Adopting a dog from Dogs Trust Ireland

Did you know that we have dogs available for rehoming all over Ireland? There's no need to travel to our rehoming centre in Dublin to meet a dog, you can adopt a dog more locally through our Regional Rehoming programme, whether you’re in Munster, Connacht or Leinster.

Better for Dogs

Rehoming locally is better for dogs. There is less travel involved, and for dogs who need to live in a quieter area, there’s a greater chance for them to meet more rural families. Even if you’re not in the same region, you can still apply to adopt a dog, but we try to give priority to local families where possible.

How it Works

Regional adoptions all begin with fostering. If you see a dog you like, you agree to “foster pending adoption”. This means that you agree to foster the dog in your home. After the first week, you have the option to formally adopt the dog into your family. If you decide not to do that, we ask you to keep fostering them until we can find a suitable new family. This gives vulnerable dogs greater stability and continuity of care, and it gives us truly valuable information about what the dog is like in a home, so we can match them to their forever family.

Ready to apply?

We want to find all our dogs a loving forever family. If you want to adopt from us, fill in our application form to tell us about you, your lifestyle and your home so we can find you a great match.

Submit an application

FAQs

What if I decide not to adopt?

By having a dog in your home and fostering for any length of time, you are giving us invaluable information on what the dog is like in a home environment. This greatly helps us to find them their perfect forever home.

We will send you a “foster feedback form” to be completed. This allows us to update the dog’s profile and where possible we also ask that you continue to foster the dog in your home to prevent them coming back to a kennel, until a suitable home is chosen.

Please be aware, we are a small team covering all of Ireland, so we may not have someone in your area to collect the dog immediately if you decide not to adopt and you no longer wish to foster.

Can I meet the dog prior to them being dropped off?

As the dogs in our Regional Rehoming programme are based in private facilities or foster homes, we bring the dog to your home so you can foster them with a view to adopting the dog, a term we call 'foster pending adoption'.

Can you bring the dog to the centre in Dublin?

Our rehoming centre in Finglas works at capacity, so unfortunately we are unable to transfer a dog to Dublin to meet a family as there would be no space available to accommodate the dog.

What will be provided with the dog?

We will provide a collar, lead, harness and enough food to last a week. We ask that you kindly provide toys, bowls and a bed please (which can even just be a duvet, they will love it!) as we don't have space in our van to store these materials.

Can I have longer than a week to decide if I want to adopt the dog?

Adopting a dog is a huge commitment and we understand it may be a difficult decision to make, so an extension may be granted, on a case by case basis.

Will I have support?

When you foster a dog, we will provide you with contact details in case you have any veterinary or behavioural concerns.

We would really appreciate if you make us aware of these as soon as they arise so we can help as soon as is possible.

My garden is not secure, can I adopt from you?

This will really depend on the dog, so we urge you to highlight this in your Home Finding Questionnaire please.

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