Adoption Info

If you are hesitant to keep your dog during good times and bad, during household moves, family changes, or any other significant life changes, please look no further.

We are so glad you wish to adopt and want to make the process easy and enjoyable for you while also maintaining the best of care for our adoptable dogs.

In this section, you will find information about our adoption process and adoptable dogs. Please read the information below prior to accessing the application.

Adoption donation rates @ Bottom of Page

Adoption is a lifetime commitment.

Adopting a dog is a lifetime commitment. You are adding a new member to your family, just like adopting a child. Every rescue dog comes with an adjustment period and a 10-year plus time commitment.

Each dog had its own story, history, and issues. Some have been dumped in shelters, found roaming the streets, neglected, and/or abused. We make every effort to match our rescue dogs with compatible forever homes, but it is up to your new companion to adjust to your home and family. To help ensure a successful placement, we work with our applicants and adopters to answer questions before, during, and after each adoption.

IMPORTANT!

Please note that we are not in the business of selling dogs, but we do have an adoption donation that is expected at the time of adoption to help cover the costs of caring for the dog whilst in our care, including but not limited to: food, vaccines, medications, spay/neuter, and any other expenses incurred while the dog is in foster care. Please do not confuse our adoption donation as profit-making, as we are a non-profit organization, meaning we do not financially gain profits from the adoption of our dogs. When we get dogs in, we do our best to find them qualified adoptive families. We do not seek out dogs to rescue, nor do we take every dog that comes to us. Each dog tendered to us by a person or shelter is evaluated for sociability with people and dogs. If the dog demonstrates any aggression, or if we deem that the animal is not suitable, it will not be accepted into the rescue. This is done at the sole discretion of Cinnie Parkins and Ashley Foradada, and all decisions are final.

Adoption Process

Ready to add a German Shepherd to your family?

Submit an Application

The Adoption Application will let us know a little bit about you, your home, your lifestyle, and what you are looking for in a canine companion. The application will ask for several kinds of references. Please let your veterinarian, landlord, personal references, and any other parties know that we will be calling, and they have your permission to speak with us.

Reference Check

Once you have submitted your application, a MCGSR volunteer will call your landlord (if applicable), personal references, and veterinary references.

Please note: Personal references should not be related to you in any way, nor be anyone who has any stake in your approval such as a spouse or domestic partner. In order to avoid delays, please let your references know we will be reaching out to them and ask them to check their phoners for missed calls and/or their spam folder for emails. The vet reference is for any current or deceased (within the past 3 years) pets for which you have had personal ownership or responsibility. If you have multiple veterinary sources, such as mobile vaccine clinic or the like, please provider these records to your primary vet.

Home Visit

Following a check of your references, a MCGSR volunteer will contact you to arrange for a Virtual Home Visit. During this visit, the volunteer will need to meet all members of your household, your pets, and will virtually walk through your home and yard. We will discuss the adoption process with you, answer any questions you may have, and discuss the dog in which you are interested during this time. After the home visit is completed, the volunteer will submit a Home Visit Report to MCGSR. At that time, a decision will be made to either accept or deny your application. MCGSR is a breed specific rescue and reserves the right to be particular about the homes that are selected for our rescued GSDs.

Dog Match

Once you have been approved as an adopter, arrangements will be made to put you in touch with foster parents to arrange meetings with a compatible dog. We use the outdoor facility at Macon County Animal Services for meet-and-greets to ensure the most neutral and safe introduction for all. A great way to meet more than one dog is to attend a local adoption event.

Foster parents know their dogs better than anyone. Communicating with the foster parent of the dog of choice is appropriate. If the dog in which you are interested is not local, you are expected to drive to meet the dog. That could result in you bringing the dog home the same day but is not a guarantee. Most meetings will take place at Macon County Animal Services at 1377 Lakeside Drive, Franklin, NC 28734.

Acclimation Period

We understand that you may not be sure how a dog will work out to fit your family’s needs, without bringing it home first. We offer suggestions to make sure the dog becomes a suitable family member. Training is necessary for German Shepherd Dogs. If for any reason you cannot keep your adopted dog, you must return the dog to Macon County German Shepherd Rescue. If you have traveled to obtain your dog, it is expected that you will return your dog to the rescue in the event that it does not work out. Our goal is to place the right dog in the right home, but there is an adjustment period for every adoption, which we refer to as our Three-Week Acclimation Period.

The foster parent of your dog or an MCGSR representative will contact you to find out how things are going.

*****Please remember, we are all volunteers working around our schedules. The approval process can take up to a month to complete, and there may be periods of time you do not hear from us. Please be patient while we are working to process your application.*****

Please note: If approved, your approval will be good for one year from the date of approval. If there is a change in your address or family status, please notify us. There are no guarantees you will adopt the dog for which you submitted an application. There may be multiple applications for that dog, and the dog may have been adopted by the time your application is approved. Or, that dog may not be a good fit for your family situation, e.g., the dog may not be food with children or other dogs, not handle houses with stairs, or one of many other situations. We want each dog to go to the home best suited to that particular dog to assure a lifetime and loving home that is trouble-free.

If you have any questions about our process, please contact us!

Adoption Requirements

Some things to know.

Adopter's Minimum Age

You must be 21 or older to adopt one of our dogs.

Current AND New Pet Care Requirements

Required-Spay/Neuter*

Required-Vaccines against Rabies (required by law)

Required-Annual Heartworm testing

Required-DHPP/DHLPP/DH2PP (Parvovirus, Distemper, Hepatitis)**

Required-Preventatives for Heartworm and Flea/Tick protection

Recommended-Annual wellness visit

Optional-Bordetella, Lyme/Borrelia, Leptospirosis (highly recommended)

NOTE:

* - Unless advised against by a veterinarian.

** - If vaccines are declined by the owner, annual titer tests are required.

Commitment of Adopting a Puppy

-If you adopt a puppy less than six months old, the puppy may not be spayed or neutered, and the required vaccinations may not have been completed, which will need to be done per adoption agreement.

-A $250.00 spay/neuter deposit will be required, and you will be required to spay/neuter your puppy at six months of age or soon after if waiting is medically required by a veterinarian (documentation needs to be provided for these cases). Your deposit will be refunded upon proof of spay/neuter.

-You need to make sure you have sufficient time to dedicate to a puppy. All puppies are different, but a puppy can usually only hold their waste for the same number of hours as their age in months. In other words, a four-month-old pup should not be left alone for more than four consecutive hours without an opportunity to go outside. They can last longer at night since they are inactive just as we can. By the time your pup is about four months old, they should be able to make it through the night without going outside. If you do not have the time required for a baby puppy, you may want to consider a pup over six months old or a more mature dog over two years old.

Adoption Donations

Adoption donations help us provide life-saving care for pups and help defray the cost of food, supplies, and veterinary care given to your dog prior to adoption. This care includes some or all of the following (but not limited to): all vaccinations, heartworm testing and treatment if needed, preventatives for heartworms, intestinal worms, fleas, and ticks, fecal testing and deworming if needed, microchipping, and surgery for spay/neuter. Your adoption donation also helps feed and provide care for other dogs who are in need of extensive medical treatment or additional time to find their new family. Our adoption donation rates vary depending on the age, medical, and behavioral conditions of the dog and is NON-REFUNDABLE.

-Puppies (6 months and under): $650

-Puppies (6-18 months): $450

-Adolescent Dogs (1.5-4 years old): $350

-Adult Dogs (4-7 years old): $300

-Senior Dogs (over 7 years old): $250

-Spay/Neuter Deposit: $250

(for intact pups, refundable upon proof of spay/neuter)

SAVE THE SHEPHERDS!