A Different Approach To Rescue

A couple of days ago, I received an inquiry about one of my puppies. I responded with my standard, “we do not use an adoption application but rely upon on interview process. Please tell us about yourself.” The following e-mail, and subsequent adoption, reminds me of why we approach rescue with a different philosophy than most. As Gisele likes to put it, we look for reasons to adopt to a person, not reasons not to. We only have a few dogs at a time, but we foster them so that we know them, can provide good care for them, and match them with the right family. When a potential adopter identifies a dog that we think doesn’t work for them, we try to explain why and recommend another. We genuinely try to make it a positive experience for all involved. We aren’t always successful, and we’ve made our fair share of mistakes, but we’re trying.

I’m not saying our way is right and someone else’s is wrong, it’s just that we seem to have hit on something that works for us. Ultimately, it boils down to relationships. We strive to develop them with our fosters, our supporters and certainly our adopters. Maybe that is the key.

Anyway, read this e-mail all the way to the end. Trust me, it’ worth it!

We are a family of three, my husband (31) and I (27) and our six month old son. My family owns a residential building construction company in Brevard county. My husband is the framer and owns the framing company and I’m the vice president of Damar Homes. We have close family and lots of support. We live on 3.5 acres in a house we own and have pretty much zero chance of ever renting a house now or in the future. The property is fenced and down a dirt road in a fairly rural area just below the space center on Merritt Island. The home is about 2800 sq. ft under air, tile in all living areas and all wood and leather furniture (so fairly puppy proof).

Our baby is already a prolific walker in his um walker thingy and loves to chase my aunts dog around in it when she brings her over so I suspect it won’t be long until he joins in the fun. We are looking for a dog that isn’t hyper and super energetic both because we may not be able to provide that kind of constant movement and because we’d hate to have a dog that kept knocking over the baby when he was learning to walk, but we know that a couch potato would probably rue the day that it came to live in our house as we dragged it from the couch for yet another walk. We just want to find a dog of medium energy that we can play with and love and feed and clean up after. My husband LOVES German Shepherds and I think Roxanne is just too sweet to pass up and we’d love for both of them to be part of our family. We have a vet nearby, we love animals, we have already debated, discussed, planned, and prepared for dogs (literally we have food and beds and grooming tools and collars and treats and flea medicine) and we’re just waiting to find something furry to fill the beds and eat the food.

The thing is, we have been through the wringer looking for dogs and I swear we have met every crazy person out there running a pet rescue. We have had applications approved with phone interviews and home visits and a resounding YES here’s your dog followed up by unreturned phone calls and general silence when we try to arrange to meet them. We just this past weekend drove to Sanford twice after filling out an approved application, exchanging have a dozen emails, and being interviewed over the phone only to be told when we got there (the second time) that they were concerned about the dogs being out on the job site and that we would be overwhelmed with the dogs and the baby (things we had been completely open about and had discussed in depth with them from the beginning). So I want to make sure that I answer any questions that you have, that you ask me every question that you can think of, that I’m as open and honest and upfront as I can possibly be with you and that you are comfortable with us and our intentions and that you’re absolutely satisfied that we have thoroughly thought this through, that we are prepared for any and all challenges (mentally, physically, financially), and that we just want to save a couple of dogs and spoil them rotten in the mean time.

I am amazed at what this family went through. We happily work with families to find the dog that fits their life. It is our pleasure!