Please ensure you fit within our adoption requirements BEFORE submitting a form. If you submit a form anyway and do not meet our adoption requirements then then we cannot process your application. Plus responding to you explaining the reasons why takes up valuable time for our already very busy and overstretched Adoptions Team. If you would like clarification on something please instead submit a contact form.

Thank you for your understanding!

Applicants:

• Prospective owners must be 21 or older.
• Applicants aged 60+ must secure rescue back up from a friend or relative under the age of 60. In the event that the dog can no longer be cared for by the owner the back up person will assume responsibility for the dog.
• If you are unable to keep the dog it must be returned to us. However, this is not a get out clause. Adopters must be willing to work through situations to try and keep the dog.
• An adoption contract must be signed on the day of adoption and an adoption fee is to be paid. All fees are non refundable/transferrable.

Responsibilities of an owner:

• Insurance must be taken out on the dog for the life of the dog - to ensure that veterinary care and public liability is covered in the event of an accident.
• New owners must be willing to provide the dog with the level of exercise and stimulation it requires everyday.
• Annual vaccinations, regular flea and worming treatments and Pet Insurance must be kept valid and up to date to protect the health and wellbeing of the dog for its whole life.
• You must commit to completing training with your chosen dog. We shall send you an advice pack with lots of helpful information on how to settle your dog into the home. We will also set up a 6 week free online training couse for you to complete some basic training with your dog to get them settled into your home.
• New owners must be willing to give the dog reasonable time to settle in and adjust to their new life which can be around a month to 6 months, sometimes longer.

Your property and garden:

• Homecheck is mandatory - this checks for the safety and security of the dog once it is in your home.
• Maintain a secure garden with a solid 5ft boundary and minimum 5ft gate for small dogs - this is subject to dog assessment. For medium-giant dogs, maintain a solid 6ft boundary and a 6ft padlocked gate. If your garden is not secure with a 5-6ft boundary [subject to size and assessment] please do not submit an application form as you will not be able to adopt from us.
• Any holes or gaps that a dog could squeeze through or manipulate to escape or hide behind must be blocked off or closed up. Any holes in hedges, or at the root of the hedges must be secured by garden screening/mesh to ensure the security of the dog.
• Any fencing under 5-6ft can be heightened with trellis or garden screening. Please ensure your garden meets these requirements before submitting a form. If you submit a form anyway then we cannot process your application and responding to you takes up time we could have spent with the dogs
• We cannot adopt to anyone who does not have secure outdoor garden space.

Household members and pets:

• Everyone in the home must be in agreement about adopting a dog.
• ALL household members, and other dogs in your home must attend the initial viewing with the dog to make sure they all get along. There are no exceptions. If you have visiting dogs to your home, we may request they also come to a viewing appointment.
• All existing dogs in the home must be neutered (spayed or castrated) in line with our responsible dog ownership policies. If there is a medical reason they cannot be neutered then please provide a letter from your vet along with your application.
• We only adopt opposite sex dogs. If you already have a dog, we will match you with a dog of the opposite sex e.g. if you have a male dog already, we will look to match you with a female dog. Dogs of the same sex are more likely to fight and experience problems living together. If you have a male and a female dog already then unfortunately we will not be able to adopt a dog to you.
• Due to the time-consuming nature of puppies and rescue dogs we are not able to re-home to people who already have a dog under 1 year old.
• Rescue dogs often come from an unknown background therefore we struggle to find homes for dogs with children under the age of 10. Please do not apply if you have a child under 10 living in the property or regularly staying over. Any applications sent with children under 10 will not be processed this also includes people who are expecting a child in the very near future.

Work-life: 

• The dog must not be left alone in the home for longer than 5 hours or overnight, other arrangements must be made with professional services such as a dog walker or pet sitter.
• Due to the uncertain and unknown backgrounds of our rescue dogs we cannot guarantee that they will be suitable to take to the workplace. We ask adopters that work full time to look for professional support if the dog will be left for longer than 5hrs.