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.

 

                

Coach turns 13 and is still a beauty
Post Date: 2/25/2014 5:57:05 PM

It was the spring of 2006 and my husband wanted to fulfill my birthday wish of having a German Shepherd Dog in my life. I had grown up in a home that always had GSDs as part of our family and I wanted to make our little family feel complete with a dog. We found a couple of beautiful dogs on the GSD Rescue site and packed the family in the car and drove 90 miles to Sacramento to see them. After walking a couple of the dogs, I knew right away that Coach Girl was the one for me. Although I hesitated because she was already 5-1/2 years old and worried that she would only be with us for a short time (since most of our GSDs only lived to about 10 years old) we still brought her home. Well, it was the best decision we ever made. Our Coach just celebrated her 13th birthday and is as beautiful and sweet as when we adopted her. She can't take long hikes anymore, but still enjoys the outdoors when we take her to the beach or to our cabin in the forest. Her life went from a lonely and abandoned dog who lived outside to a happy and loved dog living with her family inside the house. Her senior years are now spent taking short walks to park and relaxing on her cozy bed in the family room -- hanging out with her three cats and her favorite people. Every day we are grateful to have Coach in our lives, and look forward to loving and spoiling her for as long as we can.

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.