BHNW - Bulldog Haven NW - English & French Bulldog Rescue

APPLYING FOR A DOG

BHNW adopts out our dogs once they are ready and/or stable if medical care is ongoing. Our adoption process is very thorough. We care for each dog as if they were our own and want to do our best to insure the best placement into a forever home. We are not a rescue that rushes placement or omits proper vet care. We feel it is important to not just read about a dog's needs, but to experience them so we can ensure they are going to be matched up to a home properly and responsibly with first hand information. It is also important to not pass on diseases or issues that could otherwise be resolved by watching and observing each dog for at least a week, minimum. It might seem easy to adopt one out within days of arrival, but it isn't responsible and it isn't what our organization does!

The Adoption Application requests detailed personal information from you. Bulldog Haven NW volunteers may obtain additional information about you through contacts with veterinarians and/or landlords. The information is used by Bulldog Haven NW volunteers solely in evaluating your qualifications to adopt a Bulldog in our care and in deciding whether you are the most suitable adopter for a particular Bulldog.

Bulldog Haven NW, the Internet Service provider and other parties cannot be responsible for loss or damages to you caused by improper release of information.

Statement of Applicant:

I certify that I have read and understood the above Disclaimer and the Bulldog Haven NW's Privacy Policy. I am voluntarily submitting the requested application information online at my own risk. I release Bulldog Haven NW, the Internet Service provider and any and all other parties involved in developing, using and maintaining this site from any claims of liability due to release of any information contained in, or related to, my Adoption Application.

Note: BHNW takes the application process seriously; please make sure you do too. After 1 year, we ask that you submit a new application. In order to identify yourself as a previous applicant, please put "RE" after your FIRST NAME.

EXAMPLE

We DO NOT ship dogs, please do not ask. We place our dogs within the pacific northwest area and accept applications from those living in WA, OR, ID and British Columbia Canada.

WONDERING HOW THE ADOPTION PROCESS WORKS?

Step 1

Take some time to learn about the breed you are interested in adopting to make sure that it is a good fit, from activity level, to grooming needs, to vet/food/supply costs.

Step 2

Submit a BHNW Adoption Application, and be sure to read the autoreply that will be emailed to you from the system; it contains important information about the application process.

Step 3

Please, be patient. Bulldogs and French Bulldogs are very popular breeds, and the number of applications we receive FAR outweighs the number of dogs we have available for adoption. This can mean a long wait for the applicant, but in the world of rescue, having more applicants than dogs is a wonderful problem to have.

Step 4

As we receive many, many times more applications than the number of dogs in our care, it is not feasible for our small volunteer team to take time away from caring for our foster dogs to review new applications upon receipt. Instead, we wait until a dog becomes available for adoption, and then search our database, looking for applications that are a match for the dog’s key needs. (For example, if an adoptable dog can’t climb stairs and is not dog friendly, volunteers look for applications that have a house without stairs and do not have other dogs.) They will then begin to reach out to those applicants to find the dog’s Forever Family.

Once a dog is ready to be adopted, we want to get them placed with their forever family as quickly as possible. But please understand that our organization is entirely volunteer-run, and our volunteers are caring for foster dogs and trying to find their forever homes all while balancing work, family, caring for their own pets, and their many other commitments. To help, we ask that you please reply quickly to any emails, calls or texts from our organization, and that you please treat our volunteers with kindness and respect.

Once an applicant has been identified as a possible match with an adoptable dog, one of our volunteers will guide the applicant through our process, which includes Q&A with the adopter, reference checks, a home check and a meet-and-greet between the foster dog and all adopting family members (and pets). Many times, a love connection is made at the meet and greet, and we all move forward with a two-week trial, contracts and adoption fees and everyone lives happily ever after.

But sometimes, it just isn’t the right fit between a potential adopter and a dog…and that’s okay. Our priority is to find the right match between dog and adopter so that everyone can have a fabulous, long and loving life together…and that doesn’t always happen on the first try.

If ultimately you are not matched with the specific dog you requested, your application may still be considered for other dogs we have in our care or who come into our care in the future. At times one of our volunteers may contact you to see if you would consider a certain dog with specific needs. We encourage you to follow us on Facebook and check the Adoptable Dog List at www.bulldoghavennw.org frequently, as the dogs we have in rescue change often.

APPLICATION FAQ's

I submitted an application. Did you receive it?
An adoption application confirmation email is immediately sent by our system when an application is submitted. Please check both your inbox and spam folders for this email; if you received it, we did indeed receive your application.

I applied for a bulldog. Why haven’t I heard back yet? / Why didn’t I get to adopt the Bulldog that I wanted?
The number of applications we receive FAR outweighs the number of dogs we have available for adoption. Due to this volume and our limited volunteer resources, we aren’t able to review applications upon receipt or follow up with applicants unless they have been identified as a potential match for one of our dogs.

In addition, we do strive to find adopters from the existing pool of applicants, as many have been waiting for months or even a year. This is especially true for dogs that are in “high demand”, such as puppies or younger dogs, dogs that get along with children or other pets, or dogs without medical issues.

On the flip side, the wait time is significantly less for senior dogs, dogs that need to be the only pet or dogs that need special medical care.

Ultimately, we are looking for the RIGHT Bulldog for you. It's that simple. We know you want the very best for each and every dog that comes into our care, just like we do. And our volunteers are going to do our very best to find a Bulldog that is going to be your best friend for the rest of their life.

What if I'd like to apply to adopt a different dog?
If your application is still active (less than 1 year since your application date), please feel free to email BHNWAdopt@bulldoghavennw.org and include the name on the original application as well as the name(s) of the dog(s) you would like to add.

Please keep in mind that we receive a large number of applications and far more of them than the number of dogs we place. Therefore, applications will be kept on file for 1 year. You may not get a dog immediately; sometimes applicants have been waiting a year for the right dog. We are looking for the RIGHT Bulldog for you, it's that simple. We know you want the very best for each and every dog that comes into our care, just like we do. And we're going to do our very best to find a Bulldog that is going to be your best friend for the rest of their life.