Contact (adoption Enquiry)

The adoption process

Every year we find secure, loving new homes for around 550 German Shepherds dogs of all ages, every dog that comes through our rescue is assessed by one of our experienced team with the aim to ensure that the right home is found for each and every dog.
The UK German Shepherd Rescue is open for rehoming 7 days a week via this website (including Bank Holidays) We have been rehoming German Shepherds dogs of all ages, shapes and sizes since we opened our doors in September 2008.
Since we rehomed our first dog the UK German Shepherd Rescue has grown nationally through the trust others owners have placed upon us to find their best friend a safe secure and loving home.
Our rehoming and adoption team have a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the German Shepherd breed and will guild you carefully through your stress-free adoption process plus provide knowledgeable aftercare to help you and your new dog settle perfectly.

1. Take a look...

Take a look at our "dogs for adoption" page and find a dog that you feel is suitable for your family, If you already have a dog keep in mind our rescue will only rehome opposite sex dogs to what you already have, we also generally do not rehome young dogs with senior dogs or vice versa.

2. Adoption form

Before you can adopt one of our gorgeous dogs you must first complete our adoption form, this helps us understand more about you, your family and your life style plus any current pets you may have. This information helps us match you and your family to the right dog or your chosen dog, we always place our rescue dogs needs first and foremost.

3. Screener

Once you have completed our adoption form our volunteer screener will call you back within 48 hours (longer at busy times) to discuss your adoption in more detail. Our screeners role is to decide if your home is suitable for one of our dogs, if all goes well your adoption will be passed to your adoption coordinator who will deal with the rest of your adoption

4. Coordinator

Your adoption coordinator will contact you and then will arrange for your "Home Check" to be completed by one of our EXPERIENCED volunteers in your local area. Your coordinator is now your point of contact and should only speak to them regarding your adoption and any dogs you are interested in, their details can also be found on our meet our team should you forget who they are.

5. Home Check

Your home checker will contact you and arrange a mutual appointment to visit your home, our home check is simply to verify your home is suitable for one of our dogs. The role of our home checker is make sure your home is suitable for one of our dogs they can not tell you if you have passed your home check. Your home check report is passed back to your area coordinator who will contact you with your results. If all goes well your coordinator will offer you a dog that most matches your family, if you already have a dog in mind please tell your coordinator and they will check if they are suitable.

6. Meet your dog

Once you have been matched to your new dog the rescue will arrange for you to visit them, visits are made by appointment only even if your matched dog is in our kennels. Remember if you have a dog already please take them along with you to ensure they get on with their new friend.

You can take your new dog for a walk and if all goes well you can adopt them and take them home straight away.
You are welcome to adopt a dog that is not in your regional area but you will be asked to travel and pick them up

We do not rehome our dogs for security or guarding purposes.

Assistance dogs: Other than training to be assistance / care / PATT dogs all our dogs MUST only be used as family pets
Guarding: Should never be used for guarding or for the use of protection of personal or property.
Aggression: Should never be trained to show aggression for the use of protection of personal or property.
Property: We do not rehome high raise flats/apartments or property with no garden has shared or common ground or inadequate boundary fencing.
Final say: We place the safety and security of our dogs at the forefront of all adoptions and have the right to change our mind and stop the adoption at anytime.

Frequently asked questions

I don't drive, can you deliver the a dog to my home?

No, the rescue does not deliver dogs straight to your home, part of the adoption process is meeting the dog and seeing how you get along.

Who pays for spaying and neutering ?

Many of our dog have already been spayed or neutered but due to geographical restrictions we are unable to spay and neuter all our dogs, part of the adoption agreement is to ensure the adoptee agrees to have their new dog spayed or neutered at their own expense. Please keep this in mind when adoption a dog.

Why don't you rehome to commercial properties?

Our rescue take great care regarding who adopts our dogs, dogs adopted to commercial premises are more likely to be used for guarding and protection of a closed business or stock, this would be unacceptable for us to place a dog into a position we more often rescue them from.

Adoption fee, is the rescue selling dogs?

When you adopt a dog from our rescue you pay a set price donation, donations are a money gift for your new dog to our charity are non refundable.

What is an adoption contract?

Every home that adopts a dog from our rescue agrees too and signs our adoption contract, our adoption contract relates to the welfare of the dog adopted, under the contract terms the animals welfare should be maintained in accordance with regional UK law, should the rescue find an adopted animal is being mistreated in anyway or intended to be euthanized (other than for health reasons under a vets advise) then the rescue will seek to recover the dog into it's their own safe care. If for any reason a home cannot keep the adopted animal they should be returned to the rescue for safe rehoming.

Can anybody adopt a dog?

You must be 21 years and over to adopted a dog from our rescue, your must be the property owner or have written consent from from your landlord or approved tenancy agreement that allows dogs, have consent from parents if living at home. Live in a property that has a secure safe garden.

Adoption enquiry