Please read before completing the application.
Adopting a pug is not for everyone. Adopting a rescue is not for everyone. Please review the information below to see if a rescue pug is truly the right decision for you. Remember, this is a commitment for the life of the pug.
Pugs are like toddlers for their entire lives. They are needy and clingy. They are stubborn, demanding and obstinate. This does not change.
Rescue pugs are imperfect. If you are looking for a pug that will never soil your carpet, chew your favorite pair of shoes, chase your cat or growl at your child when they take a toy from it, then a rescue pug is probably not for you. Remember that many of our rescue pugs have some issue, whether health or behavioral, that has caused them to be surrendered to rescue. However, some issues are a result of neglect, abandonment or simply a poor home environment. While we will always disclose any information we have about specific health or behavior problems a pug may have that may impact your ability to care for that dog, we do ask that you enter into this process with the understanding that owning a rescued pug is a wonderful and sometimes challenging experience.
Adopting a rescue pug requires a commitment from you – a commitment to work with your adopted pug to help them learn to trust you and to blend into your family. They can’t do this overnight, and they can’t do this by themselves. Every pug adopted from MAPR will have gone through at least two homes by the time they are adopted – their original home and their foster home - so it is important that their adoption from MAPR be forever. It takes a minimum of 6-8 weeks for most pugs to acclimate to their new home. If you aren’t willing to work with the pug (and perhaps your resident pets) to address any issues that develop during and after this period, please do not complete the application. While we will always take a pug back into care if an adoption should fail, know that we will expect you to do everything in your power to address the problem first. We will provide you with support and resources to be successful, but your commitment is crucial to success.
If you want your resident pets to meet the prospective pug prior to adoption, it will be your responsibility to travel to where the pug is being fostered. In some situations, the person fostering the pug may be able to meet you part way, but we cannot guarantee this. Please also understand that it is impossible to ensure that an adopted pug will get along perfectly with your resident pets even if they have met in advance. Conflicts often arise several weeks into the adoption as a new pack order is established. This is where your commitment will be required to help everyone learn to live harmoniously.
Once a match is made, it is ultimately your responsibility to travel to pick up your pug. We may or may not be able to arrange for transport assistance, depending on our available resources. Keep in mind that we do not ever ship dogs.
If you are very specific about the type of pug you are willing to adopt, please be prepared to wait. For example, if you want only a black female pug that isn’t over 15 lbs. and is housetrained, you may have to wait many months. Since we accept any pug regardless of age or infirmity, we have no control over the variety or characteristics of the pugs we have available. We try to accommodate preferences when possible but the more flexible you are, the more quickly we can work together to make a match that is suitable for your home.
If you are not ready to take a pug into your home within the next thirty days or if everyone in your home is not 100% in support of your decision to adopt, please wait to complete the application until everyone is ready. While it often takes longer to make an appropriate match, sometimes the process moves very quickly. As we have no paid staff, every member of our team has many other obligations (work, family) so we try to be as efficient as possible. We ask your cooperation. If at any point you are no longer able to adopt a pug, please let us know so we can make the best use of our volunteer hours. Remember that each dog takes literally countless hours to assess each pug, address his/her medical and behavioral needs, and screen for the perfect home. Similarly, each application takes a minimum of 4-5 hours to process fully. We take our responsibility seriously and hope that you appreciate our need to use our resources wisely so we can serve all the dogs and applicants who come into MAPR.
Not everyone who completes an application will be contacted to continue the adoption approval process. We receive over 1000 applications annually and we do review each and every complete application we receive; however, we do not have the resources to contact applicants to get more complete answers to the questions on the application. Our application is designed to give us basic information by which to determine your eligibility to adopt a pug. It is your responsibility to complete the application honestly, accurately, and completely so that we have as much information as possible. Be aware that the information provided on the application will be verified during the interview, reference check and home visit process. We welcome a variety of family types and home environments – there is no ideal home. Our adoptive families are as diverse as the dogs they chose to adopt.
When we contact you, please reply within 2 days. If we contact you and we do not get a reply, the processing of your application may be significantly delayed or discontinued. Please provide us with contact information where we can reliably reach you by email and phone. Inform your personal references that you have listed them on your application and ask them to be responsive when we contact them. If we cannot reach one of your references, this will significantly delay the process.
Please be patient with us. We are staffed completely by volunteers who love pugs and who love having the opportunity to help these amazing dogs find wonderful families. We strive to respond to you in a timely fashion and to be honest, respectful and courteous in all our interactions. Please understand that our primary obligation is also to the pugs entrusted to our care. While we realize that our screening process may seem extensive and may occasionally (and unfortunately) eliminate some good homes, it is a process that has been developed through years of experience and we stand firmly behind it. However, if at any time you have questions or wish to discuss any part our process, we welcome the opportunity to talk with you.
If, by this point, you are thinking we are as friendly as the IRS, please know that we truly are warm, wonderful people who love what we do and truly love working with families to find the right pug. We have found that the best way to ensure success is to make sure that everyone enters into the process with appropriate expectations. The items outlined above should help you to carefully consider if a rescue pug is right for you but if you have additional questions, please contact amy@midatlanticpugrescue.org.