First of all, thank you for considering Lab Rescue to help you find a new and loving home for your Labrador Retriever. This information will answer your questions about the process of finding your lab a new home.
We check all dogs before accepting them for adoption:
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Temperament,
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Level of obedience training,
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Whether the dog is a Labrador Retriever
(However, we sometimes will accept Golden Retriever-Labrador Retriever mixes that look like Labs and, most importantly, have the Lab temperament).
We DO NOT ACCEPT surrenders of STRAY DOGS. This information is only for surrendering an OWNER's Labrador. Strays by state law and city ordinances need to be rightful relinquished to a local city/county shelter.
We DO NOT ACCEPT dogs that exhibit an aggression toward people or other dogs.
If we do accept your dog, and there is any question as to its temperament, we will not adopt it to applicants with kids.
The more information we have about your dog, the better chance we have to match him/her with the right person or family.
Please tell us if the dog: chews or digs or fights with other dogs. We do not want to unintentionally misrepresent a dog and end up with unhappy new owners due to incorrect information.
After the dog is evaluated and accepted by us, we require you to sign a surrender form making your dog the property of Lab Rescue OK, Inc. It is our fuduciary responsiblity to protect the new owners from any claim(s) by past owners. Furthermore, it is imperitive that we know your level of commitment before we go to the time and expense of placing the dog in our adoption program.
Additionally, we request a $75.00 donation from owners giving up a neutered/spayed dog. We will accept a crate in lieu of a monetary fee, as we always need them for our foster homes, or to loan to new homes.
We also ask that the dog be current on its rabies and distemper shots and tested for heartworms. For more information about heartworms (CLICK HERE) . If a dog is heartworm positive, we must inform any potential adopters of this condition along with determining whether we will treat the dog. We do not refuse dogs that are heartworm positive. In fact, we have successfully treated many dogs for heartworms. However, we CANNOT EXCEPT any dog that is not current on his/her shots.
Once accepted into our program, you will be able to foster your own dog. We ask that you fill out a foster/volunteer application (CLICK HERE). We will add the dog to our adoption list and place his/her bio and pictures on our web site.
If you are fostering your own dog for us, the adoption coordinators may refer approved applicants to you. You will contact the applicants and make an appointment for them to view and meet the dog. The applicant will determine if the dog is "right" for him/her/them. Only persons who have been approved to adopt will be referred to you. Often, the adoption coordinators will call you to get more information about the dog for discussions about him/her with the applicants.
If you talk to the applicant, it is always important to ask the applicant who approved her/him. You may then call us and confirm that the person has been approved and find out more about them if you wish. Among qualified applicants, it is first come, first served. All applicants pay an adoption donation fee to Lab Rescue and sign a contract upon adopting a dog. The signed contract from the adoptee ensures compliance pertaining to Lab Rescue required care procedures.
Several factors determine how soon a dog is adopted:
- Number of applications currently pending,
- age,
- sex,
- color,
- temperament,
- housetrained,
- time of year.
We have Adopt-A-Lab Days almost every weekend at various locations. Additionally, we post the schedule on our website. We try to bring all of the dogs to one place for approved applicants to see. Here, they may adopt if they are interested. You will be notified of these events in ample time for you to arrange your schedule in order for you to attend and/or bring or drop off your dog. We are most successful adopting out owner give-up dogs when the owner can personally talk to potential adopters. In rare instances, we may be able to arrange transportation of your dog if you are not able to attend.
These events are tremendously successful for finding homes for our dogs. Therefore, we usually predict an approximate six week window to find homes for dogs under the age of 6 years.
If your dog has not been adopted by a deadline you are facing, e.g., moving, divorce, or allergies, etc., Lab Rescue MAY be able to place your dog in a foster home until he/she is adopted. Please inform us in advance about any such deadlines you have for adoption.
The funds we receive through successfully adopted dogs allow us the monetary resources to save additional dogs.
If you would like to surrender your dog, (CLICK HERE) for our online surrender form.
For questions not covered here, send us an email with your question (CLICK HERE). We will not accept your dog without having completed our form.
