Offering Alternatives To Would-be Adopters

[Gertrude139]

Something along the lines of ' ........... thank you for your enquiry, and for giving us so much information about your situation. Unfortunately due to ZXY we dont believe that little rover would be suitable, however, we do think that we may have something/someone who would suit your family. Please check out the below profiles, and if you would like to know more about anyone, please let us know.

The rescues I know well would respond with this sort of thing and would usually ask if the application form could be kept on file and if you would like to be contacted if they have a dog they think might be suitable for you in the future.

Perhaps you drew a short straw with your chosen rescue?

Regarding recommending a more local rescue, I think that would be hard in most cases, particularly at a distance. I can't imagine recommending a rescue to someone just because I know it is in the area near them, I would want to have had dealings with the rescue personally before giving a personal recommendation.

Unfortunately there are always going to be rescues out there which leave a lot to be desired. I think all we can do is spread the word about the good ones.

[mixeduppup]

Korrigan. Please email me if you would like suggestions of local rescues that I can personally recommend. We have some brilliant ones out this way.

[rebelsquest]

Okay, as I said let the bloodbath begin.

1. Puppy classes and plenty of opportunities for socialisation exist here. The question was not even asked.

2. If just one rescue considers how their reply would sound to a would be adopter I would be happy

3. Covered the shring of information question with the diclaimer and asking permission.

4. Knock yourselves out, absenting mjyself fomr this forum - should have known better

I don't get what your issue is, no one was harsh/rude, several people said they could see it from your side as well as the rescue's side.

[Alkhe]

I think I read the OP differently to everybody else - I read it as a general question/suggestion to rescue groups, that when rejecting applications for a particular dog, they include some sort of suggestion about other rescues in the area. Ie, more than just a 'no', but 'you weren't selected for this dog, but perhaps have a look at group XXX or consider this other dog that we have in care'. Something like that?

I didn't really read it as a gripe at not having been given the particular dog?

[Loving my Oldies]

I think I read the OP differently to everybody else - I read it as a general question/suggestion to rescue groups, that when rejecting applications for a particular dog, they include some sort of suggestion about other rescues in the area. Ie, more than just a 'no', but 'you weren't selected for this dog, but perhaps have a look at group XXX or consider this other dog that we have in care'. Something like that?

I didn't really read it as a gripe at not having been given the particular dog?

Yes, I thought so too, Alkhe.

Unfortunately she was complaining about the Rescue Group's communication skills when her own were pretty poor.

[shmoo]

You've had a bad experience and now lumped us all in the same basket.

[chuckandsteve]

I think I read the OP differently to everybody else - I read it as a general question/suggestion to rescue groups, that when rejecting applications for a particular dog, they include some sort of suggestion about other rescues in the area. Ie, more than just a 'no', but 'you weren't selected for this dog, but perhaps have a look at group XXX or consider this other dog that we have in care'. Something like that?

I didn't really read it as a gripe at not having been given the particular dog?

Yes, I thought so too, Alkhe.

Unfortunately she was complaining about the Rescue Group's communication skills when her own were pretty poor.

I read all replys wondering how ppl didnt understand she was talking about the delivery of the response not the no.

I have passed on other groups details, admitting to both the potential adopter and group that i knew neither of them well. But both were happy for a potential adoption lead.

I think groups need to consider that PR presents as 1 place, 1 group. So ppl lump all groups on there together so I think its important to offer a suggestion when saying no of where to look next.

Edited January 2, 2013 by chuckandsteve

[keetamouse]

Okay, as I said let the bloodbath begin.

1. Puppy classes and plenty of opportunities for socialisation exist here. The question was not even asked.

2. If just one rescue considers how their reply would sound to a would be adopter I would be happy

3. Covered the shring of information question with the diclaimer and asking permission.

4. Knock yourselves out, absenting mjyself fomr this forum - should have known better

I get the strong feeling that you are over reacting and reading into the replys when there is nothing to react to I don't see a blood bath here Korrigan the replys so far have been very tame and are directed at the rescue without any malice and certainly no malice towards you, so am very confused as to what part of people's relys are upsetting you

Maree

CPR

[Cheyd]

If the dog that you were applying for with us was not suitable or available, I always suggest another similar dog that I might have in care. I also make sure they realise why I have decided this and its not usually anything wrong with their application - it might be as simple as timing as to why they cant have that particular dog

If I know of another suitable dog in rescue - I will definitely recommend them but I dont always have time to troll through rescue sites looking for something suitable for them but happy to network on their behalf if I can

It can be very hard to decipher any inference or tone when reading an email and when its not what you want to hear, well its even harder to take so I always try to call people that I am unable to adopt to, I think it makes it a bit more personal and I can explain things in my own clumsy way

Time of year can also have a bearing on how quickly you will get answers and how polite they might be - enquire just before Christmas or Easter when phones are running hot with people wanting to surrender dogs and you will get a different reply to perhaps a reply you might recieve during a quieter time of the year

[tdierikx]

Okay, as I said let the bloodbath begin.

1. Puppy classes and plenty of opportunities for socialisation exist here. The question was not even asked.

2. If just one rescue considers how their reply would sound to a would be adopter I would be happy

3. Covered the shring of information question with the diclaimer and asking permission.

4. Knock yourselves out, absenting mjyself fomr this forum - should have known better

OK - now I'm confused... it took 11 pretty mild, but mostly informative posts (and in a few cases agreeing with you), and just over 1 hour, for you to become totally disillusioned with this thread.

Rather than staying the distance and putting forward some more ideas - I did like some of your original ones by the way - you've essentially thrown up your hands and declared that it's all too hard and taken your bat and ball and gone home...

You may be a great home for a rescue dog, just not for the particular one you had your heart set on. Please remember that each rescue has only the best interests for the dogs in their care, and in this case, your home/offer wasn't what they were looking for. Their response gave you their reasons for not offering the dog to you, and now you feel rejected - that's normal, OK? But it's not a reflection on you personally, just that you were not considered the best home for that particular dog.

When I have to reply to potential adopter enquiries, and said adopter may not be suitable for the dog they are applying for, I will suggest other dogs in our care instead, or recommend contacting certain other rescues that may have dogs in their care that would suit - but I leave that contacting of the other rescues up to the prospective adopter. We have had referrals from other rescues as well, but it's always been the adopter that has to make the contact.

T.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

You've had a bad experience and now lumped us all in the same basket.

Quite. Wondering if you've ever applied for a job? Did you get it? Did you apply for any other jobs after getting that job? Did you get them all? Probably not. Did you then say to yourself "well, that didn't work for me, I'm not going to ever apply for a job again." Or did you begin a campaign of harassment against the company that didn't hire you? Perhaps, most likely not.

With regards to how I respond to people, I normally prefer to speak to them and discuss other options available. If it must be done by email (ie perhaps that is their preference), then I take the time to explain why this particular dog is not suitable. I also suggest other options to consider. One example though, if they haven't got any fencing then I'm not sure what you'd expect me to do there - i wouldn't be recommending any animal for them.

Likewise if they live in a loft apartment and work full time and study or go out in the evenings - what would you recommend for that? (This was a recent surrender to my rescue group, no dog would be suitable for this life but someone had allowed them to have a puppy, they finally worked out for themselves that this wasn't a good idea).

So many scenarios to consider and I take each one as an individual case so can't give a blanket answer to all but suffice to say I'm naturally a helpful and understanding person who hates the mass euthanasia of unwanted pets so I do my best.

I've had more than one person tell me that because I've said no, that I have forced them to go to a petshop. No I haven't. They probably wanted an excuse to do it in the first place because they wanted "easy". They are the ones that are lacking something (ie common sense, reasoning ability, conscience) - not me.

Edited January 2, 2013 by dogmad

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

And for your interest, I too was turned down for a rescue dog I applied for and I wasn't happy either, I thought that it was wrong as I had done what was asked of me - taken my dogs with me to meet the dog and they all got along really well.

I put on my big girl panties and got on with life and thought it wasn't meant to be. It was a rare breed I was very keen to have so it wasn't going to be a situation that was likely to repeat itself in the next 10 yrs or so.

That's life.

[Aphra]

I'm sorry you were disappointed by not being able to adopt a puppy, but as rescuers our job is to find the best possible home for the animals in our care. Sometimes it's a matter of making a call; possibly someone else also applied for the puppy but was closer to the rescue group, and the decision was made that way. For some dogs we get lots of applications; you might get several, all of them good, but in the end you only have one dog or cat to rehome and short of Solomon's judgement, have to make a call.

We rarely do interstate adoptions and always want people to meet the dog or cat first, so we have refused people on geographical grounds.

However, we often get applications that people have submitted for other rescue groups sent to us and we're happy to use them rather than insist people fill out our form.

If we turn someone down for a dog because we have a lot of adopters, or because of distance, we generally suggest rescue groups closer to them, or groups who specialise. So if someone applied for one of our working dogs and were unsuccessful we'll refer them to SLK/AWDRI/Farmdogz. If we know a rescue group has the kind of dog people are looking for, we'll happily direct them to that group.

We're also happy for people to submit applications for a type of dog if we have nothing suitable at the time and we'll look out for an appropriate dog.

But it's really time-consuming just keeping up with enquiries, reply to questions, reading applications, setting up appointments and etc. I work full time and spend dozens of hours a week answering email and phone enquiries.

Someone like Pet Rescue could possibly offer a central database where people could deposit an application or expression of interest for a particular kind of dog, and rescues could mine it for potential homes.

[mixeduppup]

I honestly think that most rescues do enough without adding more work. Most rescues also work normal jobs, go to pounds, vets, shelters, trainers, raise dogs, work out foster carers, support adopters, transport, work out money and donations etc. I think adopters need to step up to the plate, because they don't have to do anything apart from provide a good, caring home and fill out paperwork. I think trawling through potential adopters from other rescues and contacting them, then finding out that half of them aren't interested any more or have a puppy from somewhere else would be very frustrating and futile. Something has to be the adopters responsibility and applying again and again shows that they are serious.

[kayla1]

You've had a bad experience and now lumped us all in the same basket.

Quite. Wondering if you've ever applied for a job? Did you get it? Did you apply for any other jobs after getting that job? Did you get them all? Probably not. Did you then say to yourself "well, that didn't work for me, I'm not going to ever apply for a job again." Or did you begin a campaign of harassment against the company that didn't hire you? Perhaps, most likely not.

With regards to how I respond to people, I normally prefer to speak to them and discuss other options available. If it must be done by email (ie perhaps that is their preference), then I take the time to explain why this particular dog is not suitable. I also suggest other options to consider. One example though, if they haven't got any fencing then I'm not sure what you'd expect me to do there - i wouldn't be recommending any animal for them.

Likewise if they live in a loft apartment and work full time and study or go out in the evenings - what would you recommend for that? (This was a recent surrender to my rescue group, no dog would be suitable for this life but someone had allowed them to have a puppy, they finally worked out for themselves that this wasn't a good idea).

So many scenarios to consider and I take each one as an individual case so can't give a blanket answer to all but suffice to say I'm naturally a helpful and understanding person who hates the mass euthanasia of unwanted pets so I do my best.

I've had more than one person tell me that because I've said no, that I have forced them to go to a petshop. No I haven't. They probably wanted an excuse to do it in the first place because they wanted "easy". They are the ones that are lacking something (ie common sense, reasoning ability, conscience) - not me.

There are even a few applicants that use this as a threat almost - if you don't give me a dog then I'm going to a pet shop!

I think part of the problem is also that some people just don't want to take responsibility for their own actions. So instead of acknowledging that going to a pet shop is a course of action they choose to take, they attempt to justify it by blaming the rescue group.

[keetamouse]

I noticed that Korrigan hasn't been back on.....

[Loving my Oldies]

Whoever she was just wanted a fight so let's hope she is gone for good LOL.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

Rejection can hurt, but, there would be almost no-one out there, including me, who would be suitable for all rescue dogs.

Rescue is not a single entity either. Some rescues already suggest alternatives. There isn't universal agreement about how to handle each sale. If another rescue with different views about socialisation had been managing it the OP may have got the dog.

In life there are also usually people who do better than us, and who do worse than us. If one of the ones doing better is applying for the same dog, then we're not likely to be successful even if we are an otherwise competent and affectionate dog owner.

One thing tho', if a person reacts very poorly to a reasonably stated rejection, I would consider that I'd done the right thing in not selling them a dog. One of the things I'm looking for in a dog owner for my breed is the ability to calmly come up with a solution when things don't go the owner's way.

[yes I'm talking about rescues, I have gotten thoroughly sick of the language of "adoption"]

[Loving my Oldies]

Rejection can hurt, but, there would be almost no-one out there, including me, who would be suitable for all rescue dogs.

One thing tho', if a person reacts very poorly to a reasonably stated rejection, I would consider that I'd done the right thing in not selling them a dog. One of the things I'm looking for in a dog owner for my breed is the ability to calmly come up with a solution when things don't go the owner's way.

[Not whole post quoted.]

Couldn't agree with you more on both points, SSM