Details

 

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.

 

                

Heidi
Post Date: 2/27/2017 6:03:17 AM

Heidi’s learned volumes about being a dog in the last year. She’s becoming a confident shepherd who appreciates and enjoys her surroundings. We suspect she spent her first two years in confined isolation; she didn’t know how to do much besides hide in her bed or under a table, and avoid engagement. (We thought about spelling her name “Hidey.”) She was traumatized, frightened and timid, and had developed near-bulletproof avoidance. She’s now happy and secure in her home. She knows her commands and is learning to use her nose. She asks for walks and looks forward to going to the beach, down the stairs that first panicked her (still working on skateboards). She’s gained 18 pounds, learned to chase a ball, play and watch the door, and is learning to engage appropriately with other dogs and people -- friends, strangers and visitors. It’s great to watch her figuring out how to be a dog and enjoy it. She’s painstakingly polite, a well-behaved visitor and eager traveler. She’s now willing to go anywhere we go and try most anything we try. She decided on her own that if I wade after trout, she’s going to do it with me. How can you not love a dog like that? GSRNC is a great outfit. They hooked us up with a perfect partner for how we live, and followed up with direction and advice. Trish has been an especially valuable resource -- friendly, reliable and knowledgeable. And patient. Thanks, you guys. John and Peggy McNicholas and Heidi Santa Cruz

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.