# basic questions about rescue organizations



## powerdog (Mar 20, 2011)

The puppy I've fallen in love with (only on the web so far) is from a Vermont rescue org that brings up dogs from high-kill shelters in the south. They are VERY picky about placements, which I completely agree with. The dog's best interests always come first.

But I have a few basic questions, though I realize the specifics could be different from shelter to shelter. However, generally speaking....

1. When the shelter says the dog has had an exam from the vet they use, do you still need your own vet's OK before you can feel assured about health? In other words, is the shelter's exam a quick once-over?

2. Can I reasonably ask to see their vet's report on the dog?

3. They do a home visit before you meet any dogs. What are they looking for? What counts in your favor, or takes away points? Do they look everywhere? And is the feeling of it adversarial or friendly?


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## Kodiak (Mar 14, 2011)

1. With a well known rescue, they normally use a good vet who won't lie but I have heard of it happening. It can't hurt to have your vet check him out

2. Yes. It would be in your best interest to.

3. Someone else will have to chime in, I am not sure.


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## lisaj1354 (Feb 23, 2008)

I can only go by my own experience:

1 &2. Pepper came to me with a vets report. It stated that he had been neutered, the dates of the shots they gave him. I took him to my vet to make sure he was healthy, and that the vet report he came with was accurate. He needed a bunch of additional shots (according to my vet), so our first few monhs together were a bit pricey.

3. The home visit is to ensure your place is what you said it was, and that you are who you say you are. They look for cleanliness, for a yard (if you said you had one, and you don't, that would disqualify you). They check to see if you have kids. Some places will not adopt certain dogs to homes with kids. Some will want to make sure that if you rent, that you have permission from your landlord to have a dog. 

I was working with 2 different rescues, and each insisted on a home visit. One was very friendly, and the visit was fun.

The other one showed up with her boyfriend and 3 untrained dogs who peed and pooped all over my house. They wanted to see how I'd react, I guess. I found them a bit adversarial, but I gave them a full tour of my house - all 3 floors. I answered all their questions. Apparently the woman is a bit on the posessive side when it comes to the dogs, and was waiting for me to mess up. But since I was honest, and pleasant, and open, they approved me.

I know that if I was doing a home visit, I'd make sure the house i was visitng house was spotless. I'd also ask about how a potential adopter plans for the care for the dog - where will the dog sleep? Eat? How long will it be alone every day? What would you do in case of emergency? Do you plan on training the dog? How? What would you do if the dog ripped apart your couch? Pooped on your favorite sweater? What will you do if you lose your job? Who will care for the dog if you're sick? On vacation?

Home visits are not without stress, but if you understand why they're doing them, then there should be no problem.


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## powerdog (Mar 20, 2011)

They covered most of those questions in the online form, and they will see that I am who I said. They asked about a fenced yard, and we have a big one with chain link and a dog house. BUT our house will never be spotless....it's kind of messy, normally. I work from home and don't have as much room for my equipment as I'd like, I tend to pile papers more than file them, and we live in the country next to several connected farm fields (where we walk our dogs), so a certain amount of dust just happens.


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## brandiw (Jan 20, 2010)

powerdog said:


> They covered most of those questions in the online form, and they will see that I am who I said. They asked about a fenced yard, and we have a big one with chain link and a dog house. BUT our house will never be spotless....it's kind of messy, normally. I work from home and don't have as much room for my equipment as I'd like, I tend to pile papers more than file them, and we live in the country next to several connected farm fields (where we walk our dogs), so a certain amount of dust just happens.


Don't worry about the house being spotless. That isn't what the home visit is for. I mean, if the house is filthy and nasty, that is one thing, but no one is going to bat an eyelash at stacks of papers and a little dust. When I do a home visit, I look to make sure that whatever they told me on the application is true. If they said there was a fence, we make sure that there is one, etc. It isn't meant to be adversarial at all. My group typically brings the dog along with us and if everything checks out, we finalize the adoption that day.


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## powerdog (Mar 20, 2011)

To anyone here who has done inspections: how often are potential adopters told that they lost the chance at a particular dog because the process took so long?


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## a7dk (Mar 30, 2011)

powerdog said:


> To anyone here who has done inspections: how often are potential adopters told that they lost the chance at a particular dog because the process took so long?


That just happened to us last week - we had filled out an app, and they had checked our references/vet/landlord but hadn't done the home visit yet. There was this one dog we were in love with and had met at the adoption clinic the previous week, named Roman. But another family got the home visit first and ended up adopting Roman on the spot. They were a family with a great big yard and 3 kids (neither of which we have) so I'm sure he's having lots of fun in his new home...but we were disappointed that the process is taking awhile. Our home visit has already been rescheduled once (the rescue needed to reschedule) and now we're supposed to have it Friday evening. We're expecting a ton of snow so I hope it happens anyway because I really want to adopt a dog at the clinic this weekend, if one of the ones we've had our eye on is available and appropriate.


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## Indigo (Mar 31, 2011)

powerdog said:


> 1. When the shelter says the dog has had an exam from the vet they use, do you still need your own vet's OK before you can feel assured about health? In other words, is the shelter's exam a quick once-over?


After the one experience I had where a dog was not nearly as healthy as they said it was (and they said it was vet checked, even), I would definitely get a second opinion from a vet you trust.



powerdog said:


> 2. Can I reasonably ask to see their vet's report on the dog?


Yes.



powerdog said:


> 3. They do a home visit before you meet any dogs. What are they looking for? What counts in your favor, or takes away points? Do they look everywhere? And is the feeling of it adversarial or friendly?


They want to see if you are really who you say you are. They sometimes bring a dog to see if the dog is comfortable around you and other pets you may have. Some visits are more extensive than others. What else they are looking for depends on the rescue's standards.

There was one case I read of where the home inspector was looking in cupboards and drawers, because the dog they wanted to adopt knew how to open these. She was looking for potential hazards. For most people, this would be very intrusive, but in context it makes sense.

Keep in mind that these people don't know you at all and really just want to make sure the dog is going to be happy, that you are going to be happy, and the dog isn't going to boomerang back to them in a few days or weeks.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

A home visit was required when I adopted my dog. I was slightly surprised that they wanted to conduct a home visit, because I adopted from a shelter (as opposed to a rescue), but it never crossed my mind that this was anything to worry about or some kind of invasion of privacy. Only later, on this forum and others, did I find out that some people are opposed to home checks.

Anyway, it was pretty simple - took about 15 minutes. The lady brought the dog with her so I didn't have to drive 2hrs back to the shelter to get her, but she left her in the car until we were ready. She wanted to make sure I had a fence (which it said in the application) and she helped me dog-proof the house a bit, since this was my first dog. Then we worked thru the paperwork (adoption agreement and payment). Then she got the dog and helped me introduce her to the yard and the house, and then she took a picture for her website. The whole thing felt friendly, and I still occasionally send her updates.

Something to remember is that rescue organizations, for the most part, have more dogs than they know what to do with. It's not in their best interest to turn down people who would make good owners. They're just looking out for the best interests of the dog, because there are a lot of bad owners out there. They just want to know that the dog will have its basic necessities met, will not be abused or neglected, will not be used for fighting, or sold for profit.


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

powerdog said:


> The puppy I've fallen in love with (only on the web so far) is from a Vermont rescue org that brings up dogs from high-kill shelters in the south. They are VERY picky about placements, which I completely agree with. The dog's best interests always come first.
> 
> But I have a few basic questions, though I realize the specifics could be different from shelter to shelter. However, generally speaking....
> 
> ...


Answers in bold.  I conduct home visits and have been visited for fostering numerous times. It's pretty fun both ways, and never adversarial. Always friendly and easy-going. They usually want to see how you answer questions in person (about behavior, etc), want to see how you treat your current pets if you have any, the shape of your house/yard to be suitable for a dog, etc. Most are not very picky, just want to make sure it would be a happy, safe place for a dog.


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