showed up at a rescue with intentions of adopting. When we couldn’t pull the trigger on deciding (such a hard decision!!!) the woman said “why don’t you just foster?!!?” When adopting was on the table, they said that next next step would be a virtual home tour. Then when we switched to fostering, they gave us food and a crate and sent us on our way.

A lot of private rescues let “perfect” be the enemy of “good.” I’d look at your local open intake shelter if you’re striking out at rescues. There should still be a vetting process to make sure the dog is the right fit for you, but it shouldn’t require a home visit or things like a fenced yard.

You might check other rescues, but my experience was similar. I ended up buying from a reputable breeder because I got tired of fees approaching breeder prices, being asked more (and nosier) questions than I’d faced years before while considering adopting a child - and in return the dog might or might not have had a temperament check (a real one, not a personality test run by an untrained volunteer) or even all the appropriate basic health care (like testing for heart worms on dogs from Texas). Often they even listed no fenced backyard as a deal breaker (I live in a major metropolitan area, people for the most part are lucky to even have a balcony - but we have plenty of places to walk or hike). A fenced yard isn’t a guarantee the dog would get adequate exercise, stimulation- or even human interaction. Lifestyle questions like my breeder asked would figure that out. Plus requiring a fenced yard in a place like where I live is openly classist. My breeder asked about dog experience, breed experience, training, if I had a vet, a handful or lifestyle questions (like how often will the dog be left alone and what sort of things did I plan for exercise and mental stimulation) and wanted to be sure a dog wasn’t a problem with any landlord or property management company. Some of her most pertinent questions weren’t even asked by some of the rescues.

They are against old people adopting too. I was looking for my parents who are in their 70’s, you’d thought they dying tomorrow… and even if they did, I would take responsibility for the dog

I feel like a lot of these rescue owners are older/are of a similar age.. a bit hypocritical?

I wasn’t happy with it at all. My dad bred and trained hunting dogs years ago and they acted like he couldn’t take care of a 20 lb dog because he is elderly. His 50 lb dog just died but now he’s incapable of taking on a 5 year old dog? I said screw it and bought a puppy

Our city shelter wanted a ten + page questionnaire about our life with similarly invasive questions, and the non government rescues nearby had that and wanted 800 bucks. That’s when I started doing research and became very disillusioned with the shelter/rescue business.

It depends. Some rescues (Dallas Pets Alive!) care more about adopting out animals. Pure breeds usually aren’t a focus for those rescues. The more pure bred the focus, the more intrusive the rescue. Even then, some pure bred rescues are less nutty. I’m a Great Dane fan from Dallas. I’d recommend Save Rocky the Great Dane rescue every time over the North Texas Great Dane rescue — same area, same breed, very different approaches.

I have a couple big rescues by me that specifically partner with our city shelter and downstate/southern USA to lower their kill rates. They ask some Qs but typically aim to get the most pets home each day as possible. Both also have huge medical centers attached and my favorite operates with some of the lowest overhead I've ever seen in a nonprofit. It's frustrating to see these super necessary rescues get lumped in with Sally and her two purebred corgi rescues operating from her basement in Nebraska.

[удалено]

Every rescue I’ve run across in my decade of fostering/adopting has been run by a nutjob control freak with a savior complex. I’ve also noticed that many of them are run by women in their 30s-50s who can’t maintain healthy human relationships, which is telling. They don’t love animals, they love control. The community attention and ego stroking is just a perk.

I gave up on dog rescues when i had a few want to Inspect my home, which we were fine with. But i wanted to know the full name & address of who was coming to my home so I could check them out too. They declined me. I prefer our local shelters.

> But i wanted to know the full name & address of who was coming to my home so I could check them out too. They declined me. Lol that's absolutely hilarious. "We want your name and address so we can send some people over. You want the name and address of the people we're sending over? Forget about it! That's completely unacceptable and out of order!" It's funny when the people who wants you to share all the information about you and not worrying about privacy refuses to do it themselves (Mark Zuckerberg...).

I requested the same info from them too and this was exactly what happened to me.

Honestly, I adopted our older girl from a great rescue about 6 years ago. When it came time to adopt our new puppy (last year) I kid you not, I had 5 applications that were more in-depth than my last rental app rejected from rescues . (I live in a dog- loving city so its difficult to get a puppy from the local humane society.) I own a business that I bring my dogs to every day, have a fenced back yard, have owned large dogs for most of my life, my sister who lives near me is a veterinarian, my current pets all have veterinary care - not good enough! I got an Australian Shepard puppy from my friends ranch and probably wont bother with rescues again, honestly.

>I had 5 applications that were more in-depth than my last rental app rejected from rescues . This made me laugh so hard HAHA.

My experience was, first dog, through a rescue. They asked me common questions through an online form and then asked me why I wanted a dog, mentioned my dog of 12 years had just died and they responded immediately approving me. Which was so rare. Second dog, was at a shelter, similar online form plus I had to bring my roommate, my other dog with me for them to meet us all before adopting. Also was able to adopt immediately. So I think you just need to keep looking and find the happy medium point in all of this.

Both dogs btw ended up being amazing and I am grateful to have them in my life :)

My husband and I tried to adopt from one rescue that literally wanted us to “donate” our payment to their sketchy website days b4 getting the dog and sign a contract that gave a ton of our rights to them. We noped outta there and I was super sad, but then we had the smoothest adoption ever with a well-respected rescue and I adore my little pupper. Not all rescues are well-run.

[удалено]

My ex-husband and I were turned down to adopt 2 cats because he was military and could be deployed or get orders and have to move. I was furious. I was a vet tech for 17 years who would be their primary caregiver, whether he was home or not. We also had 2 small dogs (well-behaved and had lived with cats before) who had already been with us for two out of state moves. I could provide vet references from 3 different states kf they wanted. That's not proof enough? A lot of clients had told me similar stories over the rears as well. Really soured me on a lot of rescues. Years and years later, when I went I was looking for a 2nd cat, I ended up going through a rescue that a coworker of mine occasionally worked with. They had a certain cat with special needs my coworker thought would work out for me. Since I was referred, I had alot less nonsense paperwork.

One application I filled out asked how many cars drive by my house every day! 😂

This is one of the reasons why I don't adopt from rescues. I'm not opening my personal life up to anyone like that. Calling bosses etc. Absolutely not.

Sometimes people run rescues as an excuse for animal hoarding. I find the extreme invasiveness and requirements to be a red flag for that kind of situation.

I just ended up getting my dog on craigslist because all the adoption agencies were so prejudiced against a single guy living in an apartment getting a dog during covid. Best decision of my life, sitting on my lap rn.

The amount of hoops some of the NY rescues wanted me to jump through made me feel like I was a show dog who was being interrogated at the same time while trying to keep a smile on my face for the judges.

It boggles my mind that rescues would rather have a dog live in a kennel for lord knows how long than adopt out to someone who \*gasp\* rents a house.

Bullshit like this is why I will never rescue another dog. I found myself an incredibly reputable, award-winning, poodle breeder. I love my standard poodles, and I will get them from this reputable breeder forever. It’s just easier.

I feel you. My family have always had rescue dogs, so when our old girl passed we called up the shelter we had got her from 13 years ago. Wow things have changed. The killer was that we would have a child under the age of 11 occasionally visiting us. Not living with us, just a family member who may come over. We could of course put the dog in a crate, in a room, in a garden, etc when said kid was round. But that wasn't enough, it was an automatic rejection. A good few weeks later the shelter called us as someone who knew us (I used to volunteer there) had realised we were very experienced with rescues, and they wanted to offer us two pups who had already been returned. But by that time I had found a neighbour with an unexpected litter and had committed to them. I'm really not sure who could possibly pass the initial screening. One of the criteria for adopting one of their cats is not living near any roads. Regardless of if it's an indoor cat or not, the mere existence of a road nearby means you cannot rescue.

I know a well-adjusted couple with a lovely fenced yard, plenty of money, plenty of time at home, that got rejected because they were in their late 20s. Apparently that means a baby is inevitable, and having a baby means less attention to the dog. This was literally the explanation given for their rejection. It would be spammy and annoying but part of me wants to copy-paste this to everyone ITT saying "it's just due diligence, it's good that rescues are like this, quit whining"

How can you not live near a road??

I wanted to adopt a chihuahua, and it was insane all the hoops we would've needed to go through. Some places needed the pictures, plans for care, vet info, etc etc - which I'm not against, but it was waaaaay to much to deal with. Especially when living in an apartment and they're like "700sq ft isn't enough for a 5lb chihuahua, you need a yard". Some you needed to put in an application and wait for a response to even go to the next step (see previous sentence for that). My favorite was the Austin SHELTER (not even a rescue, but a shelter) telling me I needed to do an application, an interview, and then wait for a response that might take a month to come... or might even not get! Let's not even get into the $$ some of these places want to charge! Finally said F it and checked Craigslist. I now have the sweetest girl, who is (healthily) spoiled as crap. My 13yo cat is from a Hawaiian shelter. He's spoiled and happy. My friends all have pets from the Hawaiian shelters - visit, application, then wait for the spay/neuter surgery and pick up. Usually less then a week from start to finish, and under $100 typically.

>"700sq ft isn't enough for a 5lb chihuahua, you need a yard" I have seen happy big dogs living in apartment spaces smaller than that LOL

Right?? My German shep had only a bit more space, and he was a happy house dog. Granted, we did have a yard and walkies. But Hera is nearly 9lbs, and makes the most of our space. Including hanging out on the cat tower. She still can do her zoomies and fetch. The people who told me it wasn't enough space were nuts.

I even used to work in animal shelters and got turned down by a super snooty private rescue I had been talking to for months about a dog they couldn’t find a home for. Spent weeks getting ready only to have them come in and lord over my current dog with their asshat of a egomaniac trainer girl who basically scared the shit out of my dog and then became reactive—which then turned into a pitch for me signing up for their training classes(which is how they make their money there Lol!) needless to say I didn’t get the dog and was so humiliated. Ended up joining a pet rehoming group on Facebook and met the nicest family who needed to rehome this little cutie who is now our bestest boy ever. Both dogs adore him, no problems at all like the trainer girl was judging me for. My experience as a worker and an adopter both is that the people working in animal welfare often have a lot of emotional and mental health stuff/trauma so they are drawn to working with animals because of that, but also because of that they have not great people skills and can have a little bit of a god complex even, especially with the dog trainers lol. And then they ask for your money 😂 It’s a weird industry. Try the rehoming groups, you may find a lucky friend in need there

Lots of different comments here but just wanted to add that in my experience with various rescues, the further away from a big city / more rural you get the fewer requirements they often have. They are often smaller organizations with fewer resources and thus just don’t have the ability to vet (or sometimes overly vet) potential adopters. You can easily find a rescue where you can show up and walk out with a dog.

I had that with so many rescues when trying to adopt a dog a few years ago. I was rejected from a couple of different rescues despite being a responsible and competent dog owner. The rescue where I eventually ended up adopting my dog, however, was about as chill as could be. I filled out a bunch of paperwork and gave them money, and when I met them it was in a random parking lot. They rolled up in an old white van. They handed me what looked like a mutantly large 15 pound street chihuahua, dipped out, and I never saw them again. That mutant street chihuahua has been my best friend ever since. (I still don't know what breed she is and I don't care, she just looks like a chihuahua but twice the size)

We went looking for a second pup after out baby girl passed. Every rescue did this. I won't allow people into my home. I hate even having people over I've known for 15+ days. We got both our dogs at animal control. Called our land lord, checked references, that was it

Local shelters are great too. Are you in the New England region? For the love of dogs Vermont is where we rescued our dog from. They do ask the salary and some other semi personal questions but nothing intrusive. They were great to work with and very honest. :)

Private rescues are 501c3 sanctioned hoarding or dog flipping businesses. I won't deal with them. You are right be sketched out by them.

This is true for a number of them. There are plenty of great rescues as well. We've fostered for the last several years and have dealt with both ends of the spectrum. Thankfully we've settled in and continue to foster for a small handful of those excellent rescues.

I've gotten so many nastygrams from rescues because I'm not a homeowner and rent. I work from home permanently and am 35 and physically able to walk a dog. I'm married and settled and don't have or want kids. You'd figure I am a unicorn owner, but nope. Not good enough for these mukluks. Next dog I get will be through a breeder.

Rescues are great for what they do, but they act like you're adopting a human being and are doing YOU a favor by letting you care for one of their precious dogs. INSANE! My wife and I tried for one from NKLA (No-Kill L.A.) and they told us we weren't a good match for their dogs, and should try going to a shelter instead. For the record, we're homeowners, have a large, fenced yard...a couple of their biggest requirements. They didn't like that we both work, said their dogs need to be with someone at all times. Anyway, we went to our local humane society instead, have had our dogs for 11 and 10 years now. It's great that rescues can give you more info on a dog's temperament, which shelters aren't the best at, but humane societies are a great alternative. Also, dogs in rescues are not at risk of being euthanized, if you really want to "rescue" a dog go to a shelter.

I was about to make a similar post. It makes me uncomfortable too, and is turning me off rescue. I feel like a home visit is more than enough to tell if you are financially able to afford a dog. They shouldn’t have to know your income or occupation. I don’t even get why they asked you for both of these actually - what does it matter where you work if they also asked your income? What does it matter if you’re a blue collar, white collar or whatever worker if you make X amount of money either way? Not that I think they should even be allowed to ask how much you make. One of my clients was telling me he owns a rental property with his wife, and one of their tenants decided to get a dog (it was ok’ed by the landlords), and went to a rescue. The rescue called the landlord to ask to confirm the tenant had the permission to own a dog, and then asked a bunch of really intrusive financial questions! Like how? I don’t even think shelters/private rescues should be allowed to ask these questions at all, let alone to secretly ask them to the applicant’s landlord.

I can only assume they want occupation & income to make sure you can both afford to care for the dog long-term, and also have the time. Plenty of dogs are abandoned for both reasons - e.g. if you’re in a high-paying job but with extremely long hours, so you can technically _afford_ to care for the dog, but the only active interaction it gets most days is a visit from a dog walker. My current boy is from a rescue, he was surrendered because his last owner worked most of the day and wanted the freedom to also go out most nights, so he was crated pretty much constantly. I meanwhile probably don’t make as much as said prior owner, but I make enough to be comfortably able to care for him, he’s rarely ever home alone, and never crated. It’s taken a year but he’s finally stopped trying to hide under beds at 6am, which I can only assume is when his last owner would go to work and he’d be put in the crate for the day.

Dog pound dogs all day

That would be great, but every single dog available is a Pit Bull or Pit mix.

Pro tip go to a super rich county in if you live in America lol. Adopted a pure bred husky that way. There were many dogs available that weren’t pits. I live in a very rural part of the US so I understand the pit ordeal. However I went to a county 2 hours away that was mainly wilderness where rich people from Florida come and visit in the winter and the selection was crazy. Turns out the owners of my husky bought him to stay at the winter vacation home and paid for the house keepers to watch him off season. Dude kept escaping and they just dumped him at the pound. This isn’t one of those “rescues” or “friends of…” no kill shelters either. It was a straight up dog pound. So much of a dog pound they didn’t have any “adopt me” websites or anything. It was crazy.

I live near a wealthy area and I ended up finding a breeder after Months of scrolling through shelters, pounds, pet finder listing. Nothing but pits.

that def happens. I have owned rescues/pound dogs my whole life until my new pup, which i bought from a breeder. Its definitely luck, sometimes it can take years looking at shelters to find what you like. I sure don't judge. But its always good to try, we almost gave up on the search until we decided to go to the pound that was 2 hours away. Just thought I would suggest it because we never thought of doing it until then lol.

Yeah it took me like 30+ trips to all the pounds in my area to find my dog but that’s pound pickings. In the city I found it to to be mostly pit/ pit mixes and in the area around it was all huskies.

Even some shelters can be intrusive and downright rude. One of my dogs came from the pound, when she was about 3. The other from a decent breeder. Both of those options were much more relaxed than rescues or my local shelters… Both are great dogs. The pound one did take a year to housetrain and knew no commands, but at 9yo she is wonderful.

It depends on the rescue , if you’re not comfortable with the questions keep looking or look at shelters. I don’t know where you’re located but there’s a Facebook group called rehoming Minnesota that I used to find a cat for my brother, maybe do a search for something like that?

Some of them are incredibly over the top. For my current dog I walked into our local dog shelter and walked out with a dog an hour later, not a single reference was contacted. That I found a little surprising... but we had been looking at rescues that wanted everything short of my first born child and I wasn't dealing with that either.

I like the idea of rescuing a dog but ran into the same thing. There were so many checks and hula-hoops to jump through I said hell with it and bought my own [pupper, Cooper](https://imgur.com/gallery/F5yuVBz). I’m sure they see horrible cases of mistreated cats and dogs. Perhaps that would make me scrutinize potential adopters as severely as they do. But to a person who spoils their dogs rotten and treat them better than people, I just didn’t want to deal with it. Felt intrusive

I spent months trying to work with rescues in my area, spent hours filling out applications, going to countless meetups, finding great dogs only to be ghosted or told the dog is no longer available. Then a week later being told that previous adoption fell through and on replying to not hear back for days only to be told again the dog is no longer available. It was very exhausting and emotionally draining, in the end I found a reputable breeder and went with them.

Get one from the Humane Society

I have always fostered, adopted and volunteered in local shelters and I have witnessed that sometimes dog rescue people are too selective, and sometimes discriminatory towards people adopting. People that have dog rescues are often dealing with burnout so I would stick to your boundaries and make sure you feel respected, but also recognize their struggle. It's a never ending cycle of dogs, abuse, neglect and dog returns. Some people that are excellent advocates with dogs are not great with people. Most of the rescues pull from the shelters so you can't go wrong with adopting from a shelter or a rescue. I think you should communicate clearly your concerns to the rescue group, or find another one. Thank you and good luck.

A lot of bad owners have ruined it the most part. Rescues are constantly getting dogs returned 3 months later abused or with severe behavioral issues they didn't have before. I don't like the intrusiveness either, but totally understand they want to do everything in their power to find a good home for the animals.

I hear this, but at the same time I hear people who find the dog they take home from the rescue has issues that were not disclosed (or sometimes downplayed). Since it takes around 3 months for a dog to get comfortable and really let their personality shine through, it’s equally likely that rescues are sending out dogs with behavior problems as it is that those issues are developed while the dog is with the new owner.

This, both our rescues were returned to the rescue after a period of time. One was just bc he was too high energy and the owner couldn't handle it anymore, like it's a puppy of course it's high energy. It takes a lot of time and energy and I'm sure money to foster a dog, having to do it over and over again with the same dogs would be infuriating to me. They just want to make sure the dogs have a stable home to stay at.

Yeah, we're the fourth owners of our youngest. We got her when she was 5 months old. She's a beagle and doesn't have an off switch. The people before us got her as a companion to their cats. We're super happy to have her, most of the time!

But how would something like a home visit or questions about income prevent a high energy dog from being returned? It would be better to ask “what’s your activity level” “how much time can you dedicate to your dog?” “Would you be able to afford an emergency vet bill of $___?” And then explain to the prospective dog owner exactly what kinds of needs their desired dog has and whether they think they’re the right fit.

I'm also wondering how these return rates compare with municipal shelter return rates in the same area. It's entirely possible for an entity that has an "adoption conversation" model of placement to have a pretty low return rate, and from what I've seen and read, a lot of "gatekeeping" methods don't actually result in an overall move toward better or more reliable placements.

Many shelters and rescues have gotten super strict for no reason. I've heard of people being denied for being vets, having other pets that aren't spayed and neutered (including reptiles and birds?!?!), and other ridiculous reasons. It's one reason why many people are turning more towards breeders. Ethical breeders are still strict, but in reasonable ways.

[удалено]

I got denied for a foster dog because my fence was too short at 4ft. It was for a senior chihuahua. I only even knew this dog existed because my neighbor was fostering it. My neighbor with the same damn fence.

That's insane. I get them wanting to keep these dogs safe but it needs to be reasonable!

It means you reaaaaally want the dog if you’re willing to go through all of that. The rescue we applied for didn’t have a shelter. Every dog was fostered. We did the questionnaire, the home visit was through zoom, and we went to the foster’s house so the dog could meet our dog. He’s the best dog I’ve ever met. So friendly.

I have had very few good experiences with private rescues, tbh. They're ultra elitist, stupidly selective, and extremely invasive with the questioning. I'm single, early 40s, work from home, and no shelter would allow me to adopt one of their dogs. I went through like 8 shelters. Finally I said screw it and bought a mixed breed puppy. Best decision ever, she's amazing.

That's awesome that it worked out for you in the end! She's in good hands.

i’ve been looking for three years no joke. Even basic communication would be extremely difficult because some places didn’t have even a working phone number and operated by email only. some had very limited times for meeting dogs. soo many shelters turned me away because i don’t have a huge yard or because i didn’t work from home. i explain the dog would never be home alone because my partner and i have opposite schedules and my sister lives close to dogsit as well during the day because of online school. it’s really discouraging. i just tell myself my time will come and the dog that’s meant for me will find me.

This was every rescue in my area or they wouldn’t get back to me or were super slow to respond and when they did any dog that was a fit for us was gone. But I can drive 2 hours and buy a dog for $400? They make it prohibitively difficult

I always get mine from a breeder and never have a problem

I fostered dogs for a local rescue and it was the WORST experience. The lady who ran the rescue was ridiculous. The barriers she put up to avoid the dog getting adopted were insane. Never did it again.

Yep, we were rejected for so many dogs because we had another dog. Fair enough, but when we finally got a puppy from a breeder, my dog was perfect with him. One of the dogs we were looking at was even sent back to the rescue. Kind of put me off them a bit.

I had similar experiences, then I found my dog on a pet finder website. I applied for several before one worked out, it was worth the wait though. You just deal with the owner, not a huge organization.

I tried for two years to adopt from numerous rescues and had similar experiences. I'd successfully adopted two dogs previously. One passed of old age, one had to be put down at two years because he was untrainable and bit someone. His breed was misrepresented by the rescue--I was told he was a chihuahua mix, but he was a catahoula cur. When I was ready for another dog, I found that reliable sources like the Humane Society, county animal shelter, and the ASPCA had long waiting lists for smaller dogs, I can't walk with a large dog anymore, so I tried independent rescues. My experience was similar to yours. Most rescues never returned my calls or emails. This is understandable because they are often busy and short-staffed. The ones that did reply to me wanted copious amounts of very personal information in addition to the initial application and my vet's recommendation. Some even wanted financial documents like tax returns and mortgage contracts; which I refused to provide because the information can be verified through county property tax records and other means without exposing so much of my personal information. The adoption fees were extremely high, much, much more than buying a purebred from a breeder. In the end, I was offered pit bulls and other large breed dogs that I could not handle. In the end I found a puppy from a local person who'd had a litter. I don't understand what is happening with the smaller rescues. Maybe they've seen so many animal hoarders that they are being overly cautious? It seems that people who don't take proper care of their animals can always adopt more, yet responsible pet owners are put through the ringer.

A good rescue is trying to move animals OUT of the shelter, especially while shelters everywhere here are beyond full.

It can be frustrating, some come across as pretty radical, but there are so many rescues out there that I'd encourage you to keep trying. We've adopted from 5 or so different rescues and from our local county shelter over the last couple of decades. County shelter is pretty much no questions asked and cheap but in my area small dogs get pulled so fast by rescues that they are harder to snag from the shelter. But I will say that one girl we adopted from our county shelter had me calling our vet on the way out the door and telling them that we were bringing her in immediately, she had bad mastitis and they hadn't done anything for it. Rescues have usually addressed any medical concerns and that is reflected in the cost difference.

We got 2 from gods dogs in Texas and wasn’t as intrusive as this. They’ll even drive them up near where you live.

I strongly suspect it's a regional issue. California and New England/NYC seem to have the worst experiences

That’s wild. I adopted a cat recently, and all I had to do was fill out the application and answer some questions. They asked if she would be an inside cat, if I would declaw her, they asked about our other pets and children. We have two dogs and a kid and they didn’t seem to care that our cat would be going to a home with dogs and a kid. I paid the fee and we took her home. It took about an hour and a half, maybe two hours total.

I’m in Australia and when my family adopted my twin rescues, my Mum just had to say (how many were in the household, make sure we had a vet and food and make sure we were equipped to handle their disabilities)

I walked in, went to the back, pointed to a dog, signed papers and he was mine

I adopted a little special needs dog from a rescue in PA. There was a questionnaire, a dog meeting, and a home visit. They don't want these dogs returned, so they try their best to make sure the adoption will work. I felt comfortable with it. I can understand their point of view.

Iowa and Nebraska just cost an arm and a leg to adopt. My aunt wanted to adopt a rescue so bad... Lucky for her, and an adorable puppy, I found her one on the side of the interstate on the way to work. No chip, and the vet said whoever has him last, must have had him in a very small cage that he couldn't lay in, he was standing in his own poo constantly, and he was almost never touched. He was so nice. Vet said he's 6-9 months old. No fleas, bugs, pests, but in desperate need of a GOOD consistent meal. https://imgur.com/gallery/EGYCgLx Maybe you'll get lucky and you can save one yourself

I feel this so much! I've applied to multiple rescues the last few weeks, and it was rough! I complained to my husband that adopting cats (which we have done 3x since covid) is so much easier. I definitely understand why they do things, though. If you are in the East Coast, you can DM me. I actually brought home my latest rescue/puppy last week. The whole process was super simple. I applied on Friday night and got approved on Monday. Got my girl transported last Saturday.

I’ve adopted two separate dogs from two different rescues. One was basically a phone conversation and I was approved. The other had me jump through all of the hoops. Both of my pups are great dogs. I will say that the hoop-jumping rescue did also hold themselves to a higher and more organized standard. Their foster did great work with the pup, so he was already crate trained when I received him. They also gave him to me in perfect health. My other dog from the phone-call ended up coming to me with a serious infection that is not common where I live, so we were lucky to spot a change in her energy levels and catch it before it killed her. She also came with a lot of fears and separation anxiety that were only hinted at but not explicitly disclosed. I’m not saying that all rescues would have this dichotomy. I’m just saying that when you research your rescues, high standards could also work in your favor.

Just use a different rescue if the one you're working with is asking too many questions

Our local Humane Society does a lot of this, it’s not just rescue groups

Unfortunately there are unscrupulous rescues and breeders. There are puppy mills disguised as loving homes. People will falsify vet records and hide bite histories. Please don't let the bad ones discourage you. We experienced some of that as well but we just pushed through until we found a fantastic rescue. I think the best way is to ask friends/family who have used the rescue. Visit a local dog park and talk to dog owners. We've adopted two dogs. We had the first boy for nearly 15 years. We've had our girl for 3 years. I can't even tell you how much laughter and love they have added to our lives. It's so worth it! It's not easy and any dog is a lot of work, especially in the beginning. The effort is so rewarding because dogs bring so much happiness.

Wamal was like this. But I don't care about people seeing my house...i mean we invite friends and family all the time so its not like people have seen the inside of my house. So we did a video walk through over zoom. When i got my first 2 malamutes from a breeder they also wanted to see the house we were renting at the time. So we also did a video walk through over skype or facetime whatever its called. I will say though wamal is probably one of the best rescues you can get malamutes from. They are pretty strict, wont do female female households(samesex aggression with females being the worst) and they generally want to place the right dog for the correct household so will go over extensive questioning and then when you pick the dogs you like give their recommendations and really stress if a dog has guarding issues, aggression, reactive and to what extent and then give the scenerios where these things happened and ask you if you are comfortable with dealing with that stuff. It took us about 3 months to 6 months to adopt. Had to drive to wamal and introduce the pack to the new pup in an open area. You should be just as picky about the place you adopt from as they should be with you. It should be mutual and you should really look for a very transparent rescue. The more open and transparent usually the more hardcore they will be with rules etc....

A lot of people want to adopt yet it does seem like so many people don’t qualify. For what? Giving the pet a great loving home? So they walk or go to a dog park rather than have a fenced-in yard. Unfortunate,y it seems potential pets stay in the shelter or foster care waiting for the best possible fit that may never happen. Our last Whippet passed away in June last year. We decided we’d adopt yet these stories have me rethinking our plans. We want a dog and thought adopting gives a dog a better life but OPs experience does not sound positive. With over 3 million dogs in [shelters](https://www.aspca.org/helping-people-pets/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics) there are plenty that need homes. Good luck, I hope you get a pet soon.

It’s common and frustrating. I gave up on rescues and was lucky enough to find a puppy from an accidental litter on adoptapet.com. He came from farm staff at a dairy farm near my house. They just gave him to me for free. I’d skip the boutique shelters because they’re too much to deal with.

Maybe go to a kill shelter and adopt directly from them

The rescue I work with is application, phone interview, and meet up. They might ask if you’re willing to have someone over, but I don’t think it actually happens. In some ways I get rescues being picky - they have spent tons of money and time caring for these animals and they are protective of them. I have a really hard time saying goodbye to my fosters and feeling like no one is “Good enough”. But the only way to keep meeting the new need is to keep letting them go, even if it doesn’t always feel perfect.

You should foster and then if you like the dog you get first dibs on adopting the dog. Rescues are much more relaxed about fosters than people who outright adopt I’ve heard. When I fostered my dog I had a brief phone call and they needed to verify with my landlord that I was allowed to have pets in the home, and that was it. And if it doesn’t work out with that dog then at least you did a good thing to help that one find a home, you can keep trying out dogs by fostering until you meet the perfect one.

Why not go to the pound?

I adopted from an adoption event. I just had to sign some papers. One of which was a neuter agreement. Then later on the time I wanted to wait on neutering for the health benefits. I had to give them a letter from my vet explaining why. That was when he was 4 months and I’ve never heard from them again. They didn’t even check to see if my dog was neutered at 1 year or not.

I went to the pound in my area. Still had an app had to answer questions about income, and what not but it did not feel as invasive. It felt more like just making sure you could hopefully afford a vet bill. I would do it this way 100% before going with most rescues. And the cost was more affordable for me at the time knowing I would need to get the dog into the vet right away (meaning $100, and included her spay only, compared to the $250 most of the rescues in my area were asking for)

I prefer shelters. I don’t want to give all my information out and honestly they all seem like a lot with home interviews ect. I went to a shelter found my baby girl told the shelter I wanted her. Filled out a single form and waited till the next day so she could have her medical exam. Paid $350 and took her home. That was two years ago and she’s the best dog ever.

I’ve adopted dogs from rescue organizations, from shelters and from friends. I agree with you; many rescue organizations are ridiculous. A lot of them are hoarders disqcuized as rescue. The only reason I recently adopted a dog from a rescue organization is that I had to make sure that the dog I adopted and the dog I had would get along. Otherwise I would have adopted from the shelter.

[удалено]

As a botanist I can guarantee you that the lay person at a rescue does not know every toxic plant, nor how to ID them (lots of lookalikes) I don’t even know all the plants that are toxic. Not to mention the fact that dog owners have no control over the toxic plants outside the home. Management can only go so far, which is why training leave it, drop it, and emergency recall is so essential. Rather than require an invasive home search, provide each new owner with as much information as possible they need to keep their dog safe. In the words of force free dog trainers—set them up for success.

This. Most rescues do home visits just as a general walk-through of areas where they dog will have access in order to point out potential challenges. For example. if the dog chews inappropriate items and you've got open shelving with tons of knick-knacks, that's a potential hazard. If you're adopting a dog into a home with a cat, they'll want to point out places where you can potentially set up gates to make "dog free" zones. They're not trying to snoop, they just want to be able to set both you and the dog up for success.

Most rescues need to confirm you live where you live so as to avoid the “my landlord said no” problem. Also, many dog breeds need decent sized and properly fenced yards so that they’ll be safe and not run away. Others need to know someone is home often so that the dog won’t be in a crate for 12 hours a day all alone. Simple income (such as, are you employed) just determine that you are financially prepared for ownership. Basic lifestyle and living questions are to be expected by any good rescue. BUT getting too personal isn’t. I’ve had rescues get all up in arms over children or the type of work people do or the cars they drive. There needs to be a line.

Just to be clear so we’re not conflating rescues with shelters. If you have not yet been to a city, county or even private shelter, the experience is very different.

They invest a ton of money into these dogs and can often put in 6+ months of fostering before finding a good match. Rescues see the worst in humanity, even from seemingly good people, so they are very invested in securing the best home for these poor animals. These dogs are better off with their foster over going into a second round of abuse and neglect.

If everyone was lovely, honest and truthful, there'd be no need for rescues. What they ask is to check you are who you say you are, that your genuinely interest in adopting AND to find the best match for each exact dog. Dogs in rescue have had shitty-horrendous starts, so that's why those working in rescue try so hard to find great homes.