Adopting a dog/dogs what’s the process and how long.

Vexorg

We have been looking for the various rescue sites for a dog, my young lad wants a particular breed and we came across a cross breed that he liked. The details said ideally needs a home with another dog, so we choose a second dog. Send off the adoption form on Tuesday morning after school drop.

Had not heard anything by Friday, so pop off a text asking was application received. Get a confirmation that it was and that someone will be in contact over the weekend to discuss.

Tuesday comes round again and have not heard back so pop off another text to say no one has been in contact. Got a reply that they will arrange a home visit / an informal chat to see which dog will suit.

Another Friday afternoon 11 days after sending in an application and still no contact from the rescue.

Is this the normal process/timeframe. I don’t like to hastle them as they say it’s volunteer based so interested to know if this is normal and just suck it up until someone makes contact.

tk123

I think you should be choosing 1 dog .. and at that you need to choose a dog that suits your household best. Rehoming 2 dogs (unless it's special circumstances where they're from the same family and need to be rehomed together) is imo a recipe for disaster - I don't think it would be fair either on yourselves having 2 dogs to settle in, train and just get use to etc etc or to the dogs. You want to set yourselves up for success after all - both for your family and for your potential new pet.


What breed is it you're looking for - there may be a poster here who volunteers with a breed specific rescue for what you'd like?

Vexorg

Fair point about two dogs settling in, our previous 2 were rescue dogs and had no big issues settling in, just expected it to be the same again, but happy to put the time and training in with them.

We are looking for a pug / pugs if there is a specific rescue for them as a breed.

wexie

Vexorg wrote: »

Fair point about two dogs settling in, our previous 2 were rescue dogs and had no big issues settling in, just expected it to be the same again, but happy to put the time and training in with them.

Did you get them at the same time though? From what I understand a lot of rescue's would be very weary of letting anyone adopt 2 dogs at the same time, especially of those dogs aren't already familiar with each other.

Vexorg

Yup, both dogs collected on the same day from the same rescue, picked the dogs and spent a little time with them, home visit the following day, collected from rescue the next day. It was around 25 years ago, maybe things are different now.

Why do none of the adoption websites have any mention about issues adopting more than one dog at a time. We have looked after relatives dogs for extended periods and have never experienced settling issues. Is this a frequent thing with rescue dogs?

Anyway while adopting 2 dogs at the same time may not be a good idea, I assume the rescue will bring that up when they come for a home visit, if not I will bring it up.

What I was hoping to discover was how long does it usually take to find out if you and your home are suitable to adopt a dog.

wexie

Vexorg wrote: »

What I was hoping to discover was how long does it usually take to find out if you and your home are suitable to adopt a dog.

I'd imagine it probably very much depends on the rescue. The 2 dogs I have now one was from a rescue on the other side of the country, homecheck was a phonecall to the rescue I was volunteering for, the other dog came from the rescue I was volunteering for.

The rescue I was volunteering for would normally have done homechecks in a week or so (if they were somewhat local) but it may well be different for other, larger rescues.

DBB

Who knows op, maybe there's a dog at the rescue that the one you've put your eye on has struck up a friendship with! I run a rescue, and I would not rehome two dogs who are unknown to one another at the same time. It's a stressful enough process for a dog to land in a strange place with strange people, without adding a strange dog to the mix, when that dog himself is a stranger to the humans too!
However, one of the most memorable rehomings I've done were two boyos who met each other in our care, and boom! Best pals! We couldn't separate them actually. Verrryyy different characters who we would never have put together, but they took matters into their own hands! Lived a long and brilliant life together afterwards.

em_cat

I was going to say, when we adopted Mr C, it was about 4 weeks before we actually collected him. He was under medical treatment so we took the opportunity to visit him at his foster house a couple of times to make sure he liked us . In that time we took a few things with our scent and a few things for the other foster doggies.

Vexorg

We have not met either of the dogs yet, still waiting to hear back from the rescue. Hopefully the one of dogs is suitable.

The lack of information is frustrating.

sillysmiles

Can you visit the rescue?

Vexorg

Unfortunately not, all dogs are in foster homes. Have to wait for them to make contact and arrange visits.

Choc Chip

Hey Vexorg - have you popped them an email or text to follow up? Homechecks are often coordinated between several volunteers in certain rescues and things might have fallen between the cracks. No harm checking in to remind them maybe?

Vexorg

Choc Chip wrote: »

Hey Vexorg - have you popped them an email or text to follow up? Homechecks are often coordinated between several volunteers in certain rescues and things might have fallen between the cracks. No harm checking in to remind them maybe?

Sent them a text on Thursday, my son is asking about the dog a couple of times a day wondering have I heard anything back. I am thinking we should try a different rescue if there is no positive update by early next week.

Vexorg

Just a quick update, when we did not hear back from the rescue we went looking elsewhere and found Fletcher a 2.5 year old pug cross. She is great with kids and meeting other dogs which were my only worries. Her impulse control is poor and she needs a fair bit of training but she settled in quickly. Only down side so far is the vacuuming, for a small short haired dog the is so much hair being shed.

Will be back looking for help and suggestions when we get the basic training done, like barking at passing trucks, vans and wheely cases:)

sillysmiles

Congratulations on the new family member. Where did you end up getting Fletcher?

Vexorg

We found fletcher on a rescue site that has private rehoming as well as rescue dogs. A couple with a new baby, both parents working and felt they could not give the dogs the attention it deserved/needed.

SillyMangoX

Congratulations on the new arrival! On the shedding note, I highly highly recommend getting a Kong “Zoom Groom”. One of the best deshedding tools out there for short haired dogs. You’d be amazed the amount that comes off with it!

cocker5

Vexorg wrote: »

Just a quick update, when we did not hear back from the rescue we went looking elsewhere and found Fletcher a 2.5 year old pug cross. She is great with kids and meeting other dogs which were my only worries. Her impulse control is poor and she needs a fair bit of training but she settled in quickly. Only down side so far is the vacuuming, for a small short haired dog the is so much hair being shed.

Will be back looking for help and suggestions when we get the basic training done, like barking at passing trucks, vans and wheely cases:)

Just on the shedding, regular grooming will help... also add a little salmon oil / fish oils they can really help reduce shedding

I have a cocker spaniel and virtually no shedding at all (I could just be lucky) but the oils do help

Congrats and best of luck!

Bells21

With the shedding we have a JRTx, he has short coarse hair. I use a little 'brush' that I picked up on lidl. It doesn't have bristles it has rubber/silicone nodules on it. The amount of hair it gathers is amazing!