- initial enquiry.

We quite often don't have any background on these dogs as they have come straight from the pounds. If you are after a ready made pet, some of our dogs may not be easy and may need time to adjust to a new home enviroment. Please allow for settling in time as the last thing we want for the dog is it returned because it has chewed or had a wee on the floor. If you can't possible cope with such things a rescue dog might not be a good option. A dog at all might not be a good option if you don't want to deal with these issues.

The dogs are assessed in the kennels, and we can tell you if they are friendly, have any none serious health problems (any serious medical issues will be dealt with), are ok with other dogs or sometimes even cats if the dog is in foster. We can tell you his personality. If he's shy, quiet or very playful, or boisterous etc. We can give you an approx age. As the dogs have not been assessed around children (unless fostered) we would be very reluctant to rehome a dog with children and definitely not small children or babies- unless we do know the dogs background.

One question we get asked alot is if the dog is ok with cats. Please make sure your cat will be ok with a dog in the first instance, we don't want to rehome a dog only to make a cat homeless.

If you see a dog you would like to find out more about please ring the number shown next to the dog- please don't email the general enquiry email address as they won't be able to help. Please be paitent when calling the kennels they are often very busy and short staffed.. If you do have a problem getting through please let us know via email theteam@dogsos.co.uk and we will try and chase them for you.

- dog visit

After you have spoken to the kennel about the dog you are interested in - we will arrange a convenient time for you to come and see the dog. See if you like him and he likes you. If you have another dog or other family members please bring them along. If you decide you would like the dog, we would ask for a donation of around £75-£150 (more is welcome). Don't forget we are a charity.This money will go straight back into the rescue and allow us to continue with our vital work. The donation is non refundable even if you return the dog, except in exceptional circumstances. If you can't afford the donation please consider if you can afford a dog at all.

-Home checks

Once you have fallen in love with the dog and want to take him/her home we will arrange a home check. Don't worry about this. We are not interested if you have good taste in decor or have done the washing up. A home check is just to make sure you have a suitable home for the dog. We can arrange a home check before you come up to save 2 trips if you prefer.

Please only book a home check if you are 100% interested in a particular dog, volunteers give their time for free so please make it count.

-taking the dog home

Once the home check is complete and approved, you can take the dog home. We offer a full back up service with all our dogs and any help or guidance with rehoming. We will do a further home check to make sure you are fully happy and then you can sign the adoption forms and he's all yours. Alot of the dog's are spayed or neutered and will have had some if not all vaccinations.