Frequently Asked Adoption Questions

All adopters must have an accepted adoption survey on file. Once you submit a survey, we will get back to you as soon as possible regarding general acceptance - if we have additional questions or clarifications, we will ask those; otherwise we will let you know that your survey has been accepted, which just means that it has been processed by a member of our team and you are all set to adopt. If, at the time of our initial email exchange, you have expressed interest in a specific dog, we may be able to offer you an introduction to that dog in the initial email. However, more commonly, we will process your survey generally and then only be *back* in touch to offer an intro if we get to your spot in line for that dog and if it sounds like a good fit for your home.

Most introductions are by-appointment and often begin with a virtual video call to make sure it’s a good fit all around before proceeding to the in-person introduction. Approximately once monthly, we host in-person adoption events called All Tails at One Time, where we do on-the-spot, in-person introductions and same-day adoptions. We also have just recently begun hosting Walk-In Adoption Days - these are days when we have 1 or more dog(s) present at the Adoption Center and available for adoption. The best way to hear about All Tails adoption events is by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on Instagram. Walk-In Adoption Days are advertised weekly on our Instagram, as well.

Walk-In Adoption Days & All Tails Adoption Events are for on-the-spot adoptions. Dogs may be present for either of these whether or not they have existing adoption interest, but we try to prioritize bringing dogs with less interest or who have been with us longer, whenever possible.

For adult dogs (over 1 yr old): Outside of Walk-In Adoption Days & All Tails adoption events, and all other things being equal, we set up intros on a first-come, first-served basis based on when someone applied for/expressed interest in a dog. Of the adopters who meet the dog’s basic criteria, we will reach out first to the person who expressed interest in the dog earliest. It’s possible to be “1st in line” but not be a match for the dog so be skipped over, just as it’s possible to be “5th in line” but be the first person who is a match and, so, be offered an intro. An example of this might be a dog who can’t cohabitate with cats and the first 4 adopters in line all have cats, but the 5th doesn’t.

For puppies (under 1 yr old): All puppies will first be adopted out using our Worth the Wait list, which is our priority placement list for puppies. If they do not receive WTWL interest or we get through their WTWL interest without making placement, we will proceed down their list of interested general adopters on a first-come, first-served basis, where all other things are equal (as per the above).

Sometimes adopters will ask us which of our dogs we recommend for them/their needs. If we have a specific recommendation we can make off the top of our heads, we will - but just due to the volume of surveys and inquiries we receive and the amount of dogs we have in our care at any given time, we often aren’t able to make individualized recommendations to each adopter and we rely on our adopters to tell us who they might be interested in first (it’s easier for us to respond to a specific compatibility question - so ask away!).

If you already have an accepted adoption survey on file, log in using this link to add new dogs to your interest list. You’ll need your unique ID to log in. This can be found in the automated confirmation email you received from us when you first submitted your survey. If you cannot locate your ID, please contact id@otatpdx.org and we will re-send it to you.

Once you have expressed interest in a dog, if we get to your spot in the dog’s list of interested adopters and it sounds like a good fit for your home, we will be back in touch.

It is also in your interest to follow our Instagram. That is where we announce which dogs might be available for Walk-In Adoptions and/or attending All Tails events.

Once you have expressed interest in a dog, you will *only* hear back from us if we get to your spot in line and it sounds like a good fit for your home. If you do not hear from us, your home may not have been a good fit for the dog, but even more likely is that we just did not get down to your spot in line for that dog and they were adopted by someone who applied ahead of you. Alternately, one of the dogs you expressed interest in may have attended a Walk-In Adoption Day or All Tails event and been adopted that way instead.

When you add a dog to your interest list, you will always get an automated confirmation email that they have been added. Check your junk or spam folders to be sure, but if you do not see this come through, feel free to email us at adoptions@otatpdx.org to confirm your interest was recorded.

We began doing virtual intros during the pandemic, but we have found them really useful and continued doing them for several reasons. Doing the virtual intro allows you to see the dog in the foster environment where they are comfortable and allows us to focus on talking about the dog and our adoption process - without the (understandable!) distraction of a cute dog right in front of you taking center-focus. Doing virtual intros also allows our adoptions team to do more intros, more efficiently, which means more dogs getting adopted and landing in their forever homes more quickly - which in turn frees up our foster homes and creates space for us to bring in more dogs in need. You’ll still get to meet the dog in person, after the virtual introduction.

If the virtual introduction is a barrier for you, just mention that in your response to any intro offers and we will try our best to accommodate you.

You’ll have approx 12 hours from the time of the intro (such as the next morning following an evening intro) to let us know if you’d like to proceed in the adoption process. If you decide to proceed, we’ll arrange an in-person/dog-dog meeting with the pup, often at the foster home. If you pay the adoption fee and sign paperwork prior to the meeting at the foster home, you’ll be able to take the dog home directly from that meeting. If you opt not to pay/sign prior to the meeting, you will not be able to take the dog home directly from that meeting and we’ll arrange a second trip for you to come back and pick your dog up after the adoption has been finalized. Either way, the adoption should be finalized and the dog picked up within about 48 hours of the initial virtual intro.

Now that we have our Adoption Center (yay!), we can often accommodate an in-person intro there (instead of at the foster home). In that case, a staff member or adoptions team volunteer will be present to finalize the adoption on-the-spot, so you will not need to sign paperwork or pay adoption fees prior to the in-person meeting - but instead can do so at the in-person meeting if you decide to proceed with adoption. Similar to the above scenario, if you still want some extra time to think about it before finalizing the adoption, you will not be able to take the dog home directly from that meeting, but we can arrange for hand-off after the adoption is finalized (which must occur within 24 hours), if you ultimately decide to adopt.

We hold in-person adoption events called “All Tails at One Time” (or All Tails, for short). All Tails adoption events are in-person events where we bring multiple of our dogs to our adoption center so that adopters can meet and adopt them on-the-spot. All Tails is only open to adopters who already have accepted adoption surveys on file, and they are currently happening approximately once a month, but we hope to do them more frequently in future. All Tails adoption events are first-come, first-served day of. You’ll be able to sign up to meet the dogs you are interested in. We will then call people back to meet the dogs in each dog’s list-order. Intros are conducted one dog at a time and if you opt not to adopt and to instead see about meeting another dog, we will proceed with the next person in line for the dog you just met (i.e. you will ‘lose’ your spot in line for that previous dog and they may be adopted by someone else while you are meeting other dogs). All Tails adoptions are on-the-spot - meaning you will take the dog home directly from the event. If you are not prepared to do that, then our by-appointment and virtual adoption processes will be a better fit for you!

We just recently began having dogs present many days per week for Walk-In Adoption Days. On these days, 1 or more dogs will be present at our Adoption Center and available for on-the-spot meetings and adoptions that way, as well.

We always announce All Tails events and Walk-In Adoption Days on our Instagram.

Our in-person adoption events, Walk-In adoption days, and our by-appointment/virtual intro processes allow for meeting the dog in-person - but the order-of-operations and timeline is different. With in-person events and Walk-In adoption days, you will meet the dog, then decide to adopt, then sign paperwork and pay fees and take your new dog home - all in the same day. With virtual introductions, you will participate in a virtual meeting prior to meeting the dog in-person and it can take a few days to schedule virtual intros and in-person meetings.

In general, if you’re a person who is more comfortable with more prep time for bringing your newly adopted dog home, that is built-in to our by-appt and virtual intro processes. If you would like to have more time for your intro or your decision-making - perhaps you have more questions or specific concerns - and not be ‘competing’ with other potential adopters day-of and needing to make an immediate decision in-the-moment, then we also recommend our virtual intro process. All virtual intros provide the opportunity to speak directly to the foster who has the dog in their care. Most in-person adoptions at All Tails events also allow for this, but we do sometimes have volunteer handlers with the dogs, so you *may* not get to speak directly to the foster home in that case. If it’s really important to you to hear directly from the foster home, you should opt for our by-appointment/virtual intro process.

Our in-person adoption events and Walk-In adoption days are the closest you will get to the type of adoption experience you might have at a shelter where you can go in and meet a dog who you fall in love with and take home that same day.

There are several factors that we take into consideration when choosing which dogs will be attending our All Tails adoption events and Walk-In Adoption Days. These include: how much adoption interest the dog already has; if they can handle the environment at All Tails (with lots of new people and other dogs) or at the Adoption Center; how much room we have; if the dog has special considerations for adoption that may make them a better fit for our virtual intro process; etc. Often we have more dogs who *could* attend then we are able to fit in the space - in those cases it may just come down to which fosters are available to bring their dogs to the event that day.

It could be as simple as your home not being a good fit for the dog (maybe you have cats and they can’t live with cats, etc.). But in many cases, even when a dog has existing interest, this is just going to come down to timing, including what helps us get the dog into their forever home most quickly (which is in the best interest of the dog).

If there are several weeks between when a transport of new dogs has arrived and our next scheduled adoption event, it’s likely we’ll try to adopt out many of the dogs prior to the event via by-appt adoptions using their interest lists. If a new transport arrives and an adoption event is scheduled for the following week, then it’s more likely we will just bring as many dogs as we can to our adoption event and proceed with by-appointment and virtual intros for any remaining dogs after the event. This is the most efficient use of our staff and volunteer resources and we appreciate your understanding around this.

Eligible dogs may also be invited to our Walk-In Adoption Days. This means they may be adopted to anyone who walks in and meets them - we will always announce which dogs are here/when on our Instagram, so it's a good idea to follow us there if you have your heart set on a specific dog!

In general, we will often avoid bringing puppies under 1 yr old to All Tails adoption events or Walk-In Adoption Days, precisely because they need to be placed using the Worth the Wait list. However, on occasion, we may add puppies to the event (or do puppy-exclusive events!). In those cases, we will send out a text notification to WTWL adopters to let them know which puppies will be attending. When we bring multiple puppies to an adoption event, we typically open up an hour prior to the published event start time for WTWL adopters exclusively, but these details may change and will always be shared with WTWL adopters. After that first hour elapses, any general adopters who are not on the WTWL will also be able to sign up for any remaining puppies.

The Worth the Wait List is our priority placement program for puppies under 1 yr old. If you are heart-set on adopting a puppy, we recommend joining the WTWL! More information about this program can be found here.

At its heart, the WTWL is a breeder-diversion program, proving that you can get puppies from rescue just as easily (maybe more so) than from a breeder.

The longer you spend waiting on the list, the higher up you are on the list - so even if you’re not ready to adopt right now, if you know you’ll likely want to adopt a puppy, it’s a good idea to join that list early!

This varies greatly, depending on the dog/their needs and also how much adoption interest they have/whether those adopters are good fits. We ask our foster homes to commit to at least 3 weeks of fostering when they welcome a new dog into their home. Most dogs are adoptable 7 days after arrival, barring any medical or other reasons for delaying their adoption on our end. Some dogs go home on Day 7, having lined up intros in the preceding day or two. Other dogs may linger a bit longer. The majority of our dogs are with us less than a month.

Dogs with more specific placement needs, special medical or behavior considerations, etc. may be in our care longer - but that’s often just due to a lack of adoption interest for those special needs. Pro-tip: check out the dogs who you’ve seen on our website for awhile - if you’re open to a dog who needs to be the only animal at home, a dog who is heartworm positive or has another treatable medical condition, etc. these pups often have sponsored adoption fees and little to no competition among adopters!

This also varies widely. Some adopters express interest in adopting a dog, and that very first dog they are able to adopt almost immediately, while other adopters may express interest in several dogs, over a longer period of time, before successfully adopting. Tips for speeding up adoption include: expressing interest in dogs who have been with us longer and/or have special needs or considerations for adoption; being open to several different types of dogs and expressing interest in new dogs regularly; attending our All Tails in-person adoption events and looking out for Walk-In Adoption opportunities.

In terms of the intro process, for by-appointment and virtual intros, we expect adoptions to be finalized within 48 hours of the intro, in most cases. Adoptions are finalized on-the-spot/day-of for our in-person All Tails adoption events and Walk-In Adoption Days. Our general guidance to adopters is that if you are not ready to bring a dog home, you should not express interest in a specific dog at this time. You can submit an adoption survey well before you’re ready to welcome a dog, just don’t include a specific dog on your interest list unless you’re ready to bring them home pretty much immediately as, once we offer an intro, things move pretty quickly.

We do not. If we offer you an intro and you are not available to meet the dog in a timely manner, we will move on to the next available adopter who is able to meet the dog immediately. But you are always welcome to circle back with us once you are available to see if that dog is still seeking an adopter.

We also do not hold dogs for pick-up more than 48 hours after an adoption has been finalized. Sometimes a foster home may offer to keep a dog in their care longer - this is at the discretion of each individual foster home and, in such cases, the dog is no longer considered in OTAT care (the foster and adopter are engaging in a private dog-sitting arrangement).

We believe every dog is an individual with their own unique needs. A good candidate for one dog may not be a good candidate for another dog. In a general sense, we are looking for adopters who seek to treat their dog as a member of their family, to make sure their needs are met, and to treat them with kindness and compassion - we believe this is most people! It’s very rare that we don’t accept an adoption survey and the main purpose of the survey is to be able to match you to a dog who is a good fit for your home/lifestyle/wishes, etc.

Most often, we are following up with survey respondents because information is missing or we just need clarification - making sure you take time to fill out the survey details fully and accurately the first time will speed up the acceptance process. Things that will flag us to follow-up with you on your survey include: incorrect or conflicting info (like an incorrect birth year); using training tools or techniques that are not humane; not including accurate resident animal information; not including emergency contacts; etc.

We very rarely outright reject a survey and we have a 97% acceptance rate. Even if we see things in your survey which raise concerns or questions, we will reach out to get clarification or to provide information and go from there!

Our biggest recommendation for people filling out the survey is to set aside some dedicated time (20 minutes should do it!) and to respond to each question thoroughly and thoughtfully.

Many people have shared with us that filling out the survey on mobile devices is difficult. We recommend filling out the survey on a desktop or laptop computer, if at all possible.

Yes! Each adopter and home will have characteristics that may make them a good fit for some dogs and not for others. We will never reject an adoption survey solely on the basis of not meeting some imagined criteria for an ideal home because we believe the ideal home for a dog is completely individual to that dog and that most homes are an improvement over a shelter. Not every dog can live in a home with shared walls and not every dog can cohabitate with a cat and if you live in an apartment or have a cat that just means you won’t be able to adopt a dog who isn’t a good fit for those criteria. But we will help you find a dog who is!

We commit to our dogs for life. This means once a dog has been welcomed into our program, we will provide adopter support for the lifetime of the dog - whether that means training recommendations/referrals or surrender/return counseling. If you need to return your OTAT dog, whether that’s 3 days, 3 weeks, or 3 years after adoption, we will always provide guidance to you on best next steps and will, in most cases, be able to take them back into our care. The first step when seeking to return an OTAT dog is to email adoptions@otatpdx.org and let us know. We will then set up a call or appointment so that we can gather info about the dog and share more about our return process. If we can offer training help or other resources which may allow you to keep your dog, we will start there. If you ultimately decide to return your dog, we will also ask you to fill out our Return Form and will keep you informed of next steps as we seek to welcome them back into our program.

Additionally, if there are specific behavioral or medical considerations we need to make before welcoming the dog back, we also may ask you to participate in a call with a trainer, to bring the dog to our vet for an appt if needed, to onboard new medications before they come back, or to help us with other steps prior to their return into our program, to ensure their best chance at a successful transition.

The short answer is It Depends - and context is everything. The longer answer is that in these cases we will consult with you closely to learn more about the dog’s entire history since they have been adopted and will have honest and frank conversations with you about the dog’s future, their likelihood of being adopted again, etc.

In the (thankfully rare) case that we determine that the dog might be a candidate for behavioral or medical euthanasia, we will always disclose that possibility and also give you the option to participate in those conversations (and ultimately that process, if it comes to it) to the degree you feel comfortable/able. In some cases, adopters may be asked to consider that the most humane and kindest option for the dog would be to not return to OTAT, but rather be humanely euthanized at home with the people they know, love, and trust the most. We consider it part of our responsibility to counsel adopters and provide information and support when this is the case and, as difficult as these types of conversations are, we are committed to having them when the situation calls for it.

If you are curious about our Behavioral Euthanasia policies/process, you can find that info here. These policies apply to dogs in our foster program, but it can also be helpful to learn about how we think through these decisions.

A great podcast about this difficult topic can be found here.