Welcome!
We are thrilled you’re considering adopting or fostering from Dogs Forever. Below is some information on adopting and fostering with us.
Adoption PROCESS
If you are interested in possibly meeting one of our dogs, please submit an application. After this, it’s a requirement for you and anyone in the household to come meet the dog you’re interested in the following Saturday during open hours from 10-2pm or by appointment if that day/time doesn’t work for you. You can set that appointment up by emailing our adoption committee directly adoption@dogsforever.org or by calling 319-320-5522. Once you’ve met the dog, if our Adoption Committee feels the match is a potentially good one for that particular dog, you will be contacted. We have an all-volunteer staff and most of us have “day jobs” so it usually takes around two weeks to process an application.
adoption FEES
Our adoption fees vary based on age:
- $150 Senior Dogs 7 years and older
- $200 Adult Dogs between 1 and 6 years old
- $300 Puppies under 1-year-old
If you are 65 years or older, the adoption fee is waived when you adopt a senior dog. All Dogs Forever dogs have been spayed or neutered, vaccinated against rabies, distemper/parvo, and bordetella, tested for heartworm and lyme disease, and microchipped.
foster program
Being a foster home for Dogs Forever means you open up your home temporarily to a homeless dog. Dogs Forever pays for everything from any medical needs and even the food! You just have to provide water, love, patience, and a safe space for them. Show them what it’s like to be cared for, to trust a human, to be a dog. You’ll help them with their transition into their forever home. Even an adopted dog can take months to acclimate to a new home, you can’t imagine what a homeless dog feels like jumping into a new environment. Accidents might happen (yes! even a previously house trained dog might have accidents out of anxiety of their changing environment), they might be shy and fearful for a bit. You must have patience.
We will always make sure the dog coming to you is a good fit for you and your lifestyle. It’s also a wonderful way to help along with the journey of saving the life of a sweet dog, without the lifelong commitment. That is, unless you become a Foster Fail. We have a lot of those, too!
foster process
It’s easy to apply to be a foster home with Dogs Forever! Fill out our Adoption/Foster Application so we can learn more about you and your home/family. Our Foster Committee will review your application and once we bring a dog into our care that we think would be a good fit for you, we’ll contact you to schedule a time for everyone in the household to meet them. If it’s a great fit, we’ll provide the food, toys, treats, everything you need, until we find their forever home. It could be a few weeks, it could be a few months. Our Foster Committee will check in with you throughout the time our dog is in your care. You’ll have our support throughout the entire process and we’ll always be available to you. A few things we ask for help with would be taking clear bright photos and videos to message in to us of them so we can share their sweet faces with the world, and bringing them to open hours on Saturdays (10-2) so they can get some exposure and for those that have applied to meet them. We can help with this sometimes, too!
LOCATION
Dogs Forever is located at 809 Rockford Road SW, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52404. We are open to the public 10am-2pm every Saturday. Come and meet our dogs, learn about volunteer opportunities, purchase apparel and more. If you want to meet one of our dogs but Saturday isn’t a good time, you can set up an appointment. Contact us at adoption@dogsforever.org or 319-320-5522.
SENIOR DOGS
Our priority at Dogs Forever is to identify senior dogs (generally, seven years and older) who are being held at shelters or at vet clinics in counties without shelters. As long as a dog is of good temperament and we have an opening , we will accept the dog regardless of size or breed. Once the dog is with Dogs Forever, we will provide veterinary care and begin the process of matching the dog with a senior citizen through our “Seniors for Seniors” program. However, any person 21 years or older can adopt a senior dog; you are not required to be a senior person to adopt a senior dog.
ADULT DOGS
Dogs Forever works with reputable rescues to identify adult dogs that are at risk of being euthanized at shelters. While our foster dogs and Dogs Forever shelter dogs are no longer at risk of being euthanized, the fact remains that the sooner they are adopted, the sooner a dog can be moved from “death row” at a shelter to the safety of Dogs Forever. Please spread the word that our dogs need homes.
View our available dogs or fill out an application today!