Rescue Guide

Ornaments from A Couple of Artists for Wildlife Conservancy
10% of proceeds from ornaments sold will be donated to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Francis's DogHouse
Rescue Center Guide

Francis's site can help you do many of the things required to either adopt a rescued dog, find a home for a dog who needs one, or locate a lost or stolen pet. Every highlighted link on this page will take you to some important information that can help you piece together the puzzle of how to best achieve spectacular results for what you want to accomplish. Bookmark this page and refer to it throughout your process. Feel free to include any children you may have in the process so that they too can learn how to be responsible, loving pet owners. Think this all sounds like a lot of work? Sure, you can get a new dog or give one up without thinking things through. Some people even do that when it comes to kids. It's your choice. It's a dog's life. Hopefully, you know that, respect that, and treat this process with the seriousness it deserves...because I promise, if you do the work required on the front end, the rewards at the other end--cold, wet nose and all--will exceed all expectations you and your family have!

Steps to take When Adopting OR Placing a Dog:

Contact your Local Shelters

Contact the shelters nearest you and appraise them your specific situation. I have many shelters in many states listed, but the National sites listed at the top list many resources by state as well. Some even have database searches by breed and state. Check out a few of those too, to make sure all bases are covered.

Even if you are planning to do most of the legwork of finding a dog to adopt or rehoming a dog by yourself, via whatever means you have at your disposal, ask the shelter workers if there is someone there who can help you when you get close to decision time--someone with experience who can give you an honest opinion on whether this situation really is what's best for the dog.

Contact Breed Rescues in your Local Area and Surrounding States

Contact the appropriate breed rescue. The people running national breed rescue sites will likely have contact info for the breed rescue organization closest to you, and you can then contact them by phone if they're not on-line. If you can pay for transportation costs, or the shelter has a way to get a dog to you, then you can contact farther-reaching areas, but be forewarned, many shelter personnel will not place a dog into a home sight unseen, as they want to make sure that they are delivering the dogs into loving hands and good homes. Breed web rings are also listed here, and an explanation of how to make them work for you is posted on the site.

Francis's Communication Center

Post Messages to Mailing Lists, BBS services, Newsgroups
Get Assistance with Dog Transport/Volunteer Dog Transport

Tips on Writing an Effective Post

Your message should include detailed information about the dog. Be sure to include the dog's breed, sex and your geographic location in the subject header, as this will assist people in helping you find what you need. These are resources that also might aid rescuers in publicizing events and fundraisers, as well as assist with dogs placement.

If You Think You HAVE to Give Up Your Dog, Consider All Your Alternatives

You imagine you're going to give your dog over to a shelter and the shelter is going to find him or her a great home...Probably with a big yard that you don't have, right? Nice thoughts. Hard as it is to admit though, the chances of a dog making it out of a shelter really aren't that great.Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in UT are two organizations which offer options outside of your typical shelter arrangements. Other "No-Kill " Shelters can be found on this list from Fluffynet, but remember, many of these organizations can only accept animals on a space available basis, so don't be surprised if they can't handle your request at the time you make it. So please take a look at Can We Help You Keep Your Pet? and Surrending Your Pet: The Last Resort, and make sure you really have explored all of your options.

How Can You Be Sure a Dog REALLY Gets A Great New Home?

To give you an idea of what questions need to be asked of a potential dog owner before handing over a dog, or what questions you will likely be asked by a shelter when you go to adopt, here are some sample adoption forms from various rescues you can use as a guide to creating your own adoption documents.

Please also see the resources on Starting Your Own Rescue at the end of this document for more useful resources and tips you can use when placing a dog or dealing with a dog you have rescued off the street.

Steps to Take BEFORE Adopting a Rescued Dog

#1 DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! (If you already have--then bravo for you--skip to #2!)

So, you think you want to adopt a dog...that's great!! But do you know How Much It Really Costs To Own and Care For A Dog? Because even the little things add up. Are you aware of the responsibilities that owning a dog brings into your life? (Though all dog owners would probably say it's fully worth it!) If you've never had a pet before, you might want to consider visiting this site before you begin your search just for an overview of what you need to consider or visit this site for some help in deciding exactly what kind of pet is right for you.

If you have never had a dog before, also check out Tips on Adopting a Dog - A Guide to the First Few Weeks. Get some information on How to Love Your Dog (for kids) Look into some Issues to consider when mixing Dogs and Children

If you've never had this specific breed before, make sure the breed you are thinking of is right for you. FAQ's on Dog Selection/Breeds are available to help inform you. If you're not sure what kind of dog you're looking for, you should read up on different breeds but no matter what, before you bring home a dog that is going to be a permanent addition to your family, you owe it to yourself and the dog to conduct a detailed analysis of what factors make which dog perfect for your home and family. And if you have only had only one dog, and are thinking about adding a playmate, or have a cat already in the house, consider which breeds will be most compatible with already established pets in the house and find out the proper steps to introduce new pets to the other pets in the home.

If you are currently fostering a rescued dog, please read this article to get some ideas of things you need to find out about your foster fur child that will help you place him or her in a loving, permanent home,

Several web sites can also help you figure this out interactively:

Read through the issues and then take the questionaires at

http://www.petnet.com.au/selectapet/dogselectapet2.html (questionaire)
to help you see if the breed you think you want is right for your lifestyle

If you're going young, here are some tips on
how to discern a puppy's temperment

Help for new puppy owners can be found "here"

If you'd prefer a senior dog--a perfect choice for people who don't want to have to deal with training issues or want a dog who's a little more mellow--check out the following resources:

Senior Canine Rescue Soc.
The Senior Dog Project
The Senior DogHouse & Rescue

Deaf Dogs Page/Mailing List
Deaf Dog Education Fund
ICQ Deaf Dog Group
Dogs and Cats With Special Needs Web Ring

#2 Follow instructions for contacting shelters and breed rescues as listed in the top section of this page.

Then use Francis's site to browse though pictures of all dogs and dogs of specific breeds up for
adoption at shelters and various breed rescues.

Lost/Found Dog Resources

Contact shelters, breed rescue and post to all appropriate discussion areas as covered above.
Go to http://www.caryn.com/francis/francis-search.html and post where appropriate

Special Help for Danes and Labs

Francis is half Great Dane and half "Great" Lab so he has up a page with links to Lab and Dane lovers
all around the Net. Talk to them--I'm sure they'd be only too happy to help get the word out!

How Else Can You Support Dog Rescue and Help the Animals?

Buy things for you, your friends and family and your pet through this web site. ALL proceeds this site
receives benefit dog rescue. Visit the Action Area for other things you can do--big and small--that
help make a doggie difference.

Starting Your Own Rescue/Adoption Forms

If you are thinking about starting your own rescue, here are some resources that can help. Some may
seem breed-specific, but all can be easily amended to address any breed:

Resources:

Starting Your Own Rescue

Starting Your Own Purebred Rescue

So, You Want to Start Your Own Rescue?

Tips:

Sample Rescue Policy

Do's and Don'ts of Rescue

Helping An Abused Dog

Easing Relocation Anxiety

How to find a New Home

Contracts and Forms:

Change of Ownership Release