Hi All, I would like to discuss a topic that is causing some turmoil in the rescue/adoption area. When we have a cocker in rescue, and the foster is seeing issues, we then have to consider ALL of this when looking for the right home for the dog. Issues such as separation anxiety, timidness, resource guarding etc. anything that will need to be considered for choosing the best fit/adopter. We have foster homes for this reason, to get a good evaluation of temperament and overall needs. We often times get interested applicants that we feel arent the best fit for that particular dog, and we then continue to review applications until one looks to have the experience or necessary environment for that particular dog. The reason for this post is to get everyones thoughts/opinions on this process. We never say that the applicant is not good, but only that the dogs needs do not fit the applicants home or lifestyle, etc. the problem tends to be that people then get offended, and feel we denied them, and feel they can meet the dogs needs, and arent willing to look at other dogs, they only wanted that particular dog. We get failed adoptions more than we would like, and this causes us to doubt the potential adopters at times, because of past experiences. We seem to encounter applicants with unrealistic expectations of a rescue dog, and it gets very discouraging. Many of the questions on our application ask if they are willing to work with the dog should this or that problem arise, things like not getting along with current dog or having potty accidents, etc. they answer yes on the application, but when it actually happens, they want to return the dog right away. It gets very frustrating on our end, the time we had put into that adoption, setting up home visit, transporting dog if needed, etc, we feel our time was wasted. Can I get some suggestions/opinions on going about this process without causing people to feel offended or hurt feelings to arise? -also some suggestions on weeding out people that are not realistic with their expectations? - Christine P.S. Constructive criticism is welcome, the purpose of this post is to get opinions, but we also will not tolerate inappropriate or disrespectful comments. Thank You.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 22:38:55 +0000