Adoption Process
We're so excited that you want to adopt a dog from Fawn's Small Dog Rescue. Here's a quick overview of our adoption process along with some important reminders.
Important Reminders
Fawn's Small Dog Rescue is volunteer run and operated.
We cannot contact every applicant due to the volume of applications we receive.
The best way to stay up to date on a particular dog is to check their status on our website or social media.
Adopting a dog affects everyone in your household, before you apply make sure everyone is excited and ready to care for a new family member.
Adopters must be 21 years or older.
Adoption radius: Our foster and adoption radius is within 150 miles of Jacksonville, FL.
Complete the Adoption Application
Here's what to do if you are interested in adopting from Fawn's:
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Select Submit an Application on an Adoptable Dog (view Adoptable Dogs).
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Complete the Adoption Application, after you submit your application you will see a confirmation screen.
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Applications are reviewed by our volunteer staff on a rolling basis. We are looking for the best fit for each of our dogs.
Application Review
We confirm the applicant is the best fit for the dog by:
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Background check: A Fawn's representative will review a basic background check
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Vet check: A Fawn's representative calls your vet to confirm that any current animals are fixed (spayed/neutered), up-to-date on their vaccinations, currently take heartworm/flea/tick preventatives.
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Reference check: A Fawn's representative calls your personal reference for a conversation.
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Conversation with the foster: The volunteer fostering the dog you applied for will contact you for a conversation to learn more about the foster dog. You'll be able to ask them questions as well.
Final steps
All three of these steps are usually completed in one visit. Where we do a basic home visit, introduce new dog to resident to resident pets, and sign the adoption contract.
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Home visit: The foster visits the house to complete a basic inspection to ensure it is pet friendly and safe.
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Meet and Greet: If you have current pets, the foster will work with you to facilitate an appropriate meet and greet to ensure everyone gets along. This is often done as a part of the Home Visit.
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Adoption Contract: If everyone is happy, the foster will guide you through the adoption contract and how to submit your adoption donation.
Frequently
Asked
Questions
Q: Can I do a meet and greet before I apply for a dog?
As a foster-based dog rescue each of our dogs are in foster homes. For the safety and privacy of our foster families, we facilitate meet and greets only for those potential adopters with approved applications. This is generally done as a part of the home visit, in rare cases it may be done separately.
For that reason, each adoption through Fawn's Small Dog Rescue officially begins with a 7-day adoption trial. On day seven, we contact the adopters and confirm that the adoption is official.
Now, it's possible you may meet a Fawn's foster dog while out and about. Many of our foster's bring their dogs with them on errands or other places around town as they work on their socialization skills.
Q: How can I standout as a potential adopter?
At a baseline, the easiest way to stand out is to make sure you read each question and have detailed responses. Here's two examples one is the minimum and the other is the standout.
The minimum:
Vet Clinic (000) 000-0000
The standout:
Dr Brown at Vet Clinic, Complete Address, (000) 000-0000
Dr Brown and their team know we plan to adopt a dog this year. We have given them permission to answer your questions as a part of our application.
For dogs with specific requirements, consider mentioning how you plan to meet their needs in the Additional Comments section of the application. This is crucial if you are asking us to make an exception on a particular requirement. Explain why the exception should be made based on your experience, etc.
Another way to standout is to let us know your care plan for your dogs if something were to happen to you. Whether temporary hospitalization or the worst case scenario. Our Fawn's Alumni are always welcome, however, as a foster based organization we must have available fosters to accept any of our dogs back. Knowing you have a plan in place for your dogs shows us how you are thinking of them long term.
Please make sure that your reference knows you have applied to adopt a dog and they may receive a call.
Q: How long does the adoption application review take?
Our general policy is to accept and review applications on a rolling basis. In some cases, for particularly popular breeds of dogs we keep them on the adoption application for 24 hours or 10 applications - whichever comes first.
The application review process of a particular dog to the time of actual adoption depends on a variety of factors, such as:
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The number of dogs available for adoption.
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The number of applications the rescue has received for all dogs as well as any particular dog.
The level of detail and accuracy of the information you provide on your application can reduce the time it takes to:
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Complete your background survey.
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Get a hold of your current/prior vets.
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Speak to your reference.
Additionally, holidays often increase the time it takes to complete our application evaluations due to vet closures, vacations, or other unusual scheduling factors.
In some fortunate circumstances, an adoption can be finalized quickly, sometimes within days! In other cases, it can take several weeks.
Regardless, we ask for your patience and understanding! We are an all-volunteer non-profit organization. We all have jobs and families and other responsibilities in addition to our volunteering and fostering.
Q: Who decides if I get a dog?
Applications are reviewed by board members or other trusted volunteers. They complete the background, vet, and reference checks and interviews.
Approved adoption applications are sent on a rolling basis to the foster family who cares for the foster dog. The foster selects one or more potential adopters and reaches out to do a foster interview with them.
The foster discusses next steps with the application reviewers and they decide on if and what next steps they'd like to take. Our adoption process has more information on this topic.
We do our best to select the family and home that we feel is ideal based on the unique needs of each dog. All of these steps take time - thank you for your patience.
Our foster families may apply for their own foster dogs or foster dogs in our program. However they must follow the same rigorous process as anyone else. In most cases, the dogs adopted by foster families are ones that no one else has applied for; they often have chronic medical or behavioral problems.
Q: What is the donation amount for your adoptions?
Adoption donations generally range from $175 to $500 and are based on the individual dogs and their age, needs, and medical expenses (paid out while in our care). ALL of the adoption donations go to our foster dogs, their veterinary care, and other needs.
As a non-profit organization, our goal is for the adoption donations to cover the expenses of future foster dogs veterinary care and empower us to continue saving lives.
These donation amounts are subject to change based on veterinary costs and other factors. Thank you for your understanding and support!
Q: Do all of your foster dogs require a secure fence?
Short answer, no. If we require a secure fence for a dog it is specifically listed in the foster dog's profile.
That being said, we prioritize applicants with fully fenced yards, especially for dogs who are flight risks. Many of our foster dogs come from difficult situations and take time to build trust with their new humans or they have high prey drive. We err on the side of safety for each foster dog based on their background and unique needs.
Note: Invisible fence are not considered safe and secure. Invisible fences do not contain a dog running in fear, nor do they keep stray, unconfined animals from entering your property.