Rehome your dog
We understand that rehoming your dog can be a very difficult and upsetting time. We try to make this as easy as possible for both you and your dog. Please only fill out this form if you are 100% sure that you need us to take your dog in. We try, where possible, to always use foster homes for our dogs, so they can stay in a home environment until adopted, please see the FAQ’s below for more information on rehoming your dog. If you have any other questions feel free to contact us before completing this form joeyslegacybr@gmail.com
WILL MY DOG GO INTO KENNELS?
We do not have our own premises with kennels. We rely on foster homes for all of our dogs, this means the dogs get to stay with one of our foster families in their home until a home is found. This is why it is imperitive that you are fully truthful about the dogs temperament so we get the right foster carer for them. As a back up for extreme emergencies, we use a private boarding kennels. So unless it is an extreme emergency and you can not wait, if there are no suitable foster homes, then your dog may need to spend some time in boarding kennels, but we will always make every effort for it to be a short stay and continue to look for a suitable foster home. Also as these kennels are private boarding kennels, not a rescue centre, they only accept dogs who are fully vaccinated.
DOES IT COST ANYTHING TO GIVE UP MY DOG?
Giving up your dog to Joey’s Legacy is free. But if you’d like to donate to our work and the costs we will incurr looking after your dog, we’d be very grateful, but it’s not required.
Neutering is also beneficial to aid dominance related behavioral problems. Mounting and marking is greatly reduced after neutering, especially in male dogs. There are MANY reasons mentioned here why neutering is the best thing for your pet.
WHAT IF I CHANGE MY MIND?
If you think you might have made the wrong decision on giving your dog up, get in touch with us straight away. We can talk about why you wanted to rehome your dog in the first place and what’s changed. We’ll help you make the right decision for you and your dog
We’ll always act in the best interests of the dog. If we think you are going to struggle to look after them, then we’ll be honest with you about that and we may not return your dog. When you give your dog to us, you sign a legal document which makes us their official owner, and we take our legal duty of care to the dog very seriously. If it is decided that it would be best for the dog to be returned to you, you will be liable for any costs we have incurred whilst the dog has been in our care.
Once a dog has been adopted by a new family, there’s nothing we can do to get them back, as legal ownership of the dog has been transferred to the adopter.
Giving up a dog can be really upsetting, and can be like going through a grieving process. If you’re struggling with accepting the decision you’ve made, then we’d urge you to talk to someone. Organisations like the Samaritans or Mind can help you deal with your loss.
CAN I VISIT MY DOG, OR GET UPDATES?
We don’t recommend visiting a dog once they’re in our care. Seeing you could be very distressing for them and equally distressing for you. So we ask you not to visit after giving up your dog. But you’re very welcome to get in touch with us to see how they’re doing.
Once a dog has found a new home, unfortunately we can’t give you the adopter’s details. This is for data protection reasons and because, from our experience, we know it can be upsetting for everyone involved.
MY DOG HAS AGGRESSION ISSUES, WILL YOU STILL TAKE THEM?
If your dog is aggressive to other dogs, you will likely need to wait a bit longer before we can take them. We have an experienced behavioural team, but there’s a limit to the number of dogs with behavioural issues that we can take at one time. As we do not have a rescue centre with kennels, we rely solely on experienced foster homes. Also, the majority of our foster carers have dogs of their own so if your dog isn’t keen on other dogs, you may need to wait until a dog free foster home becomes available.
If your dog is aggressive towards people, it is very unlikely that our recue is the right place for them. We do not have a rescue centre where we can work with dogs in kennels, we only use foster homes. We have a duty of care towards our volunteers and adopters, so we may not be able to take them at all. In these situations, we can offer advice on how you can manage your dog’s behaviour and may recommend that you speak to your vet for referral to a behaviour expert or give you details of other rescue centres who are better equipped to take in dogs with aggression towards people.
I GOT MY DOG FROM YOU, WILL YOU TAKE THEM BACK?
When you rehome one of our dogs, we commit to give you advice and support for their lifetime. Our Post Adoption Support team are available 7 days a week to help with any behavioural concerns, big or small. So if you think you may need to bring your dog back, please do get in touch with us. If we decide together that returning your dog to us is the best thing to do, we will take them back into our care.