New Update #22 -Another puppy thread....any small dog owners? Or transported rescue?

[ang79]

So puppy is temporarily on hold, until they answer questions on the contract and payment. They want payment within 24 hours, but don't answer questions in that same time frame......

And they want to use PayPal friends and family, which raises a big red flag. They should, theoretically, already get a discount from PayPal if they prove up 501c3 status, which they claim to have. And they could simply charge more to cover fees. But it takes away any recourse for us. What if they swapped out dogs or didn't deliver at all? We'd be out the money, and too bad.

So I really appreciate the advice, and hope we get to use it, but not sure where things are going from here. My hackles are up a bit.

You have good reason to be concerned! Back when we were looking for a dog (this past April) I remember seeing news stories about people paying upfront for dogs to be re-homed from other parts of the country, or world, and then they never got the dog. That is one reason I didn't even consider the rescues that did transport and you had to commit to the dog before even meeting it. I wanted our whole family to meet the dog in person and spend a bit of time with it to make sure we were a good fit for each other. If I were you I would keep looking at other rescues/shelters where you can actually meet the dog in person before committing and paying.

[mmsmom]

Agree, I’d be very wary of this process as well. I wouldn’t pay anything before meeting dog in person. We have a “transport dog”... he was brought from another state but brought to our local shelter and we found him there. It took a while to get his stomach settled... stress and moving can do that and he had various worms that it took a few weeks to get rid of. But these can be issues in all rescue dogs and not just ones who are transported.

[twowhat?]

Hmmm that definitely sounds sketchy!!! Adoptions are at an all time high with people adopting dogs because of COVID, and among my friends who have adopted, they report similarly difficulties in being about to get a dog, period, ESPECIALLY a puppy. So...I could definitely see someone (or many) trying to make a buck off of this trend.

Be careful!! I do think some money up front makes sense for a transport rescue, especially that far, but be sure to carefully vet the rescue and the transport and be sure both are legit...

In the meantime try FB (there are probably tons of local rescues to follow) - dogs get snapped up quickly on FB and may never make it to an actual website or Petfinder.

[ang79]

Hmmm that definitely sounds sketchy!!! Adoptions are at an all time high with people adopting dogs because of COVID, and among my friends who have adopted, they report similarly difficulties in being about to get a dog, period, ESPECIALLY a puppy. So...I could definitely see someone (or many) trying to make a buck off of this trend.

Be careful!! I do think some money up front makes sense for a transport rescue, especially that far, but be sure to carefully vet the rescue and the transport and be sure both are legit...

In the meantime try FB (there are probably tons of local rescues to follow) - dogs get snapped up quickly on FB and may never make it to an actual website or Petfinder.

Yes, find some reputable local rescues and stalk their Facebook pages. That's how we found our dog, she was never listed on Petfinder. They listed her on Facebook and to contact the foster family if interested and I emailed right away, apparently I was at the top of the list and they had a ton of interest after me. My dog also came from another state, but the rescue saved dogs from southern states and had them in foster homes locally for awhile before advertising them for adoption. Even after being with the foster home for a few months, she still had worms (apparently they can take awhile to show up and also to treat).

[mom2binsd]

Has the rescue met you and interviewed to you, called references? Rescues around here are very diligent in making sure the family is ready and able to care for a new dog. If they haven't done that I'd look at another rescue. There will be other dogs. It's easy to get attached but there are a few red flags in your situation.

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[robinsmommy]

I don't have Facebook, but my sister does. Maybe she can dog shop a bit for me.

They never called references, though they did call and talk to me. I had emailed Saturday with questions on the contract - it's so strict that DH said it basically makes us permanent foster parents, not adopters, which is pretty apt. So we wanted clarification on things - for instance, they require you to call them before putting the dog down. Really? And what happens if it gets mauled at the dog park or otherwise badly hurt and is suffering? And what if all parties don't agree on treatment, if say, the dog had cancer and chemo could extend life, but at a cost of quality? They want to know within 2 hours if the dog is lost. I can see a day as being reasonable. They can visit your house with zero notice at any time and take the dog back. And no, they don't post the contract on their website, or I might not have considered them after reading it. You only get it after you apply and are "approved."

Oddly, I also emailed the question on PayPal Saturday, separately, and *that* they responded to within hours. Hmm. Still no answers on the contract.

So I haven't written them off entirely yet, but am leaning against using them. I question whether their policies and practices actually result in dogs going to homes that will care well for them - I suspect that the people who would not be scared off by that contract are folks who intend to ignore it after getting the dog anyways, which defeats the purpose.

[ang79]

I don't have Facebook, but my sister does. Maybe she can dog shop a bit for me.

They never called references, though they did call and talk to me. I had emailed Saturday with questions on the contract - it's so strict that DH said it basically makes us permanent foster parents, not adopters, which is pretty apt. So we wanted clarification on things - for instance, they require you to call them before putting the dog down. Really? And what happens if it gets mauled at the dog park or otherwise badly hurt and is suffering? And what if all parties don't agree on treatment, if say, the dog had cancer and chemo could extend life, but at a cost of quality? They want to know within 2 hours if the dog is lost. I can see a day as being reasonable. They can visit your house with zero notice at any time and take the dog back. And no, they don't post the contract on their website, or I might not have considered them after reading it. You only get it after you apply and are "approved."

Oddly, I also emailed the question on PayPal Saturday, separately, and *that* they responded to within hours. Hmm. Still no answers on the contract.

So I haven't written them off entirely yet, but am leaning against using them. I question whether their policies and practices actually result in dogs going to homes that will care well for them - I suspect that the people who would not be scared off by that contract are folks who intend to ignore it after getting the dog anyways, which defeats the purpose.

I am not on Facebook either, but was able to see posts that groups made (on public pages). I just couldn't message about an dog through Facebook, which was OK, because I had already been approved at several rescues and had email contacts I could reach out to if I saw a dog we were interested in.

[robinsmommy]

I'm also thinking that there may well be a lot of dogs in the next 3-6 months that badly need homes - until the virus is really dealt with, the economy will continue to tank.

[MSWR0319]

I don't have Facebook, but my sister does. Maybe she can dog shop a bit for me.

They never called references, though they did call and talk to me. I had emailed Saturday with questions on the contract - it's so strict that DH said it basically makes us permanent foster parents, not adopters, which is pretty apt. So we wanted clarification on things - for instance, they require you to call them before putting the dog down. Really? And what happens if it gets mauled at the dog park or otherwise badly hurt and is suffering? And what if all parties don't agree on treatment, if say, the dog had cancer and chemo could extend life, but at a cost of quality? They want to know within 2 hours if the dog is lost. I can see a day as being reasonable. They can visit your house with zero notice at any time and take the dog back. And no, they don't post the contract on their website, or I might not have considered them after reading it. You only get it after you apply and are "approved."

Oddly, I also emailed the question on PayPal Saturday, separately, and *that* they responded to within hours. Hmm. Still no answers on the contract.

So I haven't written them off entirely yet, but am leaning against using them. I question whether their policies and practices actually result in dogs going to homes that will care well for them - I suspect that the people who would not be scared off by that contract are folks who intend to ignore it after getting the dog anyways, which defeats the purpose.

I would suggest finding a rescue as local as possible. My friend started working with a rescue during Covid and I asked her about the experience you're having. She said it didn't sound "right" and that she would highly recommend using someone else. Maybe your sister can do some research on FB for local groups and get you phone numbers.

[AnnieW625]

Have you looked at your local county or city shelter. We found both our dogs at the county shelter and had amazing luck with both of them.

When we were adopting our first dog in 2005 we inquired with a rescue and dh got a bad vibe from them and he thought their list of requirements was too large to be reasonable. One thing was that we were work outside the home people and they didn’t like that the dog would be possibly be outside for the bulk of the day when we were home (I know.... there are many different opinions on that, but Dh wasn’t willing to let that go....we had that dog for 13 years).

I will address the small dog question. We have what we think is a Chihuahua/Dachshund/Jack Russell Terrier mix. He is tall like a terrier, barks like a chihuahua, but has facial, flipped over ear, and body features of a Dachshund. He is 17lbs. He requires a mile to 2 mile per day, and we are pretty sure he has anxiety because sometimes he is hard to calm down. With all of that said he is a great dog for our family. We love him. He was the first small dog that Dh and I have had. Growing up I had two Shepard mixes, and Dh had a variety of labs, and husky mix dogs; our prior dog was 75 pound black lab so switching to a small dog took some learning, but we put him in the crate from day 1 and he took to it very easily.

I would definitely want to meet the dog in person prior to adopting. Like I said look at the shelters if you can as well.


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