Thursday, March 10, 2016

Adoption FAQS

We respond to so many inquires with the same answers, so we thought we'd save you time and our volunteers' time by listing them somewhere.  So here goes:


  1. If the dog or puppy is showing on our website (www.tinylovingcanines.org), they are still available.  Other websites like Petfinder and Adopt-A-Pet do not reload our information as quickly as we do, so we cannot assure you of the same timely information out there on the Internet beyond our website.
  2. If you see our rescue on Petfinder and click their "inquiry" button, you send an email to us and we respond asking you to submit an adoption application (available online https://tinylovingcanines.wufoo.com/forms/z7x3k7/) or to come into the rescue center at 1736 Erringer Road, 2nd Floor, Simi Valley, CA and do it in person.
  3. We are owned, run and operated by volunteers - many who also have full-time jobs as well.  We do our best to answer all emails within 24 hours, and approve any adoption applications within 48 (or advise you otherwise and why).
  4. Once you have been sent in the adoption application and received a return email indicating you have been approved, the approval is valid only for 24 hours.  After that time, we will assume you are no longer interested in the dog or puppy and will discard your information.
  5. Rescue work is very fluid and organic - we can receive and approve numerous adoption applications on the same dog or puppy (and do). Because you have received an approved adoption application email, that does not guarantee you will be adopting them (i.e. the puppy is ONLY approved to be adopted by you) - we do not hold dogs and puppies based upon approved adoption applications.  There are just too many dogs and puppies getting ready to die in shelters and we have only so much space to save their lives.
  6. If you have submitted an adoption application, have been approved and contacted via email of the same, we cannot hold the specific dog or puppy for you unless you are willing to put down a 50% nonrefundable adoption deposit (for exact amounts, please see #9 below).  This can ONLY be done online via PayPal (link is on our website under http://www.tinylovingcanines.org/donate.html) or in person - we no longer accept credit card numbers over the phone as we will not have your signature on the required credit card receipt for our files.
  7. We are not a boarding facility, nor do we have a boarding permit by county ordinances to do this for you.  Once you start the process, please be prepared to see it through to the end and pick up your dog or puppy.
  8. We STRONGLY recommend that you think long, hard and well before considering adopting a dog or puppy.  Puppies especially are expensive the first year of their life.  Most of our rescues have a life-span of 15 to 20 years, so if you are not prepared to take care of them and have them live out their natural life, step back and rethink this idea before adopting.
  9. Our adoption donations are fixed and tax deductible.  This allows us to fund the huge amount of vet costs we incur each year and continue to save the next dog or litter of puppies waiting to die tomorrow (in 2015, our vet bills ran over $100,000 BTW).  Dogs over 5 years or with us for more than 6 months are $200.  Dogs and puppies between 6 months and 5 years are $350.  Puppies under 6 months are $500.
  10. Each dog or puppy will be spayed/neutered and microchipped prior to adoption.  Their shots and vaccines will be up to date (*) at time of adoption.  Each adoption packet includes a complimentary visit with our vet and a 10% off coupon at Theresa's Country Feed within 5 days of adoption. Each adoption packet includes a complimentary free groom at Indiana Bones Temple of Groom - these services require a copy of our adoption agreement to receive.
  11. We do not 'guarantee' the health of any dog or puppy we have saved from the shelters.  We receive very little information beyond they were picked up as a stray or are owner surrendered.  As such, we have little background information to pass onto you - we can only advise you of what we have observed, if we've taken them to the vet and what they were treated for.   Again, once you have adopted, you take on all medical responsibility for any immediate issues or long ranging health issues, so think carefully before adopting under financial constraints and issues.

(*) If over 3 months, dogs and puppies will be vaccinated against rabies.  Adult dogs will have both bordetella (kennel cough) and vaccinated against the core diseases.  If the puppy litter was born with us, they will have three series of puppy vaccines (4 weeks, 6 weeks and 8 weeks).  If not, our vaccination protocols start when they arrive, and you will be advised they do not have the recommended 3 series of puppy vaccines on your adoption contract at time of adoption.  Some vets recommend 4 series - all vets have different opinions as to when and how many - we follow the protocols for shelter medicine established by U.C. Davis.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Rescue Juice

As I sit here about 4AM, listening to the rain coming down in buckets outside, I think about all the homeless dogs that are still out on the streets - bunkered down in some nook trying to stay dry and out of the rain for the night - or still in shelters tonight... 

Momma lays at my feet, all nice and dry... Fiesty is laying by her side, curled up on a blanket... They are safe and dry, living in the day and maybe a bit of tomorrow in their dreams... 

The house is nice and quiet - a time for me to think and get a start on the paperwork that has become my 'day-off' routine... But my mind continues to wander back to the homeless, unwanted pets that are still out there on the streets or in the shelters... What an awful existence they have until they are found, rescued or saved... 

I wish, after all of these years in rescue, I could understand the human species... How they could so easy throw away a dog or puppy like yesterday's newspaper... 

I talked to someone yesterday who asked if we could take in their dog because they were moving... I asked why they picked a new place that didn't allow them to bring their furry family member, and they replied they did not know... 

How do you 'not know'?... Would you leave a child behind because you decided to move somewhere?... Your new place only has one extra bedroom and you have two children - so you leave one behind at a neighbor's or on the streets to fend for themselves?...

Momma has just taken one of those big, deep sighs that only 'wanted' furry family members have... She rolls a bit to her side and stretches out, touching a part of Fiesty's arm... In turn, Fiesty's paw reaches out so very slowly and touches back... A 76-pound Pitty and a 3-pound YorkChi... 

And I realize that God is (once again) speaking through my furry family members --- asking me to take today - one day at a time - and continue the journey of No-Kill in my generation... He chooses to give me these 'Kodak moments' to remind me that we cannot save them all... And that we will continue to do more than most... But that I too should stay in the 'today and a bit of tomorrow'... 

I want to share a beautiful picture, and certainly not because I am in it... Those who know me, know how much I dislike photos and the limelight... Yesterday a wonderful couple came into the rescue center and fell in love with one of our little pups who had just come out of my nursery and up for adoption yesterday... 

Jelly (the pup's name) had taken on the care-taking role of her bud she'd been in the shelter with... And Peanut Butter (her bud) had just gotten adopted 30 minutes prior... Jelly was finally able to take on her own life and look for a furever family... This couple walked in, and the mom gravitated towards Jelly, who seemed to immediately relax in her arms... Hubby came to the educational corner of the rescue center and sat down - Jelly shortly thereafter fell asleep in the comforting circle of their bodies on the couch... 

This is what we rescue folks call 'rescue juice'... It is the 'nitro' we get injected with when we see one of our dogs find a great, furever home... Daily we rescue folks see the dregs of humanity and the inhumanity towards these precious, tender souls?  Well, it wears down on your soul eventually... Most of us old-timer rescue folks burn out and retire, believing we will never stop the killing of healthy, adoptable pets in our lifetime... 

And then it happens... that shot of rescue juice 'sunshine' streams through a heavy bank of rain clouds... 




And it regenerates you to plow on and save another life tomorrow!... 

Thank-you, Jelly and your new fur parents for the beautiful moment you all shared with me and the other TLC volunteers yesterday!... 

Love and hugs,
A long, happy furever life... 
Linda