Adoption Process:
Please be aware that all our dogs are in temporary care homes. Forever Home Dog Rescue does not have a shelter facility.
The first thing we ask you to do is fill out our adoption application. It does not obligate you to adopt from us nor does it guarantee that you will be able to adopt the dog that you have applied for. This just gives us your contact information so we can have the dog’s temporary care family contact you. It also gives us the information we need to start the adoption process if you decide this dog is a good fit for your family. In instances where there is a lot of interest in a particular dog, we tend to give priority to the people who have taken the time to fill out the adoption application.
In our rescue we have someone assigned to each dog to coordinate that dog’s adoption process. That person is called an adoption coordinator. Each dog also has a temporary care family. Sometimes these people are the same people but often they are not. One of these two people will contact you after you submit your application to talk about the dog and to arrange a time for you to meet him or her. Please remember that we are all volunteers and most of us have full-time jobs. We try to get back to people in a timely manner but sometimes there are delays due to schedules and the interest in a particular dog.
As part of our adoption process we do a vet check, property verification/landlord check as well as a home visit. The purpose of the home visit is to verify what you stated in your application and to check that the home looks like a safe place for this particular dog. It normally takes about 30 minutes for a home visit depending on questions, etc.
After these things have been completed, we will let you know if you are approved to adopt or not. In some situations, you may be approved to adopt but we may not feel that you are the right fit for the dog you have chosen. If this happens, we will explain the reasoning and help you find another dog that is a better fit for all involved. This is rare but does happen once in a while.
We cannot finalize an adoption until the dog can be spayed/neutered. If you are in the Des Moines area and have been approved, we do sometimes allow the dog to go to their homes before we officially finalize the adoption. We call this a Temporary Care to Adopt situation and we have a form for you to sign as well as paying the adoption fee. As a part of this agreement, we are responsible for shots due up until the spay/neuter as well as the surgery itself. All other medical issues that arise are your responsibility, excluding any preexisting issues. You are also required to bring the dog to us when shots are due so we can keep the dog on schedule. With puppies, if there is too much time that passes between shots then the whole series may need to be started over. You also promise in the agreement to bring the dog to one of our vets when we are able to get them in for their surgery.
After the dog has been spayed/neutered, we will finalize the adoption by having you sign a contract and giving you the dog’s medical history.