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Adoption Process
We at All
Retriever Friends are delighted that you are interested in adopting one
of our dogs! We wanted to take a few moments to explain to you our
adoption process so that you can better understand how we find a Forever
Family for one of our dogs.
As a preface, please understand that all of us here at All Retriever
Friends are volunteers. We all have other jobs or commitments, and
cannot guarantee a response time. We ask for your understanding and
patience. Since we often make our calls after the workday is done,
please indicate in the Comments section of your application if you have
a time past which you do not wish to be contacted.
Since we are an all volunteer organization, we ask for serious
applicants ONLY. We hope to concentrate our time on those persons who
ARE serious and ready to adopt a dog.
To begin the process, you must submit an Online Application. This allows
us to gain more information about your family and what you're looking
for in a dog. We cannot begin the process until we have received this
application; therefore, it serves no advantage to call or email before
you have submitted the application. Please note the date on which you
submit your application; it may be advantageous to print out your
application before submitting it and noting the date at the top. If you
contact us about your application, please always indicate the date of
your application.
Once we have received your application, a volunteer will review it. If
we accept your application, you will be contacted. Please ensure that
your application is completed entirely. It will delay the process, if it
is incomplete. Please note that we may not feel that the dog you
indicate as a preference is the best possible fit for your family and
may ask if you will consider another dog instead. Our mission is to find
the best possible homes for our dogs. We receive many applications daily
for our dogs; because of our limited time as volunteers, we cannot
guarantee a response to every application. We will make every attempt to
contact you upon review of your application.
After your application is reviewed, you may be contacted for a phone
interview. This interview will help us determine if your family and a
particular dog may be a good match. This interview can last anywhere
from 5 to 30 minutes. Through this interview we hope to find the best
possible match our dogs.
If we feel that there is a possible match for your family and our dogs a
HomeCheck will be scheduled. A volunteer will contact you to arrange a
time to visit your home. A donation of $10.00 will be suggested at
the time of the HomeCheck. The volunteer may suggest for some alterations
to your property prior to placement of a dog. These alterations must be
done before your application is approved and you are cleared to meet
with the dogs.
After your homecheck is approved, you are able to arrange a time to meet
with a dog that is considered a good match. We also participate in
events where several dogs can be seen at one time. At the time of
adoption, a signed Terms of Adoption contract and Adoption Fee of
$250.00 will be required for most dogs. The adoption fee for young Golden
Retrievers is $300.00. These adoption fee amounts MAY be adjusted due
to a dog's age, or special needs.
This fee helps to pay for the food, care, boarding, medical costs,
bailing fee and other expenses associated in the rescue of our
dogs.
Some things to note…
Retrievers are typically active when young, and require much
interaction, attention and training. We all have seen the Labrador
Retriever down the street who is a perfect angel or the Golden Retriever
on TV who is the family's best friend. The thing that must be remembered
is these dogs have all received extensive training. Great dogs aren't
born, they're raised. Some of our dogs have led traumatic lives to date
and may not be perfectly behaved. While they are all wonderful animals
who will be amazing companions, they sometimes need professional
training and time in order to bond fully with your family. Training also
promotes quality time with dog and owner and improves acclamation with
the family.
If you are interested in a mellow dog, it is best to consider one that
is 4 years of age and older that has the mental maturity level, and the
Retriever Spirit.
Due to the size or spirit of the breeds we rescue, we restrict the age
of children in a family to whom the dog will be adopted. If we do not
have knowledge of a dog's prior behavior with children, we cannot
consider an applicant with children under 6 years of age regularly in
the home for that dog. If we have a dog with a known history, the
listing will state this explicitly. We hope you understand that we
simply cannot place a dog for whom we have no history with young
children, it's just not wise. If you have young children, please feel
free to submit an application indicating such, as we do get dogs from
time to time for whom we have a history. However, these dogs place very
quickly, sometimes without even reaching the website. In addition, a
dog's listing will sometimes restrict children older than 6 (e.g.,
"Children older than 10"). This is due to the dog's size and spirit.
Please, again, understand that we are doing this for the benefit of all
involved.
At no point in this process do we ever guarantee that your family will
receive a particular dog. As you can see, this process takes time. We
work with all Approved Applicants to find the best possible match and
hope that you understand that our priority is getting the dog into a
good Forever Family, as soon as possible.
Again, we thank you for your interest in adopting from All Retriever
Friends.
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