- OUR MINIMUM POLICIES AND PROCESS YOU MUST MEET AND ADHERE TO AT ANY AND ALL TIMES FOR BOTH ADOPTERS AND FOSTERS WITH THE EXCEPTION THAT ADOPTERS MUST LIVE WITHIN 1.5 HOURS OF ALPHARETTA, GA, AND FOSTERS MUST LIVE WITHIN ONE HALF HOUR OF ALPHARETTA, GA. IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE THESE DISTANCES, BEFORE COMPLETING THE APPLICATION, YOU MUST FIRST ENSURE YOU MEET ALL POLICIES THEN GMAIL US TO SEE IF WE KNOW AND TRUST SOMEONE IN YOUR AREA WHO IS WILLING TO PERFORM A HOME/FENCE CHECK:
Policies (in addition to above):
All policies must be read and met before submitting the application fee via paypal.com . All application fees are non-refundable for any reason.
1. Be a minimum age of 25 years old
2. You need your own appropriate fully fenced yard not shared by anyone else and attached to your home to be able to adopt from us, especially if you have children living in or visiting your home often. If you do not have children at your home, any fence exceptions will be stated in the dogs profiles. There are no exceptions if the profile doesn’t state an exception. We will not adopt to renters.
Our dogs are accustomed to running off leash in a safely fenced area without having to worry about being harmed by other unknown dogs, outdoors with our volunteers and trainer. Our large dogs always require a minimum five foot high appropriate physically fenced yard attached to your home where you and your dogs can play without the interference of other dogs. Our small dogs must have a minimum 4 ft. high fence unless they are climbers, never have a leash attached to the collar but instead to a harness to avoid any strain on their tiny neck bones and to help avoid a collapsing trachea, which is very painful. A collar, harness, and leash will be provided at the adoption.
Whenever a dog is outside, you must be with the dog. Whenever, a dog is not in a safely fenced area, the dog must always be attached to a leash held by a competent adult, even if on your own property and/or a big tract of land.
Please actually measure the lowest and highest point of your fence and all gates and don’t guess. Nearby dog parks do not substitute as your own fence. Your neighbors fence does not substitute as your fence. All size dogs must always be on a leash attached to you while outdoors in an “unfenced” area………..even if it’s in your own yard, even if you live far from the road, and even if you deem your property safe. No invisible, underground, hidden or electric fencing or ecollars allowed, no dog doors/free choice doors (where the dog is allowed to go outside without you) allowed, no free choice doors, and no outdoor or indoor tethering allowed. These devices and situations are unsafe no matter what you are told elsewhere…even if you’ve never had a problem before. If you cannot go outside and run, play, and walk with your dog(s) and feel a need to tether them outside (against the law in many areas) or are too lazy to take them outdoors to potty and let them potty on your deck then we are not the right group to adopt from. We want to find homes that are good for the dogs best needs.
3. Have no children under 10 years old. If your child is 9 years old and has been raised with a dog successfully then we will consider your application on a case-by-case basis. These dogs are not adopted to children as a toy or “for my child to have a dog or to learn responsibility”. These dogs are adopted to adults who are contracted with us to be the responsible people to love, care, and to always supervise the dogs around children no matter how well behaved they are.
4. Be a permanent resident of the state of GA and a permanent US citizen. WE NO LONGER ADOPT OUT OF STATE UNLESS YOU ARE AN APPROVED EXISTING ADOPTER IN AN APPROVED NEARBY STATE! Your drivers license must be a GA drivers license and you must live in GA full time. If you have your student/work/other visa, you are not a permanent US citizen. Certain Green cards are okay with all minimum policies being met.
5. Have appropriate similar breed or same dog breed and dog size “ownership” experience that can be verified “under your name” with a veterinarian in the United States. For example, if you are interested in a dog with curly hair, then we must be able to confirm with your veterinarian you own or have owned a dog with curly hair. Growing up with a dog does not count as being the owner of the dog as your parents had ownership and financial responsibility, not you.
6. Adopted dog must be adopted for and live with the applicant /adopter full time, not adopted for someone else, and the adopted dog is never transferable. The person adopting the dog must initiate contact with us, complete the application and have a working email and Facebook page that they use regularly. You cannot apply for someone else.
7. College students are not applicable to adopt dogs from us until they have graduated, have settled into their new jobs and know what time, expense, and energy they now realistically can provide for a dog, and meet our other criteria.
8. No dog doors or free choice open doors allowed. You are contracted with us to be outside with the dog when they are outside. If you cannot do this then we are the wrong group to adopt from. A top animal psychologist has indicated that a dog’s mind is not past that of a two year old human child’s mind. A practical, caring person in their right mind would not allow a two year old child outdoors by themselves nor use ecollars on the child. We want the same philosophy for the dogs we adopt and so do the people who give their dogs to us.
9. All dogs and cats in your household must be spayed and/or neutered.
10. Your adopted dog must always be on a leash unless it is in an appropriately fenced yard where it is supervised by a capable adult. If you have children and live in a home with a yard then that yard must be appropriately fenced.
11. If you have a small dog or past small dog experience and want to adopt a large dog, please have large dog ownership experience as well. We will not adopt a small dog into a large dog household. Large dogs require so much more than small dogs, especially in the exercise area, and many unintentional and serious accidents and injuries can happen between the two sizes. Exercise is not just letting the dog, especially a large dog, into the back yard and expecting it to run or play by itself. It means not being lazy and physically going outside with the dog and actively running and playing with it. Simple leash walks will not meet a large dog’s exercise requirements, no matter how far or long you walk them……. unless they are older dogs with lower energy requirements.
12. You must have an active email and FB account that you check regularly as we stay in touch via email and Facebook.
13. You must be able to run with and after these dogs to play with them and to catch them if they become loose. We do not adopt dogs to homes where we feel the dogs will outlive the owners, and/or the owners cannot run with and after the dogs. These dogs have been through enough and our goal is to find these dogs their final destination so they don’t need to be rescued again. By the time dogs come to us, we are their 3rd to 5th stop. We want the next stop to be the final one.
14. We don’t adopt to renters or roommate situations.
15. These dogs cannot be adopted to be service dogs, therapy dogs or emotional support dogs.
16. If you are self employed, we must be able to look up your company in good standing on the GA Secretary of State web site and you must be listed as an officer of that company.
17. No shock collars, no prong collars, and no choke collars are ever to be used on these dogs….not ever, not even with a trainer so please research any trainer you ever use as if you indicate a trainer you plan to use on your application and that trainer or anyone uses the aforementioned devices then your application will be automatically denied approval. For small dogs, the leash must never be attached to a collar, but instead to a harness, to help avoid crushed trachea of their delicate neck bones, which is very painful and usually not fixable.
18. No crating of these dogs unless needed for travel or needed at the vet’s office for procedures (crating not allowed at the vet’s office, groomers, or boarding for regular boarding) or your vet says it is absolutely necessary for a short period of time due to a procedure performed on the dog. If crating is needed due to the above, the crate must be taller than the dog wgen it stands and so the dog’s hair or ears don’t touch the top and so the dog can comfortably sit, stand, lie down and turn around without touching the sides. You must allow the dog access outside the temporary crating of confinement area period to stretch it’s legs, stand up, and walk around. Baby gates or indoor runs can be used. These dogs want to see their humans. Isolating them is punishment in their minds. Crating under any other circumstances is not allowed, is cruel and inhumane, and can cause long lasting psychological and physical trauma.
19. If you have someone watch your dogs anywhere, you will not allow them to violate any and all of these policies.
20. A variety of good food must be given to these dogs. Fresh water must be available at all times for adopted dogs to access.
Process – Be sure to review our policies -Review our dogs profiles -Submit a fully completed application via email, and pay the $20 application fee via Paypal.com (use our email address when prompted). -When Paypal notifies Georgia Poodle Rescue of receipt, Georgia Poodle Rescue will bwgin review of the application and contact you. -The entire process is fairly quick if you read and meet all policies and complete the entire application in full, answering all questions asked.