Rehoming Your Dog

We get a lot of requests from people wanting help or advice on rehoming their dog.  We constantly run at full capacity with a waiting list of dogs, usually on death row, to come into our care. Due to this we are not able to take private re-home dogs into our care unless there are special circumstances and we happen to have a space.  We are always happy to help give advice on rehoming to ensure they are going to the best possible home & not being passed around or ending up in a worse situation.  

If the dog came from a breeder or rescue organisation, please contact them first to let them know you are unable to care for the dog anymore.  They may be able to take them back into care or rehome themselves or advertise on your behalf.

It is really important that your dog is desexed before rehoming it, that way you can be sure that you are not adding to the issue of more unwanted puppies & dogs.  We run a community desexing programme & offer financial assistance in desexing your dog, please contact us to find out more information about our programme.  

If you need to rehome your dog urgently & cannot find a home straight away, ask friends, family, neighbours & co-workers to see if they are able to provide a temporary home for your dog while you find a permanent home.  Boarding kennels are also an option but due to the cost this may not be a viable option.

There are a few places you can advertise your dog for rehoming:  petrescue.co.nz, petsonthenet.co.nz, Trademe, numerous Facebook pet, rescue organisations & buysell pages. 

The more information you can provide about your dog the better the response you will get.  Give a very clear overview of your dogs personality & the best possible home for them.  Other information that you should include in your advert is:

  • Your location/area
  • Dogs name, age, sex
  • If your dog is desexed, micro chipped, vaccinated & registered
  • How the dog is with cats, other dogs, kids or if it lives with any other types of animals
  • Let people know if your dog is classified as menacing
  • What kind of energy/activity level does your dog have
  • Are there any behavioural issues (fence jumping/barking/separation anxiety/people fear)
  • Contact details for the post

You want to ensure that your dog is going to a safe, warm, loving home so please ask lots of questions.  You are well within your right to visit the potential new owners home to be sure you are happy with the living conditions, that the fencing is adequate & where your dog would sleep.  Unfortunately some people will tell you what they know you want to hear, rather than be honest about their situation & where your dog will live.  You want to meet anyone who is interested in your dog in person, see how they interact with your dog, that your dog is comfortable with them & that they are the best possible match.  If they have a dog already, ensure the dogs meet in a neutral place so they can get to know each other before moving to the next stage of having an at home meeting.

Any dog going into a home will have a settling period, it is important that the new owner allows the dog to have time to adjust to the new home.  This can take a week or a few months.  Keep things as quiet as possible, avoid anything stressful like meeting too many new people at once or going out for walks in the first week.  Dogs can often go off their food for a few days in a new environment, this is normal & they will eat once they are ready.  They may make some toileting mistakes inside, it is important they are not told off for this, they are learning the new rules of the house so we need to help them work out which door to go to & for us to pick up on their toileting cues. 

After you have tried all these options but still have had not luck rehoming your dog, we can often help with a Facebook post for people to contact you directly, however we do not advertise any dogs that have not been desexed.