Adoption Process

All requirements and steps noted below are mandatory and non-negotiable.  

1. You must be local to the San Diego County, Temecula or Murrieta area.
2. Puppies under 6 months old require a securely fenced yard with a fence minimum of 5 feet.
3. Fill out the adoption application on our website, www.itsthepits.org - someone from our adoption team will contact you within 24-48 hours via email regarding your application. Please keep an eye on your spam/junk email folders.
4. If there is no follow-up or additional information required, our team will contact you to schedule your phone interview.
5. After your phone interview is approved, we will schedule a homecheck.
6. Once your homecheck is completed, if approved, we will schedule an interact (meet & greet) at our facility for you to meet 1-3 dogs. This may or may not be the dog that you originally applied for. We will discuss with you who are the best candidates for you to meet. We will require everyone (adults & children) and any dog(s) that live in the home to attend. 
7. We will require that all current dogs living in your home or that visit regularly are spayed/neutered. This is not only a health concern but also a safety concern with a multi-dog household.
8. Signing the adoption agreement and paying the non-refundable processing fee is the last step before taking your new family member home.

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Non-Refundable Processing Fees

• Puppies (under 1 year)

  • $325 and that includes a slip leash, spay/neuter, microchip, current on shots up to when you take the puppy home,
    de-worm, flea treatment if needed

  • Depending on how old your puppy is, they will come to you with at least their first shot.  They need 2-3 more vaccines after that, each 3- 4 weeks apart, which you are financially responsible for as well as all expenses after you have taken your puppy home except the spay/neuter and microchip

  • For puppies under 5 months of age and not spayed/neutered yet, we do a Foster to Adopt process. You will sign a Foster to Adopt Agreement and an Adoption Agreement. We cannot officially adopt out a dog unless they are spayed/neutered. The puppy will technically be yours but they will stay in our name until they are spayed/neutered. You will get all the puppy’s medical records via email within a week of taking him/her home so you can get them registered at your vet and get them any remaining shots needed.

  • When it is time to spay/neuter we will contact you and have you take the puppy to one of our vets because we cover the spay/neuter cost. You will be responsible for the cost of the e-collar. Most of the time the pain meds are included but you may be responsible for those as well. These are both required for the comfort and safety of your puppy. Once we get the spay/neuter certificate from the vet, we will then mail out the microchip to you (which the pups get at the same time as the spay/neuter) and you can register the pup in your name. Again, the spay/neuter is required between 4 to 5 months of age and to be done at our vet - this is non-negotiable.

  • We cannot hold puppies for you. You will be expected to take the puppy/ home the day of the meet & greet, if approved.

  • If you are seeking a service dog or emotional support animal we will not place a dog less than a year old, as we cannot guarantee the temperament needed to meet the requirements to become a service dog. We will only consider dogs 1 year and up.

• Adults (1-8 years) - $295 and that includes a slip leash,  spay/neuter, microchip, vaccines,  flea/tick meds if needed

  • We cannot hold dogs for you. You will be expected to take the dog home the day of the meet & greet, if approved.
    
     

• Seniors (9 years and up) - $150 and that includes a slip leash, spay/neuter, microchip, vaccines,  flea/ tick if needed

  • We cannot hold dogs for you. You will be expected to take the dog home the day of the meet & greet, if approved.

We don’t do “first come, first serve”. We do best home for the dog.

We prefer that dogs are not left for more than 6 hours in a crate. If you can come home for lunch to let the dog out to go to the bathroom, that is the best thing. Dogs are not to be kept outside all day or in the garage; they need to have access to indoors, water and shade. If you want to eventually let the dog free roam , we recommend crating for the first few months until the dog has become comfortable with you and their new home. If you are looking to adopt a puppy, you absolutely cannot leave the puppy outside and you have to be able to come home every few hours to let the pup out to go to the bathroom. You CANNOT let a puppy free roam when you are gone until they are at least a year old – they are still very curious at this age and will be looking to get into anything they possibly can.