Frequently Asked Questions About Adopting
1. How do I go about adopting a dog?
New animals arrive into our rescue on a regular basis. If you are interested in adopting, please regularly check our website, Facebook and Instagram pages. Available pets with their bios will be posted across all three platforms. If you are interested in adopting, you will be required to complete an application - either a Canine Application for adoptable dogs or a Creatures Application for other species.
2. What should I expect from a rescue dog in terms of behaviour and adjusting to my home?
Many rescue dogs go through a process of transition and adjustment. Your new dog may have an accident during the first 24 hours or may not. Your new dog may not eat for several days as well. This is often an overwhelming time for these dogs, who have a lot of transition and they will need time to decompress. Patience, love and understanding is needed. Typically after a week or two in the new home, your dog will begin to relax into its environment. They will feel more comfortable and so their personality might evolve or change. At the 2-month mark there is generally another period of adjustment. It is always important to be flexible and accommodating to the needs of your new family member. If training is needed (which we strongly encourage and recommend for ALL our dogs) we can happily connect you to a positive-reinforcement trainer. All of the trainers we recommend offer a 10% discount to all families that adopt through CCCR.
3. How can I help a dog adjust to my home?
Once you adopt a dog from CCCR you will be given a guide that will help you and your new dog with the transition. Some rescue dogs fit right in straight away yet others need a little extra love and support. Our adoption guide can help connect you to the needed resources to make the transition that much easier. Also, CCCR is committed to its community. Please shoot us an email and we are happy to further assist and give suggestions!
4. what is your adoption process?
Coveted Canines and Creatures Rescue has a rigorous, tiered application process to ensure that each pet is matched with the home that best meets their needs.
Once Coveted Canines and Creatures receives your adoption application and reviews it to be an appropriate match for the pet you are interested in adopting, a member of the Adoption Team will be in touch with you via e-mail to review your application and answer any questions you may have about the process or the animal - please remember to check your spam/junk folders for a response from our team. Please allow 48 hours for us to respond to your application. Being an entirely volunteer-run organization, we are only able to respond to those applicants selected to proceed. We only process a maximum of 3 applications per pet simultaneously.
Our adoption process requires a home visit and 3 completed personal references (plus a vet reference if you have had previous or current pets) prior to being approved to adopt. We will also set up a meet and greet between you and the pet during your application process, this is typically done first. Adoption events are a great place to meet our dogs (and the CCCR team)?
If you are the successful applicant, you will be notified by our Adoption Team via email and you will be connected with the foster parent to take home your new family member. The adoption contract, medical waiver and adoption fee must be paid/completed before your new family member is picked up.
If you are not the successful applicant but are pre-approved to adopt from us, you will be notified by our Adoption Team via email and encouraged to continue to look on our social media feeds (find us on Facebook and Instagram) for the next pet that interests you. You will already have completed a home visit and references so your application will be ready to go for the next one.
Please note that being pre-approved does not mean you will automatically get to adopt the next pet that interests you. Pre-approved means we recognize you would be a good pet guardian, however, we need to ensure that the animal is the right fit for you and your family.
Please note: we do not call applicants to discuss why they did not get chosen for a particular pet.
5. Can I foster-to-adopt?
CCCR offers foster-to-adopt (FTA) dependent on the pet and its needs. This is typically offered for dogs with medical conditions that CCCR is treating (and paying for) or for a dog or cat awaiting its spay or neuter. We often offer foster-to-adopts for puppies and kittens that are waiting to complete their vetting (vaccines + spay or neuter). If a pet is looking for a FTA placement, it will be indicated in their adoption bio. Dogs and cats in this category are posted as available for adoption and can go to their forever home, but they will stay in an FTA in their intended forever home until our partner vets deem the dog or cat cleared medically. Once this happens, the adopter will be required to sign an adoption contract and pay the adoption fee.
During the FTA, a formal FTA contract will be drawn up and will indicate that the animal will be adopted by its FTA family and will detail the treatment plan covered by CCCR. We will ask for a non-refundable deposit of half of the adoption fee on approval of a successful FTA applicant. Even though we pay for the vetting of the pet while they are still in our care, the FTA home is responsible to pay for any illness while in their care other than the vetting we provide. Finally, since the FTA family plans to adopt the dog or cat, they are responsible for the cost of food and supplies for their new pet.
6. Why do you charge an adoption fee? Where does that money go?
Coveted Canines and Creatures Rescue is a not-for-profit organization run entirely by dedicated volunteers. This means that we rely on adoption fees, donations and fundraisers to be able to continue saving animals.
As a 100% volunteer run rescue, no one is paid for the time, expertise and effort they provide to CCCR. As a non-profit organization, 100% of our profits are invested in the organization and its mission. The majority of the money we raise is spent on veterinary bills. We pride ourselves in having a thorough and strict vetting protocol. This means that we do incur larger than typical expenses for testing and treating our newly arrived animals. However, it does help to ensure that we are adopting out healthy pets and providing adopters with complete medical history, especially for pets with chronic or terminal illnesses. Our other expenses consist of supplies, transport of animals, and to a much smaller degree, administration (~3%). Our foster families provide a loving home to our rescue dogs for free, so we provide our fosters with the necessary supplies for their dog. We try to minimize our transportation expenses by working with other rescues and volunteers – however, we still do have to pay to pick up the dogs and sometimes, pay “pull fees” to release the dogs from shelters.
Our adoption fees are:
Puppies (8 months or younger): $900
Adults (between 9 months and 7 years): $700
Seniors (8 years or older): $500
Bonded Pairs: $700
Creatures’ adoption fees are indicated in their bio.
6. Where do you get your dogs? How much do you know about the dogs you have up for adoption?
We mainly save dogs in need of a second chance in Ontario, as well as Quebec. We have also previously rescued dogs from the United States, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Barbados, Thailand and beyond. Our partners in the Canadian shelters we pull from perform a primary medical and behavioural assessment of each dog. Most dogs that end up in a shelter have no background information. This is why the foster program is so important.
While in foster care, our dogs are assessed and re-taught how to live in a home again and be part of a family. Our dogs are also often assessed by one of the partner trainers we regularly work with. Although our main focus is on helping shelters, we do take in local owner surrenders on a case-to-case basis.
7. Are the dogs examined by a vet? What happens if the dog gets sick after I adopt the dog – will you pay for vet bills?
A veterinarian examines all our dogs when they arrive into our care and you will be provided with a copy of the veterinarian’s report after adoption. It is always possible that a pet may have minor or major medical issues that we were unaware of or were undiagnosed at the time they were pulled. After adoption, it would be your responsibility to care medically for your new family member. We will tell you all confirmed or suspected medical issues that were known of at the time of adoption and include all current vetting done to date in each pet’s posted bio. All of our dogs are adopted with a free 6-week insurance policy. We highly recommend continuing this coverage just in case!
8. Why did I not get the DOG I applied for?
We get so many wonderful applicants and we consider all kinds of factors matching dogs to applicants. It is not a “first come, first serve” basis. We will place a dog with a family based on the best match between the dog and the new home. Some factors we may consider include:
Would it be better for the dog to be placed in a home with another dog? What kind of dog?
How does the dog’s behaviour match what you are looking for? We want to try and match you with the right dog. Some dogs require more training than others, some like to cuddle more than others, and some dogs have more energy than others.
Can the dog be left alone during the day?
Can the dog be crated?
The dog’s history and experiences
Compatibility with other pets, children
Special needs of the dog
Are there any medical needs?
We often receive many applications for each dog that is available for adoption. We only process a maximum of 3 applicants for each dog simultaneously.
9. I live outside Toronto. Can I still adopt from Coveted Canines and creatures Rescue?
Most of our volunteers reside in Toronto. We require a home visit as part of our application process and can only complete home visits in areas where we have volunteers available. We sometimes can arrange to complete home visits outside of the GTA.
10. How do I learn more about fostering?
Fostering is the most rewarding experience. Please check out the ‘Foster’ section of our website. If you would like to apply to be part of our amazing team please contact foster@covetedcanines.org to begin the application process or please fill out and submit an online application form.
11. I went through the entire process and did not get the dog I wanted. What now?
Our process involves a meet and greet, home visit and reference checks - so we all get to know each other well. We regularly rescue new dogs and remember – we match people to dogs. Keep your eye out on our website, come to our adoption events and we will keep in touch. As you are pre-approved to adopt, and we know you – a future match is likely to happen!
12. Why is the process so long? Why do I need a home visit and reference checks to get a dog when I can go to a shelter and get a dog right away?
Adopting a dog is a big decision and a long-term commitment. Our reference and home visit process helps you and Coveted Canines and Creatures decide whether this is the right decision for you. It also helps us match you with the right dog. Some of our dogs have come from difficult situations so our process is set up to minimize the likelihood that they will experience another home transition or breakdown. We do not expedite or rush applications BUT there are things you can do to ensure that the process goes smoothly and therefore takes less time to process:
1. Make sure that everyone involved in the dog’s life agrees to the adoption and is present at the meet and greet, including if you have a current dog.
2. Make sure that each question on the application is answered, as it relates to your situation. Please write legibly and double-check contact information so that we can send information to the correct e-mail address. The more detailed answers you provide, the better we get to know you!
3. Please let your references know in advance that they will be contacted and encourage them to share what they know in detail.
4. Please ensure that you give your vet (if you have one) permission to answer our questions.
5. When a home visit is scheduled, make sure that everyone who lives in the home is present.
6. At adoption events you can meet the dog, talk with Coveted Canines and Creatures volunteers that know the dogs and complete an application on the spot. If you have a current dog, come to one of our adoption events for a meet and greet on neutral ground. Let us know in advance so that we can ensure the dog you are interested in is present at the event. You then can skip the meet and greet stage and go right on to the home visit and references.
Most of our applicants find the process connects them to the rescue and helps them gain information on the demands and joys of adopting a rescue dog. The process also requires you to meet the dog and introduce him to all family members and other pets. This helps us all decide whether it is a good match.
13. What is your vetting policy for adopters?
We follow the protocols and procedures of the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association. We will not adopt out a dog to applicants whose own dog(s) are not vetted to their standards. This includes:
Applicant’s dog(s) must be spayed and/or neutered. In some cases we will allow foster applicants with older, unaltered dogs but we do not allow these fosters to adopt their foster dogs. Providing temporary care for a dog is very different from adopting one and caring for it throughout its lifetime.
Applicant’s dog(s) must be up to date on vaccines. (Unless the applicant’s dog is geriatric and suffers from health issues that result in their personal vet suggesting no vaccines are required and this is noted on your file with them when we call your vet reference.)
Applicant’s dog(s) must be on flea & tick/heartworm medication preventatives. The dog(s) must be protected. This includes a yearly heartworm/4DX blood test unless the applicant’s dog(s) are on flea & tick/heartworm medication 12 months of the year and there are no breaks in their monthly treatment. In this case, a 4DX test every other year is acceptable.
As an owner, the applicant must do as their personal vet suggests, always. If you do not agree with your vet’s basic recommendations for care, please find a vet you can trust and work with cooperatively. We have many tried and true recommendations that we are happy to share. We do not want to call your vet reference and find the word “declined” after every medical suggestion in your dog’s vet history.
14. What happens if I get the dog and things don’t work out? What do I do?
There is always an adjustment period when a dog is placed in a home. Most dogs will display some behavioural issues as they adjust to a new home. We are available to answer questions, and give advice as everyone settles into their new environment. We can also connect you to trainers who can assist you, and we would strongly encourage all of our adoptive families to seek support and assistance from positive-reinforcement dog trainers. We provide all adopters with two free online group training classes post-adoption.
If the adoption breaks down, you are required to return the dog to our rescue. You must return the dog to us if things do not work out. We will always accept a dog back into our rescue!
15. After adopting my dog, what can I do to ensure their protection and safety?
Considering you never really know the complete history of your rescue dog, it's highly recommended you invest in pet insurance. This can help cover costs of any unexpected illness or injury that occurs and mitigate astronomical vet bills, especially in the case of an emergency. We provide every Coveted Canines and Creatures adopter with a complimentary 6 week trial of pet insurance with Petsecure that covers up to $500 in value.
Training is a great way to bond with your new dog and build a relationship! Positive-reinforcement training will help your dog settle into their new home and encourage good behaviours. No matter how big or small, puppy or senior, every dog and owner can benefit from some training! We offer all Coveted Canines and Creatures adopters 2 free online group training classes post-adoption to help start you and your new pooch off on the right foot and build some useful skills while forging your new relationship together.
Another often overlooked step new pet owners should take is to update or make a Will to include their new fur baby. A Will is the only legal way to appoint a guardian for your pet and leave behind a monetary legacy to ensure they continue to live the quality of life they are used to. We've partnered with Epilogue to offer simple, fast and affordable online estate planning to all Coveted Canines and Creatures adopters. All adopters will receive a discount code in their "Congratulations" email.