# Too popular to be adopted?



## lforrest0913 (Apr 17, 2013)

Hello everyone! I need help understanding how shelters decide who to whom they should adopt a popular dog.

There's this 7-month old puppy at one of my local shelters that is ADORABLE and I very much would like to adopt him. It's been about a month since Argus passed and this is the first dog that my fiance and I have come across that gets us both excited. We are both dog people and our house has been very sad and lonely without a furry companion.

The problem is, lots of other people also think this puppy is adorable and also want to take him home. We're going to the shelter today to try to see if they'll let us take him home. My fiance called earlier this morning to say we'd be coming by to see him and the woman on the phone made it sound like there are many other applicants and that they may not even adopt him out until they process all the paperwork!

She may have been saying that to dissuade us if we weren't serious - but on the other hand - would a shelter turn away a couple who is overall a good fit for a dog just because they want to wait to see all the other applicants?

This is not a specific rescue or breeder or anything like that, this is a basic, run-of-the-mill Humane Society. I'd think they'd want to adopt out dogs as soon as possible so that the dogs aren't stuck in the shelter for longer than they have to be, but I could be wrong.

If they make us wait, that's fine, except that both of us work during the week. We have time at lunch to let the dog out and play for ~1hr, so that's not an issue. I just want to adopt a dog at the beginning of the weekend so we can spend a few days getting to know each other, learning routine, etc. before the dog is stuck in a kennel for 4 hours at a time for 5 days straight.

If there's anyone out there with shelter experience, or has tried to adopt a popular dog at a shelter, I would appreciate advice or words of wisdom. Thanks!


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## ireth0 (Feb 11, 2013)

Usually it's a first come first serve basis with us, so they go through an application and see if it's a good fit, and if not move on to the next and so on. 

If a particular dog or puppy has a lot of applications I could see them wanting to go through them all to try to find what they felt was going to be the 'best' home for that dog.


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

It's general practice with most groups to pick the best application for the dog. It's not a first come first serve kind of deal. This is the case when there are multiple applications. If there is only one application then they are simply deciding to approve it or not. It sounds like the shelter staff person you talked to was just letting you know there are already a number of applications and they will all be reviewed before they approve a family to adopt her. Not so much they are waiting for that perfect application to come along, just reviewing them all and selecting the one that seems to be the best fit for that dog. 

When there are multiple applications a lot of them could be good homes that would have been approved if they were the only application but with multiple good applications they pick the best. In those cases they will usually be able to approve you as an adopter and recommend other dogs as possible fits or keep you on file to notify you if a similar dog comes in.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Yeah. One of the above two is my experience. The first come first serve but sorting through and going to the first SUITABLE application in the case of shelters, and the going through them all and picking the best fit in the second. 

So, yeah, not really a matter of not adopting the dog out but when a lot of apps are in, you have a lot of paperwork and either way there are going to be a lot of people who don't get that dog/puppy.


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## Dog Person (Sep 14, 2012)

Just a fyi, most of the rescues around me will take in as many applications for a dog and will adopt the dog that fits the family the best. I did not have that type of experience when we adopted our first dog Maggie so they aren't all like that. 

When we adopted Zoey from a municipal shelter, it was kind of first come first served but they needed to verify that we actually took Maggie to a Vet. By the time we saw Zoey, decided to adopt her it was too late for the Vet so we had to wait for the next business day. Another person came in after us and wanted to see her but luckily the staff liked us and didn't show her but had they not liked us they would have possibly shown and adopted her out.

And I can see if a dog is really cute in a photo that a lot of people will put in an application. Just last weekend I saw a dog that was very close to what Maggie looked like and it was adopted out within a day, there are dogs on petfinder that are there for weeks or months ( assuming that the organization updates petfinder, some don't)


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## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

yes... as other's have said.. works the same way with a breeder even if your on the list before other people... if there isn't a pup as you have discussed that your looking for,, then you wait for another litter later... I was hoping to get a male snow spotted kitten, my breeder called me and said there was a show home that was interested in either the male or the female that was not on the list of pet home people. I accepted to wait for a summer litter if they picked the male I was hoping for... they didn't pick the male but it's the way it's goes... if they had..


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## lforrest0913 (Apr 17, 2013)

Thanks everyone!!

This shelter was on the small side, so "a lot" of applications turned out to be about 3, two of which passed the application process (mine and one other person who had not come into the shelter yet). So we were able to adopt the little pup that day! It was sort of a combo of choosing the best applicants and first-come-first-served.

I'm so happy to have this cute little pup! He's wonderful and so smart! Already learning the rules if the house and a couple of new tricks.


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## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

congratulations...    Happy news for you both


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