Rescue organizations need to rethink they’re processes for adopting out animals. We tired once to adopt a dog and we’re turned down because we don’t have a fence yard.

If I can buy an AR15, a car, or a house quicker than I can adopt a pet, something needs to change.

We got our awesome dog from Craigslist. Screw crazy rescue places.

OP here - thank you to the posters with substantive information. I was able to call and set up appointments at several shelters in southern VA that have large inventories of surrendered hunting dogs. I was assured that if the shots are up to date, we can expect to take home the new member of our family that day.


Thanks again! I was looking at shelters in the wrong geographic location for what we required.

OP you are unrealistic. Have you checked out the cost of puppy thread ? To get the dog you want is going to be expensive.

Anonymous wrote:OP - I just revisited the thread and LOL. When did animals become so PC. The KILL aka Clear shelters seemed like a good idea because they might let us visit, choose a dog and leave with animal.

I want this experience to be fun. We should be able to show up somewhere, choose a dog that fits well with the kids, then take the dog home. Disappointing the kids because we need to fix a latch on our fence or will not be home every two hours to socialize the dog is ridiculous.

It's sad we have all these unwanted animals, and a great suburban family like ours will probably go with a breeder.

As for the home visits. Besides 30 minutes being unrealistic because I will have to completely rearrange my already over-booked schedule, I do not want you in my house, period.

You don't want a breeder. A reputable breeder will make you fill out lots of paperwork. Many already have planned homes before they breed and that certainly won't work because if the kiddos can't wait a week, they certainly can't wait for a whole breeding. You want a puppy mill basically. I hear there are some in the Lancaster area. You walk up and ask for a dog and they give it to you that day, no questions asked. Think of the kids! No disappointment! No wasting 30 min of your precious day on a home visit!

There is so much romance attached to getting a dog from a shelter. Most of them have real problems and they are not the expensive breeds like a wiemeraner or sport hunting dog. Mostly they are beagles or mixes. And the hoops are just crazy. Some of the shelter people will put you through anything and then give you a dog that is part “some very popular breed” like corgi.
Corgis are hard to find and expensive just to give one example. The breed rescue groups are the same. Many animals that are very old or have significant medical needs
OP you will need to contact a Breeder. And they have LOTS of paperwork.

If you’re on DCUM, you clearly have enough time to spare a half hour. I hate people who think they are sooooo busy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's ridiculous. My friend was turned down because she had never had a dog before, and because she worked out of the home. She wasn't trying to adopt a puppy and she would have been a good pet owner, and it's just life that most people have to work during the day.

Meh, I didn't get a dog until I could afford a dog walker. It's really not fair to leave a dog home along all day.

Yeah much better that they get put down at a kill shelter, right?

It's not an either-or, but look. It's not fair to get an animal you don't take care of and then say, well, it's okay because it would have died anyway. That's terrible logic.

PP animal welfare person - unfortunately it is a little bit either/or. We can look for perfect homes, and let more pets be euthanized, or we can look for good homes, and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We have to draw lines about what we think is good v not good enough - and that's art, not science. But you have to be aware that every time you make it harder to adopt, more shelter pets will be euthanized for lack of a home. That's just how it is, given our current situation.

At the same time, it's good for you to think hard about when you think you are ready for a pet. For you, it sounds like you felt you didn't have enough financial stability to do it - until you did. That's great.

Anonymous wrote:OP - I just revisited the thread and LOL. When did animals become so PC. The KILL aka Clear shelters seemed like a good idea because they might let us visit, choose a dog and leave with animal.

I want this experience to be fun. We should be able to show up somewhere, choose a dog that fits well with the kids, then take the dog home. Disappointing the kids because we need to fix a latch on our fence or will not be home every two hours to socialize the dog is ridiculous.

It's sad we have all these unwanted animals, and a great suburban family like ours will probably go with a breeder.

As for the home visits. Besides 30 minutes being unrealistic because I will have to completely rearrange my already over-booked schedule, I do not want you in my house, period.

Yikes. So you want a dog in the sweet spot of 2-4 years, out of puppyhood but still lots of life yet. You want a particular breed that requires lots of exercise but you are unable to spare a half hour. Let me guess you probably don’t want any issues because you are really busy. Also it’s more important that it be a fun experience for your kids and they can immediately take the dog home rather than finding a dog that is a good fit. In exchange for this dog, you aren’t able to provide your license or half hour for a home visit. Please complete this vent and complain you don’t understand why rescues charge exorbitant fees like $450!
These hoops exist to weed out people who aren’t committed, such as yourself. Now you will just go to a breeder because you can’t be bothered with all these things the rescue requires. How many hours do you think you are going to spend potty training this puppy you buy from a breeder? Stop making stupid excuses. Instead of if our latch isn’t fixed, it will disappoint the kids and that is the fault of the rescue why dont you fix the latch first? It’s simple, really.

If you want to go to a shelter, but Montgomery county has a couple of shelters that you can visit . They have a fairly large center of Muncaster Mill Road and Shady Grove Road as well as a much smaller shelter in Rockville . Off of Stonestreet.

Anonymous wrote:OP - I just revisited the thread and LOL. When did animals become so PC. The KILL aka Clear shelters seemed like a good idea because they might let us visit, choose a dog and leave with animal.

I want this experience to be fun. We should be able to show up somewhere, choose a dog that fits well with the kids, then take the dog home. Disappointing the kids because we need to fix a latch on our fence or will not be home every two hours to socialize the dog is ridiculous.

It's sad we have all these unwanted animals, and a great suburban family like ours will probably go with a breeder.

As for the home visits. Besides 30 minutes being unrealistic because I will have to completely rearrange my already over-booked schedule, I do not want you in my house, period.

Boy, you are a drama queen aren't you? If you can spare 30 minutes, good luck with a puppy babe.

Anonymous wrote:After years of discussion, our children are older and we are ready to adopt a family dog. Instead of a puppy, I would prefer to re-home an older dog 2-4 years old. After contacting a several private individuals and shelters, the process to adopt a dog here is crazy insane. Background checks, endless forms, interviews...not to mention that I am not comfortable disclosing so much personal information (driver's licence #, employment contacts, ect.) to adopt a dog. What is up? Anyone had good dealings with an in area shelter/rescue?

Because people lie to the rescues. I worked and fostered for one in the area. They lie all the time. And they feel entitled to adopt a dog, regardless of their home situation, finances, or the dog's personality/activity level. In order to get the dog they want, they lie. I've seen it over, and over, and over again. That's why.

The groups put a lot of time and money pulling, vetting, training/evaluating temper, feeding, and then staffing the adoption days (just the admin support costs money). Also finding fosters and administering those programs. And fundraising.

When people lie, this leads to bad outcomes: animals are returned. This puts more of a burden on the groups. Or people violate the adoption agreements and turn the animals into the shelters, give them away, etc. People lie. Have I made that point clearly enough?

If you want a dog same day, head out to rural VA, MD, WV. Head down south to NC, SC, LA . . . they will literally give you any dog you want with virtually no questions asked. Of course, the vetting, evaluation, etc. described above won't have happened. But, at least you will be able to shield your personal information and get any dog you want easily.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People say this over and over again, and yet I have adopted dogs easily from two area shelters - the Animal Welfare Leagues of Arlington and Alexandria. They WANT to help you find an animal.

It is fairly simple. People seem to think they're entitled from these rescues to get a dog and they refuse to see why the rescues have their process.

The OP who has a completely overbooked schedule might not have the time she thinks she has for a dog.

And the kind she is looking for is high energy, high needs. Seriously.

This is why rescues have a process--to try to match you appropriately.

OP is clueless.

Yeah, I think people are confusing the process they often see with breed-specific rescues as well. You're generally going to have a pretty easy time adopting a dog from a shelter, but you're also going to have less say in what type of dog that is. If you have all these specifications like many folks do, you're just simply going to have to jump through more hoops.

We sought out and adopted from a breed specific rescue and our dog was with them for 9 months with 2 adoptions falling through prior to us. The $450 fee hardly even covered them for his care over that period much less the vet bills to get him healthy from the situation he was rescued from. They also worked with us after the fact on training and diet. With all the effort the rescue put in, they certainly wanted and deserved to come to our house, interview us, do whatever it took to ensure that this dog was going to a safe, permanent home.

Not that traditional shelters don't also do great work and care for their animals, but they don't generally have the resources to provide this level of scrutiny. So bottom line is it's not hard to adopt A dog, it may just be hard to adopt the dog you think you want.

Anonymous wrote:People say this over and over again, and yet I have adopted dogs easily from two area shelters - the Animal Welfare Leagues of Arlington and Alexandria. They WANT to help you find an animal.

It is fairly simple. People seem to think they're entitled from these rescues to get a dog and they refuse to see why the rescues have their process.

The OP who has a completely overbooked schedule might not have the time she thinks she has for a dog.

And the kind she is looking for is high energy, high needs. Seriously.

This is why rescues have a process--to try to match you appropriately.

OP is clueless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's ridiculous. My friend was turned down because she had never had a dog before, and because she worked out of the home. She wasn't trying to adopt a puppy and she would have been a good pet owner, and it's just life that most people have to work during the day.

Meh, I didn't get a dog until I could afford a dog walker. It's really not fair to leave a dog home along all day.

Yeah much better that they get put down at a kill shelter, right?

It's not an either-or, but look. It's not fair to get an animal you don't take care of and then say, well, it's okay because it would have died anyway. That's terrible logic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - I just revisited the thread and LOL. When did animals become so PC. The KILL aka Clear shelters seemed like a good idea because they might let us visit, choose a dog and leave with animal.

I want this experience to be fun. We should be able to show up somewhere, choose a dog that fits well with the kids, then take the dog home. Disappointing the kids because we need to fix a latch on our fence or will not be home every two hours to socialize the dog is ridiculous.

It's sad we have all these unwanted animals, and a great suburban family like ours will probably go with a breeder.

As for the home visits. Besides 30 minutes being unrealistic because I will have to completely rearrange my already over-booked schedule, I do not want you in my house, period.

Any reputable breeder will have you do much of the same. I’m sorry, but you’re looking for excuses. If you can’t clear your schedule for thirty minutes, the fact you want to get a dog is terrifying. You seem to be more about this being a fun experience. It’s not shopping. I hope you think it through.

Terrifying? You must live a very charmed life if this terrifies you.