Adopting a Keeshond
Southern California Keeshond Rescue, Inc. adopts to families residing in the Southern California area ONLY. Because we follow up on our adoptions for the life of the dog and take the dog back if the adoption is not successful, it is important to keep our dogs in our own geographical area. For the safety and welfare of our dogs, we do not make exceptions, and we do not ship dogs outside of Southern California. If you do not live in our geographic area but are interested in adopting, please visit "Pet Links" page to find a rescue near you. Northern California residents should contact Bay Area Rescue Keeshonden at info@keeshondrescue.org.
Southern California Keeshond Rescue, Inc. is a small all-volunteer organization. We do not have a kennel facility, nor do we have paid staff. Most of our volunteers have full time jobs Monday through Friday, and spend their evenings and weekends rescuing dogs from the animal shelters, grooming and caring for the dogs, meeting with prospective families and completing adoptions. Our dogs stay in foster homes until adoption, and are shown by appointment only to approved families.
A non-refundable adoption fee is required for the adoption of a Keeshond rescue dog. The typical adoption fees range from $300-$600. Unlike animal shelters, we do not receive county funding or other forms of income. We rely strictly on adoption fees and tax deductible donations to cover the costs associated with rescuing dogs from the shelters (we pay them an adoption fee), veterinary expenses, dog food and supplies, and other expenses incurred while providing for the dogs in our care.
For more detailed information be sure to read the Adoption Process Guidelines, Adoptable Keeshond Dogs, Recent Placements, and download an application.
The Adoption Process
The first step in adopting a dog is to complete an Adoption Application. Be specific in your answers to give us the best possible picture of your home and family. A volunteer will review your application and get back to you within five days. Due to the high volume of adoption applications, we use email to communicate initially during the screening process. Please remember to check your email for our response, and if you do not receive a reply to your application within five days, please email us.
Sometimes we may have concerns regarding an application, and we reserve the right to deny an application if we feel there is a reason the home would not be appropriate for one of our Keeshond rescue dogs. If we will not be proceeding with your application, we will do our best to communicate this in a timely fashion. We receive many applications online each day, and we usually have several persons interested in a particular Keeshond rescue dog. We closely review each application, looking at the family's lifestyle, how much time they spend at home, yard size, current pets in the household, their previous pet history and their knowledge of dogs. We compare this to what we feel would be the best environment for the dog, considering his or her training and exercise needs, any medical needs, how the dog relates to children and other animals, etc. After considering each application, we choose the one that seems to be the best match for the dog. If your application is not chosen for the dog you are initially interested in, we suggest you visit our web site often, and email us if there is a different dog you think would be a good fit for your family.
A home visit is required for approval of an application and will be done prior to adoption. The volunteer visiting your home will check your fence and gates for security, and will make sure that there aren't any safety hazards or other concerns within the home. In addition, we want to make sure that each member of the household agrees to the adoption and that any current pets in the home are well cared for.
All dogs will be spayed or neutered prior to adoption, and vaccinations (DHLPP Rabies, Bordatella) will be given if not already current. Southern California Keeshond Rescue microchips the dogs for permanent identification. The microchip will be implanted prior to adoption. Some dogs have additional health needs, which will be addressed by our veterinarian as necessary. X-rays of hips are not recommended as routine veterinary care, and are not done unless there is a suspected injury or orthopedic condition such as hip dysplasia.
Dogs in our program come from private families or animal shelters. We rarely have purebred puppies for adoption. Occasionally families will surrender young dogs (18 months and older) to our program, and these dogs generally have many families who submit applications for their adoption. Families who are flexible in the age or gender of a dog or who will consider a male/female Keeshond rescue dog in the 5 - 7 year range will not wait as long to adopt as those who will only consider a 1 - 2 year old female.
Adoption Applications
Our adoption application is available in a downloadable version. Use the link below to complete the application process.
Be sure to read the Adoption Rules above completely before submitting an application
Applications may be emailed to socalkeeshondrescue@gmail.com
along with the physical copy mailed to:
Southern California Keeshond Rescue, Inc.
P.O. Box 735
Rhome, TX 76078-0735