THE ADOPTION PROCESS
Before submitting an adoption enquiry form please read our information about the process so you know what to expect and if adopting a dog is right for your circumstances. The rescue is managed by volunteers so it may take time for enquiries to be considered and for us to get back to applicants. We try to post photos and information about our dogs as soon as they come into our care however often we have further assessments to carry out and the dog may need time to settle before we are able to rehome them so applications are not always considered straight away. The process takes time and we appreciate your understanding. 


  • Look at the profiles of our available dogs and consider if you are able to offer a home that would match the dog's needs. 
  • Disclaimer: We do not place our dogs  home with any children under the age of 8 due to the unknown history of the dog's life.
    There may be exceptions dependent on if the dog’s history is known. We apologise for any disappointment or     inconvenience. 
  • The profiles state if the dog can live with another dog, cats or children. We won't consider applications which don't meet these requirements, however we may suggest an alternative dog to you to consider that we feel would fit better with your circumstances.
  • Please complete an adoption enquiry form and provide as much information as you can about your household, lifestyle and experience with dogs. Remember to include a valid telephone number and email address. 
  • If your enquiry is suitable for the dog, the rehoming co-ordinator for that dog will give you a call to discuss the application, however we may suggest an alternative dog that would be better suited to you- please do not be offended, this is always done in the best interests of the dogs and what would work best for the household.
  • The rescue is entirely volunteer managed. Please be patient when enquiring as calls have to be made around other work and family commitments. 
  • We will organise for you to meet the dog before asking you to commit to adoption. The dog may be in foster, in various locations throughout Scotland, or at the boarding kennels we use in Midlothian. We will ask you to travel to where the dog is to reduce the disruption for the dog. If you already have a dog or children in the household this would be an ideal time to bring them along to see how well everyone gets on. 
  • A homecheck will be arranged to ensure your home is suitable for one of our dogs, please note we may feel that the dog you are interested in might not be suitable so we may also suggest another dog to you at this stage.
  • Once we have confirmed everything has went well with the homecheck and the meeting with the dog has taken place we will contact you to ask if you still wish to proceed with adopting the dog(s). If you would like to adopt the dog you will be required to pay an adoption donation. To reserve a dog at this stage we would ask for a minimum non refundable deposit of £50.  The donation and deposit should be paid via bank transfer, by cash before or on the day of adoption.
  • Once we have received a cleared donation payment we will arrange for you to collect your dog or if you don't drive a volunteer may be able to bring your dog to you (for a small petrol charge) and the adoption contract will be completed.
  • We will arrange for your follow up to be completed within 6 months of adopting dog wherever possible.
  • We aim to reply to adoption enquiries within 5 working days.


ADOPTION DONATION 

The adoption donation is £250 per dog - we will also provide a £50 contribution towards the neutering of puppies and any dog unable to be neutered prior to rehoming; this will be paid direct to the vet of your choice.  The adoption donation helps us to provide the vet care and boarding the dog has while in our care and all dogs will be rehomed as: 

  • Neutered*
  • Vaccinated
  • Microchipped (all dogs are kept microchipped to the rescue for the life of the dog, without exceptions)

*With a few exceptions all dogs will be neutered before rehoming, for those we cannot neuter beforehand it will be a requirement in the adoption contract that this is done within an agreed period which will be specified on your adoption contract.  This will be followed up by the rescue.

We are a registered charity and all adoption donations are used to continue our work. Whilst not all dogs will need to be neutered, microchipped etc other dogs may require extensive health treatments and we ensure that whatever a dog needs prior to rehoming that this is done.

If you agree to the rehoming process and would like to progress with adoption please read about our dogs available.