Can you go to the website of the rescue that will be doing the home inspection and look to see if they have a list of requirements (fenced yard, no children or maximum number of children, other pets, etc.)? Some do have a list, and even some that don’t might make clear from other postings on their site whether something is considered a plus or a minus.
Well, they’re gonna, like, judge me. 
Actually it’s because I’d really like to get one of a short list of breeds that I am very confident I can take care of well without a fenced backyard and based on my lifestyle. Plus, after lugging around a basset hound with a bum leg for months, I really want a small dog. Playful + small + not yappy + not too anxious + shorthaired = pug, Boston, Frenchie, etc. Also, I’ve rather fallen in love with my sister’s dog… a black pug, wouldn’t you guess.
If I had more space, I’d go for your standard mutt from the city pound kind of dog, but with purebreds, they tend to be very choosy.
Well… and to admit it, yeah, I am already sort of emotionally attached based on the dog’s webpage. I squealed like a little girl when I saw the picture, and I’m not really the squealing type!
Sure, I did that. They have few requirements but they say they seldom adopt without a fenced yard. I’m hoping that I’d be an exception, so I filled out the (lengthy) application. They did contact me anyways, but I’m still concerned.
And in case anyone’s wondering why I’m so set on this dog, I present:
(The traditional noise to make when viewing this picture: Ggggggyyyyoohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!)
My friend recently adopted a greyhound through Greyhound Pets of America, and she went through a long application process. The home visit was when they brought three dogs over. If one of the dogs clicked, and everything looked okay in the home (fenced yard a requirement for a greyhound), then the chosen dog would stay.
StG
Ggggggyyyyoohhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Ggggggyyyyoohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Oh. My. God.
I had to print that out and bring down to Mr. Athena, who is on the couch recovering from a bad food poisoning kind of thing. It brought a big smile to his face - that’s what pugs do!
So here’s my baby pictures. The fawn one is on my debit/check card; it gets "Gggggyyyooooohhhh!"s every time I use it.
Dear lord, the cute is strong in this thread!
Here’s my pug/beagle mix playing with his “cousin,” our neighbor’s pug:
Thanks for this thread. I’m actually sitting here, waiting anxiously for the caseworker to call about a trio of dogs we fell in love with.
We definitely want one of them but we’re strongly leaning towards two. They are German Shepherd mix. Sisters. Sooooo cute. My boyfriend has a very soft spot in his heart for German Shepherds and I love all big dogs.
We filled out the application on Sunday and it said it can take 2 days for them to call. They haven’t called yet!!! I’m feeling inadequate!
I found a lot of dogs on Petfinder.com that I liked but when I showed the boyfriend one of the sisters, he practically squeed. That was my signal to fill out the application. He has since seen pics of all three and he said he doesn’t care which we get but he wants at least one of them.
We don’t have a fenced yard yet. But, the house is open and our new baby will have the run of it. Exercise will come from walks and trips to the park. My main concern from a home visit is the stairs. They lead to the attic and loft and I’m not sure how I’d be able to block them off. I plan to ask the home inspector for their input on that.
We don’t have a vet yet though and we’re both new to the area. We don’t know anyone who lives here either so we’re at a loss as to how to find a good vet. How does one go about finding a good school too?
I made sure I put on the application that we don’t have a fence and I also let them know we’ll be out of the state next week. The girls need to be shipped up here anyway so I hope it’s not a problem.
SQUEEE! Pug! Izzou a cute widdle baby DOG? Yes ou IS!
I’m sure your new pug will be equally squee-worthy.
You wouldn’t feel you had been judged and found inadequate if a shelter visited your house and declared you unworthy to adopt one of their dogs?
You’re a lot less sensitive to rejection than I am, if that wouldn’t make you feel bad.
Got any tips on how to make yourself not feel bad when someone judges and rejects you? Seriously. I would love to not care.
Yaaaay!!!
I finally got the call from Good Dogs!!! Our caseworker was happy with our application and he’s putting my boyfriend’s favorite on hold for us. He is sending me an email with contact info for the foster mom so I can call her and get personal information about the puppy. He said she has the sister dog that I want too. I talked to my boyfriend and he said absolutely get them both!!!
The caseworker said he has to get approval from the administrators for us to adopt and he needs special approval for two dogs but we’re finally on our way!
He said that starting now, they will be available on the 16th (they have to be transported). This is perfect because we get back from Florida on the 15th.
Their home visit isn’t so much a visit. He looked us up on satellite and now he wants pictures of the inside and the yard and us.
I explained why we haven’t gotten the yard fenced yet but let him know that I have contacted an installation company.
I’M SO EXCITED!!!
Ginger This is Ginger. She’s the one he’s putting on hold for us, and my boyfriend’s favorite. He went all gooey when he saw her.
Holly If you go here, you can see Holly - along with Ginger and all the other sweet dogs the have for adoption. Holly is my favorite. When I saw her picture, I actually squeed. I do NOT squee.
Congrats!
Sooooo… fluiddruid, didja get the pug? Where’s the pics! We need pug puppy pics!
No, I didn’t. I did get approved but it turned out they had misrepresented the dog just a little bit (“needs a little training” is a pretty huge difference from “not housebroken, you’ll need to buy a belly band”, in my view).
Feeling pretty frustrated since I also applied for adoption for another dog, then was told “Oh, we’re not really sure of his breed, we put down pug but we think he’s a mix, also he had major medical problems we didn’t disclose”.
Why do shelters jerk me around so much? I mean, if the dog has a major issue, why put me through so many hoops before telling me? In both cases, I directly asked pertinent questions that covered these areas, and was given really different answers when it actually came down to planning the adoption’s final mechanics. I was told at first that the pug was being given up for economic reasons; it was only when I was actually finalizing everything that they admitted “welllllll, and because they couldn’t potty train him and he whizzes on the rug constantly”.
Frankly, I’m a bit peevy about the whole thing. I’m going to stop looking at shelters outside my area - just not worth my time.
fluiddruid, that just sucks – for you and the poor dog! They’re not doing him any favors by misrepresenting him to prospective owners.
Wishing you luck in finding the doggy companion you’re looking for.
I know how you feel. When we were looking for a dog we saw several that we were told were all sweetness and light only to be told right before signing the paperwork that they actually bite the crap out of everyone or haven’t been housebroken or have some horrible disease that they will pass on to our cats. We stopped looking and decided that when we do finally get a dog (which won’t be for a while as I have discovered I’m allergic and I need to see a doctor before adopting one) we will buy a dog from a reputable breeder as a puppy to avoid all the lies the adoption people tell you when trying to find homes for their dogs.
Yeah. I guess it’s kind of a stupid fantasy - I was hoping to find a nice dog (but off a relatively short list of breeds) that someone couldn’t care for because of personal reasons or whatever. I mean, I expected some retraining, but I honestly don’t have the ability to take on someone else’s problem.
Maybe that’s naive. I had such a good experience with my cat after getting him from a shelter, but he’s just a random cat, not any particular sought-after breed.
Have you checked any pug rescues? I know there’s one in Michigan (www.michiganpugrescue.com), there might be one closer to you.
I wish I could adopt them all…
It stinks when a rescue does not disclose all the issues an animal has upfront. We try and be as open as possible with all our animals, we think it helps them find the best match possible. We had an FIV pos cat that was with us for 18 months before she found a home. We had a cat with IBS, three legged ones, blind cats, a couple of dogs with allergies, lots of special needs animals, and with each we represented them as they were. It does no one any good to not let potential adopters know what they will be faced with. It is just another reason why people eschew rescue in favor of breeders.
Good luck and I hope a pug finds you soon.
That’s terrible. Sorry to hear, fluiddruid.
Another recommendation: Contact all the doggie daycares in your area, asking if any of them sponsor adoptions. My second rescue dog, Toby, came from my daycare. I knew going in that he was socialized, got along great with my dog, and didn’t have any medical issues. As a bonus, he gets to go to daycare for free when he brings a friend.
I haven’t had good experiences with breed rescues, either. I approached one last year and got the complete runaround (they would not answer basic questions without filling out a lengthy application – which took me about an hour – and they then “lost”). Most don’t deal with out of staters (and the breed rescues for breeds I would be interested in are all out of state), have stringent requirements, require lengthy application processes, and also charge substantially more to adopt than it would be to get a new puppy. They also make you sign a contract for the dog - like if anything happens to you, you can’t give the dog to a family member, they legally retake possession of the dog.
fluiddruid - I just dropped my dogs off at daycare, and they have two beagles for adoption. They were dumped at an employee’s house (everyone that works there seems to have a reputation of being their neighborhood’s rescue person), and have been neutered. Both are in great spirits, and seem like fantastic dogs.
Indy’s a hike, but I can vouch for the organization.