How does the adoption process work?
The Barking Lot specializes in finding new homes for abandoned dogs. View available dogs on our “Temporary Barking” page. Once you find a dog(s) you are interested in, fill out the online adoption application, making sure to include the dog’s name(s). A Barking Attendant will contact you within 24 hours to schedule a home check and play date with the dog(s) of your choice. All family members should attend the play date, including your canines. During the play date, we will share all the information we have on the dog, including temperament and medical history.
Adoptions are on a first come/first served basis for qualified applicants that have completed ALL steps in our process.
*Please Note: The Barking Lot is open to the public by appointment only. We will contact you to schedule an appointment after we receive your application:
Adoption Application
- Fill out our online application, https://thebarkinglot.net/adoption-application
- Once we receive and review the application, we will contact you with any questions and/or to set up a home check & play date with the dog(s) you are interested in.
- After you meet and decide on a dog, you can take them home that day IF a home check has already taken place (during the home check, a volunteer will come to your residence to ensure the environment is safe and suitable for the dog of your choice.)
- To take the dog home, you will need to sign our adoption contract, provide the adoption fee, and have a leash and collar for your new family member.
- Exceptions to the rule: The steps vary slightly if you have a cat or not all family members are able to attend the play date
Adoptions are on a first come/first served basis for qualified applicants that have completed ALL steps in our process.
We want to ensure that we match you up with the dog that best suits your lifestyle. In order to facilitate that match, we need to ask you quite a few questions. Plus, it is a good time for you to consider future scenarios that might arise with your new dog. The form can be completed thoroughly in about 10 minutes — less time than it will take you to walk your new dog in the morning.
Did you know that 20% of the people who adopt dogs from county shelters end up returning them to the shelter? Our return rate of adopted dogs is only 3%!!! We work hard to ensure the home we find for a dog is permanent. To do this, we have a longer process than the county shelter, which includes a detailed application, a play date at our facility, and a home check. While this may sound like a lot of steps, we can usually work through the process within a couple of days. And, you can breathe easy knowing the dog you are taking home is truly the best match for you.
Yes; we update the website several times throughout the day, so 99% of the time a dog you see on the site is still available (we are human, though, so cut us some slack if we don’t pull one down from the site immediately).
The vast majority of our dogs are good with other dogs (we are set up like a doggy day care, so our pups get lots of time together in our indoor/outdoor play yards). If we know they aren’t good with dogs, cats, or kids we will indicate that on their profile. If you don’t read anything about their behavior around kids or cats, it is probably because we don’t know yet. We do introductions and home checks prior to all adoptions which helps us determine if the dog will get along with all your family members, two and four legged.
Adoption fees include spay/neuter surgery, microchipping, vaccines, and of course food, care and boarding while with us. Our adoption fees vary by the dog’s age and traits (e.g., hypoallergenic). The range is $250 – $500.
Unlike the county shelters, we don’t receive any tax money and rely solely on adoption fees and donations to keep our doors open for all the rescue dogs in need. Without the adoption fees, we couldn’t care for our pups or save any others from death row.
We also don’t have a vet on staff like the county, so we have to pay for spay/neuter, microchipping, medicines, vaccines, parasite treatments, etc.
Lastly, the county offers reduced adoption fees as they would rather see the dog adopted than euthanized. We, being a no kill facility, are not in that same predicament. We are happy to care for a dog as long as necessary (which ends up costing us more money in the long run).
Unfortunately, we can’t reduce our adoption fees under any circumstances (please see the answer to the above question). If our adoption fees don’t fit in to your budget, please visit the local animal shelter run by the county. There you will find many great dogs in dire need of permanent homes. If you adopt from the county shelter, that is one less we need to save from death row!
No, sending dogs out on a trial basis can be quite stressful for a pup. Every decision we make is with the dogs’ best interest in mind; in this case it is in their best interest to stay with us until they find their permanent home.
Yes! We always take our dogs back if necessary; in fact, we require that you return them to us if you can no longer care for them. We hope our adoption process, though, will prevent any issues from arising – that is why we have an in-depth application, a meet & greet, and a home visit. And, if any behavioral or training problems arise at home, we will work with you to resolve those issues. 99.9% of the time a problem you might be facing can be corrected with consistent training, increased exercise, and/or medical treatment.
Yes! We place lots of dogs outside of San Diego. We still require a home check and you will need to come to San Diego to meet the dog and arrange for his/her trip back home. Also, the process can take just a bit longer, as we partner with other rescue groups to conduct the home check in your area.
The Barking Lot focuses completely on finding new homes for abandoned dogs or dogs scheduled for euthanasia at other shelters. We do not rescue any other animals.
The Barking Lot finds its recruits in a number of places and ways. We rescue them from high kill shelters and humane societies – from Los Angeles all the way down and into Mexico. More often than not, the dogs we rescue have already been scheduled for euthanasia. The Barking Lot is their last chance at finding a forever home.
The majority of our dogs come from death row at the government shelters. We typically do not take a dog an owner is giving up. However, we will consider an owner relinquished dog if two conditions are met: 1) We meet the dog and they pass a behavioral assessment 2) A donation of $1,000 is made to our organization to help us care for the dog, and the others in our rescue, while we search for their new home. To discuss this option with us further, please email info@thebarkinglot.net
No, we can not take strays. Strays and abandoned animals are handled by your local Animal Control agency, allowing owners to have a chance to find their lost pets. Many times, if the animal goes unclaimed, they will find themselves at The Barking Lot, but they have to go through the proper channels first.
The Barking Lot will keep an animal until we find it a new home.
The Barking Lot does not accept animals on a temporary basis. However, we do offer boarding services for your pets. Check out our “Guest Barking“.
Yes, we recommend that you call us periodically to see if the desired breed is available, or visit our Temporary Barking to see a live-updated list of our currently available dogs.
Quite often we get expectant or recently-delivered mothers in to The Barking Lot. We provide proper puppy care, immunization, vet check-ups and neutering to the puppies. Once they are old enough to be adopted, they can be found on our Temporary Barking list. We recommend you check with us to see if we currently have any puppies.
Yes, we can always use blankets, towels, dog bones, dog toys, etc. Sometimes we have specific needs that are published to our Wish List. Cash donations can be made on our Donate page.
Yes, all of our Barking Attendants are volunteers. They walk, bathe, and socialize the animals as well as provide clean up and facility maintenance. We also have volunteers at the front desk to help with paperwork and phones. Visit this link if you are interested in becoming a Barking Attendant.