Adoption Eligibility and Policies

What It MeansTo Rescue a Golden

Are you committed to providing a safe, happy, healthy, loving home and make the dog a member of the family? We are looking for homes with lots of love to give and time to spend with the dog.

Please understand bringing a rescued dog into your home should be a commitment you are making about the dog’s needs being met and not about your own personal needs being met.

Roxie

Adoption Eligibility and Policies

GRR reserves the right to deny an application deemed not appropriate for a rescued Golden. 

Age eligibility: Applicants must be at least 21 years of age.

Fences: GRR requires a fenced yard attached to your dwelling (dog parks do not qualify). The fence must be at least 4' high. GRR does not accept an invisible fence as an appropriate fence. Barbed wire and cattle guards are not acceptable fences. Dogs need sufficient room to exercise and play.

GRR reserves the right to deny any applicant who:

  • does not have a private attached fence or
  • an appropriate yard for a medium or large size dog or
  • has a type of fence that may be unacceptable for the dog

Why do I need a fence?

Children: GRR does not adopt dogs to families with children under the age of 8 years old. This also applies to fostering. GRR does not make any exceptions to this policy, as it is for the benefit and safety of the children and the dog.

Puppies: Dogs under 6 months old cannot be left longer than 2-4 hour increments.

Being transported: The dog shall always ride inside an enclosed vehicle and never in an open truck bed, whether contained in a crate, loose or tethered.

Family Schedules:  Goldens are active dogs and need to run, play, exercise, potty and have mental stimulation at least every 4 hours. Puppies may need the same in 2-4 hour increments.

New Dogs in Home: The family has not adopted, or is currently fostering a dog or otherwise acquired a new dog within the past six months and does not plan to do so within the next six months after adopting a dog.

Medical/vetting requirements for resident cats and dogs:

  • Resident dogs (or recently passed) in the home are required to be altered, up to date on all core vaccines, have received annual health exams, heartworm tests, and have received year-round heartworm preventatives.
  • Cats should be altered and up to date on their rabies vaccination, or as recommended by the veterinarian.

When applicable, we will request at least a three year vetting history. We also acknowledge there might be exceptions due to the frailty of senior pets or for certain medical conditions and treatment plans.

GRR only accepts heartworm preventatives deemed appropriate by the American Heartworm Society.

Titer tests for vaccinations (when appropriate) may be deemed acceptable.

Service dogs: GRR does not place adoptive dogs to be service or therapy dogs for physical, mobility, psychological or emotional reasons.

Previous adopters: GRR always requires a new application plus a new interview and/or home visit if 5 years have passed (address change, new pets or new residents in the home will require a new phone interview and/or home visit). GRR reserves the right to require one or both to be completed sooner.

Out of area applicants: We cannot consider applicants who live outside the immediate Austin-San Antonio areas due to the limited resources of trained Home Visit volunteers needed to complete the in-person Home Visit portion of our interview process. We do not ship or transport dogs for adoption.

Leashes: Do you agree to keep the dog on leash anytime he or she is outside an enclosed fenced-in area? This is for the safety and protection of the dog from unexpected and sudden dangers.

Inside When Gone: Do you agree to keep the adopted dog inside the home anytime the family is sleeping or away from home? Places such as, but not limited to, screened-in porches and garages (even if air conditioned) are unacceptable. This includes closing access to a dog door to prevent the dog from being able to go outside the home when the adults are gone. How will you manage this?

Aversive Training Methods: Any type of electronic/battery operated collar such as, but not limited to, shock/vibration collars, choke collars, prong collars or excessive use of force, for example, is not allowed.

We believe in science-based, fear-free, force-free positive reinforcement training. If you need recommendations for trainers in your area, we are happy to help.

Dog houses and kennels on the property may be deemed unacceptable and will require further explanation.

Dog's Primary Home: will not be a nursing home or group home.

 

Iggy

About Foster Pending Adoption Families (FPA):

The FPA family will be the foster on record and is expected to abide by all of the same requirements of GRR approved foster families. The only difference is the FPA family may adopt their dog when the dog is medically and behaviorally cleared, provided all parties agree the dog is the right fit.

GRR pays for all reasonable, required and approved medical and/or training expenses while the dog is a foster. If it's deemed that the dog is not the best fit, then GRR will move the dog as soon as possible or the dog may stay in the FPA’s care until matched to an appropriate adoptive family and adopted.

If a family is approved to adopt, they may be asked if they are open to be considered for the FPA process. FPA means that an approved family who desires to adopt a dog from GRR will take the new dog in as a foster with the intent to adopt, as long as the dog ends up being the right fit. FPA families are assigned to a matchmaker and they work closely together to determine the dog that is deemed as the best fit for the dog and the family, just the same as if the approved family only desired to do a straight adoption.

Scenarios that make the adoption process more difficult and longer:
  • Gates across the driveway
  • Leaving a dog 6-8+ hours a day. Most of us work. If you do plan to leave him/her 6-8 hours or more, please tell us your plan to provide the dog's needs for potty, physical activity and mental enrichment.
  • Crating can be a useful tool but crating a dog 6-8 hours while you are gone during the day and again 8 hours at night is too much as Goldens are active dogs. We’ll happily discuss other options with you.
  • Climbing multiple steps multiple times a day. Some homes require climbing steps to an upstairs bedroom, to the front door or off the outside deck to the yard. If this is your situation, a senior dog or one with hip issues may not work best for you.
  • Untrained/under socialized resident dogs may likely present a challenge for us to match a new dog to your family. It should be expected that a new rescue dog will require socializing and training and will most likely pick up on any undesirable behavior of another dog they spend a significant amount of time with. If it is determined during the home visit that the resident dog may need more training, we may ask you to do some work with your dog before we place a new dog in the home.
  • Cats, chickens, rabbits, birds, etc in the home Please understand that some dogs will not have had any exposure to cats, chickens, rabbits and birds. Please tell us your plan to slowly integrate a dog into your home environment.

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