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Adoption Process

Our adoption process is designed to help you and the right dog find each other. Our goal is to place each dog into a permanent, safe, and loving home.

To adopt a German Shepherd Dog from us, you must:

  1. Complete an Adoption Questionnaire, either online, or hard-copy (pdf format). If you do not own your home, you must have your landlord complete the Landlord Letter.
  2. Be interviewed by an adoption counselor.
  3. Choose, and be chosen by, the right dog.
  4. Live in one of the 14 Northern California counties we serve.
  5. Allow a home visit by an adoption counselor.
  6. With our approval, sign our Adoption Agree ment, and pay the associated fee.

If you come to an Adoption Day, the process of adopting can be completed in any order; otherwise you must complete an Adoption Questionnaire before we can assist you further. Normally, all our requirements must be met. Home visits may be waived in rare circumstances. We do not adopt to homes outside of Northern California.

After we receive your online Adoption Questionnaire, we will call you to begin the adoption process. Due to our home visit requirement, we only adopt to homes in Northern California. We encourage potential adopters to come to one or more Adoption Days because that is the best way to meet several German Shepherds and to find your new companion.

If you attend an Adoption Day and choose a dog, you may be able to adopt the same day, if all adoption requirements are met. The entire adoption process can be completed on the same day, or it may take longer.

If you can not come to any Adoption Day, we will try to assist you using email, the mail, and the telephone. This will probably take longer because the people who will help you are volunteers who usually have jobs, and scheduling meetings with dogs can be complex because our dogs live in many homes and kennels.

 

                

Sweet Sophie
Post Date: 3/3/2010 4:15:53 PM

8 months of scouring different rescue groups high and low... The excitement when (daily!) I would e-mail pictures of different dogs to Jeremy with the title "What about this one!??!!" It was our nightly topic of discussion over dinner, but always a disappointed morning. Unanswered phone calls, dogs already adopted or not good with cats.. I had almost given up and decided maybe it wasn't the right time to adopt when I found GSRNC. After getting through the application process I asked about three different dogs from the website (though I already, as usual, had my heart set on one in particular). I heard back from all the foster's except the one I wanted to hear from! It turned out Sophie had already been adopted out, but her new family couldn't keep her because their dogs didn't get along. I was able to get in touch with them before GSR even got her back. After talking to the gentleman caring for Sophie I was completely convinced that was MY dog. In fact, that night I called Jeremy, "We're going shopping tonight. We need a new leash and collar, a bigger crate, etc before we meet her tomorrow.." Being the logical one, Jeremy thought I should wait until after I actually met her to think about taking her home but it was too late. Before she even had the chance to go back to GSR, we were meeting her and taking her home. By the way, Jeremy is completely wrapped around her huge paws and has been since the moment she jumped up for "daddy doggy kisses". We have no idea what her background was because she was picked up as a stray but I don't think she was in one place for too long. It took a good 6 weeks before her true colors really showed through. When people would ring my door bell and my "guard dog" wouldn't even bark, I thought to myself, "oh no, she's a turkey!!", but no more! I will never forget being sound asleep home alone when all of a sudden my "turkey dog" ran between my bed and bedroom door barking, growling and baring teeth in true shepherd fashion when someone walked in my front door and startled her. Quite the shock to me since I'd never even heard her bark! A quick "ok sophie" had her hopped up on the bed and snuggled in with me to go back to sleep. It has been sooo wonderful to have our happy ending. At least, until I talk Jeremy into our 2nd shepherd ;)

Photos


Important Note About Dog Descriptions

Please remember that the descriptions of dogs (of Dogs Available) have been written by GSRNC volunteers and are usually based only upon our observation of the dog since the time it was rescued. While we try to provide dog descriptions that are fair and accurate, the nature of our work involves contact with dogs whose background and history are unknown to us. GSRNC cannot warrant or guarantee any dog's future behavior. For example, if we say that a rescue dog gets along with children, cats, or other dogs, this statement is usually based upon the fact that one of our volunteers has observed the dog interacting with his or her own children or pets. While this information may be helpful, we cannot be certain of how a dog will do with the children or pets in your home. If you are considering adopting, we encourage you to come to one of our Adoption Days and meet our rescue dogs. Ultimately, only you can decide whether one of our dogs is right for you.