Dachshund

3/22/09: NEWS FLASH! Journey (now named "Jackson") has found a wonderful new home with a delightful family. This is their first dog; and they put lots of thought into preparing for pet ownership. We'd love to find more families like theirs! Journey loves to play ball with his new family, and will soon start an obedience class. His family is interested in pursuing agility training down the road, and we will help them find options for that. Hurrah for Journey!

Journey, a badly neglected and starved dog, was found by a wonderful Good Samaritan. When she was unable to locate an owner after an extensive search, she contacted us for help and we were glad to accept this dog into our program. He is a red smooth "tweeny" and once he gains more weight he will weigh about 14 pounds. Our vet estimates that Journey is about 4 years old. He is sweet and friendly with people and other dogs. His vet work will be complete by February 21rst and he will be ready to leave for his new home on March 6th. Journey loves to play ball--you can tell that from his pictures. Do you need a fun, ball playing dachshund in your life?

Can you give Journey a loving, permanent home with lots of attention? If so, read the rest of the information below and then contact us for an adoption application. Please be aware that our adoption applications are sent out by postal mail only, and are not sent by e-mail nor are they available on-line.

Before you contact us for an application, you must go to our group's website at: www.dfwdachshund.com/rescue and read *all* the FAQ's there. You will find information to most questions that you may have. In particular, please pay close attention to the information about the rescue dachshunds and housetraining. Dachshunds take extra time and patience to housetrain and it is important to know this before you apply to adopt.

Be aware that we do not have a public kennel facility for our dogs; our rescue dogs are fostered with individual families throughout the DFW Metroplex area. We do not permit visits to any of the rescue dogs until an interested household has filled out an application, and had a reference, vet and home check. Only screened and approved applicants may visit dogs available for adoption through our program. We will not hold dogs for homes that have not yet been approved by our rescue committee.

We rarely, if ever, have puppies available in our rescue program. If you are interested in a puppy, please contact us for the puppy referral packet to reputable breeders in our area.

In order to be considered for adoption through DFW Dachshund Rescue Foundation, you must:

Be over 21 years of age and have verifiable identification to that effect.

Be able to verify that you may have a pet where you live.

Live within the Dallas/Fort Worth area or no farther than a 50 mile drive from Dallas/Fort Worth to apply to adopt from us. We appreciate your understanding and hope that, if you live outside our service area, you will consider adopting a pet in your local area from a rescue group that services your part of the United States.

Be prepared to make a donation to our rescue efforts of $250.

Be willing to fill out an adoption application, the entire contents of which will be verified upon receipt.

Have a complete, secure, and safely fenced yard.

Be prepared to have a home visit from one of the rescue foundation members as part of the screening process to adopt this dog.

During the home visit, our representative will do a brief temperament evaluation of all current dogs in the household. We are unable to adopt to homes where any current dogs exhibit "people-aggressive" or "dog-aggressive" behaviors during the home visit. In addition, while we do not preclude adopters who currently own large breed dogs, due to size differential and a dachshund's predisposition to spinal injuries, we are also not able to adopt to homes when the board determines there may be potential for injury to the dachshund. This is to ensure a safe match for our rescued dachshunds.

Understand that DFW Dachshund Rescue Foundation has the right to deny *any* application for any reason. Reasons for the denial of any adoption application will *not* be discussed with the applicant.

While we do not preclude adopters who live in apartments or townhouses, be aware that most dachshunds bark a lot and generally do not make good apartment/townhouse dogs. We rarely have apartment/townhouse suitable dachshunds available for adoption. If you live in an apartment or townhouse and wish to apply, be aware that you may wait a year or more for a suitable dachshund from our program. In addition, for safety reasons, your apartment/townhouse must have ground floor access.

While we do not preclude families with children as potential adopters, it is important to be aware that dachshunds and other small and toy breeds, as a rule, do not respond well to the sudden moves, higher activity level and more impulsive behaviors typically shown by children under 7 years of age. Please be aware that we rarely get dachshunds that are a good match for homes with young children; so anyone applying would experience a wait of at least a year or more to find a suitable dog. Instead, you may want to expand your search to breeds that are known to be better with children; such as Labradors, golden retrievers and boxers. Larger dogs may be better able to tolerate the activity, noise and rough play that occur in a home with children. Another choice is to postpone the adoption of a dog until your children are older and more mature and better suited to living with a small dog.

Our adoption application has been designed to evaluate potential adopters to ensure that each person who adopts a dachshund is not only aware of the responsibility that comes with adopting a dog, but also to address the suitability and permanence of each dachshund placed in a new home.

When considering a new home, our goal is to make the best possible match for each of our rescued Dachshunds. These special dogs deserve the stability of a permanent home where they will be loved, secure and safe for their rest of their lives.