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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.

 

                

Zorro
Post Date: 6/9/2010 6:47:14 PM

Hi, My name is Hannah and the love of my life is named Zorro. It has been at least 7 years since my family's first dog, Rosie, passed away. All of us were absolutely devastated; Rosie was around my parents before I was born so my younger sister and I had never known life without her. A few months went by, but my dad (who was especially affected by the loss) still felt it was too soon as he still missed Rosie a great deal. My mom and I however, were tired of not having a dog around. The house was far too empty and my sister and I missed having a third sibling to goof off with. Finally, several months after Rosie's passing, my dad agreed to take us all to a meet and greet with the GSRNC. There we encountered one wonderful dog after another however, as soon as I saw Zorro, I was sold. He was so skinny almost every rib was showing, pretty greasy, and his very pointed ears flopped down to the side as if he was very unsure and relatively shy. He still smiled though, and wagged his tail ever-so slightly as he looked up at me. Despite his somewhat rough appearance, I immediately loved him. A stubborn 12 year old at the time, I stood next to him the entire meet and greet while my mother, sister and father met the other dogs. Eventually my Mom came over to me, introduced herself to Zorro and we finally asked to take him on a walk. His foster Dad told us his story: he had been neglected and chained up in a back yard. His neck was rubbed raw from the chain around his neck and he was barely ever fed. Apparently, when animal control finally came to get him he was just about 40lbs (now a comfortable 95). Well we were horrified by Zorro's past, but just as I had, my mother had come to love him almost instantaneously. My Dad was very hesitant to adopt that day, I still don't think he was quite ready to "move on" from Rosie. However, he gave in and we took Zorro home immediately. As I said, it has been at least 7 years since we adopted Zorro. His absolute favorite things now are to explore Tahoe, eat snow, play with squeaky toys, get belly rubs, sleep on beds, and chase squirrels. Although my parents were absolutely crazy about Rosie (akita/retriever mix), it is clear that they have been sold on german shepherds. Zorro is really the sweetest, friendliest, funniest, most wonderful dog I have ever met. I know I'm biased, but I guess that is just because I know Zorro was meant for my family and we were meant for him. I'm in college now and I think I miss him most of anyone. Thank you so much GSRNC for connecting us with our soul mate. -Hannah PS. I have attached a picture of Zorro at his favorite "guard station" and one of him playing on my parents bed.

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.