Failed adoptions are traumatic for the animals and for the humans who wanted them in their lives. That is why one of our goals for this year is to create a $10,000 Adoption Success Training Fund that will help more adoptions succeed.

The focus of our Adoption Success Training will be adult dogs who are so awesome that they have already been adopted, but who were ultimately returned to us for behavior issues, many of which might have been forgiven if they were puppies.

Adoption Success Training, is a two-phase program to address the specific issues that have caused each dog’s adoption to fail, resulting in the animal being returned to us.

PHASE ONE happens at Animal Ark. Behaviors are observed, issues identified, and an individualized success training regimen is created. The idea is to ensure that the verbal and non-verbal communication and specific training techniques used by all Staff and Volunteers will be consistent. Prospective Adoptive Parents will learn all the same communication and training techniques for seamless continuity.

PHASE TWO happens with a Trainer collaborating with the Adoptive Parents in the home. This phase will reinforce all of the training that happened at Animal Ark. The dog will be monitored for old issues that persist and new issues that may arise in the new setting, and an individualized remediation program will be developed as needed. The idea is to stand with the Adoptive Parents long enough to ensure the success of the adoption.

Adoption Success Training is a new program so exact costs are unknown and likely to vary – perhaps widely – from dog to dog. Current guesstimates are $500 to $1,500 per dog depending on the depth and complexity of the issues.

If our Adoption Success Training Fund had $10,000 in it today, and if all of the wonderful dogs in our care whose past adoptions have failed were to be adopted tomorrow, the entire $10,000 could be spoken for in less than 90 days. But it would be money well spent. 

The intent of every adoption is to give an animal a loving Forever Home. The intent of our Adoption Success Training Fund is to ensure that we have the resources to help every Forever Home really be… Forever.

Please do what you can to help. Thank you!