Before you consider applying to adopt a BHRR rescue please ask yourselves the following questions.
*NOTE: As of December 1st, 2016; BHRR shall no longer be responding to inquires to adopt. We are following the lead of other r/q organizations and ONLY completed adoption applications submitted to the BHRR BOD shall be considered/responded to.*
Have you considered the financial responsibilities involved in having a new addition to your home, especially a Giant Breed?
Do you have the money to feed, train, pay for regular vet check-ups and emergencies for the entire life of this Giant Breed animal?
Is your living space large enough for a Giant Breed?
Do you have a fenced in yard? Invisible, barbed wire and/or electrical fencing are not considered adequate and ‘safe’ fencing by BHRR.
How many hours of the day are you going to be away from home per day?
Will your neighbors mind?
If you have landlord, will they mind? *BHRR requires a letter of permission written/typed by the landlord of any rental places.
Will you make the commitment to keep that animal under your care for the duration of his or her life?
Where are you in the stage of your life right now?
Does your current lifestyle accommodate a new or another animal to your household?
Going away to school?
Looking at traveling?
Are you getting married soon?
Planning to buy a house?
Planning for another child or even your first baby?
How will a Giant Breed fit in with your current family situation?
How will you care for your pet when you go on vacation if you do not plan on taking them with you? Giants do not fare well in boarding/kennel situations.
Are you aware of the common diseases, ailments and health issues that the breed(s) that you are looking at might develop?
What about your Career?
Do you plan on relocating?
What if you lose your job?
Are you away from home longer than 8-8.5 hours each day? *BHRR does not consider homes that are going to be away longer than 8.5 hours from home.
What would you do if illness, divorce or death struck your family?
How will you provide for your animal should you become deceased?
Where will he or she sleep?
Will you crate train?
How often will you exercise your Canine?
Are you prepared for a thorough Vet reference, at least 2 minimal personal reference checks and a detailed home visit?
DO not consider adopting a BHRR animal should you not be prepared to answer these questions by yourself and us.
Research, read, go to dog shows, talk to Rescue experts, talk to people about the Breed(s) of animal that you are looking at adding to your home.
Be aware that some breeds shed more, drool more, snore more, grow bigger or have possibly more health concerns etc. than other breeds.
Should you decide NOT to go the Reputable/Quality Rescue route; please read our article on Reputable/Quality Breeders vs. BackYard Breeder Another great resource when it comes to learning more about Breeders is contacting your local Breed Rescues. They will be very candid about answering your questions.
Always remember that as much as a Reputable/Quality Breeder or Rescue might be ‘interviewing’ you; that they should also be open to answering your questions, having you visit them at the appropriate time and their animals – either via an open house, events, home-visits etc.
Remember to be polite and courtesy and not demanding nor have one of your first questions being ‘how much is that dog?’.
Remember that as your time is precious plus important, so is that of the dedicated Volunteers of all r/q Rescue organisations.
Remember that the priority of any r/q group is to ensure the future well being of all dogs under their authority. Their purpose is to screen to be sure that they are setting up their dogs for success in right matched personality fit homes.
*BHRR ONLY adopts per right matched personality fit. We are the experts on these dogs and only those right matched homes shall be approved to adopt them. We are not desperate to adopt and these dogs live amazing quality filled lives in loving homes.
Do understand that any proper adoption process takes time and all quality groups will work to keep you updated regularly on the status of your application. Personal reference checking can take the longest and it is asked that all applicants ensure that their personal references are accessible plus flexible.
*BHRR goes up and beyond in our efforts to reach references by reaching out morning, afternoon, evenings plus weekends, yet, we need homes to work with us by advising their personal references that making contact is important to the application approval process. We have had wonderful applications/homes approved within mere days and others have taken up to 6+ weeks. If we have great dogs waiting for great homes, we work to process applications received promptly, efficiently and professionally.
The purchase or the adoptive cost of an animal is the LEAST that you shall pay in the lifetime of being a responsible loving owner to a dog, regardless of Breed. Giant breed dogs are more costly to feed, Vet and provide for.
Additionally, do bear in mind that when you go to a Petstore, puppymiller or a backyard Breeder; that you are perpetuating the misery of the dogs that remain there to be bred over and over again regardless of their health plus well being.
Yes, you might get that puppy or dog for a few hundred dollars without having to sign a contract, having reference checks, home-visit done etc. BUT that is the only thing that you are getting.
Also beware of ‘rescues’ that flip animals; do retail rescue; have frequent puppies and/or are breeding their rescue dogs.
That contract protects the animal to ensure that they are being properly taken care of PLUS when you adopt from a Rescue(you do not adopt from a Breeder, you purchase); a highly reputable/quality Rescue will have ensured that the pet that you are adopting(that fee goes back into their programs so that they can continue helping animals in need AND they never make any money on their dogs for it can cost thousands to properly rehabilitate a dog) is altered, fully vetted including being microchipped, utd on vaccines, had a fecal done, hwt and tick borne disease testing if old enough, put on Heartworm/flea/tick preventative, de-wormed, all medical conditions appropriately handled PLUS fully disclosed along with any behavoural issues; any required X-Rays, other testing such a urine etc. and other bw such as thyroid apart from the pre-surgical when being altered etc.
That Rescue will also have begun some sort of obedience with their dogs, will always take one of their own back into their program PLUS is there as a 24/7 resource for as long as you have one of their dogs. If you love the Breed enough to want to get that type of dog FOR the right reasons; please do the right thing in not supporting any disreputable Breeders or so called Rescue organizations/groups out there.
Just as every Breeder is not created equal, nor is every Rescue. Ask the Rescue why they have the policies/mandates that they do, ask them what their success rates are(high return rates are not in the animals best interest and should be questioned), do they alter their animals before placement, do they vaccinate, do obedience, microchip, do fecals, HWT/tickborne disease testing, all surgeries recommended by the Vets including urgent/emergent, do X-Rays, bw, full disclosure etc.
Ask the Rescue how long a dog stays with them minimally before being placed up for adoption.
*BHRR does not ‘flip’ dogs and no dog goes up for adoption until they are ready, minimally 5 weeks; yet; as a highly focused special needs rescue; we could have any given dog months or even years prior to them being placed up for adoption, if they are ever ready. As we always focus on the ‘next in need of us’, many dogs remain in our Haven or Perma-Foster programs.
As one wonderful mentor of mine once said reputable/quality ‘Rescue is not about winning a popularity contest.’ *For BHRR, it is about doing it the right way for every dog, each and every time.
If many just read the fountain of information to be found on our websites, many would already know if they might or might not qualify for a BHRR animal. We do not just place animals in a home, we place animals in the ‘right matched personality fit’ homes possible ensuring the best chances possible of a ‘successful’ adoption plus experience to one of our animals and their new forever loving home(s).
BHRR has regular mini-open houses(4 a year) plus organizes four fundraisers every year to give the public the opportunity to meet us and the animals under our care. We also do a lot of public speaking plus humane education and therapy visits. We would be more than happy to provide references through our Volunteer network, past adopters, behavioural plus training clients etc. too. We have so many homes that have been back to adopt second, three, four and even five times over the past 24.5 years we have been in operation.
*BHRR requires every dog to stay in our program for a minimum of 5 weeks prior to being placed up for adoption – most stay so much longer as we focus on the special needs. We have to properly Vet and assess/evaluate and rehab any animal first prior to being placed up for adoption.
*BHRR is NOT a facility, pound or shelter. We operate out of our home and those of our approved temp and perma-foster homes. Therefore, you cannot just drop by NOR do we make appointments for people to visit. We have such limited quality family time as is and we are not appreciative of people just dropping in. We reside on private property as to all of our of approved foster homes.
* BHRR hosts four BHRR ‘EXPERIENCE’ mini open houses a year for the public to come interact with us, other members of our BOD, current Volunteers plus the dogs and horses.
*BHRR had an adoption success rate of 100% in over ten years of operating and now in year 24.5, we are 98%, second to no other organization out there based upon our long length of operating and resulting high percentages of success during that time. AND yes! This is something to be so proud of, as we do not want our dogs ‘bouncing’. These dogs coming into rescue once is one time too many.
This high wonderful success rate is due for several reasons including our detailed / individualised rehab programs, our extremely thorough adoption process and with us being a 24/7 resource for our approved homes. You are not adopting from a shelter or pound, you are being approved to adopt through a small very detail oriented plus organised r/q Rescue. It is not about the numbers for us, it is about the quality of our program and the quality of the right matched homes approved.
*BHRR is a dedicated all Volunteer organization. We also have paying careers to assist with the much needed funding to keep a r/q Rescue operating and we also have families. We work 24/7 saving/networking dogs in high kill shelters and for o/s’s and please be patient and understanding if your non-urgent email or phone call takes up to 3-5 business days to respond to.
*Any animal not able to be kept by their approved adoptive home, MUST come back to BHRR per our signed adoption contract. We stand by our animals for life.
*BHRR requires a fenced in yard unless in a condo or apartment building environment and those applications are considered on an individual basis.
*BHRR does not adopt to homes with small children.
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