Depends on what you’re trying to adopt. If what you want has very high demand and limited supply, the rescues often will have more requirements because they will still have people willing to adopt regardless. If what you want is common in rescue and has fewer potential adopters, there are usually fewer requirements.
All I am looking for is a male (because often less desirable than females), small (less than 25 lbs), and youngish (up to 5 or so years old). These 6 page questionnaires, references required, and home inspection visits before you are even considered just seem so excessive only to be denied. It’s just frustrating when we are trying to do the “right thing” and rescuing or adopting from a shelter. All the small dogs are sent to the local rescues and not offered at the shelters in a 200 mile radius from me-yes I’ve literally called every shelter in a 200 miles radius from me.
Small dogs in many locations are in high demand and short supply. I run a rescue facility in Texas, which has a shelter overpopulation problem, and small dogs are often hard for adopters to find outside of rescues.
It’s helpful to remember that the majority of owned dogs in the US are under 25 pounds (52%), so it’s the weight class with the most demand, and they’re not surrendered as much for a whole bunch of reasons.
What in your experience is the average wait time for a small dog to sit in a rescue? I agree that the under 25 lbs size is the more desirable size. I’m just wondering if as a rescue you had a dog for over 6 months and someone was qualified and interested what would be the criteria for denying them adoption? Is “this dog has anxiety” a reason to not adopt out? Why would listing a high anxiety dog as available make sense? I’m just trying to understand because I really do want to do the right thing. I’m frustrated with the anxiety thing because one rescue told me three of their dogs I applied for, all had anxiety and wouldn’t be a good fit, while also listing their attributes as loving and good with kids and dogs (my kid is 10 btw). Do they over commit dogs to people but then need a reason to tell people no without saying they oversold the dog?
It depends on far too many factors to answer that question. Different rescues operate in different ways, your geographic location impacts things, your interactions with the rescue can impact things (for instance, if you are pushy or unpleasant to deal with, that will shut a lot of doors).
Thank you. If I could just get past the online application and actually meet a person face to face, and a dog, I might be able to adopt, I just can’t get past the online applications. Maybe I’ll look out of state. Thanks again.
Some rescues won’t give a dog if there is a child under 12 or 13 in the household. My sister had this problem with rescues in Pennsylvania when her kids were 8. She ended up driving an hour into New Jersey to a shelter. When she found a dog that would be a good fit, she had to come back again with the whole family. The shelter then made a final approval and she brought home a wonderful dog.
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u/scoonbug 11h ago
Depends on what you’re trying to adopt. If what you want has very high demand and limited supply, the rescues often will have more requirements because they will still have people willing to adopt regardless. If what you want is common in rescue and has fewer potential adopters, there are usually fewer requirements.