Home Visits for Adoption?

[cessena]

My boyfriend and I are trying to adopt a husky from a local breed rescue group. As part of their adoption process they do home visits. We are supposed to have ours on Saturday (and are franticly trying to finish unpacking, as we just moved in a month ago.) Can anyone give me any advice on this? What are they looking for etc?

I know we'd be a great home for any dog, I used to work with a local stray rescue, and we just got a house with a bigger than average (for Chicago) yard. I dont' want to miss out on bringing "our" dog home on a technicality.

We're currently discussing how we're gonna handle the whole, dog meet the cats scenario. Is that something we should have planned before the visit?

 

[patch]

I have never had a home visit, but I have heard of people that have had one, and from what I learnt...I think they will ask you a few questions, maybe about what food you will feed, training (maybe?), walkies...they will make sure your house is safe and you seem like genuine people (which I am sure you are!). Also making sure you have a safe garden/yard. This is all guesses, but it is what *I* would expect. Good luck and I'm sure you will do fine!

 

[miagi's_mommy]

I have never had a home visit or done one, but we require all bully breeds to have home visits and special needs animals at the shelter where I volunteer.. we basically look for living conditions and if it is good enough and clean enough for animal(s) to live in, that if you have other animal(s) that the food is fresh as well as the water, and fenceing to make sure it's secure, especially if you were to adopt a bully breed or a husky from us. most rescue
groups IMO should do home visits, especially if it's a husky rescue or a bully breed rescue.

btw I would make sure the husky is GOOD with cats, you would not want to risk it. I know some huskies that are fine with cats, but since they have a high prey drive, I would totally make sure the dog is OK with cats first.

all of my dogs, even my coonhound LOVE our cats.

 

[cessena]

"btw I would make sure the husky is GOOD with cats, you would not want to risk it. I know some huskies that are fine with cats, but since they have a high prey drive, I would totally make sure the dog is OK with cats first. all of my dogs, even my coonhound LOVE our cats. "

Thanks! I was worried about this too. Pilgrim's foster home says he is good with cats, apparently he chases their cats a little bit but just to play and always stops when he gets scolded. That was one of my big conditions on getting a husky, it had to either be a baby or be okay with cats. I'd be happy with just about any dog, but the boyfriend loooooves huskies. We will probably start working with him on the "leave it" command as soon as he moves in and try to keep him from chasing mine as much as possible.

Thanks for the reassurance, Our yard is fenced and our cats are spoiled rotten. I'm a little concerned because the landscaping of our place was basicly trashed by the previous renters (I don't think they owned a rake) so it looks like crap compared to all the other nice suburban houses. But I went through last weekend and picked up all the tras, glass and dog toys out of the yard so it's actually clean now, it just doesn't look very nice. I know it's probably not a big deal, turns out I'm more of a perfectionist than previously realized.

 

[lionessrampant]

You likely have nothing to hide. Most rescues do it if they have something that concerns them (these usually only happen after the animal has been adopted and is living in the home) or they do it to preempt anything, even minor issues, that might happen in a home. A lot of time, rescues will require this of homes with little dog experience, some require it with everyone. Basically, they'll want to make sure that everything on your application is true and also to help you through the transition.

Contact them about their home rules before the home visit. It's likely they won't dish every little detail about what they're looking for, but they should disclose any immediate and huge "deal breakers". Ask a lot of questions and do a lot of research.

And keep the kitties in a "safe room" on the day of the intro, and maybe even on the day of the inspection, as cats are very sensitive to change and new people at time, especially since these people will be moving throughout your home and looking over the kitties' territory. You'll want to keep kitties and puppy separate at all times, until you are absolutely 110% sure you can leave them together. This could take several months. Doggy should always be on a leash around the cats for the first few weeks, and let the cats have an escape route and DO NOT hold them up to the dog or allow the dog to chase them.

Where in Chicgao are you?

 

[cessena]

I think this rescue does home visits as a matter of course, and we haven't had a chance to actually meet anyone from the rescue yet, so I don't really mind.

We're up in Evanston, just moved there from lakeview.

This is the fourth place my cats have lived since I got them in early 05, which is pretty messed up. But it only took them about a week to love the new place, so they are pretty adaptable by now, which is a bonus. We had to move because there was a fire in the apartment above mine that caused a lot of water damage to our unit. It's been a chaotic couple of years but I'll be damned if I'm moving again.

 

[catsarebetter]

I don't think that packed boxes are going to be an issue. I think mostly that when they do home visits they like to sit and talk with you, and they're probably looking to make sure that you don't have garbage sitting around in your house.. that type of thing, but on the home visit we had for a rescue, we had boxes still packed. They mostly wanted to see, I think, what our cats currently looked like, and how they were cared for. They can tell a lot about how you care for an animal by how the animal looks.. sometimes they're looking to see if you smoke indoors. At least, that's my general knowledge of it. I'm not sure about the smoking thing/rescue groups, but my Bengal and Mau breeders wouldn't release cats to indoor smokers since it's bad for their health.

 

[mlynn]

Keep up updated and let us know how the Homestudy goes!!! Hopefully you will be celebrating a new addition to your family very soon.

 

[neely]

Our first apartment was in Evanston, I love that town! Regarding the husky rescue I think one of the most important things is a fenced in yard because huskies are runners and jumpers. Since you mentioned you have a yard with a fence, how high is it and is it in good condition or in need of repair? Do you have a crate already set up since as you mentioned huskies also have a high prey drive? I think this would be something else they will look for when conducting their inspection as they will want to know where the dog will be when you are not at home. They may also set up a situation and ask you how you would handle it. However, if they are coming to make an inspection of your home they must feel you are a good candidate and I'm sure that is in your favor. Best of luck, and enjoy the wonderful parks and lakefront in Evanston.

 

[cessena]

The home visit was last weekend, it went pretty well. We talked with the people about all the research we have done on huskies and why we want them, we showed them around our home and where we plan to put the crate (we don't have one yet as this is our first dog.) And we also showed them the screened in porch where he can hang out if we need to give the cats some dog free time. They seemed to like us, they showed us pictures of their pack, such pretty dogs, and even my shy kitty came out to say hi, and we talked about how they were both rescues. They were such a nice couple.

I think it is somewhat concerning that our fence is short (only 4'), but we talked to them about putting in a run for him so we could let him run out back sometimes, though I plan to take him for daily walks and stuff.

So we're just hoping they had good things to say. They said it would probably be two weeks before we found out. I hate waiting..... I can't wait to take our dog to the dog park near our house now that the weather is getting warm. Here's the dog we're trying to adopt! Fingers crossed!!

 

[scamperfarms]

Hope you get your boy. Hes a pretty one. I am a husky person too and am owned by one named Isis, I wouldnt worry about your land scapeing. Huskies are often diggers, lol.I have a 3 foot hole in my yard currently.

And the rescue was right about the height of the fence Huskies are jumpers and escape artists too, lol they like to run its in their blood.

But a run would be good. Also you could use a Lunge line (horse item) as a tie out. they are really long and let the pup run around a bit.

HOpe you hear from them soon being owned by a husky is fun

 

[catsarebetter]

One of the things I used to do is take my dog for a "run" while I rode my bike.. it worked really well for him. Another thing you might consider to give him a workout is getting a doggie backpack (Cesar recommended this) and it worked well when we had Elisa.. she did come back more exercised than if we walked her with out it. Only put in 10-12 percent of their weight total in the backpack, though. Anyway, just wanted to toss that up there for you because I know from when we had huskies that they're in dire need of exercise (and apparently working dogs like to carry the backpack).

Good luck with getting that pretty baby!

 

[EnzoLeya]

Oh he is such a pretty dog!!!! Good luck!

 

[cessena]

Yaaay! Our Application has been approved!!!!!

As long as the foster parents don't decide they can't part with him, he will soon be our dog. Now I just have to break the news to the cats.....

 

[catsarebetter]

Hehe, have fun breaking the news to them. Make sure you put armor on and hide all sharp objects. I'm going to have the same reaction when I tell Noel she's getting a *boy* kitten. Go figure.. she has no issues with girl kittens but when the boys grow up, she's got issues. Well, that being said, Noel just has issues....

 

[robbie]

As a Siberian breeder for the past 30 odd years I might add just a word of caution regarding introducing your dog to your cats.
Sibes can be quite agressive around smaller animals and will kill many of the smaller creatures on sight. They love to kill mice, snakes and other vermin so take things easy when getting your animal household together.
Good luck with your Sibe.
Robbie
ps All our fencing is 6ft tall and around the base we have railway ties to which our chain link is stapled

 

[jen]

Good thing they already know he is good with cats. Hopefully that doesn't change.

 

[cessena]

Okay, I'm FUMING!!! So we have been going through this adoption process for probably a month and a half at least. Home visit, reference checks, waiting, general torture. (Every correspondance takes at least a week.) And in the process we've gotten pretty attached to this particular dog.

Today my boyfriend gets an e-mail from the foster, telling us about how the dog is a door darter and a fence climber, that he chews when he's bored etc and that he might not be a good match, what about this other dog. It's basicly the same problems one woudl ahve with any husky, if they are bored, don't get enough excersize of attention they run, or get destructive.

Now, I can understand not wanting to adopt to us period, or y'know if there was some deal breaking thing. (Our yard is fenced, but we live on a busy street, and that is her concern.)

But the thing that really gets me is that these are behaviors this dog has developed while in the foster mom's care. The dog STARTED jumping fences while he was living with these people (they have like 8 dogs). And I totally understand that that many dogs is hard an training them just doesn't happen. I'm sure it is hard to make sure they all get enough attention even.

But to then not want to adopt a dog to a certain family because of bad habits he developed while in your care!! :censor::censor::censor:!?!?!

I'm more than willing to do lots of training, even if I adopted the worlds most angelic dog I would still train him to put his toys away. (Because it is fun.)

I'm SOOOO frustrated. But at this point going through all this with another group just seems daunting. And it is so frustrating because I just want to give a dog who needs one a loving home. (My boyfriend insists on a husky.) But they are making us jump through all these hoops.

Okay, I'm done venting now.

 

[catsarebetter]

Well she sounds like she's got a ton of dog knowledge (sarcasm). Obviously she's got a good heart but sounds like she's in over her head with that many dogs there. Huskies have to get lots of exercise and it sounds like she doesn't have the time. They do get bored and chew, especially if they're not exercised.. but a lot of that can be alleviated with a good amount of exercise daily. The fence jumping can be easily fixed. If you want to put him in the yard, add a chain and a run so that he can't jump the fence. Otherwise, just take him out on a leash. I don't really see what this woman's issue is.

Just tell her those are all problems that we have the time and ability to help that dog with and we aren't changing our mind. We want that dog. We seem to have more time and ability to work with him than you do at the moment, given your current foster status with all your pups, and I don't want to see him go to a home that can't handle him. We certainly can and will work with him, and he's got a forever home here despite his issues. Thank you, though for your concern. I'm sure it's because you want what is best for the animal and that's definitely admirable but this is a very good match, and he will have an excellent home here.

Don't back down on it. In theory, she's got to give that dog to "someone" at least if that's what she's claiming. If she's decided she's keeping it, then she's just making excuses.

 

[cessena]

We finally got our answer this week. The foster mom said no. Apparently he'd started out as a good dog but after living there for a while he started doing things like escaping and chewing. Gee I wonder why, with 10 dogs and her working 12 hours a day.

We asked about another dog but he's not cat friendly. And all the ones that are my boyfriend doesn't like. (He's sooo picky, he is why we have to get a husky in the first place.)

Anyway. Depressing. But thanks for the well wishes. I'm sure we'll find our dog eventually.