Before adding your listing, please consider these tips to help you find the best new home for your dog
(Re-Homing Tips from https://www.vcas.us/petassistance/)
Interested Party: When someone responds to your efforts, you have an opportunity to interview them. Do an initial phone interview before meeting in person. This way you can eliminate unsuitable potential adopters.
Sample interview questions:
- Past pet experience? Evaluate their responsibility level. Let them talk about past pet experiences as that can tell you a lot about how they would treat your animal. If they had an animal, ask how old they lived and what was the cause of death. Ask to see photos of their past pets. Most animal-lovers will have photos to share. They should also have a few photos of them with their pets to prove the pet they are referring to was theirs.
- Who is the pet intended for? If not them, ask to speak with the potential owner.
- If there is a yard, is it fenced? Unfenced yards may encourage people to tether/chain dogs, a practice that is discouraged and has the potential to be dangerous.
- Will this be an indoor pet, outdoor pet, or indoor pet with outdoor access? Pets need human contact. If the pet will be outdoors, they must have access shelter, water, and human contact.
- Will they walk the dog regularly or provide exercise? Especially important for young dogs and/or apartment dwellers. Dogs with yards don’t necessarily mean they get adequate exercise, so ensure they get regular walks.
- What if the pet gets sick? Ensure they would seek veterinary care.
- Do they have children? If so, ask if smaller children will be supervised around them as young children don’t always know how to appropriately interact with animals.
- Alone time for the pet during the day? Address loneliness and boredom. Ensure they understand the potential destructive nature of animals left alone and the importance of having a plan to keep them occupied and secure when alone.
- Own or rent? Pet policies matter! If they rent, they must be allowed to have pets. Don’t accept, “Our landlord doesn’t care.” Consequences range from returning the animal to you or the animal ending up at an animal shelter.
- Will they allow a home visit? If they are unwilling, we suggest immediately ruling them out. If they are willing, bring 2-3 adults with you.
- In-Person Meeting: USE CAUTION when you consider meeting potential adopters. Meet in a public place like a coffee shop, police station, or fire station and do not bring your pet with you. It’s a red flag if they refuse to meet in those locations. You may ask for a re-homing fee to deter unscrupulous individuals. You can always donate the re-homing fee to a local animal shelter if you’d like.
- The Hand-Off: If you’ve found a suitable family, schedule a time and place to do the hand-off. Again, this should be done in a public place like a coffee shop, police station, or fire station. Bring their bed, blanket, toys, food, bowls, medication and all paperwork including veterinary records. Provide the contact information of their veterinarian so they can continue their care. Lastly, go to the shelter to transfer ownership so the pet is now in their name.
- Follow-up. Ask for ID and contact information so you can follow-up to see how things are going. Provide any assistance over the phone but do not visit the pet. Seeing the pet will confuse them.
Please log in or click the “Create an account” link below the login button to register for a free account to post the dog you seek a new home for.
The information you include in the Listing Details section will be published and visible on the website.
- While all fields except “Title” are optional, please include enough information to help the dog and human reunite.
- The “Description” field (at the bottom of the listing details section) will display directly below the title of your published listing. It will also display when shared on social media; it’s a good place to include helpful details from your listing to encourage people to click and view it.
- You may upload up to 5 images with your listing. Each image must be saved as .gif, .jpg, or .png and under 4MB. If you have larger images, you can use ImageResizer.com. It works in your browser; you don’t have to install anything, and it’s free!
*After you’ve published your post, be sure to share using the buttons at the bottom of the listing OR copy the URL from the top of the browser window!