Why do we keep getting denied?

[Andrea]

I am extremely frustrated right now. My husband and I have decided to adopt a young dog/puppy but we keep getting denied from rescue groups. We have been trying since early April. We are often not given a reason, and then later we find that the dog is still available for adoption! We own our own home, one of us is almost ALWAYS home because I work days and he works nights, we do not have children, we do not have any other dogs (just one cat who is UTD on shots and spayed), we have a nice yard with a fence and I think we have good references (who are getting SUPER annoyed by all the rescues calling them, but we keep getting denied...and I want to ADOPT not BUY a dog!) Now I am starting to understand why people buy from the pet store...I feel like this has been such an invasive and insulting process and I am at my wits end. We want a medium sized dog with a relatively high energy level so we can take her camping/hiking and also have her endure long walks/runs. I think this would be a good thing? but maybe I need to start smudging my applications! What do I have to do here? I already have all the dog supplies (including flea & tick meds for a year) and yet I cannot find a rescue who will let me adopt a dog. Ugh. The SPCA here pretty much only has pitbulls and unfortunately that's not an option due to our homeowner's insurance. Any thoughts/suggestions? Sorry, just needed to vent this...

 

[Laurie]

I've never tried to adopt a dog before so I don't know the process but can't you ask them why? I would say the same thing to them you've said here and ask the specific reason. I would definitely do this is you know the dog is still up for adoption and hasn't gone to someone else.

 

[tunes]

Hence the reason people don't want to deal with rescues of any variety. It is incredibly invasive and it's ridiculous what they put you through. I understand wanting to screen potential homes, but what could they possibly find wrong with everything you've said?

 

[Andrea]

I can say one rescue told us we had too many stairs for a puppy to adapt to. That was the only puppy we applied for. We have a three story home so yes, there are stairs, but I owned dogs growing up and they had no problems with stairs! I thought that their reasoning was so ludicrous I moved on without offering a response. I have an application in for a one year old shepherd mix and nothing has been denied *yet* so we'll see...I feel like all these dog supplies are going to go bad by the time we have a dog, LOL!!!

 

[Snickers]

A long time ago we tried to rescue 2 kittens. We were turned down because our son was small, we both work, and 1 dog. Later on this rescue made the news for having too many kittens/cats they were not adopting any animals out. They ended up euthanizing all of them about 50.

 

[Dawn]

crazy, I know the animal shelters in my area require you own the home or have permisson from the person that does to have a dog...require you to be employed or have a source of income coming in...and ask that you have a fenced in yard (ask, but not required). My uncle was able to adopt 1 dog, but when he went to adopt another from the same shelter as a playmate for the first one they denied him without any given answer which I thought was complete bs being the first one was always vetted through their shelter and was up to date with everything (he owned him home, he had a huge fenced in yard that was the equivalent of 3 homes).

Try craigslist, lord knows the abundance of animals on there and in my area (pittsburgh) there's a lot of them for free.

 

[AZChins]

Too many stairs? Come on...that's crazy! And, most dogs are completely fine with stairs.

I adopted one of my little chihuahuas from the pound and they asked me no questions at all.

I guess you could do what Dawn says, rescue a dog off of Craig's List. At least you know that the doggies at the shelters are being cared for (hopefully) so maybe you can get a dog before it ends up in a shelter?

 

[starleomach]

try a humane society or animal control, they aren't as strict as the breed rescues and IMPO Mutts make much healthier pets any way, Both of my mixed breeds lived to be 15/16 where the Pure lab 13 with issues and my dalmation has had hip issues since 3 and is deaf (although I love my baby girl)

 

[Jenn]

I applied to adopt a cat a few years back, and never even heard back from the organization. I thought that was pretty rude, and we were pretty excited to be bringing home a new cat, which never happened. It's frustrating, but seems to happen a lot.

 

[Andrea]

I've also had rescues not get back to me at all which is a slap in the face when I've spent literally 1-2 hours on their application. I'm not kidding when I say 99.9% of the dogs at the shelters here are either a pit mix, male, or older than a year. Maybe I'm being too picky but I want a female, one year or younger and I cannot adopt a pit as we'd lose our homeowner's insurance (I called our agent and was given a list of breeds we cannot own). It would be irresponsible to adopt a dog under those pretenses. I have not heard anything about the shepherd mix yet...even if they get back to me they require a home visit at which time they will probably find some small thing amiss. Not to mention I find a home visit for a dog to be insane. I'll give this until mid-July and then I may start looking into breeders. I hate to do that but this is getting ridiculous.

 

[Melissa]

Im wondering if they are looking at the cat and chins and thinking prey animals. They may be going off the personality of the individual dog. My dog Koa has a paralyzing fear of stairs. He will lay at the bottom shaking. I have to carry him up and he clings to me and leaves claw marks and pees. Maybe the rescue that gave you the stair excuse had a dog for adoption that had the same issue. Others may have saw the small pets and thought the dog they had to offer was going to hunt/attack them. I can see why they dont give a reason. Im dealing with at work(I do sales and events) that gives me an excuse for EVERYTHING. Most of the time I tell her "I need this because of policy" rather than "because we need this because its used to pay people to move tables" because I know she will turn around an tell me "I dont need to pay it because I can move tables" and then I say... They probably are just trying to avoid the frustrating never ending cycle of arguing they have experienced in the past by just not giving a reason.

I hope you dont give up though. What you are doing by taking in a rescue dog is a great thing. GOOD LUCK to you!

 

[Megan]

And that is why I simply went to the shelter. No home check, didn't even call my references and I was saving a dog living in a kennel. The rescues want everything but your first born child. Amazingly my shelter did not have very many pit bulls. (I did come home with one, but that is what I went there wanting). I do believe they do out of county adoptions pretty often (we are out of county)- http://www.hillsidespca.com if you want to take a look. They have a lot more then whats listed on the website. Last time I was up they had everything from poms to shepherds to labs and a purebred boxer.

We would be denied by a rescue simply because we do not have a fenced in yard. Doesn't matter that we leash walk several times a day, we don't have a fence. I appreciate all the rescues do, but come on..you need to give a little, and work with people. Yet they cry the blues because the dogs aren't moving...

I have decided to go through a very good, responsible and reputable breeder for my next dog. Even with her exenstive application, screening, and wanting to meet me and my current dog in person...it was easier then a rescue. Granted I need to wait over a year for her next litter of pups to be born.

Keep your head up! You'll find the dog thats meant for you... Search your local shelter, other breeds are always getting dumped... You're seeing all the pits because they are the hardest to place, and there are SO many out there these days.

 

[Pikaia]

I have never tried to get a rescue animal. More than likely, I'd be denied too. I would keep trying at the rescue, but take a look at the shelters too. I know our local shelter has tons of dogs, puppies and adults. I think it's pretty ridiculous what these rescue groups put you through. They are looking for the 100% perfect home for these dogs and frankly, it doesn't exist. It's really unfair to the pets.

 

[CrazyForChinchillas]

Wow. I'm surprised that they are that strict with dogs. Try a local humane society or SPCA. I have not heard any bad things about our local ones, but that was only when people were adopting cats.

 

[Megan]

Its insane what you have to go through to adopt a dog from the rescue. A lot of the adoption fees are fairly high, compared to your local shelter as well. I understand they do not make a profit, and sink a lot of money into their dogs--but when you are asking $500 for an adoption fee of a young adult dog... They can easily go to the shelter and adopt for under $100. Or get a well bred dog from health tested parents for a little more.... I think its great the rescues are out there, and I appreciate what they do for the dogs...but I can see why they sit in the rescues.

We did go through a local greyhound rescue to get our grey years ago, and were approved...but their applications were nothing like what is out there today when trying to adopt.

 

[AZChins]

They have a ton of dogs here because of the fires. I think that they had the prices for the dogs at something like $15 for a dog and half price for puppies and pure breds. I do not understand why the rescues ask for so much for their adoption fees.

I think it was something like $70 for my dog Hoss when I adopted him from animal control. That was for his shots and his neutering included. (Then the dog went on to cost me thousands in vet bills...)

 

[Brittany]

Have you tried a site like petfinder.com? You may have to drive a bit out of your area, but it may be worth it to find the right dog and an organization that is willing to work with you.

Good Luck!

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

If you were denyed then I would be as well, I mean I live 600 ft from a road and have nearly 2 acres to play on, but it isn't fenced in. Can't forget my pool, there isn't a 12 foot security fence around it to prevent the dog from drowning. Rescues (not all) talk about being full and overcrowd yet they are extensive and overly picky when looking over applications.

I hope you hear back about the Shepherd mix. If not, try petfinder, craiglists, hoobly, etc. Plenty of dogs to adopt on there. =)

 

[Andrea]

All the dogs I've tried to adopt have been thru Petfinder. Have not heard about the shepherd mix and I doubt I will. I did find one dog on CL I'm interested in, but she has not been vet-checked at all and her age is unknown. I might see if they can get that info before I ask to be considered for her. I was denied a pup we had an app in for because we don't give our cat Lyme vaccines. Whatever. Obviously rescues are too good for my family! The worst part is several of these dogs wait in temporary situations way longer than need be. Are the rescues really doing them a favor? I saw a dog today that I wanted to apply for but again references were asked for and I just cannot have my family and friends intruded upon again. I never thought it would be so difficult to ADOPT a homeless dog!!!!

 

[Encantadora]

I tried once or twice to adopt a dog through rescue (breed specific ones) and was not allowed. I understand being careful but it was overboard. I ended up buying from breeders to get the breeds I wanted.

Shelters are great if you can find the right match. Funny now that we foster for rescues (not breed specific) that are all too happy for the help. We've fostered around 15 dogs.