Opinions on potential adopter needed

by **Pit Chick** » Sun May 08, 2011 4:37 pm

When in doubt I know I can get good opinions from PBF. A guy replied to a Craigs List ad I posted with my Pit Bull fosters. The application was good for the most part, he happily answered some questions I had. However, there are a couple of things that concern me and I know I should just go with my gut and my gut isn't comfortable.

He claims he hasn't had a dog since he was 13 which they had to give away because they couldn't have a Great Dane in the apartment. Not his fault, but one of the questions asks "what would you consider a valid reason to give up a dog?" and he put moving to a place the dog couldn't go. I asked him yesterday under what circumstances would it take for him to move and not take the dog. No answer yet.

Next concern is, when asked "how will you confine this dog" he said with a 50ft trolley line in the back yard. However he claims the dog will be an inside dog and he has a 6th wood fence in good condition. He claims he would use the trolley to prevent the dog from escaping. Wonder where he gets that idea?

My mom did a background check and found out he's had a child support case filed against him and the neighborhood he lives in is not that great. I can't judge people based on where they live because people living in the hood could make great pet owners, they may not be able to help the fact that their neighborhood turned into a crappy place around them. But given that info and the tethering info I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling. On top of the lack of parental responsibility he's shown in the past.

Tethering isn't a big deal, especially if the dog is a known escape artist, but he says he just went and got the tether. That tells me he plans to tether him for longer than just going potty.

Thoughts? Opinions?

by **Jay James** » Sun May 08, 2011 9:50 pm

I'm so inexperienced in fostering/adopting out and the like my opinion probably counts for naught! BUT the child care payment defaults worry me - if he can't be responsible enought to provide finacial care for his child (and obviously this wasn't a one off if a case was bought against him) then I would be concerned... is he renting? If yes, moving is likely at some stage and the dog could potentially be off loaded again.

I don't know... it sounds 'not perfect to me'....

by **haircrazie016** » Sun May 08, 2011 11:02 pm

honestly, I've found that if I have doubt about an adopter, its for good reason. go with your gut!

One of the biggest things that makes fostering a rewarding experience for me is knowing that they have a new family that really loves them, and is going to care for them, if I couldn't walk away feeling that, I would never be able to let them go!

by **pacopoe** » Sun May 08, 2011 11:10 pm

haircrazie016 wrote:honestly, I've found that if I have doubt about an adopter, its for good reason. go with your gut!

^^^ this. It's better to err on the side of caution. I've gone against my gut before and guess what... my gut was right lol

Save yourself the headache/heartache and keep the animal safe.

by **ilovetyson** » Mon May 09, 2011 9:03 am

Yea, as foster parents it is a good place to say Yes or no..cause we talk more in depth with the families.

As far as tethering, Maybe talk to him about how leaving the dog on it longer then pottying isn't necessary if the dog is indoors. Maybe do a home inspection of the home.. talk to the guy in person. (This is if you want to make it work out)
If your gut is screaming not to do it.. then there is a reason for that. Trust me, I have had to say NO to some of the adoptions on my fosters for one reason or another. But, doing a home inspection is always a good thing to do with ANY Applicant that is interested.

by **Kirstan** » Mon May 09, 2011 3:29 pm

NO! Just my opinion.

by **Kirstan** » Mon May 09, 2011 3:33 pm

Sometimes, we get so many apps that are just not good and it seems like the poor ones are better than the horrible ones. This guys seems like a poor applicant (not monetarily 'poor' but excellent to horrible 'poor'). I feel like you'll be sending a dog into an unstable situation where he'll likely be tethered longer than necessary, isn't paying child support so if the kid comes to see him and the mom suddenly decides she 'doesn't like pit bulls' it could be yet another reason for him to give the dog back... mom won't let me have kid around pit bull type of thing. I've had applicants like this and it never seems to work out like I wanted it too.

by **Stormi** » Mon May 09, 2011 3:38 pm

Kirstan wrote:NO! Just my opinion.

This.

by **Pit Chick** » Mon May 09, 2011 4:23 pm

Thanks everyone, I know I can always count on good advice here. I still haven't heard back from him since Saturday. I like it when they just fall off on their own instead of me having to tell them to go away. Not answering my question within the same day or two speaks volumes.

by **Amy Hendrickson** » Mon May 09, 2011 8:20 pm

My answer would be hell no and if you decided to do it, keep the chip in your name (if you microchip) cuz you know AC is going to call you when he skips out and leaves the dog attached to that trolly in the backyard.

by **Pit Chick** » Tue May 10, 2011 2:49 pm

I do chip and I keep the chips in my name. I want to be notified if my fosters ever ended up lost or in a shelter. Plus it makes us one more contact to reach in case the owners can't be reached.

You know, now that I think about it. What if one of my fosters were turned into a shelter by the adopter? They wouldn't be scanned since they wouldn't be considered stray. I trust that they have all gone to good homes, but even the good homes can surprise you sometimes.

by **afrikaPB** » Tue May 10, 2011 5:13 pm

The county shelter I used to work at scanned all intakes, even if they were owner surrendered.

by **Pit Chick** » Tue May 10, 2011 5:18 pm

I guess I should check into that. Houston has 5 major shelters and that's not including the shelters in the surrounding counties. Looks like I got a job ahead of me.

by **GoingPostal** » Wed May 11, 2011 8:54 am

I'm curious why everyone is assuming because there's a trolley, the dog will get left outside all the time? I mean, most people wouldn't adopt to someone without a fence, but you can just as easily leave a dog in a fenced yard all the time although it'd be much less secure than with an additional trolley or chainspot. I probably wouldn't adopt to this guy because of the moving=dump dog answer and the non payment of child support but seems like a lot of assumptions are being made.

by **Pit Chick** » Wed May 11, 2011 3:59 pm

Because it seems like he's anticipating something happening before he even gets the dog. He said he already went and bought a trolley line, yet he claims his yard is completely fenced. He said he got it to prevent the dog escaping. Where would he get that idea when he doesn't even know the dog? And he said the dog would never be alone. If that's the case, why a trolley line? Isn't someone going to be there to watch the dog all day?

I'm not against tethers and trolley lines for dogs that need it. One of my own dogs needs a tether because she can jump a 4th fence and that's what my yard has. If I was adopting out a dog like her, I would expect the adopter to invest in a tether or trolley line, but this guy is jumping to conclusions about a dog he doesn't have.