Thank you for your interest in adopting from Happy Dog Rescue.

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You have been directed to this page before going to our application so we can share our philosophy with you. This will give you more information about us so you can decide whether or not you want to work with us to adopt.

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We are one foster home and have been doing rescue since the fall of 2001. At this point we know we've fostered over 400 dogs but honestly we stopped counting at around 300. We currently have 5 dogs of our own (middle-aged to senior) ranging from 12 lb to 45 lb. We also have 1 dog-savvy cat. There are no children in our home. My husband is a senior and I'm a few years away from becoming a senior.

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This foster mom is a spiritual soul who strives for the best possible matches. Not just breed, looks and size but I get to know the needs and wants of each dog and then watch for the adopter to come along who shares the same desires in a match as the dog. Sometimes a dog may look like a certain breed but their personality is not at all true to that breed, so I will look for the adopter who's into the personality rather than the breed. If all you care about is breed, please do not apply to adopt from us. 

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My methodology means sometimes I get very lucky with the first applicant. Other times, at the other end of the spectrum I may go through 15 applicants before finding one that understands this dog and is delighted at the personality, behaviors, and needs of this particular dog.

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Why do I do this? Because I'm striving for forever matches and zero returns. I'm striving for such a happy match that both adopter and dog are thriving and bringing joy to each other. Over the years I've managed to get it down to 1 return every 18-24 months...and it's usually an adopter who lied to themself that returns a dog. So I've gone another level and begun trusting my gut while also watching the dog's reaction to the adopter. If the dog is not signaling delight, I do not do the adoption. If my gut just feels like something's off, I do not do the adoption.

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None of this means you are a bad adopter. It just means I don't see a good fit in the match.

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I have found over the years that some adopters will want to argue with me about it and I'm just not into arguing. I know what my foster dog desires and I do my best for each dog individually. This means in most cases you will not hear from me if you submit an application and it's just not a match for that dog. To try to prevent this, I put as much detail into the dog's listing as possible so you can self-assess the match before applying. Sadly, however, some people do not bother to read the listing and I end up having to just not respond to some applications. Human nature, I guess...we want what we want when we want it. I can't roll like that. I have to do what's best for each dog.

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If you don't hear back about your application but you indicated you'd like to get on our advance notice adopter list and I think you and I share similar philosophies about how adoptions should work, then you may start receiving advance notice emails from me as we get new dogs in.

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We do not foster that many dogs per year...only about one or two most months, so you don't get a lot of emails from that list.

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Things that will cause me to bypass your application:

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- Invisible fencing

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- City life - Our dogs come from a very rural area and we've tried city life in the past and it failed badly causing stress for both dog and adopter, so we just don't do it any more. It wasn't fair to the dog or the adopter. Lesson learned.

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- Not a match to the requirements in the dog's listing

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- You live far away and I have a local adopter who seems like a very suitable match, the local adopter will be given priority. So in all honesty, it's a crap shoot of timing for long distance adopters, but I just trust the Universe to bring the best matches and go from there.

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- Annoyance with my application (yes people sometimes yell at me about it). The application is long to help both you and me assess the match. It's designed to get you to think about possibilities and decide what you want and do not want in a dog. So please do go back and read the dog's entire listing and decide if that dog has what you want in a companion before you submit my application.

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Pre-Application Self-Evaluation Process

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Most dogs, with good care, can live to be 10 to 15 years of age or older. Before you adopt, please ask yourself these questions:

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• Please consider how old you will be 15 years from now. Will you still be able to care for a dog?

• How many times do you think you might move in the next 15 years? Are you willing to move your dog, too, and restrict your choice of housing to places where pets are allowed?

• What major changes might happen in your life in the next 15 years? Marriage? Children? Retirement? Travel? Relocation due to work? Are you willing to continue spending time, energy and money to care for your dog when taking on new responsibilities or going through life changes?

• Are the other members of your household as interested as you in adopting and caring for a dog? What will you do if your partner, roommate, spouse, children, grandchildren, or parents can't get along with the dog?

• If you are getting a dog for your children, how old will they be in 15 years? Will you still want this pet after the children have grown up and moved out? Do you realistically expect children under age 16 to care for, bathe, trim nails, exercise, train, and clean up after a dog?

• Have you previously owned a pet that didn't live with you for 10 years or more? If so, what happened to it? What will you do differently with this pet to prevent a similar situation from occurring?

• What if a few weeks after adoption the dog develops health or behavior issues? Are you willing (at your own expense) to bring in people with the expertise to help you manage or reverse the situation? Have you looked into pet health insurance?

• Are you expecting the dog you adopt from us to be perfect and adapt to your life within a week? If so, do you think this is a realistic expectation?

• Are you applying for a dog simply because of its looks or breed? If so, have you read the bio and did it seem to fit well with your preferences in a dog? Can you handle it's needs or are you just looking past that and falling in love with a face, hair color or texture, etc?

• Have you read this book yet? If not, please do so before adopting any dog.

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​Adoption fees are paid in cash. Due to bouncing checks, we no longer accept personal checks. Adoption fee includes spay/neuter, 4DX test if at least 6 months old, rabies vaccine, distemper combo vaccine, wormer, and flea/tick preventative. Please note: we do not foster dogs under the age of 6 months old.

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Dog up to 6 years old $350+tax=$371

Dog 7+ years old $200+tax=$212

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Ready to proceed? Gather your vet's contact information and then click this link to open the application. You must click submit at the end of the application. We do not accept screen shots or PDF files as we need the data in text/searchable format. Occasionally an adopter's device has trouble with the application, but in 99% of cases it is easily submitted. If your device is struggling with it, try using a different device.

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