Frequently Asked Questions
We wanted to take a moment to answer a few of the most common questions we get asked about adopting from us. Please read them over; you may find the answer to your questions!
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I have a few questions, why do I need to fill out an application?
Please understand that, depending on the time of year, we can get up to 100+ inquires/applications/emails a day. Therefore, if you do not fill out an application, we do not think you are serious about adopting. We try our very best to answer questions when we can, but we take serious adopter priority due to the lack of volunteer power.
What is your adoption fee, and what vetting has been done?
Please read through the puppy's full description on Petfinder. Their information is listed there, including veterinary care, adoption fee, personality traits, etc. Adoption fees range based on the veterinary care done, transportation to Connecticut, and expenses incurred saving these lives.
Where are you located, and can I visit your dogs?
Unfortunately, we DO NOT have a shelter, hours of operation, or a facility to meet all of our available puppies. We are a foster-based rescue, and all of our adoptable puppies are in private homes around CT. We believe transitioning puppies into a home environment is hugely beneficial for assessing their health, well-being, and personalities. It helps them better prepare for a new home rather than a shelter environment and helps to set them up for success.
Once you have an approved application, we set up a private meeting with the puppy you are interested in. We think meeting with a puppy before adopting is essential to a match.
The only time it is possible to meet with multiple puppies is to come to an adoption event. Otherwise, it is impossible to coordinate a multiple puppy meeting. Please understand the time it takes to coordinate a meeting with the new home, meeting location, adoption coordinator, and foster home, only to be left with whichever puppy is not chosen and to have to do this repeatedly until all of the puppies are adopted. We would save far less due to timing alone.
Do you adopt out-of-state?
The short answer is yes! We are happy to have out-of-state adopters if you are an excellent match for one of our puppies. However, you must travel to us to adopt the puppy. There are no exceptions.
Where are the puppies you save from?
Our puppies come from all situations; however, most come from rural high-kill southern shelters, and rural area dumped puppies our volunteer networks get contacted about. And, because we never can say no, we work with northern shelters, and owner surrendered unwanted puppies or litters. In a high-kill shelter situation, dogs and even puppies only get 3-7 days to get adopted before they are euthanized. So that is where we come in! We pull them, get them to the veterinarian for vaccines, deworming, etc., find them a southern foster home or boarding facility to stay and set them up to get here to Connecticut via USDA certified transport companies.
The sad truth is we are asked to save more puppies per week than we could ever imagine helping. And that is why we continue our mission. These puppies need us.
How do the puppies get here?
We use USDA Certified transport companies. All puppies traveling need to have a clean bill of health accompanied by a health certificate and up-to-date vaccines and deworming. These transporters are professional, clean and make the trip more bearable for all of our puppies.
Is this puppy purebred or exactly the breeds listed?
Our puppies are all from different situations. Most of the time, we do not know either parent and if we did, it would be listed in their description. We cannot guarantee any dog is purebred or if there are or are not certain breeds in these puppies. Our professional and seasoned opinion, along with shelter volunteers and our veterinarian affiliates, do the best we can to identify breeds in a particular puppy. They are educated guesses.
Is this pup good with kids, cats, and other dogs?
This is a common question. We try to test and socialize our pups with kids, cats, and other dogs. If a dog is not good with any of the above, it will be listed in their description, and we would not deem this dog a "match" for you. However, 95% of all puppies are good with children, cats, and dogs. Training is key to ensuring any puppy gets adequately socialized. Most of the puppies we get are 16 weeks and under, leaving them trainable.
Is this puppy house trained?
All of our puppies have started to be crate trained, and house trained. But, of course, we can never guarantee that a young puppy is house trained. As many of you know (or will find out), house training is a process that takes a little time! It is mostly time for the puppy to grow and get a big enough bladder to hold it for 6+ hours. A good rule of thumb for house training: A puppy can hold it for the number of months old plus one! Don't forget that new environments can also trigger new behaviors. Your pup could have been potty trained in their foster home but may either test the boundaries or have accidents in their new home! Just be sure to always be on the "potty language" lookout when your new baby is roaming free and take out as much as possible!
Why is your rescue different?
In addition to having a passion for saving the lives of dogs, NEPR was created by a group of canine professionals and philanthropists who have dedicated their lives to giving back. Within our volunteers are veterinary technicians, nutrition experts, and seasoned puppy raisers among our many animal lovers to give our puppies the best in medical care, socialization, and nutrition foundation. That means you can feel confident knowing that each puppy has the very best start and the knowledge to back up the assessments. PLUS, you get to meet the puppy with us before adopting it (and sending over the fee). Of course, we want perfect matches, which is always our priority!
Can we set up a meeting with the puppy and then let you know?
We do not hold puppies for any reason. Please do not schedule a visit if you are not ready to adopt a puppy. We ask all adopters to be prepared to take their new family member home when a match is made and cannot guarantee a dog's availability if you leave without it. Please understand that we are dealing with many puppies at all times and many interested homes. The time it takes to coordinate a meeting only to be left with a full foster home, a still homeless puppy, and no room to take another is not fair to our volunteer organization or all of the dogs waiting in the shelters. We will only approve a matched home and do not sacrifice quality for quantity, but it is a matter of life and death we are dealing with. PLEASE DO NOT SCHEDULE A MEETING IF YOU ARE NOT READY TO ADOPT A PUPPY! There is no obligation to adopt, ever, and a non-match at a meeting need not apply.
What veterinary care is completed on the puppies?
We start our puppies on high-quality food, many times including supplements for digestion (probiotic), immune system boost (colostrum), and a natural dewormer (diatomaceous earth) in addition to our veterinarian's regular deworming schedule.
Puppies arrive with their first, and sometimes second, round of vaccines, and have been on a deworming schedule. This is not only protocol, but for their safety before they arrive and travel within proximity to others.
Why an adoption fee?
Yes, these puppies need homes because they were thrown away and unwanted, but they are not given to you in that condition. If they were, you would spend much more to get them to Connecticut, healthy, socialized, and on their way to a good life. Therefore, an adoption fee is necessary to reimburse the costs we incur to save these lives and to continue saving more. This fee is the least you will be spending on your dog for its lifetime and ensures that you can afford a pet.
A list of costs we as a rescue incur:
What food do you recommend, and why?
As any holistic-minded veterinarian will tell you, food is the foundation of health. Therefore, we start all of our puppies on the highest quality food available, including high-quality kibble and, when available, dehydrated raw, dehydrated whole food, goat's milk, colostrum, etc.
Our most popular kibble to place the puppies on is as follows:
Canine Caviar Chicken and Pearl Millet (Free Spirit formula) a genuinely excellent diet is hormone, pesticide, and antibiotic-free made in the USA is high digestible, alkaline to keep our pet's bodies functioning at their best and most importantly formulated to avoid health concerns like diabetes, cancer, kidney, liver and heart disease. Human grade, flash cooked, and the most digestible kibble on the market (which makes the transition very easy!).
The store we host our meetings at has this for purchase, along with foster home recommendations for your specific puppy.
How do you become a foster home?
Read more about becoming a foster HERE!. We are desperately always in need of foster homes!
Please understand that, depending on the time of year, we can get up to 100+ inquires/applications/emails a day. Therefore, if you do not fill out an application, we do not think you are serious about adopting. We try our very best to answer questions when we can, but we take serious adopter priority due to the lack of volunteer power.
What is your adoption fee, and what vetting has been done?
Please read through the puppy's full description on Petfinder. Their information is listed there, including veterinary care, adoption fee, personality traits, etc. Adoption fees range based on the veterinary care done, transportation to Connecticut, and expenses incurred saving these lives.
Where are you located, and can I visit your dogs?
Unfortunately, we DO NOT have a shelter, hours of operation, or a facility to meet all of our available puppies. We are a foster-based rescue, and all of our adoptable puppies are in private homes around CT. We believe transitioning puppies into a home environment is hugely beneficial for assessing their health, well-being, and personalities. It helps them better prepare for a new home rather than a shelter environment and helps to set them up for success.
Once you have an approved application, we set up a private meeting with the puppy you are interested in. We think meeting with a puppy before adopting is essential to a match.
The only time it is possible to meet with multiple puppies is to come to an adoption event. Otherwise, it is impossible to coordinate a multiple puppy meeting. Please understand the time it takes to coordinate a meeting with the new home, meeting location, adoption coordinator, and foster home, only to be left with whichever puppy is not chosen and to have to do this repeatedly until all of the puppies are adopted. We would save far less due to timing alone.
Do you adopt out-of-state?
The short answer is yes! We are happy to have out-of-state adopters if you are an excellent match for one of our puppies. However, you must travel to us to adopt the puppy. There are no exceptions.
Where are the puppies you save from?
Our puppies come from all situations; however, most come from rural high-kill southern shelters, and rural area dumped puppies our volunteer networks get contacted about. And, because we never can say no, we work with northern shelters, and owner surrendered unwanted puppies or litters. In a high-kill shelter situation, dogs and even puppies only get 3-7 days to get adopted before they are euthanized. So that is where we come in! We pull them, get them to the veterinarian for vaccines, deworming, etc., find them a southern foster home or boarding facility to stay and set them up to get here to Connecticut via USDA certified transport companies.
The sad truth is we are asked to save more puppies per week than we could ever imagine helping. And that is why we continue our mission. These puppies need us.
How do the puppies get here?
We use USDA Certified transport companies. All puppies traveling need to have a clean bill of health accompanied by a health certificate and up-to-date vaccines and deworming. These transporters are professional, clean and make the trip more bearable for all of our puppies.
Is this puppy purebred or exactly the breeds listed?
Our puppies are all from different situations. Most of the time, we do not know either parent and if we did, it would be listed in their description. We cannot guarantee any dog is purebred or if there are or are not certain breeds in these puppies. Our professional and seasoned opinion, along with shelter volunteers and our veterinarian affiliates, do the best we can to identify breeds in a particular puppy. They are educated guesses.
Is this pup good with kids, cats, and other dogs?
This is a common question. We try to test and socialize our pups with kids, cats, and other dogs. If a dog is not good with any of the above, it will be listed in their description, and we would not deem this dog a "match" for you. However, 95% of all puppies are good with children, cats, and dogs. Training is key to ensuring any puppy gets adequately socialized. Most of the puppies we get are 16 weeks and under, leaving them trainable.
Is this puppy house trained?
All of our puppies have started to be crate trained, and house trained. But, of course, we can never guarantee that a young puppy is house trained. As many of you know (or will find out), house training is a process that takes a little time! It is mostly time for the puppy to grow and get a big enough bladder to hold it for 6+ hours. A good rule of thumb for house training: A puppy can hold it for the number of months old plus one! Don't forget that new environments can also trigger new behaviors. Your pup could have been potty trained in their foster home but may either test the boundaries or have accidents in their new home! Just be sure to always be on the "potty language" lookout when your new baby is roaming free and take out as much as possible!
Why is your rescue different?
In addition to having a passion for saving the lives of dogs, NEPR was created by a group of canine professionals and philanthropists who have dedicated their lives to giving back. Within our volunteers are veterinary technicians, nutrition experts, and seasoned puppy raisers among our many animal lovers to give our puppies the best in medical care, socialization, and nutrition foundation. That means you can feel confident knowing that each puppy has the very best start and the knowledge to back up the assessments. PLUS, you get to meet the puppy with us before adopting it (and sending over the fee). Of course, we want perfect matches, which is always our priority!
Can we set up a meeting with the puppy and then let you know?
We do not hold puppies for any reason. Please do not schedule a visit if you are not ready to adopt a puppy. We ask all adopters to be prepared to take their new family member home when a match is made and cannot guarantee a dog's availability if you leave without it. Please understand that we are dealing with many puppies at all times and many interested homes. The time it takes to coordinate a meeting only to be left with a full foster home, a still homeless puppy, and no room to take another is not fair to our volunteer organization or all of the dogs waiting in the shelters. We will only approve a matched home and do not sacrifice quality for quantity, but it is a matter of life and death we are dealing with. PLEASE DO NOT SCHEDULE A MEETING IF YOU ARE NOT READY TO ADOPT A PUPPY! There is no obligation to adopt, ever, and a non-match at a meeting need not apply.
What veterinary care is completed on the puppies?
We start our puppies on high-quality food, many times including supplements for digestion (probiotic), immune system boost (colostrum), and a natural dewormer (diatomaceous earth) in addition to our veterinarian's regular deworming schedule.
Puppies arrive with their first, and sometimes second, round of vaccines, and have been on a deworming schedule. This is not only protocol, but for their safety before they arrive and travel within proximity to others.
Why an adoption fee?
Yes, these puppies need homes because they were thrown away and unwanted, but they are not given to you in that condition. If they were, you would spend much more to get them to Connecticut, healthy, socialized, and on their way to a good life. Therefore, an adoption fee is necessary to reimburse the costs we incur to save these lives and to continue saving more. This fee is the least you will be spending on your dog for its lifetime and ensures that you can afford a pet.
A list of costs we as a rescue incur:
- Pull fee's from shelters
- Veterinary exams pre and post-arrival and 15 days before adoption
- Vaccinations- DA2PP & Rabies (when applicable)
- Dewormings- many times several
- Transport Company fees for travel to Connecticut
- Flea Preventative
- High-quality food and supplements
- Disinfectant, Bleach, Paper Towels, Pee Pads
- Medications- i.e., antibiotics
- Paper, printer ink, and all things needed for records
- All of the things that aren't 'planned'- emergency surgeries, sicknesses, extra medications, hospital stays
- Driving to meet transports, to vet appointments, and to adoption meetings
- Cleaning up puppy poop. Lots and lots of puppy poop
- Nursing a sick puppy back to health
- Volunteering time to help with screening applications, foster applications, and completing adoptions
- Helping to socialize, potty train, and begin training your puppy
- Taking photos of the pups
- Managing the website/Facebook/Petfinder page
- Scheduling transportation companies to pick up and drop off puppies from south to north
- Coordinating with our local CT veterinarian to ensure each animal is cared for and within the state laws
- Coordinating with southern and northern shelters to take in animals
- Pulling, housing, and coordinating housing and foster homes for all of the animals we take in
What food do you recommend, and why?
As any holistic-minded veterinarian will tell you, food is the foundation of health. Therefore, we start all of our puppies on the highest quality food available, including high-quality kibble and, when available, dehydrated raw, dehydrated whole food, goat's milk, colostrum, etc.
Our most popular kibble to place the puppies on is as follows:
Canine Caviar Chicken and Pearl Millet (Free Spirit formula) a genuinely excellent diet is hormone, pesticide, and antibiotic-free made in the USA is high digestible, alkaline to keep our pet's bodies functioning at their best and most importantly formulated to avoid health concerns like diabetes, cancer, kidney, liver and heart disease. Human grade, flash cooked, and the most digestible kibble on the market (which makes the transition very easy!).
The store we host our meetings at has this for purchase, along with foster home recommendations for your specific puppy.
How do you become a foster home?
Read more about becoming a foster HERE!. We are desperately always in need of foster homes!
