Wisconsin Boston Terrier Rescue's mission is not to find families for a Boston Terrier, but to find the best family for a Boston Terrier. We often receive dozens of applications for a particular dog, and we have the difficult decision of selecting which family is the best fit for that dog. After we receive your application, we first review it to see if it is a potential fit for the dog in which you are interested. If it looks like it is, we then check with your veterinarian and/or personal references. We do verify with veterinarians that current pets in the home are spayed or neutered and up to date on vaccinations. In order to facilitate the review process, we suggest that before you apply, you make sure this is taken care of and that if your vet requires your authorization to release information, you have given them permission.

Applications that may be a potential fit and pass reference checks are forwarded to the dog's foster home to review and assist us in determining which applicant appears to be the best fit. We then require a home visit before we set up any meetings between the applicant and the foster home. If you are not selected for one dog, please be patient, stay in touch via e-mail, and let us know via email when there is another WBTR dog in need that interests you.

If there is not a specific dog you are interested in adopting, you can still submit an application, and we will keep it on file. If you have an application on file, either because there was no dog listed at the time you applied, or because your application was not selected for the dog for whom you originally applied, please email wbtradoption@gmail.com when there is (another) specific dog you are interested in. Send an email with the name of the dog and let us know that you have an application on file and would like us to review it for that dog. Due to the large number of applications we often receive, we usually cannot match you to a dog unless you email us to let us know you are interested in that particular dog.

Once an applicant has passed reference checks and a home visit, the foster home will contact them to discuss any questions about the dog and set up a meeting. If that meeting goes well, the applicant may adopt the dog at that time. Before an adoption is completed, we will require an adoption contract and an adoption fee. Our standard adoption fees are:

• $400 for a dog under 8
• $350 for a senior
• $450 for a puppy

The fee is non-negotiable.

To inquire about the status of your application, please contact wbtradoption@gmail.com.

If you know of a Boston Terrier in need of assistance, please contact wbtrsurrender@gmail.com.

Can I meet a specific dog / when can I meet the dog I applied for?

Meetings do not take place until late in the adoption process, after we have received your application, determine it is potentially a good fit, checked references, had the foster home review applications, and have done a home visit. Every dog is in a foster home and there is no central shelter location, and we only ask foster homes to arrange meetings once we are fairly certain it is likely to lead to adoption.

When will I hear back about my adoption application?

We will acknowledge receipt of your application via email, normally within a day or so, but please allow up to three days. If you have not applied for a specific dog, we will ask you to let us know when you see one you are interested in and email us. If you have applied for a specific dog, we will try to provide some information on our application review timeline, and let you know if we have additional questions about your application. If you do not receive any response within three days, please email wbtradoption@gmail.com to make sure we have received the application.

After that initial reply, it often takes between one and three weeks to work through the adoption process and make decisions. We try to let everyone know once a decision has been made; however, it is fine to check in after a week or two if you haven’t heard anything, as we do have a lot of emails to keep track of and occasionally miss an applicant when notifying those who were not selected to adopt a particular dog.

Please ensure that you have accurately typed your email address on the application and that you check that email account regularly. If we do not receive a response to follow-up questions via email, or our emails to you do not go through, we are not normally able to make other efforts to contact you.

Do you have any puppies available?

We do not have puppies in our rescue very often, but it does happen occasionally. It's usually best to have an application on file and then let us know when you see a dog you are interested in, but we cannot offer any particular timeline on when there might be a puppy available. Most of the Boston Terriers who need our help are adult dogs.

Do you adopt to families with young children? Why does a particular dog’s information say they need a home without young children?

We do consider applications from families with young children when a dog can appropriately be placed in a home with young children. However, it is necessary for us to be somewhat cautious in determining when a dog can live with young children. Usually, if we have said a dog needs a home without young children, it is based on information from the home that surrendered the dog, and/or our observations of the dog’s behavior in its foster home. Some dogs are too rambunctious to live with very small children, are too shy and are frightened of children, or have other behaviors that are not safe or appropriate around children. We are also cautious about placing dogs who are not good with children in homes that expect to have children in the future, as we generally cannot know to what extent the dog's behavior around children will improve with time, and we are looking for the forever home for each dog.

Do you accept applications from outside of Wisconsin? Will you make travel or shipping arrangements to get a dog to me?

We are no longer adopting outside the state of Wisconsin in most cases. This is due to challenges with home visits, Certificates of Veterinary Inspection, and arranging the return of dogs when an adoption is unsuccessful. We will only consider exceptions for prior adopters, and if a dog has special needs that have made finding a suitable home challenging. In the latter case, we will note in the dog's bio that we will accept applications from neighboring states, and we will require applicants to have had experience with similar special needs.

We do not ship dogs, and so all applicants must be willing to drive to meet the dog at its foster home if approved, and agree to drive them back if for any reason the adoption does not work out.

Most of our foster homes and volunteers are in southern or northeastern Wisconsin. If you are applying from out of state where an exception is noted in the dog's bio, or from northwestern Wisconsin, it is helpful to let us know if you have previously adopted from another rescue that has done a home visit, and/or are familiar with a local rescue who could help with a home visit.

Are there other restrictions on who can adopt?

We require that all other pets in the home be spayed or neutered and up to date on appropriate vaccinations unless there is a medical reason they cannot receive vaccination updates, and we will verify this information with your veterinarian. Other requirements are usually specific to the particular dog.

There are certain situations in which we will often have more follow-up questions to determine if a home may be appropriate for a given dog. For example, we need to know the circumstances if you have previously surrendered a pet to a shelter or rescue, and often have concerns if there are other dogs who do not live inside with the family. Such situations are dealt with on a case by case basis, so they are not necessarily exclusions from adopting, but please do not be surprised or offended when we have additional questions. We must ensure all applicants we consider are willing and able to take the best possible care of any dog they might adopt from our organization.

Can I adopt if I do not have a fenced in yard?

This is another thing that is based on the needs of each specific dog. Some Boston Terriers do just fine with leash walks or supervised on a tie-out, and others require a fenced area. A fully fenced yard is required in certain situations, such as dogs that are flight risks, or sometimes dogs who have little to no leash training and cannot reliably potty and exercise on leash. If a dog's information says that a fenced yard is preferred, that usually means that the dog is used to having a fenced yard available and that we will prioritize applicants who have a fenced yard, but we will still consider applicants who are otherwise a good fit and are committed to giving the dog sufficient exercise on leash.

How long will it take to find a dog that is a good fit and be selected to adopt them?

We cannot offer any particular timeline for adoption because it always depends both on what dogs are in need of homes and on what other applications we receive. We are always aiming to find the best home for a particular dog, not to find a dog for a particular applicant. In general, a willingness to adopt within a wider age range and to work on more training issues can make it easier to find a match, but we still cannot promise you will be matched within a given timeframe.