ABOUT BOXER RESCUE

Ploughing back into the breed we so love. "Boxer Love" is infectious and we hope BRSA helps many more Boxers experience true love in a 'fur'ever home. Increasingly more Boxers find themselves rehomed several times during their lifetime. Put a stop to this here and offer a Boxer a “fur”ever home. "Vaudeville of the Dog World", yet sadly sometimes misunderstood. Do not support backyard breeding (unregistered, no papers shown, unchecked rampant breeding with no thought for the health consequences - backyard breeders won't health screen both parents, for example hips, not least)

FACT FILE


Email address

[email protected]
What are the criteria looked at when evaluating for  a prospective adopter?
  • Security for the dog behind decent walls with secured and locked gates and with a clear understanding of who passes in and out of the property each day, week and month (e.g. garden service/domestic worker/friends, family and colleagues, other children, etc) is very important.
  •  We consider whether there are any existing children or babies or whether there are any on the way or planned.  
  • It is advantageous if prospective owner had pets or dogs especially any high energy breeds of dogs, in particular large breed high energy dogs – Boxers are a good example of this.
  • Whether time commitment is there for daily walking of the Boxer. 
  •  Boxers can cost a lot at vets so we ascertain whether  prospective owners can afford to feed and take care of the needs of a large breed dog.
  • We make sure that the prospective owner has a solid grasp that Boxers are by nature boisterous.     
Describe the ideal owner and environment for your breed.
This breed needs a daily commitment to taking the dog on a walk of a decent length (around the block will not suffice – twice daily walks is the ideal).  There are Boxer owners that live with relatively small gardens BUT they are extremely committed to taking the dog on nice long daily walks.  A firm commitment to understanding that Boxers can and will cost in vet bills (arguably the most cancer-prone breed and right there at the top in respect of heart conditions).  Boxers can blow a cruciate ligament in a moment – big expenses.  Pet medical insurance strongly advised.  
Does the adoption fee include Sterilisation?
The forever home pays a vet by EFT for, not least, any sterilization before the dog can go to their home – all sterilization, etc. occurs before the dog can head to the forever home and it is luck of the draw as to how much all this will cost depending on which dog is being rehomed (many were already sterilized by their previous owner). 
What is the adoption fee?
















Does the adoption fee include a physical check up by a vet prior to adoption?






Do you give the client as much history as you have ?


Do you sort out any behaviour problems before adopting?






How do you make assessments as to a dog's compatibility to children and non canine pets?




If the adopter has existing dogs do you arrange for an introductions to assess compatibility?










Do you do subsequent home checks once a dog has been adopted?











What other support is provided to the adopter after a dog has been adopted?






Do you make use of foster homes for dogs?










If yes to the above; does the adoption process differ in any way? 

If the adoption is not successful that you would take the dog back?
We do not charge an adoption fee but the forever home pays a vet by EFT for, not least, any sterilization before the dog can go to their home – all sterilization, etc. occurs before the dog can head to the forever home and it is luck of the draw as to how much all this will cost depending on which dog is being rehomed (many were already sterilized by their previous owner).  We also insist on microchipping (ideally Identipet), deworming, and that the dog is up to date on all annual vaccinations (including kennel cough) before heading to the forever home.  We want forever homes to also pay Petfinders.co.za for their Pet911 R100-a-dog-a-year registration fee at the time that they are to take on the dog.  Big brownie points if the forever home agrees to putting the dog on a good pet medical insurance scheme such as (one I personally like very much) www.medipetsa.co.za 

Yes – it is made crystal clear to the vet that annual vaccinations, when given, are to include a basic physical check – and if the dog is already up to date on vaccinations, a vet will anyway likely be seeing the dog for something else e.g. deworming or sterilization or microchipping ahead of going to the forever home and is asked to give the dog a basic physical examination.  

All new owners are given the full history on the dog that we have available. 

Any behaviour problems that ended with the dog in the shelter are communicated to applicant homes.  This includes anything we picked up on.  There have been cases where the previous owner has decided to withdraw his application to rehome his Boxer(s) and to call in a behaviourist.  

Where possible we test the dogs reaction to other dogs, cats and children to determine suitability.  We do not put any cat at risk.  We merely state on the dog’s ad “This dog does not come from a home with cats” or “Cats are unknown to this dog”.  

If you have existing dogs we will arrange an introduction to see if they will be compatible.  We always insist on an off-leash play date with all humans standing right back and we insist that it take place on safe, neutral turf when no other people/dogs/traffic can distract e.g. an enclosed school rugby field.  We do cross-provincial rehomings and most of those occur with home checks in their home province and the application is done online.  We work with all shelters and if they only allow on—site applications, we have had applicants drive from one province to another to apply (with success always) on-site.

We do this where possible.  We have home checkers throughout South Africa.  We are all volunteering our time.  What we do more so is that we request of forever homes to supply us with regular photos (with accompanying captions) that we can upload to our Success Story albums.  Some forever homes really make it clear by expressing no enthusiasm for doing this that they now wish to enjoy their dog in the privacy of their own home without a window on the world, and this we respect.  There are certainly cases where we are able to get out to go say Hello on a repeat visit to the forever home.  This is for us arguably the most fun part of our voluntary work! 

We have certainly referred people to, not least, the Friends of the Dog website and to the likes of Clickersa.co.za – we stress many times over on our page the importance of positive reinforcement training principles – Clicker training we hugely favour.  We have provided moral support to the Boxer community if their Boxer died and we happen to hear about it.   

We definitely would, yes.  We have pro bono foster kennels in 3 provinces and foster homes in several of the provinces now (though could always do with plenty more foster homes as we prefer that to kennelling the dogs).  We also liaise with the registered breeder if a dog they bred comes up for rehoming and perhaps the present owner is unaware that registered breeders should be actively involved in helping to source a forever home applicant(s).  We, in turn, happily screen any applications on our rigorous adoption application form.  

No


We definitely would, yes.  We have foster homes in 3 in several of the provinces now (though could always do with plenty more foster homes as we prefer that to kennelling the dogs).  We also liaise with the registered breeder if a dog they bred comes up for rehoming and perhaps the present owner is unaware that registered breeders should be actively involved in helping to source a forever home applicant(s).  We, in turn, happily screen any applications on our rigorous adoption application form.