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Wonder Puppy's Can we help your pet? web site has many solutions for common problems.

NEARR has an excellent track record with its foster program. Evaluated dogs are placed in volunteer foster care, loved and treated for issues, while an appropriate forever home is located. NEARR is a  matchmaker -- finding dog savvy homes who have the right lifestyle for your particular dog.

NEARR has many surrender applications every week. Shelter and stray dogs are our highest priority. Our availability to help an individual dog is based on foster home availability, location of the dog, and temperament evaluation results. Accepted dogs may require a delay of a month or two until foster care is available.

Currently, NEARR can accept dogs only from the following areas:

• Massachusetts: East of Interstate 91 excluding Martha's Vineyards and Nantucket
• New Hampshire: Merrimack, Rockingham, Sullivan, Cheshire, Strafford and Hillsborough counties only
• Vermont: Chittenden, Orange, Washington, Addison, Rutland, Windsor, Bennington, and Windham counties
• Rhode Island: All counties excluding Block Island
• Connecticut New Haven, Middlesex and parts of New London counties

• Have no history of bites or aggression.
• Be up-to-date on all shots.
• Be neutered/spayed.
• Pass a temperament evaluation.
• Be surrendered with the recommended $100 surrender donation ($50 non-refundable evaluation donation due at temperament evaluation time and $50 due at time of surrender).
• Be surrendered with a valid health certificate, signed by a veterinarian.
• Be surrendered with a signed surrender contract, giving NEARR ownership of the dog.

NEARR Surrender Process

1. Owner completes our Dog placement application.
2. Intakes Coordinator receives and reviews the application and calls the owner to get further details on the dog and the situation. During the conversation, the Intakes Coordinator may suggest solutions to short term problems or alternatives to surrender.
3. If the Intakes Coordinator believes the dog is a candidate for surrender to NEARR, they will contact a local evaluator with the dog's information and request an evaluation.
4. The evaluator schedules and performs a temperament evaluation, recording the dog's reaction to a series of tests and passes the information to the Intakes Coordinator, who reviews the results and determines if the dog might be a candidate for NEARR foster care.
5. The Intakes Coordinator works with the Foster Coordinator to determine if foster care is available for the dog.
6. If immediate foster care is available, the Intakes Coordinator informs the owner and asks them to prepare for the surrender.
7. If foster care will be available in the next couple of months, the Intakes Coordinator works with the owner to determine if they might wait.
8. If suitable foster care is not available, the Intakes Coordinator will work with the owner to find alternative solutions.
9. A few days before the dog is transferred to NEARR's care, the surrendering owner takes the dog to a veterinarian to acquire a health certificate (and, if necessary, updating any vaccinations that are out of date). This certificate must be faxed to NEARR before the surrender takes place.
10. At surrender time, the dog is surrendered to a NEARR volunteer with a signed surrender contract, the surrender donation, and the health certificate.

NEARR Surrender Application

(Based on German Shepherd Rescue of New England, Inc's process.)

In order to maximize your chances at finding a good forever home for your dog, certain steps should be followed:

1. First and foremost, determine if you really need a new home for your dog. Contact local trainers or breed rescue groups and you'll find valuable resources.
2. Plan. Most people who must find a home for their dog don't plan on it. Unfortunately, finding the proper home takes time. A time crunch can mean the difference between life and death to your dog. Sometimes there are no other options than the shelter.
3. Get your dog spayed or neutered. Spayed/neutered dogs are more adoptable. Also update, if necessary, your dog's vaccinations and keep records handy.
4. If your retriever is a purebred purchased from a breeder, contact them. Ethical breeders feel responsible for every puppy, each life they have had a hand in creating. They will often take the dog back and assume responsibility for finding him/her a good home. Good breeders often have waiting lists of people wanting a puppy who might consider adopting an adult dog.
5. Assess your dog. Take some time to write out a list of good and bad points about your dog. This will help you develop an honest evaluation of your own dog. Be honest. Tell any interested party everything about your dog. Do not leave out anything. If you hide a problem, it will only come out later.
6. Network with friends/relatives/co-workers. There could be someone you know who just might consider adopting your dog.
7. Take the time to wait for the right owner. Interview, meet your dog's prospective owner.

NEARR has a referrals page for retrievers and retriever mixes looking for good homes. Many potential adopters watch this web page for adoptable dogs. We can place your dog if you have a digital photo (photos can be digitized via scanners at many places including Kinko's and Walmart), contact information, and a description of the dog. Contact the Intakes Coordinator via email at surrender@nearr.com, or our 24-hour voicemail hotline: (617) 824-4278, Line 2.

Other reputable rescue groups which accept retrievers in New England include:

• Labrador Retriever Rescue, Inc. (serving MA, ME, NH, RI & VT)
• Labrador Retriever Rescue-CT, Inc
• Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue, Inc.
• Second Chance Animal Shelter
• Animal Rescue League of Boston
• MSPCA
• Save A Dog
• All Dog Rescue
• Animal Refuge League (Greater Portland, ME)

(from North East Rottweiler Rescue and Referral)

Shelters and humane societies were created to care for stray and abused animals. They weren't meant to be a drop-off for people who don't want their pets anymore. Shelters, on average, take in 100 new animals or more each day. Let's face it -- there won't be enough good homes for all of them. Even the best shelters can't boast much more than a 50% adoption rates. Only the youngest, friendliest, cutest and best-behaved dogs are going to be adopted.

By law, stray pets must be kept several days for their owners to reclaim them. They may not be destroyed until that period is up. These laws don't protect dogs that have been given up by their owners. They may be destroyed at any time. Shelters don't want to kill all these animals, but they don't have a choice. There just isn't enough room for all of them. Shelters today are so overcrowded that your dog could be killed the same day it arrives.

A shelter is your last resort only after all your best efforts have failed.

If you have additional questions, feel free to email us at surrender@nearr.com. You can also leave a message at (617) 824-4278, Line 2, which is our 24-hour voicemail hotline number:

NOTE: This is a voice mail box that is regularly checked. You will not reach a live person.