Surrendering Your Boston
Are you having difficulties with your Boston Terrier that are leading you to consider giving the dog away? Before you make that decision, we would like to help you find solutions that will allow you to keep your dog as a member of your family. While we can’t guarantee miracles, we do have extensive experience in dealing with a multitude of issues and can certainly offer suggestions and alternatives to giving up your dog.
A good first step is to visit this site: Can We Help You Keep Your Pet?
If you don’t find a solution there please Email Us and let us know about your particular situation. Please make sure you include your name, address (including city and state) and phone number and the names and ages of all the pets in your home. If the Boston is causing problems in your home, let us know what they are and what actions you have taken to improve the situation. Let us know if you have or are willing to consult a trainer who can teach the dog and you to change behaviors. Sometimes a behavior can be changed with a little work and a family is able to keep their dog. This is the preferred solution!
SURRENDERING YOUR BOSTON TERRIER TO BOSTON BUDDIES:
We understand that sometimes despite your best efforts it is necessary to surrender your Boston. People move, become ill or die or are no longer able to care for the needs of a Boston Terrier. Sometimes the best solution is for Boston Buddies to take the dog and find it a new home.
Boston Buddies will take in Boston Terriers being surrendered by their owners on a space available basis. We do not turn away Boston Terriers due to their age, health or any other factor as long as our resources at that time are sufficient to allow the rescue effort. Please understand that because we do not have unlimited resources and foster space, it is necessary for us to prioritize the dogs we take into rescue. Dogs coming from a shelter, where they are in danger of being euthanized, and unclaimed strays are given first and top priority. Next are dogs in need of immediate health care that their owners cannot provide. We then consider other dogs. For an owner surrender, it may be necessary to wait a few days or even weeks before we can take your dog into rescue.
Please do not wait to contact us about surrendering your Boston until the last minute! We are a small group of rescuers and do not have a kennel facility. It may take time for us to find an available foster placement for your dog so we ask you to please take this into consideration and plan ahead. We often ask that relinquishing owners foster their dogs while we look for a permanent home for them. If you are unable to care for your dog any longer and we do not have an available foster home, we ask that you contribute to the cost of boarding them. Sometimes this is not possible and we will still take the dog; but since we are funded by donations, we hope that you will help us out while we help you by finding a forever home for your dog.
THE SURRENDER PROCESS
Intake Questionnaire: If you have arrived at the conclusion that there is no other solution than to relinquish your dog to rescue, then the first step is fill out the Online Owner Surrender Intake Questionnaire, or to download this Owner Relinquish Agreement – PDF complete it and either fax (866-371-8925) or email (contactus@bostonbuddies.org) it back to us together with a photo of your Boston Terrier. Once we have received and reviewed the Intake Questionnaire and photo our Owner Intake Coordinator will contact you to discuss the surrender of your Boston. Please do not leave multiple messages or send multiple emails inquiring about your Intake Questionnaire – we will get back to you as soon as we can. PLEASE NOTE: We will not discuss the surrender of your Boston with you until such time as we have received a completed Intake Questionnaire and photo of your dog.
Owner Relinquish Agreement: We will ask you, and any other owners of the dog, to sign an Owner Relinquish Agreement, giving Boston Buddies ownership of the dog at the time you surrender the dog to us. The Owner Relinquish Agreement allows us to take custody, provide medical care and place the dog in a new home. Please be sure you want to surrender your Boston before you sign the Owner Relinquish Agreement and give us the dog. Your signature represents a permanent decision on your part.
Medical Records: We will ask you for any medical records you have for the dog and the name and contact information for your vet. We may ask you to have your vet fax copies of your dog’s file to us. Vaccination and license paperwork is very helpful because it will allow us to avoid unnecessary duplicate vaccinations if the dog is up to date.
Surrendering the Dog: Finally, we will make an appointment for you to bring the dog to us. Please bring along anything that belongs to the dog. Its own collar, leash, crate, bowl, bedding, and toys will ease the dog’s transition into foster care. Many Bostons suffer an upset stomach and diarrhea when their food changes suddenly. A supply of the food your dog has been eating, at least several days’ worth, will help its digestive system make the transition. We try to make the dog as comfortable as possible as it leaves one home and joins another.
Please understand that we consider adoptions through our organization to be closed, meaning that we do not reveal the identities of either the surrendering or adopting parties. Your privacy will be protected. While we stay in contact with the families who adopt Bostons through our rescue to make sure everything is going well, we do not stay in touch with families that surrender dogs to us.
CAUTION – DO NOT OFFER YOUR BOSTON – OR ANY PET –
AS “FREE TO GOOD HOME”
We routinely see pets, including Bostons, listed in online and print ads as free to good home. While the owners of these animals may have the best of intentions and are truly looking for a responsible family to provide their pet with a loving home, the reality is that they are putting their animal at great risk.
For a frank discussion on “The Tragedy of Free to Good Home”, please Click Here