Athena

In our form you can tell us all about your home, your lifestyle and the kind of dogs you’re interested in. You won’t be applying for a specific dog, but you can add favourites to give us an idea of the dogs you like. We’ll use this information to find a great match for you.

We’ll also ask you to select a rehoming centre. The team at this centre will look after your application and assess you against all suitable dogs in their care. This doesn’t have to be your nearest centre, but you will need to travel there within a few days once we’ve found you a match.

We’ll be in touch by phone or email within seven days of receiving your application to have a chat about your dog search. Then we'll start looking for a great match for you.

We will make two attempts to contact you. If after the second attempt we don’t hear back from you, we will close your application for now and invite you to reapply again when you’re ready.  

You won't need to do anything else or apply again for three months. We’ll keep reviewing your application against all the dogs at your chosen centre. Not all available dogs are featured on our website; dogs of all shapes and sizes regularly come into our care, and your application will be considered for any dogs that match your requirements. We’ll contact you as soon as we find a good match.

If for some reason we don’t find the right dog in that time, you can reapply, and we’ll keep looking.

If we’ve found a dog who seems right for you, we’ll invite you to come and meet them at the rehoming centre. 

Some of the dogs in our care will need to meet potential owners several times to get to know one another. This lets us see you’re compatible and gives you the chance to build a bond before making a commitment to give them a new home. By taking some time at the beginning to make sure everyone’s comfortable, an adoption is more likely to be successful. 

We may also arrange a home visit with you, to see how your house will be set up and check that the garden (if you have one) is secure. This may not be necessary, though, especially if you’ve adopted from us before. Where you already have dogs, we may accept a reference from your vet as an alternative.

If we haven’t found the right dog for you within three months, we’ll let you know your application is closed. We’ll invite you to apply again so we have up-to-date information about you, and we’ll keep looking.