Adoption application form — Lurcher SOS Sighthound Rescue

Our rehoming criteria

To be considered to adopt one of our Sighthounds, your garden must be fully secure, fenced to 6 feet or more in height, and totally escape-proof. All gates must also be 6 feet in height and secured. Please Do Not apply if either your fencing and/or gate is less than 6 feet high unless you are fully prepared to raise it/them to 6 feet or more. The only exception to this is with old or infirm dogs and very young puppies, where we will accept 5-foot-high fences and gates. We do home to applicants with no garden - however, we do not home to applicants with communal gardens or shared gardens.
All potential homes will be subject to a home check.
We do not home our dogs to families with children under the age of 10 years. There are absolutely no exceptions to this.
We cannot give any assurance that any Lurcher SOS dog will have recall and, therefore, be able to be off-lead. No Lurcher SOS dog has been tested off-lead due to insurance constraints. Do Not apply if keeping your dog on a lead is a deal breaker.
We do ask that you are prepared to travel to meet the dog of your choice in their foster home with any existing dogs.
The dog of your choice MUST meet all your dogs prior to adoption to see if they get along. You must be committed enough to travel with all your existing dogs to where the dog of your choice is fostered,
We cannot transport dogs to you and we cannot meet you halfway with a dog.
All your current dogs must be fully vaccinated and vaccination certificates need to be produced at the time of your home check
Any dog adopted from Lurcher SOS must be insured within 5 days of adoption.
We do not home any of our dogs to working (ie hunting) homes.
We do not home our dogs to applicants with dog flaps or dog doors. So many dogs are stolen whilst unsupervised in gardens.
Our dogs will only be placed in homes where they will live inside as part of the family. We do not home to adopters who keep their dogs kenneled or housed outside
All our dogs are vet-checked, neutered if possible (or in some cases, adopters will be asked to sign a Neutering Agreement), vaccinated and microchipped, flea treated and wormed before going to their new home.
We ask for a minimum Adoption Donation of £300 for adult hounds and £325 for puppies which helps toward, but doesn't cover, the above costs.
Once you have adopted a Lurcher SOS rescue hound, you are not on your own. We are only a phone call away to help with any questions you may have about your new dog.
You do not have to live in Southern England to adopt a Lurcher SOS dog. We have homed dogs in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Wales, Scotland, Nottinghamshire and many other counties. But you will be expected to travel to meet the dog in its foster home. See No. 5 above.
Do Not Apply if you are not prepared to work through any issues that a rescue Sighthound may have.

IF YOU DO NOT HEAR FROM US WITHIN 4 DAYS OF SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION, THEN YOUR APPLICATION HAS NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL. AS THE DEMANDS ON OUR VOLUNTEERS' TIME ARE MANY, THERE WILL BE NO FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITH UNSUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS ABOUT WHY THEY HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL.

About the home check

Once we have received your application form, and provided it meets our adoption criteria, you will be contacted by one of our volunteer team members to discuss your application in more detail and make sure you understand the responsibility of adoption. Once that has been successfully passed, a Homecheck Coordinator will arrange for one of our Homecheckers to call you to arrange a suitable time for a homecheck. Homechecks allows us to meet you face to face, to make sure our dogs are going to be safe and to fully understand the environment and what kind of household you live in. These home checks help us to understand what dog would be suitable for you and help in matching up dogs to their new families. It’s important that all members of the family are there for the home check.

A home check is nothing to worry about. It will be arranged at a time convenient to you and the home checker. Your home checker will ask you questions about your circumstances and experience with sighthounds; some of this may feel repetitive but it is essential. They will ask you to show them where the dog will be living and will also ask to see the garden. The home checker will check your fences and will see if your garden is safe. The home checker will talk to you about feeding and caring for your dog and they will discuss some health conditions. We don’t expect you to make any special effort for your home check. We want to see you as you normally are.

If you have never owned a sighthound before, try and do some research before the home check.

Also, and this is most important before you have your home check, please make sure that your garden is safe and your fencing is secure and at least 6 feet in height with no holes or gaps. All gates must be 6 feet or more in height and secured.

The home checker will then send all the paperwork back to us and we will review it. We will contact you as soon as possible to let you know if you have passed or not. We may not have a suitable dog for you at the time of your home check, so please keep an eye on our website for lots more information of dogs coming into our care. You do not need to apply again. When you adopt from us there will be an adoption donation to pay, and you will be asked to sign an Adoption Contract and, in some cases, a Neutering Agreement.

Before applying to adopt a lurcher

Key points to consider when adopting any Sighthound

Dogs cost money. Insurance, food, and any medical issues that may arise. Can you afford it?
Dogs are social beings, so if you intend to leave your dog for more than 4 hours a day, then consider whether a dog is suitable for you.
Please ensure all your family members are on board for adoption.
Most Sighthounds can and will jump. This is why we insist that all boundaries ie hedges, walls, and fences to your property are at least 6 feet in height with no gaps. If yours are not, you would need to be willing to raise them and that includes gates to 6 feet or more. If you do not wish to do so, please do not apply and waste your time and ours.
All dogs need time to adjust so even if they are clean in their foster home, until they get used to their routine with you, accidents are inevitable. They will have experienced several changes, periods of unsettlement and stress. Please be patient with them while they adjust to their new life with you.
Please, if you are looking for a dog who can be off-lead, then consider a different breed. Sighthounds are extremely beautiful, but they come with quirks - one of their quirks is the speed they can run and the distance they can cover in a very short space of time. This year, we have seen a dreadful rise in lost Lurchers and those killed in RTA's. Please be sensible and consider if a Sighthound is really for you.
Each type of Sighthound will have their unique character and charm but there are some typical traits with each -the Saluki can often be aloof, the Greyhound usually the more placid, and as for Lurchers, it really does depend on the mix! But with any Sighthound, you should always expect:
- Your bed/sofa space decreasing; comedy genius; counter-surfing; debatable loyalty; selective hearing; exciting walks - especially when they see squirrels, rabbits, etc; becoming totally addicted to Sighthounds!
We do not home our dogs to families with children under the age of 10 years. There are no exceptions to this. Please Do Not apply if your children are under 10 years of age.
Please do not underestimate the commitment you are making when adopting a dog. You are committing to give them a loving, supportive home for the duration of their lives. This means loving and accepting them unconditionally, being there through the rough and the smooth. If you cannot promise our hounds you will always be there for them, that you won't give up on them, then please do not apply.