To be considered to adopt a dog through Reach Out Rescue & Resources, we do require that you submit an application online. Once we receive that, we will review and process and then set up a home visit. Once approved, we make the arrangements for you to meet, greet and adopt a dog or cat.

The whole process generally takes one to two weeks. The person processing your application will be in touch with you during that time and available to answer questions. We encourage you to check on  the process of your app if you do not have any communication.

The more popular dogs and cats will often get more than one application. If you are concerned about that, just ask us and we will advise you how many applications are pending for any particular dog or cat.

Many of the dogs posted are not in the immediate area... we take applications, process them and when approved, we move the dogs to the area to meet/greet and adopt. We just simply do not have an adequate number of foster homes to bring them all in as we would like. In these situations, we will do a Foster-to-Adopt. This only applies to dogs in southern Va, North Carolina, southern WV....not dogs currently in our area in foster situations. Once approved, you are required to go to the foster home for meet/greet/adoption.

Not sure if a particular dog is right for you? Then you might consider our "Foster-to-Adopt Program". Click here for details.

Our dogs are listed first in alphabetical order, followed by our cats, after that are listed all courtesy postings for other agencies. Courtesy postings will provide you with the proper contact in the description.

Reach Out Rescue & Resources reserves the right to decline any application, based on the information we receive or are given during the approval process, with no explanation to the applicant. Information received during the approval process is considered confidential. Any application not completed IN FULL will not be processed.

Due to the time involved in processing applications please advise us if you have adopted elsewhere, no longer interested in adopting, or would like to withdraw your application as soon as possible . This will allow us to spend our time working on open applications to find homes for our dogs and cats.

We also provide some fantastic resources to help you with your new dog. We highly recommend that you read our information about training, suggestions about what to feed your dog, and what to expect with your new dog.  Please let us know if you have never had a dog in the past or for quite a while and we will set you up to meet with a trainer to guide you with what to expect, prior to adoption.

Our adoption contract will require that you take your new dog to obedience training. We will not accept "train yourself" unless you can provide us with your certifications for training.

Dog inquiries RORRcanine@gmail.com   Cat inquiries  RORRfeline@gmail.com

Click Here to read an article that explains why Rescue groups ask potential adopters lots of "nosy" questions.

There are some guidelines that we do adhere to:

1. We will not adopt to anyone with children 8 and under when you do not have a fence.

2. We will not place puppies or kittens in homes with very young children, babies or toddlers.

3. We will not place puppies in homes where adults (25+) are gone more than a TOTAL of 3 hours in  a day.

4. While we do our best to make sure a dog is cat friendly, you MUST be prepared to use caution and follow specific guidelines in introducing the dog to the resident cat. (We will provide you information.) You MUST do a proper introduction as all cats will run and all dogs will chase! We make no guarantees of any dog's ability to work with cats.

5. All dogs will require a positive reinforcement basic obedience class. We will provide you with trainers to use in your area. Please read our training page. Training is mandatory.

6. We will not place a dog or cat in any home where there are intact animals (animals that are not spayed or neutered) with only two exceptions: medical, and we will require confirmation from your vet, or show dogs and we will require proof they are used for showing.

7. We consider Invisible Fencing as NO fence when there are young children in the home. We will not place hounds, Dobermans or any Bully Breed in an Invisible Fence as it just won't work for them and it's too dangerous for the dog.

8. We consider unattended dog doors as unsafe and will not place a dog in a home that will allow dogs to go outside when no one is home. This in combination with an invisible  fence is also not safe.

9. Applicants AND coapplicants must be at least 25 years of age.

10. If we do not have specific knowledge of a dog/cat with children, we will not place that dog in homes with children under 12 yr old.

11. Our adoption area has expanded for DOGS ONLY. We are now considering a radius of 150 miles of any of the following focal points: Westminster, MD; Frederick, MD; Baltimore, MD; Martinsburg, WV; Fairfax, VA; Washington, DC; and York, PA. Please understand that this is an approximation of our adoption area.  Without volunteer support in certain areas, we may not be able to consider your application.  We will not consider any applications outside of this area.

12. RORR policy is to adopt to smoke free homes. Households where individual smoke inside will not be considered. We are happy to send you information on the dangers to animals.

For Dogs that are known runners, this type of GPS device is highly recommended: http://www.pettracker.com/.

Do not let your fenced yard leave you with a false sense of security. There are more and more cases of dogs being stolen (according to Lisa Peterson, AKC spokesperson, there was a 49% increase in dog thefts between January and July 2011)  and then sold or held for ransom. Click here and click here to read more.  

To submit an Application for a dog, please fill out our dog adoption application and we will contact you.

To submit an Application for a cat, please fill out our cat adoption/foster application and we will contact you.

Owning a pet is a privilege and should result in a mutually beneficial relationship. The benefits of pet ownership come with responsibilities. These include:

• Lifelong care of the pet. This means committing to the relationship for your pet’s entire life.
• Selecting a pet that is suited to your home and lifestyle and avoiding impulsive decisions.
• Recognizing that owning a pet(s) requires an investment of time and money.
• Keeping only the type and number of pets for which you can provide an appropriate and safe environment. This includes appropriate food, water, shelter, health care and companionship.
• Ensuring pets are properly identified (i.e., tags, microchips, or tattoos) and that their registration information in associated databases is kept up-to-date
• Adhering to local ordinances, including licensing and leash requirements.
• Helping to manage overpopulation by controlling your pet(s)' reproduction through managed breeding, containment, or spay/neuter. Establishing and maintaining a veterinarian-client-patient relationship.
• Providing preventive (e.g., vaccinations, parasite control) and therapeutic health care for the life of your pet(s) in consultation with, and as recommended by, your veterinarian.
• Socialization and appropriate training for your pet(s) to facilitate their well-being and the well-being of other animals and people.
• Preventing your pet(s) from negatively impacting other people, animals and the environment. This includes proper waste disposal, noise control, and not allowing pet(s) to stray or become feral.
• Providing exercise and mental stimulation appropriate to your pet(s)' age, breed, and health status.
• Include your pets in your planning for an emergency or disaster, including assembling an evacuation kit.
• Making arrangements for the care of your pet when or if you are unable to do so.
• Recognizing declines in your pet(s)' quality of life and making decisions in consultation with your veterinarian regarding appropriate end-of-life care (e.g., palliative care, hospice, euthanasia).

Training for New Adopters:

Your Dog's Friend (YDF) runs a monthly workshop in Rockville, MD titled “Learning About Your Adopted Dog” that focuses on training and behavior issues common to newly adopted dogs. Cost: FREE. To see the schedule and/or register, go to http://www.yourdogsfriend.info/Workshop-Schedules.html.

Cats:

We are a dog rescue and added cats in July 2012 and sometimes one of our shelter partners needs some help getting some exposure on a cat.. so when and if you see a cat posted on our site, it could be a courtesy posting and you must contact the person stated in the description. No one within Reach Out Rescue & Resources will know anything about the cat other than who to contact. RORR cats will have contact information available rorrfeline@gmail.com

Children and dogs:

We abide by the Humane Association's recommendation. Although, they actually recommend the minimum age of the youngest child, for ANY DOG adoption to have a relatively good chance of success, to be at least 6 years. There are basically two major reasons.

First, until that age a child cannot reliably understand proper behavior around a dog. If you have a puppy that is very submissive, it is likely to get hurt. If you have a puppy that is less submissive, you stand the chance of a child getting nipped, and the dog being labeled a "biter" -- often costing the animal it's life.

The second reason, and the one we, quite frankly, have seen more of, stems from where both child and puppy are developmentally growing. Toddlers and young children tend to move unpredictably and run around, and puppies are inclined to chase them. Children often respond by shrieking and other high-pitched sounds. This leads the puppy to chase even more, and often nip as if playing with a littermate.

The child is not recognized by a puppy the same way that an adult human is -- again, it is developmental. The result often is a child who is afraid of the dog, and is truly not enjoying the experience. The animals are then either crated or relegated to the yard, or taken to a shelter.

Over the past couple of years, we have made exceptions to this rule. They were made, for the most part, for families with a lot of dog experience. Almost every instance turned out poorly. After the experience of numerous placements with young children both in adoptions, and our foster homes, we believe our policy is the right one.

Having a dog can be enjoyable for a child. But, it should be an adult dog, and one that understands children. When a family with young children comes to us looking for a dog, most often we try to place one who has proven him/herself to be good with children from one of our foster homes.