My Nonprofit Reviews

Last Saturday, my family adopted a 2 month old chocolate lab puppy named Lily from Daisy's litter.  We thought finding a puppy from a rescue would be impossible, but it wasn't.  Little Lily has brought so much joy into our house for me, my wife, our little girl, and three cats.  Fantastic experience!  Here's how it happened...

For the last four years my family contemplated bringing a Labrador Retriever into our home and we decided to wait and find a rescue organization. This year we stumbled upon WCLRR and followed their website and socials.  After a lot of thought and consideration, my wife and I decided to start the application process in an effort to find a Lab three or under.  Going through a breeder didn't feel right to us based on a few past experiences -- adopting from a shelter or rescue was our preference.

WCLRR is a fantastic organization that deeply cares about the dogs and finding the best homes for them (my wife and I loved this).  We would talk about the available dogs on the website and should we apply or not (some were too old for us and we have three cats of various ages and activity levels).  The website lays out the WCLRR philosophy in great detail which helps manage expectations -- everything on the website is correct and it was exactly as described, "nothing guarantees you will get a dog."  And it's true. 

I decided to start the adoption application process while we were on spring break.  It's a thorough application that covers everything about your situation, reason for adopting, experience with dogs, and lifestyle.  This might rub people the wrong way as I'm sure you can lease a car faster or adopt from a shelter in a number of hours.  It took me about 45 minutes to accurately complete the adoption application.  The next day I received an e-mail from a volunteer (not going to name them as a courtesy) to schedule the home interview/inspection over FaceTime.  The entire family sat for the interview.  I showed him around the yard and main living areas, answered questions, and asked a few.  We were told it may take up to a week for our application to be reviewed and decided upon.  There's a $30 donation to help with costs, which is reasonable.

I applied for Gus and wrote an e-mail to the address indicated on the website.  Soon after I received a response to thank me for my interest and my family would be added to the list of interested families.  I was optimistic but knew our chances were slim considering our cats.  I saw the posts about Daisy and her pups.  We decided to keep looking for available dogs and try to adopt one of Daisy's pups. 

One day I decided it was time to reach out and express our interest in adopting one of Daisy's puppies.  Our daughter was excited, but we told her not to get her hopes up given the amount of interest for a puppy.  I received a response from the same volunteer acknowledging receipt of our interest.  Five days later I received an e-mail from a different volunteer to schedule a phone call.  We spoke about the puppies, our experience with puppies, the disruption a puppy will cause to a family routine, and not taking the puppy to public places before being  fully vaccinated for parvo.  I was told a decision would be made several days later. 

The family discussed the change a puppy would bring and we all agreed we wanted a puppy if lucky enough.  Several days later I sent a follow up e-mail to the volunteer and on Monday morning she called to give me the exciting news: we were selected to adopt one of the puppies.  She explained the process, e-mailed the time and location, and we showed up as agreed upon.  There were volunteers at the foster family's home.  The puppies were hanging out in a playpen in the backyard.  We were able to become acquainted with the volunteers and the pups.  Then sweet Lily bonded with our daughter and that was it.  We found the right puppy.  The paperwork was prepared and e-mailed to me.  I read and signed the adoption agreement on my phone and made the agreed upon donation.  My family received the folder with paperwork (vaccinations and a dog tag), a bag with some toys, a can of the wet food fed to the puppies, and a bag of kibble.  

The entire experience was fantastic.  There were no surprises.  Everyone was professional, courteous, caring, and clear about the expectations on all sides.  They really care about these marvelous dogs.  The volunteers have all been fantastic, every one, and they checked in the next day to see how things were going.  My family is very thankful to everyone at WCLRR for their hard work and dedication running such a fantastic rescue.