# Rescue tips (moved from Chat)



## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

Everyone always talks about the importance of finding a good breeder, what about the importance of finding a good rescue for those of us who choose rescue over buying.
I think one of the biggest questions id ask is, do they help dogs in their iwn province or state, to me its a red flag if they are pulling dogs into the province yet refuse to help out locally.
Anyone got any good advice? 

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## Kaimeju (Feb 2, 2013)

I would want to know about their placement rate, their process for evaluating dogs, how they choose foster homes, do they have good relationships with local veterinarians, what kind of support do they provide after adoption, what do they do if an adoption fails, are they mainly pulling from kill shelters, private owners, or both, are they a 501(c)3, do they work with other rescues, do they have a physical building or main location...lots of stuff. I don't even know if there's a "right" answer to any of those questions, I just think they should be able to answer them without any weirdness or red flags. I used to think rescues that operated entirely out of foster homes were a good idea, but after trying to foster for one, I realized that it can make things unnecessarily crazy. I also find it really irritating when organizations say they have a process and then don't follow through/make exceptions out of lack of time. For example, it would bother me a lot if they said everyone needed a home check, but they skipped out on it occasionally because they just assumed from the application alone that it must be okay.


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

Kaimeju has a great list. I would ask those questions and also if the rescue has references.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Things are so different then before. I remember I was quite shocked to see that rescues were charging 250-300 to adopt a dog. I still can't get past that really. One can go to the shelter and get three dogs for that price and save a dog that could be due to die that very day. I am also confused that local rescues get dogs from other states and even countries. I don't understand why they do that when the need is so great locally. The dog I fostered for a rescue was from Beirut and he was a street dog. My dad adopted him and couldn't handle him, so I got him now. He is a sweet dog and deserves to be in a home. There are just so many homeless dogs, that I just get depressed seeing all of them at pet stores or on facebook


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## LifeofRiley (Oct 20, 2011)

llombardo said:


> Things are so different then before. I remember I was quite shocked to see that rescues were charging 250-300 to adopt a dog. I still can't get past that really. One can go to the shelter and get three dogs for that price and save a dog that could be due to die that very day. I am also confused that local rescues get dogs from other states and even countries. I don't understand why they do that when the need is so great locally. The dog I fostered for a rescue was from Beirut and he was a street dog. My dad adopted him and couldn't handle him, so I got him now. He is a sweet dog and deserves to be in a home. There are just so many homeless dogs, that I just get depressed seeing all of them at pet stores or on facebook


@llombardo, as you know, the rescue you are referring to is one that I have volunteered for. Actually, they are one of my favorite rescues to foster for due to many factors…. most importantly, they give me a lot of discretion in making the final decision as to who my foster dog is adopted out to.

I know that most of the dogs they help are local/regional/neighboring southern states. They are one of the few all-breed rescues in the area that will pull GSDs from local shelters as well as regional shelters. They have also been the rescue that has stepped in to help several GSDs whose stories have been posted on this forum – the GSD that was shot and left for dead in Gary, Indiana is one good example of that. I have also helped them bring into rescue several GSDs/ other breeds whose owners were going to surrender to local kill shelters. 

As you know, the rescue will take back any dog that they have taken into rescue. If you do not want to care for the dog your Dad adopted, let them know. They will help you.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

LifeofRiley said:


> @llombardo, as you know, the rescue you are referring to is one that I have volunteered for. Actually, they are one of my favorite rescues to foster for due to many factors…. most importantly, they give me a lot of discretion as to who my foster dog is adopted out to.
> 
> I know that most of the dogs they help are local/regional/neighboring southern states. They are one of the few all-breed rescues in the area that will pull GSDs from local shelters as well as regional shelters. They have also been the rescue that has stepped in to help several GSDs whose stories have been posted on this forum – the GSD that was shot and left for dead in Gary, Indiana is one good example of that. I have also helped them bring into rescue several GSDs/ other breeds whose owners were going to surrender to local kill shelters.
> 
> As you know, the rescue will take back any dog that they have taken into rescue. If you do not want to care for the dog your Dad adopted, let them know. They will help you.


Oh no you misunderstood. I think they are a great rescue and good people. I was referring to rescues in general. And you are correct they would take my dads dog back if I chose to do so. Sadly my dad is having health issues and It looks like I would have ended up with the dog anyway. Since he is a part of my dad I choose to keep him so I have something of my dad. They just helped me get a female GSD out of not so great situation. They are wonderful people. I was more so pointing out that the dog is from Beirut and even if he is from another place he still needed a home, which is not something I understood or agreed with before (I didn't use enough words in my first post, if should have read then I fostered a dog that came from Beirut) I watch this dog run and play and it makes me smile. It makes me feel good to know that he never has to sleep outside again or look in dumpsters for food. When he curls up in bed at night and sighs I know its a content sigh not one of desperation. Darn if if I don't have an issue explaining myself completely when I write. I would live to help them out more but I got my hands full. I do still think that prices they (they in general)charge have gone up quite a bit compared to before.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

llombardo said:


> I was quite shocked to see that rescues were charging 250-300 to adopt a dog. I still can't get past that really.


I'm *all* for saving shelter dogs. There's a big, big difference in the quality of vet care they receive compared to rescue though--expect significant follow-up vet bills post-adoption with a shelter dog. A $250 rescue adoption fee is a _good deal_ if the rescue fully vets the dogs.

I know a lot of people balk at rescue adoption fees, so I want to use this as an opportunity to try to lay out where they come from. It's usually not a rescue being greedy.

Add up the cost to full vet a healthy dog (speuter, two sets of shots, rabies, microchip w/ activation, fecal test, and HW test, flea and HW prevention, and deworming, as that's almost always needed). Then realize hardly any dogs need _just _that basic stuff. It costs my rescue $150-200 to fully vet a dog, and I'm in a very cheap area with vets who give us great pricing--and that's assuming no pull fee. At $200, we _barely_ break even on a healthy dog. 

Most of them aren't healthy when we get them, either. Most of them need lots of additional care. I'm sitting on vet bills close to $1,000 for a single dog with major skin infection that was treatable, but expensive. HW treatment for another one this week was just $400 (not including the cost of Doxy, which runs about $100). If we waived the actual adoption fee and instead asked adopters to reimburse the rescue's vet receipts, they'd usually be paying a lot more than the adoption fee.

I'll try to illustrate the difference in vet care between shelters and rescues (using actual pricing from my area -- if you are in certain other areas of the country, pricing would be vastly higher). I've pulled enough dogs from shelters to know exactly what they do in my area: the "good" shelters that do some vetting charge adopters $80-100 for a speutered, vaccinated, microchipped dog. That isn't the same as a fully vetted dog. Here's the reality of an $80 fresh-from-shelter adoption in my area: 

1. You go home with a dog freshly spayed (without pain meds) to do the post-surgery recovery yourself. If there's a complication (e.g, saroma), you are on your own. That newly adopted dog also can't be bathed for 10 days because of the incision (but it will stink to high heaven, as it wasn't bathed in the shelter before surgery).

2. The shelter is out of flea treatment products, so you go home with a dog that hasn't been flea-treated (and the fleas are jumping off in your car). I have to keep Capstar in my purse when I'm going to pull a shelter dog in the summer -- we give it to the dog as soon as I get there and then go do paper work to give it time to work. (Capstar costs $5/dose -- we're now at $85.) 

3. Your dog will only have had one set of shots (at most), so you'll need to pay for an adult 5-1 booster within 2 weeks. Shots are typically $20 if you get a good price, so add that to your total. (We're now at $105. Add in a wellness exam at your vet for $35, and you're at $140.)

3. The shelter will likely not have done a fecal test (and 90% of the dogs we pull have worms--probably acquired from the shelter). If you are like most people, you probably won't expect it or know that there's a problem until the runny poop gets really bad. By then, the whipworms or hookworms might already have gotten into your backyard soil where your dog has been pooping. Now those worms can infect any other dog that walks on that soil. Oh--and you won't ever be able to walk outside barefoot this summer because hooks can infect people through the soles of the feet too! (The fecal test at your vet will likely cost $20 plus $30 for Drontal Plus to deworm, if you do it in the same trip as the wellness exam and don't incur a second exam fee. We're now at $195.) 

4. That healthy-looking shelter dog will likely break with kennel cough within about a week, and you'll be on the hook for treating that too. The strain going around my area now is nasty, and very contagious. It's turned into pneumonia in a few dogs, according to my vet. Assuming you don't end up with pneumonia and treat it promptly, the drug of choice for KC in my area is Doxycycline, which is no longer cheap. (That hits after your wellness exam, so you need to go pay for another vet visit. You now pay another $35 exam fee plus at least $20 for meds, and that's if your vet gives them to you at cost. $55 more brings us up to $250).

5. At some point the dog starts rubbing its ears and when you go to clean them, black gunk comes out. Back to the vet to treat an ear infection. You now have to clean the ears daily and treat twice daily with ointment, which your new dog loathes. (There's another $35 fee for that visit, plus $20 for antibiotic ear ointment. Now we're at $305.)

The rescue dog that costs $250? All that stuff was already dealt with by the rescue's vet and the foster volunteer. You don't have to keep taking time off work to get to the vet, or struggle to get a newly adopted dog to take pills or mess with painful ears. The foster home did all that for you. You get to enjoy a healthy dog, fully recovered from surgery, clean, up-to-date and ready to enjoy, thanks to a few weeks in foster care. 

All this assumes the rescue is a good one that is actually doing full vetting and not just flipping dogs, of course.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Magwart said:


> I'm *all* for saving shelter dogs. There's a big, big difference in the quality of vet care they receive compared to rescue though--expect significant follow-up vet bills post-adoption with a shelter dog. A $250 rescue adoption fee is a _good deal_ if the rescue fully vets the dogs.
> 
> I know a lot of people balk at rescue adoption fees, so I want to use this as an opportunity to try to lay out where they come from. It's usually not a rescue being greedy.
> 
> ...


It is definitely the areas. I'll use the shelter that two of mine came from. My oldest female was $85.00. She was in the "sick" room when I found her, recovering from surgery. She had 10 staples in her leg, I just recently learned that it was her ACL. They did the surgery. She came to me fixed, with all shots, dewormed, microchipped, leash, collar, a bag of food. I paid $99.00 for Midnite 7 years later at the same shelter. He also was fixed, microchipped, shots, food(this time I donated that back to the shelter). Midnite did have kennel cough, but they paid for the treatment. His ears were dirty and one was slightly infected, they covered the cost of that to.They charged a reduced rate for HW testing and HW medication was regular price and optional. You get to bring the dog back to them for a vet check within 10 days and anything that is wrong with them is covered. Rescues in my area come with basically the same thing and the normal fees are $250.00. They do not do any heartworm testing, because its not in the budget and they are hoping that the dogs get forever homes quick enough for the owner to do so. However, the foster family can do it on their own. The main difference between a shelter dog and rescue dog is the IMMEDIATE need. Once the rescue pulls the dog from a shelter it is generally safe and in a nice foster home. A shelter dog in the shelter is never safe. If a rescue is pulling a dog from the shelter and paying a pull fee(Is that fee different from the adoption fee?), if it is different they might as well pay the actual adoption fee and get everything included for a much lower cost. At least they don't have to pay for the fixing or shots. That kinda confuses me to, because it doesn't make since for a dog to get pulled from a shelter then get vetted through the rescue, that should have happened at the shelter, right


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

Rescue here charges 350.00 to 400.00 you get a dog that is fully vetted, chipped and fixed. Its not a bad deal. I am not sure what is cost to adopt from shelter, they come fully vetted here too, maybe 300.00 ? 
My big red flag is rescues that dont help locally. What makes a dog from Georgia more special then a dog from toronto? Nothing at all. Plus alot of dogs they get from the south comes with HW which costs more money, 

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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

I don't see taking dogs from outside the area as a huge red flag. 

The rescue I help takes dogs from outside the area although we do take them local as well.

They will often take damaged dogs, hording situations etc.. 

They are not making a profit, the adoption fee is $100. (my shelter dogs cost more than that)
Just the spay/neuter costs, shots, and chip cost the rescue more than they make on the adoption fee. 

They keep it small so they can get the dogs the help they need and match them with the right people.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

There are several stickies in this rescue section
Rescue, Foster & Adoption Information (General) - German Shepherd Dog Forums


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

If your local shelter paid for ACL surgery ($$$$$), that's _amazing_. You've got a wonderful shelter, and that shelter director deserves to get public kudos--a letter to the editor or city council praising a shelter that is doing excellent work. That would be my favorite shelter ever.

I only know how shelters work in overburdened areas like Los Angeles and the Gulf area, and we're a decade or more away from seeing that quality of care. There's no such thing as a "fully vetted" dog in my area at a shelter--at most they've done _some_ vetting, but there's always more that needs to be done to meet the rescue's standards. (What the shelter calls "fully vetted" in its advertising to adopters, I would call "partially vetted" here.)

A dog with an ACL tear down here would likely be euthanized upon diagnosis. They won't even x-ray unless someone donates the money to pay for it for a particular dog. I once even had to donate pain medication for a GSD we wanted to pull to get him through the 5-day legal impound hold period at a shelter because they had none, and he was injured and hurting. At the big city shelter, the vet staff has my cell number and calls me with a list of what they need for GSDs sometimes--it's very, very sad. They simply have no resources.

And all this is at a "good" shelter that actually _has_ vet staff (freshly graduated), trying to do the best with the little they have. The rural shelters don't even have vet staff and do _absolutely nothing--_the dog leaves "as is": intact, unvaxed, etc. However, I'm dealing with high-kill shelters in the Deep South, where conditions are deplorable and they can sometimes barely afford to feed the dogs because of intentional under-funding by government units.

Pull fees are _usually _different than adoption fees. Some shelters that speuter, vax, and chip charge rescues a pull fee that's the same as the adoption fee (or slightly discounted). I don't mind paying it if they've done at least some of the vetting. Some charge less. Very few charge nothing for a partially vetted dog. Some here won't charge pull fees, but they also won't even do the basic vetting for rescues that they do for the general public (they will only hand off unvetted dogs to rescue, claiming they don't have capacity to do discounted neuters for rescues, and that all their capacity is needed for dogs adopted by the public). That happened to us yesterday. If rescue has to pay for a spay at the "discount" spay clinic in town, for a big dog it's typically at least $85 without blood work, or $125 with blood work (compared to $300 at most vets) --and we do a lot more than just speuter.

I think it's not OK to adopt out dogs without HW testing, though. No good rescue down here would do that. I'm in an area where at least 9 out of 10 dogs are positive, so we actually _re-test_ every dog that a shelter says is negative because we expect that the shelter had a false-negative. It happens a lot! 9 of 10 here also have hookworms, whipworms or both, so a negative fecal test at a shelter just means in a week we are retesting.

I do think rescues would often benefit from more transparency about why the adoption fee is what it is. I've heard that in Los Angeles, rescues can have vet costs double those in the South, since the cost of living is so much higher--and that's why their adoption fees are also double. 



llombardo said:


> If a rescue is pulling a dog from the shelter and paying a pull fee(Is that fee different from the adoption fee?), if it is different they might as well pay the actual adoption fee and get everything included for a much lower cost. At least they don't have to pay for the fixing or shots. That kinda confuses me to, because it doesn't make since for a dog to get pulled from a shelter then get vetted through the rescue, that should have happened at the shelter, right


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## LifeofRiley (Oct 20, 2011)

Magwart said:


> I think it's not OK to adopt out dogs without HW testing, though. No good rescue down here would do that. I'm in an area where at least 9 out of 10 dogs are positive, so we actually _re-test_ every dog that a shelter says is negative because we expect that the shelter had a false-negative.


I agree! All of the shelters/rescues that I have volunteered for do HW testing and promptly treat any dogs that test HW+.


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## Mikelia (Aug 29, 2012)

I highly recommend talking to their long term foster help and maybe a few people who have adopted. There are some awful horror stories of people who have adopted from rescues and ran into may problems. I think it is similar to purchasing a pup from a breeder, do your homework and research them. A big red flag to me is a rescue who claims to help all dogs, but when someone approaches them with a dog on death row and leaves messages and emails but never hears any thing back. I understand they are often full and busy, but in the interest of all dogs they should at least help to point people to other rescues that may help.
My local shelter defleas, deworms, fully vaccinates, microchips and most animals are spayed/neutered prior to adoption (if they are adopted intact their adoption rate is much lower). The animals receive vet care for injuries/diseases. They are currently treating a 10 month old rottie for severe hip dysplasia because she is a sweet dog that is suitable for a home with kids. And they come with 6 weeks of free pet insurance (provided through the microchip company) so if they do get sick they are covered. Often cats will go home and show symptoms of a cold, and the insurance covers the treatment for this. A dog adoption costs about $200, depending on the breed and age (purebreds and puppies are more expensive). All in all, I think it is a great situation.


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

I dont see taking dogs in from outside canada a problem either, however I do see it as a problem when they start soley taking them in and rudely refusing to help local pups 

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## Cara Fusinato (May 29, 2011)

I have rescued from a variety of groups. Four out of five had something wrong. I accept the fact I am paying a donation fee and then have to go clean the dog up (I had 1 neuter stitches left in too long, 2 foxtail ears, 1 covered in ticks, 2 kennel coughs, and 1 every parasite on the planet). My last was a wash-n-wear -- but I paid the shelter extra to have her HW tested, thoroughly vetted, and complete fecal rather than cheapy, when they took her in for teeth clean and checkup -- was already spayed. That worked out well. She did have a slight URI but I jumped all over that and it didn't turn into anything outrageous.

I recently ran into a "rescue" that is the opposite of everything you want. They ONLY adopt puppies. They ONLY meet you in a park or Petco. They push you to adopt the dog you want THAT night, no holding a day or two til you can get things squared away, take time off, gather the money, buy supplies, etc. They ONLY take cash. They won't tell you where the dogs came from other than "found in a park" or such. They rarely adopt out adults (where are all the momma dogs of all the puppies?). Online they have reviewers and 50% are 5 star and 50% are 1 star because the puppies had parvo. In fact they reported on FB to please donate to their vet account -- they have had 8 parvo pups this month alone. They never follow through with paperwork they say they "didn't bring". The offer online to chip the dog for free and then "the lady who does our chipping wasn't available in time". About half the people didn't get altered animals "didn't have time" and had to pay a "promise to alter fee" of $50 which they never refund. If the dog is sick and certified by a vet as such within 3 days of adoption they will take back dog and refund, only no one gets the refund, ever. A reporter did a bit of a story on them. He followed them a couple times and they went to this filthy puppy mill or dog hoarder, picked up a litter, put it on petfinder, and adopted them out. They sued the guy for slander and now go to every story he writes as posted online and heckle him.

That would be the opposite of a shelter you would want. I was thinking of adopting a pup from them until I did my homework on them.


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

I recall trying to find a rescue to help with sudbury dog. Wow. Cut up in pms, told I was not helping by asking a rescue to help, told I was a bad person for helping an owner surrender, told u should pay for this dog. Well truth is I did offer to house her for a rescue that would accept her but I never expected to be ripped apart like that. I did find a rescue that was more then happy to help, besides the girl came fully vetted and chipped to begin with.

Truth is they are all owner surrenders. Street dogs, and what not had to come from someone. 

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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

LifeofRiley said:


> I agree! All of the shelters/rescues that I have volunteered for do HW testing and promptly treat any dogs that test HW+.


When I asked if they tested Batman the answer was no, they do not test for heartworm. It would be to costly. I paid for him to be tested and for his medication. I was told that their hope the turn around on the dog is quick so it can be done. My best guess is that some of the foster homes will do it on their own, I did. Especially since he came from another country, I had no clue how heartworm is over there.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

They treat dogs for almost everything by me. If they can save it, they do. I was just at an event this morning talking to another shelter about where I got my dogs from. He said they work with them and they do a good job. They currently have several hundred dogs. I even got a list with all the medications Midnite was given while he was there. He had some kind of infection, I think he was there long enough to get kennel cough twice. Some of these dogs become volunteer favorites and that can save a dogs life. Midnites person at the shelter was super excited when I adopted Midnite. Misty was also a volunteer favorite.


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## LifeofRiley (Oct 20, 2011)

llombardo said:


> When I asked if they tested Batman the answer was no, they do not test for heartworm. It would be to costly. I paid for him to be tested and for his medication. I was told that their hope the turn around on the dog is quick so it can be done. My best guess is that some of the foster homes will do it on their own, I did. Especially since he came from another country, I had no clue how heartworm is over there.


Very interesting and not at all consistent with my experience. All of the dogs I have fostered for them have been tested for heartworm prior to placement in the foster home - I know for sure because I have picked up all of my foster dogs at the vet office after their intake exam and have gone over the procedures performed on each dog with the vet prior to me taking the foster dog home. And, I know that they test dogs that are not my foster dogs too as there have been a lot of dogs that come from the points south that have tested positive and are treated prior to adoption by the rescue (not the foster).


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

How much are vets charging for HW tests up north??! With no discount at a full-price vet, that's a $25 item here. 

Dogs that are suspected (+) can be tested for microfilariae by putting a smear of blood on a slide--for a real cost of pennies for the slide, plus the time for a vet tech to look at the microscope. It won't prove the dog is (-), but if you see microfilariae, it's (+) . . . and helping to infect other dogs. Sending home dogs producing microfilariae with no plan to kill the microfilariae is NOT cool--that's how the disease gets spread.

With a (-) smear, I would still ask for a SNAP test for HW antigen. Some dogs are (+) but not actively shedding microfilariae, so this picks up some more (+) cases. I _believe _the vet's cost for SNAP test kits themselves is around $10. It's a 10-minute vet tech procedure to draw a few drops of blood and dribble it on the test kit. It's not an elaborate, pricey test that needs to be sent out!


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## Cara Fusinato (May 29, 2011)

I just paid $19.00 for HW test in Central CA.

Part of mult-purpose visit -- not stand alone visit.


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

40.00 to 55.00 for me

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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

LifeofRiley said:


> Very interesting and not at all consistent with my experience. All of the dogs I have fostered for them have been tested for heartworm prior to placement in the foster home - I know for sure because I have picked up all of my foster dogs at the vet office after their intake exam and have gone over the procedures performed on each dog with the vet prior to me taking the foster dog home. And, I know that they test dogs that are not my foster dogs too as there have been a lot of dogs that come from the points south that have tested positive and are treated prior to adoption by the rescue (not the foster).


This is how I thought it was. I picked the dog up, they gave me some food and off I went. As an after thought I called and asked about the heartworm. I just assumed it would be done, but I do understand the additional costs involved with it. Its not anywhere on his paperwork either. It's no big deal, I took care of it


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Magwart said:


> How much are vets charging for HW tests up north??! With no discount at a full-price vet, that's a $25 item here.


$50 at most vets for test. Some will charge a lower fee but then charge an exam fee, which brings it up to the 50 range. Vaccination clinics charge $22. Shelter vets clinics are about 20


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

I was told by dexters vet tech thst they would not even give him his yearly wellness exam until I consented tp HW. 

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## LifeofRiley (Oct 20, 2011)

llombardo said:


> This is how I thought it was. I picked the dog up, they gave me some food and off I went. As an after thought I called and asked about the heartworm. I just assumed it would be done, but I do understand the additional costs involved with it. Its not anywhere on his paperwork either. It's no big deal, I took care of it


I think they may have confused your question to be one about the administration of HW preventives. Depending on the time of year, that answer will vary. But, the testing of whether or not a dog is HW+ is always done and if the dog does in fact test HW+, treatment is immediate.

But, I am now sufficiently curious to ask the founder of the rescue to learn more about Batman's medical history.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

LifeofRiley said:


> I think they may have confused your question to be one about the administration of HW preventives. Depending on the time of year, that answer will vary. But, the testing of whether or not a dog is HW+ is always done and if the dog does in fact test HW+, treatment is immediate.
> 
> But, I am now sufficiently curious to ask the founder of the rescue to learn more about Batman's medical history.


No need, you were correct. I found the adoption paperwork my dad gave me. It is on there, but I was told it wasn't done(I never seen his paperwork before the adoption) so I got it done again. So it looks like he has been tested twice and I wasted my money next time I will request the paperwork In reading his paperwork it looks like he has had 3 rabies shots. On the health certificate from Lebanon it says 7/5/13 and on the other paperwork it states 4/18/13 and 5/7/13. So now I don't know when rabies should be given, he is probably set for life. We couldn't get his rabies certificate because the people at the animal control said the health certificate wasn't signed, well it's a stamp, duh!!


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

llombardo said:


> No need, you were correct. I found the adoption paperwork my dad gave me. It is on there, but I was told it wasn't done(I never seen his paperwork before the adoption) so I got it done again. So it looks like he has been tested twice and I wasted my money next time I will request the paperwork In reading his paperwork it looks like he has had 3 rabies shots. On the health certificate from Lebanon it says 7/5/13 and on the other paperwork it states 4/18/13 and 5/7/13. So now I don't know when rabies should be given, he is probably set for life. We couldn't get his rabies certificate because the people at the animal control said the health certificate wasn't signed, well it's a stamp, duh!!


I think the Lebanon date is May 7, 2013 as in most other countries, the day of the week is first then the month then the year. This also could explain that his other paperwork done in the US perhaps, has the date of 5/7/13.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

I think that dogs rescued from Lebanon or similar countries are so rare that an adopter does not really have to worry about it. Usually, shelters that have very low adoption rates are funded by taxpayer dollars. So people don't pay through the adoption fee, but through taxes. I just payed $320 for a spay with bloodwork. $45 for HW test. So anyone who complains about the $275 adoption fee gets rejected. They should go and bully their vet to give them free services or the supermarket to give them groceries at a fraction of the cost. There are plenty of free dogs out there for those whose main focus is a cheap dog.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

If I ever end up looking for a dog (they seem to land with me without looking) my focus will be the dog. I would get to know the dog and ask questions about the dog. I am not interested in the previous owner, the shelter or the rescue that cared/s for the dog. I am not interested in marrying the previous owners, rescue, shelter or breeder. If they are nice, great, but to me it is the dog that matters. I could not care less if they got animals from Lebanon or the South, who their donors are, etc. If the rescue is caring and nice and takes in animals with costly medical conditions, I would pay the adoption fee and make an additional donation, especially if the dog i was adopting needed some expensive care. To help them care for future animals. This is what would be important to me. To me their placement rates, how they choose foster homes, their relationships with local veterinarians would not be important.


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## my boy diesel (Mar 9, 2013)

*So anyone who complains about the $275 adoption fee gets rejected. They should go and bully their vet to give them free services or the supermarket to give them groceries at a fraction of the cost. There are plenty of free dogs out there for those whose main focus is a cheap dog.*
:thumbup:


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## Merciel (Apr 25, 2013)

Magwart said:


> I'm *all* for saving shelter dogs. There's a big, big difference in the quality of vet care they receive compared to rescue though--expect significant follow-up vet bills post-adoption with a shelter dog. A $250 rescue adoption fee is a _good deal_ if the rescue fully vets the dogs.
> 
> I know a lot of people balk at rescue adoption fees, so I want to use this as an opportunity to try to lay out where they come from. It's usually not a rescue being greedy.


In addition to all the good points that Magwart has made, I want to add two others:

(1) Many shelters get substantial financial support from a city or county government (and sometimes state/federal grants), especially if that's the animal control organization for its area. This allows them to keep adoption fees lower, because the shelter is not solely dependent on donations and adoption fees to stay afloat. Rescues rarely have those extra funding sources, and if they do, they're generally one-time grants that the rescue can't count on getting year after year.

(2) When possible, good rescues will not only invest in vetting for their dogs, but behavioral rehab and training.

For example, here's a video of my current foster dog, Queenie, and where she is today in training:





 
Queenie has her Novice Trick Dog title. She has been evaluated for basic behavioral issues and (because she's my foster and I'm a nerd like that) sport potential. I've gotten her started on beginner tricks and some sport foundation training, and we've also worked on her house manners and appropriate interactions with different types of people and pets.

If you were paying board-and-train prices for that work, it would cost considerably more than the $300 adoption fee my rescue is asking for her. But the adopter gets all of that free. It doesn't cost anything extra, it's just a bonus that you get for giving a good home to a nice dog.


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