Our adoption process includes an application, phone interview and possibly, a home check. If we feel that there is a potential match, an appointment is scheduled to meet the dog.
Our adoption fees range from $200 to $400 depending on the individual dog. In many cases the costs to prepare a dog for adoption is far more than the adoption fee for the dog. Once a dog is adopted, the new owners have a 2 week trial period to determine if the dog is indeed a match for their family. If it is decided that the dog is not a match, the dog must be returned to us and we retain $50 of the adoption fee. The remainder of the fee is reimbursed. We have written, legally binding contracts with anyone who adopts a dog from us.
Prior to adoption, all of our Little Bow Wow dogs are spayed or neutered, updated on vaccinations, micro-chipped, de-wormed, groomed, and treated for fleas and ticks. All dogs go home with a collar with a Little Bow Wow ID tag on it and also with a leash.
We do have adoption guidelines, however our adoption committee will consider an applicant who does not typically fall within the guidelines.
Our adoption guidelines are as follows (please note these are guidelines, not hard and fast "rules".) We understand that each applicant and each dog is an individual, and our goal is to find the best possible match.
We do not typically adopt dogs to individuals under 25 yrs of age, or to families with children under 12 yrs of age (this includes young couples or single people who plan to have children during the lifetime of the dog.)
We do not typically place dogs with anyone who is renting their residence.
Our adoption process has evolved over time, and our guidelines are a result of lessons we have learned over many years of working with rescue dogs and finding them proper homes. In the case of our age guideline involving children, we also researched the national dog bite statistics involving children and dogs. We simply do not know the history of most of our dogs, and we feel that it is irresponsible to put our rescue dogs and young children at risk of becoming the victims of an unfortunate incident.
Individuals under the age of 25 are often not able to provide a stable home for a rescue dog considering all of the life changes that they will typically experience such as - repeated change of residence, career changes, and relationships, all of which are situations where a pet can easily become an issue.
We receive calls weekly from people who desperately want to surrender their dogs to us because they rent and are moving and cannot take their dog with them to their new residence, or from people in relationships where the dog has become an issue, or from people who have a dog that is not getting along with their new baby. Literally thousands of dogs are euthanized in shelters monthly due to circumstances related to these situations. Most of our rescue dogs have been through so much already, and our goal is to find them permanent homes where they can live out the rest of their lives being spoiled and loved.
We will be happy to answer any questions regarding our adoption policies.
