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Adopt a Golden

Thank you for your interest in adopting from GRRACE! As of March 2024, we are accepting new adoption applications. Click here to submit an application.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind

  • GRRACE adopts our Golden Retrievers to Indiana residents. If you are not an Indiana resident, please click here to see a state-by-state listing of Golden Retriever rescue groups.

  • The GRRACE Board of Directors has determined that we cannot adopt Goldens where there is a child under the age of 5 years in the household.  We have found it is difficult for the adult members of a family with young children to find the considerable time needed to train a dog due to the family's busy household.

  • GRRACE prefers to adopt our dogs to homes with structural fences, given that many of our dogs have been found as strays.  However, we recognize that not all homes have structural fences, and we review each case individually with the Golden's needs in mind.

  • Please note that all applicant's pets must be spayed or neutered, and we will verify the spay/neuter status during the vet reference check step. 

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Discover Your Golden Companion

  • Attention cat owners: In accordance with Indiana Law, GRRACE requires that all pets in a prospective adoptive or foster home be up to date on required vaccinations. If you have a cat, please ensure your cats are up to date on rabies vaccinations before submitting an application. GRRACE does verify vaccination statuses for all household pets with veterinarians as part of the application review process.

  • At any given time, we have 10+ Goldens being cared for in the private homes of foster volunteers. Because we often match dogs to already-approved adoption applicants, many of our foster dogs never appear as available on the "Available Goldens" tab of our website.  If, however, we don't find a match in these approved adoption applicants, we'll then post the foster dog as "available" on our website.  If you are interested in adopting a GRRACE Golden, we encourage you to continue reading below about our adoption process then submit your adoption application so you can be considered when a GRRACE foster becomes available to be matched to his/her forever home.

Steps to Adopting a Golden

1. Complete our Adoption Application. Please note, in order to help offset the costs of processing applications, we require a $25 Application Donation Fee. This fee is non-refundable regardless of approval, denial, or future adoption of a GRRACE dog. As you complete the adoption application, you will be prompted to make your donation through our secure payment processing system. You will receive a donation receipt via email. After your donation has been made, your application will be reviewed and processed by GRRACE's Application Committee. 

 

2. Please add support@petstablished.com to your "safe" senders list in your email client. Emails regarding your application will come from that address.

 

3. Applications are reviewed and processed within 2 weeks of receipt.

 

4. The final step before any adoption is completed is a home visit. One of our trained volunteers comes to your home and discusses the adoption process with you. Home visits are done after you are matched with a dog because it is not feasible for us to conduct home visits for each applicant. The home visit is a good opportunity for you and your family, and for GRRACE, to discuss any remaining questions and talk about the process of bringing a new Golden into your family. 

 

5. After a Golden arrives at his or her new home, follow-up phone calls or visits are scheduled to ensure that all is going well for both the Golden and the family.  All Goldens are adopted on a two-week trial period. If, for any reason, the match between Golden and family does not work out, the Golden can be returned to GRRACE for a full refund of the adoption fee during that period.  After the two-week period, the adoption is considered final.  We strongly encourage you to contact us at any time if you have any questions or concerns. We are always glad to hear from our adoptive homes in the future with updates.  Please note that one term of the adoption contract is that if you cannot keep your GRRACE Golden at any time for any reason, the dog must be returned to GRRACE.

 

6. If you recently added a dog to your home and wish to adopt from GRRACE, we require a 6-12 month waiting period before adopting another dog. This gives the first dog ample time to settle in, bond with, and become familiar with the routine of the family.  If you are an already approved adopter and wish to adopt another GRRACE dog, we require that you email applications@grrace.org with any changes of information since the completion of your adoption application, then we will conduct another veterinary reference check. If you have moved to a new home since your past GRRACE adoption, we will complete a new home visit, too.

Adoption Fees

As of February 1, 2023 our adoption fees are:

 

Puppies up to 1 year old:    $750

Dogs 1 to 5 years old:         $600

Dogs 6 to 9 years old:         $400

Dogs 10 years & older:       $150

 

Adoption fees help offset the veterinary expenses for each dog that comes into GRRACE.  This includes, but is not limited to a complete physical exam by a veterinarian, spay/neuter if needed, all required vaccinations, heartworm and fecal testing, microchip, and heartworm/flea/tick prevention while in GRRACE’s care. GRRACE dogs are also assessed for medical and/or behavioral issues, as needed, by veterinary specialty clinics. 

 

Should you have any questions or comments about GRRACE or the adoption process, please contact us at applications@grrace.org and we’ll be happy to answer your questions. 

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